Dream Machine for Gaming Gal

Well I came into a few thousand dollars and after making a HUGE mistake on buying a first gen tablet PC in 2006, being that I mainly just do gaming, I want to finally get a desktop gaming rig. I want to TRY and spend under 2K, but MAY be able to spend a little more if it would mean a huge difference in what I'm going to be getting... That's in US dollars (I live in Canada so any of the Canadian sites would be easiest for delivery of parts, but I CAN get them shipped to a friend in the USA if needed). I need every part...monitor, case, keyboard...everything. So I'm looking for a list of everything that would make MMO gaming better like a G19 Keyboard or a certain type of screen.

I'm a newbette when it comes to building my own rig, but I know the basics. I'm looking for a system that will last me a long time, though I currently play Age of Conan and Aion. I want to finally be able to play AoC with more than the 10 FPS I get on this crappy tablet pc. My goal is to turn on a game and get the highest FPS possible for a computer made today with a bigger budget (like I said 2K, but may spend more if it really makes a difference.)

Thanks SO Much in advance for the help!

*Huggles*
Zehar'im

Your budget is fine, depending on the monitor size you choose. I don't have time tonight to select specific parts, but I'll give you an outline now . . . and one or two small tasks to do . . . and come back with a specific parts list tomorrow.

You do not sound like an overclocker, so the cpu I'd recommend is an i7 860. This quad will overclock itself when less than 4 cores are heavily used, ie, when gaming.

The motherboard should support both sli & crossfire so you can use 2 vid cards from either manufacturer if/when it becomes necessary/desirable.

Similarly, the power supply should be a high-quality brand like a Corsair 750W or 850W that can drive a 2-vidcard PC.

Assuming you will game at a 1920 resolution or higher, a single HD 5870 would be ideal. This card and its less powerful siblings are very fast and support DX11 so they are ready for next generation gaming. You can add a second one next year or later, when they become cheaper, if new games should require it. However these are in short supply - Newegg US is out. Check some Canadian sites and see.

Your monitor should be 22" to 27" and have a native resolution of 1920. Dell makes some very good 24" monitors in that size/res. Let me know what size you are thinking about.

The case should be good sized for proper air flow. There are many good cases . . . bling and no bling, sleek and utilitarian. Please select one or more cases you like the look of from your Newegg site and give a link here. We can then pick a case that matches that look and has the necessary air flow.

The ideal main hard drive would be a 120GB SSD if we can fit that into the budget. Combined with Win7, it would give you a very, very responsive booting and gaming system. We'd add a second conventional hard drive for bulk data storage.

Above all, enjoy the process.

i'm your dream machine!

(sorry i couldn't resist)

however, your budget will easily get what you ask, but ultimately it depends on whether you would prefer to save a lot of that $ for better value gear, with great satisfaction. remember that top-of-the-line stuff is expensive right now, but a few months fown the line it'll no be 'the best pc in the city' to justify your investment.

value at the moment would be:

i5 750
4890 or gtx275 (or if you want to have at least one 'luxury' piece, i won't advice against getting a 5850)
p55 mobo ddr3 (dual channel)
4 gb ddr3 ram

framerate in games will come down to resolution, which will depend on your personal preference of monitor size. a 21-22 inch is perfect for me, with a native 1680x1050 resolution the radeon 4890 can destroy anything. any higher and you may want to consider the 5850 or crossfire.

for tips on building up, the instructions are pretty easy to follow - and if there are any "WTF" moments - ask the almighty google for help. easier than making a post on a forum and having to wait for a reply.

Antec 1200 - $160

Antec CP-850 - $120 (Get TP 650 if you'll never use twin GFX cards) CP is a super PSU and a great bargain

ASUS P6T Deluxe v2 - $290

Intel i7 920 - $280

3*2GB DDR3 1600
.....CAS 6 will cost ya $200+
.....CAS 7 will cost ya $170+
.....CAS 6 will cost ya $150+

HD - Spinpoint F3 1 TB - $85

Heat Sink - Prolimatech Megahalems w/ IC Diamond karat 7 Thermal grease - $72

Optical - Plextor 320SA - $135

Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse $35 hot deal
http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/Logi [...] /3132.aspx

Logitech G15 - $90

Asus ASUS VW246H Black 24" - $220

If my math is right, that leaves you with $313 for GFX cards and there's a 3 way tie here
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 464-6.html

My thinking is:

If you think you'll upgrade GFX by XMas 2011 get the twin 260's
If not, get the twin 5770's

If you are into PhysX, the 1st choice works. If you want the 5770's and still want PhysX, set aside an extra $100 for a dedicated PhysX card and do this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/n [...] ,8786.html

If ya don't know what PhysX does, read these:

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 65-11.html

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardwar [...] /page2.asp

Leaves you with $3 to spare

Oops...left out a fan for the HS.....pick one (or 2) off here at the bottom:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] _Item.html

for some reason i can't edit my original post... i just wanted to edit to make it legible.


i'm your dream machine!

(sorry i couldn't resist)

your budget will easily get what you ask, but ultimately it depends on whether you would prefer to save a lot of that $ for excellent value gear, with great satisfaction (i'd feel a bit deflated after spending an extra $500 on potential i'd never use). remember that top-of-the-line stuff is over-priced right now, and a few months down the line it won't be 'the best pc possible'.

value at the moment would be:

i5 750
2x2gb ddr3
asus p55 ddr3 mobo
radeon 4890 or gtx275 (or if you want to have at least one 'luxury' piece, i recommend the new 5850)
antec 300 case
550w psu (get a bigger psu if you plan on upgrading down the line, crossfire etc)

you should think really hard before choosing to buy best-of-the-best stuff (i7 socket 1366, radeon 5870) because unless you are an absolute extremist - you will not notice any difference. as you consider yourself a noobette, i would advise against it. maybe i'm acting out of place, just FYI i'm a game fiend having recently built the above system for myself. through extensive testing i'm very happy with my choice.

framerate in games will come down to resolution, which will depend on your personal preference of monitor size. a 21-22 inch is perfect for me, with a native 1680x1050 resolution the radeon 4890 can destroy anything. any higher and you may want to consider the 5850 or crossfire. if your current monitor is smaller than 21 inch, then i'd go for the 21 inch - because the step up will already be jawdropping without the need to get an extra few inches for an extra few hundred $.

for tips on building up, the instructions are pretty easy to follow - and if there are any "WTF" moments - ask the almighty google for help. easier than making a post on a forum and having to wait for a reply.

I would go the 920 route for a better upgrading path in the future, 860 is a good way to go too, but really not that much difference in price <200 for what I would do.

This is pretty close to the build I will be looking at doing in February. Can always change a few things around for lower price, etc.

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115202

ASUS P6TD Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131403

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C7D G - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145253

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139009

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152181

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119160

XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150443

ASUS VW246H Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 20000:1) Built in Speakers - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236049

Don't really need an aftermarket cooler if you don't plan on Overclocking, I am and will be getting a Prolimatech Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition with a couple of Enermax Fans.

Comes out to about $1750 US, can be lower if you combo some of them together. And I remembered after I finished that you needed newegg.ca but parts should be the same Add in another 150ish for mouse/keyboard.

I am still undecided what mouse/keyboard I want to get but I am looking at either logitech or razer for both.