I can has $1200 gaming PC?

[cheezburger cat]

I'm going to be using this for games like Crysis, Stalker Clear Sky, CoD 4, etc. I already have a monitor and that kind of thing. Will it work? My budget is $1,200, I can go a little over. Also, I'll use a resolution of 1280x1024.

Samsung Black 22x DVD Burner: $25.99

Antec Three Hundred Case: $59.95

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB: $69.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V power supply: $119.99

Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800: $79.98 for two

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard: $134.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz 6MB L2 Cache processor: $229.99

Vista 64-bit for system builders: $99.99

XFX GX285NZDFF GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit GDDR3: $349.99

Total: $1,170.86

Prices are from Newegg. Sorry I couldn't figure out how to make links.

 

[Mrbumbum]

A gtx 285 for 1280x1024 resolution is a complete waste of money.


Buy a 4870 1gb and a 22" monitor "or 24" monitor if you can spend a little more coin". A 4850 and a 22" Monitor will also work well.

Your picking a crossfire motherboard so I would stick with ATI to keep that option open, if you never intend to crossfire then save some money and buy the version of that board with 1 pci express 16 slot and pair it with a gtx 260 core 216 and a 22" monitor (24" if you can afford it)

The rest of the build looks solid but I would suggest G.skill pi black 800 ram. 4-4-4-12 timings with 1.8-1.9volts
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

 

[cheezburger cat]

I switched the RAM to what you suggested and the video card to a 4870 1gb. The total price is now $1,075.86. I will get a new monitor if I manage to build this PC. Thank you. You can has cheezburger.

 

[xthekidx]

The red version of that PSU is $10 cheaper, don't know if you care about color that much.

I would get the CM 690 case instead, its only $10 more right now and has a lot more room and better cooling. A few weeks ago the 300 was $40, and last week the 690 was $90, just to give you an idea.

If there isn't anything terribly wrong with your monitor I would just keep it and get the Q9550 or Q9650 instead since you have a $1200 budget, then buy a bigger monitor down the road when you have more money and sell that one on craigslist or ebay.

 

[Mrbumbum]

Price difference between the 300 and cm 690, at the time i'm writting this, is around $35 because the 300 comes with free shipping while the 690 does not.

 

[xthekidx]

Hmm that's tricky. Last week the 690 had free shipping and the 300 didn't. But I still think the upgrade is worth it, I have heard some people having trouble fitting big GPU's into that case, having to move their HDD's around to make room for it, not a problem in the 690.

 

[y2kspy2]

Isn't a GTX 285 a little overboard? Especially for the resolution you're looking at playing at? And if you're building this strictly for gaming, do you really need the Quad Core? A Core 2 Duo would probably serve your purpose just as well. An E8500 would save you some money on the processor. Drop the video card down to a GTX 260. At 1280x1024, that should easily handle anything you need. Throw the money you're saving into a better case, maybe the CM690, which is an awesome looking case.

Also, are you getting 4 gb of ram total or 8? I cant exactly tell.

(This is all my opinion, so don't take everything I say as fact!)

 

[xthekidx]

Isn't a GTX 285 a little overboard? Especially for the resolution you're looking at playing at? And if you're building this strictly for gaming, do you really need the Quad Core? A Core 2 Duo would probably serve your purpose just as well. An E8500 would save you some money on the processor. Drop the video card down to a GTX 260. At 1280x1024, that should easily handle anything you need. Throw the money you're saving into a better case, maybe the CM690, which is an awesome looking case.

Also, are you getting 4 gb of ram total or 8? I cant exactly tell.

(This is all my opinion, so don't take everything I say as fact!)

Good point about the CPU. If all this computer will be doing is gaming, then a duo will do fine...for the time being. However a quad core will have more longevity as apps become more multithreaded. And if you do any multitasking like dling music while you surf the web and IM while writing a paper (if you are in school right now), then the quad core is better.

Dual cores are a good option if you upgrade your computer every year or so, but if you just want to build this computer and not worry about it for 3-4 years, then I'd say get a quad.

 

[ryanb213]

GtaIV has quad cores for lunch, get the quad. especially at a $1200 budget