US$600-800 gaming PC

[Claudius]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within a month

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, blu-ray, internet, flash, photoshop

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, speakers (for now but will take suggestions for later), monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I guess newegg. Also have Amazon prime

PARTS PREFERENCES: really looking for parts that are cost effective. ATI guy.

OVERCLOCKING: maybe, future

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200. 24' LCD.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: my current computer is a relic. building this rig with future upgrades in mind. Already have a nice monitor. Will I need Vista?


I'm a complete newbie when it comes to building a computer from scratch.

 

[build]

Answer these questions for me.

What is your budget?

What games do you intend to play?

 

[dragoon190]

Is you're budget inclusive or exclusive of taxes and shipping cost? Search around the forum a bit, I think Why_me recently posted a couple of i5 configurations that'd be around $800 before tax and SH. It might be a bit cheaper (~$15 or $20 depending on vendor & rebates) if you decide to use MBs that doesn't support crossfire, like MSI P55-CD-53.

For regular gaming, a 4870 would be sufficient for most games.

 

[wathman]

I would get Vista only because it's the cheapest way to get windows 7 right now. For a $600 budget, I would lean more towards an AMD build, $800 would be a core i5 build.

 

[Claudius]

Answer these questions for me.

What is your budget?

What games do you intend to play?

800ish.

I don't need to run Crysis on high. Just a relatively cheap gaming rig with a good enough graphics card that can handle 1920x1200. Considering I'm using a 5 year old AGP Pentium 4 anything I get will be a major step up. Right now I just play older TBS/RTS/CPRGs

Games I intend to play: Fallout 3, Dragon Age, Stalker, Divinity 2, the Witcher. And Blu-ray.

 

[Claudius]

Is you're budget inclusive or exclusive of taxes and shipping cost? Search around the forum a bit, I think Why_me recently posted a couple of i5 configurations that'd be around $800 before tax and SH. It might be a bit cheaper (~$15 or $20 depending on vendor & rebates) if you decide to use MBs that doesn't support crossfire, like MSI P55-CD-53.

Well go ahead and post those configurations. I'd like to keep the budget around a 800 cap, maybe slightly above. But if there is a cheaper configuration like 600-700 I'd prefer that if it would allow me to do some specific upgrades a year or so down the line. No idea where the technology is headed right now.

I get free shipping through Amazon.com. Not sure if should use them over a place like Newegg though.

 

[dragoon190]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/271006-31-gaming-build-1000

Here, the second to last reply.

Or the entirety of this thread

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/270883-31-gaming-system

 

[build]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.245596 Combo Discount: -$20.00 Combo Price: $124.90 Free Shipping*
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.246589 Combo Discount: -$15.00 Combo Price: $304.98 Free Shipping*
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core i5 750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.256275 Combo Discount: -$15.00 Combo Price: $219.98 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail
SAPPHIRE 100279-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181 $49.99 Free Shipping*
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289 $28.99
LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Total: $728.84

The build above looks solid and within your budget.

Or alternatively, you can swap the CPU and mobo for a Phenom II X3 + Gigabyte GA-MA770T combo, which would bring the total cost to under $600. It's not as powerful as the I5, but it should make for a decent gaming rig nonetheless.