$1000 build for Gaming HELP PLEASE

wrightbrigade

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Sep 30, 2008
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I have a 26inch lcd panel / monitor and a 19 inch Lcd and my plan is to watch movies and play games on the 26inch lcd. I want the system play games like cod4 and cod5 flawlessly. I want it to last for a long time, be upgradeable. I also want it to be FAST for video transcoding. I like the huge antec 900 case. I don't know weather to go amd or intel. Dual or Quad. G-force or Radeon. The G-force cards in the gtx 260 range seem really nice for the money and the 4870 cards seem slightly problematic from the reviews but have awesome graphics. I have the old XP if that matters, I don't know. Would Vista or an XP 64 bit be worth it? I know I could build a cheaper system and still be wow'd by it, but I want to upgrade later without hassel of finding the board don't support the processors that are out there anymore. My first build was a MSI Neo4 with a Geforce 6600gt and a 3200 amd processor. About 5 years ago that was nice, now it's slooooow and I'm stuck. I did a little OC'ing and could only get it to 2.2 so I like the idea of OC'ing some, I like AMD but I"m not set on it. One thing that I noticed about MSI mb and gc is there fans are kindof junky and loud and my fan on the 6600gt quit altogether so I'm not sure if they are quality. I wouldn't mind buying a great gc now and sli or xfire latter when the price comes down. Ok I'm going to leave it to you pro's now. I know I had another thread were I asked about builds but this is different and I'm listing more of what I want to get out of it. I plan on ordering this stuff this weeking. Thanks!
 

MykC

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Nov 24, 2008
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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115131 Q9400 + Gigabyte UD3P $350 - $20MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209 2x2GB G.Skill PI Black DDR2 800 $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209 2x2GB G.Skill PI Black DDR2 800 $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=48&Description=&Type=&N=2010380048&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A45378 2GB 4850x2 $290
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 LG DVD Burner $25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 WD 640GB AALS $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 CORSAIR 650TX $95 - $25MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 CM 690 case $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 Xigma Dark Knight $40 (Intel)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 Artic MX-2 Thermal Compound $7

$1057 - 75MIR = $982

You can save some money by moving down to an E8400 and cutting back on the ram.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649 AM3 X3 720 $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387 Giga 790X $110 (xfire)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209 G.Skill PI Black DDR2 800 $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=48&Description=&Type=&N=2010380048&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A45378 2GB 4850x2 $290
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 LG DVD Burner $25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 WD 640GB AALS $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 CORSAIR 650TX $95 - $25MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 CM 690 $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 Artic MX-2 Thermal Compound $7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003 Xigma $37 - $10MIR (AMD)

$929 - $35 = $896.

Upgraded to a 940 for $75.

You can save some money by checking each product and finding combo deals that apply.
 
How much better?
COD 4 & 5 are really GPU bound. When you have the graphics options and filters (AA/AF) cranked up you'll get nearly the same performance out of an Core i7 920, Phenom II X2, C2D E8400 or Phenom II X3 720. Even overclocked, you'll still get nearly the same performance as a non-OC'd CPU.
 

MykC

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Nov 24, 2008
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18,780
quad cores aren't going to have an edge on dual cores until games start asking more from CPUs. As is, the FPS genre doesn't ask too much of the CPU. A year from now that may be a different story or if you start looking at the simulation and RTS genre which do have a noticable impact on performance.
 
I7 build

Ok, this gives you an idea of what you can have for right around $1,000. btw, Vista 64 ftw. DX9/DX10. With the XP your going to short yourself.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $79.99
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-750w-tx-series-80-plus-certified-power-supply-corsair-tx-cmpsu/q/loc/101/206178325.html $104.99 Price After Rebate: $79.99 Shipping: FREE
Corsair TX CMPSU-750TX ATX12V & EPS12V Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128386 $$209.99
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=I7-920 $265.99 Free Ground Shipping
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 CPU, OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 $39.99
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 $6.99
ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247 $99.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143155 $179.99
BFG Tech BFGEGTX260MC896OCE GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail / OC Edition overclocked at 590MHz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $79.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 $23.99 Free Shipping*
LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

Total: $1,031.90 *(not including shipping and rebates)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488 $99.99 Free Shipping*
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM

Total: $1,131.89 w/OS
 

raydog

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Feb 18, 2008
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18,690



wow.. i like the i7 build. especially if u want to future proof a little. Don't forget vista 64bit will cost u another 100bucks if u don't already have it.
 


I just edited that build/post. I did the math wrong...it was actually cheaper $1,031.90 and with Vista 64 Home Premium it totals out to $1,131.89. It's a bit over the $1,000 budget, but if you look at what your getting it's not a bad deal at all. And it's about as close as a person can get these days with "future proofing" (I hate that word), not to mention as the OP says he does video end coding, it doesn't get any better than these i7's.
 
G

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I'd do this. The faster processor will be better for "FAST video transcoding." Also, this will be great for gaming but don't forget you'll need a 64 bit OS or your wasting your money.

If you can afford to go a bit over budget, go with the i7 build listed above. That's the one you'll be the most happy with.