Need Help Building Computer 1k Budget :\

[oldbrother]

Hey Guys,
Its my birthday soon and im looking into getting a decent gaming computer.
I wouldn't mind building my own, But i have no idea about anything really rofl.
I want to be able to multi task without lag, and play WoW: WoTLK on atleast 60fps with all graphics on high
I dont know if i will be able to get a computer under 1k that will do this, but if you guys could just leave a few sites or anything that will help me on my road to getting a gaming computer that would be great
Cheers!

 

[Zenthar]

Any parts you want to reuse from old PC (LCD, keyboard, mouse, casing, ...)? These can save you a non-negligeable amount of money.

If you already have an LCD, what model is it (to know native resolution which has a big impact on GPU requirements)?

Any other games you play?

BTW, I looked around for WoTLK benchmarks and at 1680x1050 (common 22" LCD), 60FPS would probably require your budget's worth in GPU alone ...

 

[aevm]

1K buys you something like this, for example:

Q6600 $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

GA-EP45-UD3P $117
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358&Tpk=GA-EP45-UD3P

HD 4870 1GB $225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

PC P&C 750W $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

RC-690 $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

WD 640GB $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=WD6400AAKS

G.Skill 4GB RAM $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

SH-S223Q, $29
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173&Tpk=SH-S223Q

Total $866, but there may be shipping charges and also some cash you pay now and get back in mail rebates.

If you also need an operating system, get this:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

You can also add a second video card later for even better performance.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

+1 for aevm's build.

 

[topper743]

Yes ++ for AVEM's build. That would be an excellent build. Just one consideration is the argument over 2 or 4 core cpus. Fudzilla dropped this from Intel this morning.

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11030&Itemid=1

I agree the q6600 is a good choice that said the e8400, e8500, e8600 are also good. A good overclocker can easily get beyond the stock speeds of the higher priced cpus with the e8400. Intel thinks that a 2 core is better for gaming, just a personal choice in the end.

********************************************************

I don't want to hijack....(EDIT) since you recommend Vista home64bit I'll ask......

Question about the Vista home 64bit. I too have been considering going from XP Pro 32bit to Vista Home 64bit. Reviewers/users on forums and customer reviews at newegg really seem to hate it and when I say hate some of these posters really seem rabid. I would like to make the jump myself but mostly they all say stick with XP Pro. AVEM do you have it?
What do you think about it? Anyone else, Vista 64?

 

[aevm]

Good point. An E8500 is usually just as good as a Q6600 or slightly better for all games except FSX. I suggested Q6600 because the OP said "able to multi task" so he's probably like me - running lots of things at the same time. For example if a game does not support more than 2 cores you'd expect the E8500 to do better thanks to higher clocks - but that's not true if you also run other things in the background while playing. The OP should take a minute to decide between those two IMO, based on his personal habits. Either way, it won't make a huge difference. Some numbers in this article:
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=770&p=5

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I went from XP Pro to 64-bit Vista and I couldn't be happier. Vista is a very stable OS, especially since SP1. The only BSOD I've ever seen in Vista was caused by an unstable overclock. It's very nice to be able to fully use 4GB and know you still have the option of adding more RAM in the future if the need arises.

I think the people still bashing Vista either haven't tried it lately, or are using VERY old software/hardware that isn't compatible. My 3+ year old printer works great under 64-bit Vista. Even my daughter's old games work fine on 64-bit Vista. I personally will never touch XP again. I'm very happy with Vista.

 

[aevm]

I don't want to hijack....

Question about the Vista home 64bit. I too have been considering going from XP Pro 32bit to Vista Home 64bit. Reviewers/users on forums and customer reviews at newegg really seem to hate it and when I say hate some of these posters really seem rabid. I would like to make the jump myself but mostly they all say stick with XP Pro. AVEM do you have it?
What do you think about it? Anyone else, Vista 64?

So then why are you hijacking?

Vista is not really bad at all IMO. It's probably the most criticized product in history, but most of the criticism was unfair.

Lots of people hate having to learn a new interface, so they hate Vista simply because a bunch of things are now done differently. Personally I felt very frustrated at first, going from experienced XP user to clumsy Vista user who didn't even know how to set a screensaver. That will pass, as people learn. Still, Microsoft designers should be kicked for making so many unnecessary changes.

Then there's a lot of idiots who say they hate Vista but in fact they just hate Microsoft, and some haven't even seen Vista themselves. Google "Mojave experiment" to see how those people were exposed. Lots of Linux and Mac fans were very happy to spread garbage about Vista, of course, because it made their preferred choice look smarter by comparison.

There's also the fact that, during Vista's first year, games were crashing a lot. Documents filed in court after the "Vista Capable" fiasco showed that in fact 28% of those crashes were caused by crappy nVidia drivers, 17% by (almost as) crappy ATI drivers, 9% by Intel drivers (related to P35 chipsets and various devices), etc. Those things have been fixed by now. For example my nVidia 8800GTX card is very stable now, but it was causing blue screens all the time with earlier drivers.

Backward compatibility for older apps and hardware also was bad. This is really the responsibility of the software/hardware manufacturer's, not Microsoft's, but Microsoft got the criticism because less technical people didn't realize that. This has been somewhat fixed by now, as manufacturers have released new versions of software and new drivers.

Anyway, the jump from XP 32 to Vista 64 will bring you 3 major advantages:
1. DirectX 10 - some games will look better
2. full use of 4GB or more of RAM. With XP 32 you're lucky if you get 3.5 GB. Personally I get 3.25 when I boot XP (0.75 is hidden by the RAM on my 8800GTX)
3. Your resume can now say Vista too. Employers do want people who can find their way in recent software, even if they don't even have Vista yet.

Plus of course whatever advantages Vista actually adds - see Microsoft brochures for that

 

[Swixi]

So then why are you hijacking?

Vista is not really bad at all IMO. It's probably the most criticized product in history, but most of the criticism was unfair.

Lots of people hate having to learn a new interface, so they hate Vista simply because a bunch of things are now done differently. Personally I felt very frustrated at first, going from experienced XP user to clumsy Vista user who didn't even know how to set a screensaver. That will pass, as people learn. Still, Microsoft designers should be kicked for making so many unnecessary changes.

Then there's a lot of idiots who say they hate Vista but in fact they just hate Microsoft, and some haven't even seen Vista themselves. Google "Mojave experiment" to see how those people were exposed. Lots of Linux and Mac fans were very happy to spread garbage about Vista, of course, because it made their preferred choice look smarter by comparison.

There's also the fact that, during Vista's first year, games were crashing a lot. Documents filed in court after the "Vista Capable" fiasco showed that in fact 28% of those crashes were caused by crappy nVidia drivers, 17% by (almost as) crappy ATI drivers, 9% by Intel drivers (related to P35 chipsets and various devices), etc. Those things have been fixed by now. For example my nVidia 8800GTX card is very stable now, but it was causing blue screens all the time with earlier drivers.

Backward compatibility for older apps and hardware also was bad. This is really the responsibility of the software/hardware manufacturer's, not Microsoft's, but Microsoft got the criticism because less technical people didn't realize that. This has been somewhat fixed by now, as manufacturers have released new versions of software and new drivers.

Anyway, the jump from XP 32 to Vista 64 will bring you 3 major advantages:
1. DirectX 10 - some games will look better
2. full use of 4GB or more of RAM. With XP 32 you're lucky if you get 3.5 GB. Personally I get 3.25 when I boot XP (0.75 is hidden by the RAM on my 8800GTX)
3. Your resume can now say Vista too. Employers do want people who can find their way in recent software, even if they don't even have Vista yet.

Plus of course whatever advantages Vista actually adds - see Microsoft brochures for that

Completely agree.
+1