First build: under $800 mainly for these games....

[Guest]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: by Friday

BUDGET RANGE: under $800 Before Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, multitasking, media, school

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, need everything else

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD Phenom II X4 955

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe, CROSSFIRE: Maybe in future

MONITOR RESOLUTION: crispy.....

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Want this build to be upgradeable. going to be installing windows 7 and using a 22 inch lcd monitor. Games i will be playing are assassins creed 2, battlefield BC2, L4D2, dragon age, team fortress 2. Smooth frame rate is a big thing for me, main reason im getting a gaming pc is because of crappy console frame rates

 

[K1ash3r]

hm.. well from my experience the phenom II 955 is a decent cpu i would also recomend GA-MA790XT-UD4P if u plan on future upgrades.. im not an expert so..yea just saying

 

[Guest]

thanks...

 

[Silmarunya]

Get a 955 as you said. Pair it up with a mid-end Asus or Gigabyte motherboard. Pick the best ATI graphics card your budget allows for (likely a 4890). Get a good quality, not overly expensive case like the Antec 300 illusion. Add good quality RAM (ddr3 1333MHz with a decent latency offers the best price/performance on the market). Don't skimp on your¨PSU. A Corsair or Antec (not the Basiq line if you go with Antec!) in the 600w area is ideal.

Should finish roughly in budget.

 

[dndhatcher]

Right now there is no AMD upgrade from a 955. Given your budget, the 955 is probably too much. A PH2x3 720 would give you the same gaming performance and leave some money for more important components like the GPU.

If your monitor is 1680x1050 then an ATI 5770 is a good graphics card. The above mentioned motherboard allows crossfire so you could add a second 5770 later if you get a larger monitor.

 

[Guest]

heres what i had

Pioneer CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model DVR-218LBK LabelFlash Support - OEM
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5
SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X 100269VXL Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX -
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

go to town, im new at this

$650.93

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Those are all good choices. The only thing I see is that you mentioned wanting to leave Crossfire open as an option, but the 550W PSU will not power Crossfire 4890's. You'd want a quality 750W PSU if you really are trying to leave the option of Crossfire 4890's open.

You may also want to consider the HD 5770 as mentioned above.

 

[Guest]

okay i prob get the 5770 for crossfire maybe down the line. I also see that BC2 support direct x11?

can you suggest a good power supply to replace mine? Would you recommend any other changes?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The 4890 performs a bit better, but uses more power, runs hotter, and does not support DX11. You'll have to decide if the performance hit is worth the extras.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3658

Here are some 750W PSU suggestions. The first two are VERY good deals.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000058&Description=antec%20750w&name=Power%20Supplies

 

[Guest]

Thank you shortstuff

here is my final, bout to order now. let me know if i should make some changes, thanks


GPU
SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

drive
Pioneer CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model DVR-218LBK LabelFlash Support - OEM

case
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5

Power
Antec TruePower New TP-750 Blue 750W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE

CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX -

Mobo
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

think i will add a monitor as well, this a good choice?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You don't have any RAM listed. The system will run a little better with RAM installed.

Here's a combo deal for your CPU and some quality G.Skill 1333MHz CAS 7 RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.285910

 

[Guest]

LOL! okay, now i have

GPU
SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported

drive
Pioneer CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model DVR-218LBK LabelFlash Support - OEM

case
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH - Retail

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5

Power
Antec TruePower New TP-750 Blue 750W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE

CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX -

Mobo
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

and it comes to $815, a little more than i wanted to spend. any way to cut cost?

 

[ceron]

Almost identical to the build I intend to order this week. Comboing the mobo and CPU results in a $55 discount. No other combo I could find was able to beat it for those parts.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.295699

 

[dndhatcher]

Drop the CPU to a Phenom II x 720.

Drop the monitor to a 23 inch 1920x1080 (same resolution at smaller size will look more clear anyway).

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You could save some money by going with this case if it comes back in stock soon:

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $49.95

This is a good deal too:

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $54.95 - $20 MIR

You could save a few more bucks by using this DVD burner.

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - OEM $29.99

I wouldn't cut back on the core internal components. The only thing I can think of is to go with the EA750 or even the EA650 if you're that desperate to save some $.

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply - Retail $79.99 - $30 MIR