1st Gaming PC Build.

[aspec]

Gonna be building a new pc mainly for gaming in the next month or so, maybe sooner and still trying to figure out the best setup for a $1,000 USD budget. made 4 wishlists of setups, all of the stuff being the same except cpu/motherboard/gpu's. not sure which setup would be best or if there is anything i should change. wanna be able to play WoW/Fallout3/GTA4/Crysis/Farcry2/Oblivion/Diablo3/BF2/BF2142 and other newer games @ maxed settings w/ some AA turned on cause the jagged edges bother me. my monitor right now is a samsung 20" widescreen lcd w/ max resolution of 1600x900. i plan to upgrade to 24" later on but atleast not for a few months or more most likely. but here's the wishlists. if the links don't work let me know and i can post links/info on the parts. also i would rather stick with intel + nvidia setup if possible.



https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=13183468

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=15367147

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=11514186

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=15378267

 

[Why_Me]

Don't go with an Nvidea chipset board. That build you have with the gtx 285 is a nice looking build. You can size down though with the psu...that 650w is a bit over kill. Take a look at this OCZ down below.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022 $74.99 ($49.99 after $25.00 Mail-In Rebate)
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Free 4GB flash drive w/ purchase, limited offer

also here is a video card to consider for your budget...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475 $249.99 ($229.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Ok, another way to go about this is an i7 build. That way you can go SLI and not have to deal with those Nvidea boards. This build down below is set up so that you can add another gtx 260 in the future for SLI. Just change out the case on this build to whatever works for you.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/gigabyte-nvidia-sli-motherboard,7463.html <--- Gigabyte: Enable SLI On X58 Boards


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $74.99 Free Shipping*
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 $105.74 Price After Rebate(s): $95.74 Shipping: FREE
Corsair TX CMPSU-750TX ATX12V & EPS12V Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375 $199.99
($184.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R 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=N82E16835185093 $36.99 Free Shipping*
Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003 $4.99
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133270 $167.99 Free Shipping*
PNY VCGGTX260CXPB GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145223 $59.99 Free Shipping*
CORSAIR XMS3 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $74.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 $24.99 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

$1,016.95 | $1,001.95 w/rebates

 

[aspec]

rather stick with NZXT Zero 2 case for more fans/better cooling/better looks lol, and is the CPU on newegg for around same price? and psu i'll probably keep the same. gonna end up going SLI at some point and wouldnt wanna have to buy a new cpu later on for SLI and i thought i read other posts of i7/ddr3 not really being all that good yet but costing alot more then C2D and C2Q? some seem to have problems with the 780i board and others dont....

 

[Why_Me]

rather stick with NZXT Zero 2 case for more fans/better cooling/better looks lol, and is the CPU on newegg for around same price? and psu i'll probably keep the same. gonna end up going SLI at some point and wouldnt wanna have to buy a new cpu later on for SLI and i thought i read other posts of i7/ddr3 not really being all that good yet but costing alot more then C2D and C2Q? some seem to have problems with the 780i board and others dont....

I'm not sure how much more an i7 build cost. I just posted one with an after market HS, thermal compound, CM 690, 750w Corsair psu and 6 gigs of memory, etc... for $1,000. Add another gtx 260 later on (prices always go down anyways), and you have an i7 build running SLI for only a few dollars more. btw, that cooler master runs up to 8 fans. But anyways that's an i7 build in your price range.

 

[aspec]

would a single gtx260 core 216 run those games on high/max w/ some AA on? and probably already know the answer is yes but 2 gtx260's in SLI would definitly run them on max w/ some AA right? can't stand the jagged lines w/ no AA on. gonna make new I7 wishlist and hopefully its right. i'll post it after. don't wanna buy stuff from 3 different places lol

 

[aspec]

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=11514686

I7 setup but still a little more then i will have to spend. don't wanna change the case because its full tower + good cooling + pretty cheap. and wanna stay evga/xfx brand GPU. not sure what else i could change to lower price around $1000~$1030

 

[aspec]

and the i7 setup runs about 100$~200$ more then my C2D & C2Q setups i posted. kinda hard to choose what way to go... would like to SLI and other people say they have no problems with the 780i but then others say the board has problems...