So, I've been a laptop guy for years and I'm being shamed, this time around, into building a proper gaming rig. Any advice you could offer on this would be greatly appreciated!
My objective is to spend about $1200, all-inclusive-- so, about $830-ish on actual system things. My plan was to just take the System Builder Marathon $600 rig, upgrade to 8 GB of RAM and a 60GB SSD for Windows and Photoshop. This ran into trouble.
The motherboard lists some kind of SSD warning on its website: "While you set up an SSD with ACHI mode, for performance and stability, we suggest you enable hot plug for better system warning." As I know almost nothing about motherboards, this frightened me off and I grabbed one from a semi-random recommendation on the forums.
The Xigmatek Asgard II B/B case also appears to have been discontinued. I replaced it with a recommended Xigmatek Asgard II B/B CPC-T45UC-U01 though I prefer the aesthetics on something like a NZXT Technologies Source 210 Computer Case (White). On top of that, I pretty consistently had trouble matching the prices quoted in the System Builder Marathon exactly, eating away at my margin.
Do I really need no sound card now? What about a networking card?
Video Card
Sapphire 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1 GB $190
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004H8C2XO/ref=asc_df_B004H8C2XO1850921?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=pg-469-34-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395097&creativeASIN=B004H8C2XO
CPU
Intel Core i5-2400 $190
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-2400-Socket-LGA1155-Processor/dp/B004EBUXIA
Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500 GB SATA 6Gb/s $72
http://www.amazon.com/Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-Bare-OEM-ST3250312AS/dp/B004IZN492
SSD
Samsung 830 64 GB 830 $128
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064XAJVC/ref=asc_df_B0064XAJVC1851675?smid=AZ8ZZL30AH7DI&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B0064XAJVC
Optical
Samsung 22x DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222AB $29
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Internal-Writer-SH-S222A-BEBE/dp/B001IAMU2W/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1326015327&sr=1-1
Monitor
ASUS VE276Q 27" LCD Monitor 2 ms - 16:9 - Adjustable Display Angle - 1920 x 1080 - 16.7 Million Colors - 300 Nit - 100000:1 - Speakers - DVI - HDMI - VGA - Black - RoHS, WEEE $270
http://www.nothingbutsoftware.com/catalog_type.asp?ProductCode=132133&ai=1550
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 $99
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=sr_1_1?s=software&ie=UTF8&qid=1326005170&sr=1-1
Power
Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD platforms - CMPSU-650TXV2 $90
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Enthusiast-Certified-Compatible-platforms/dp/B004LB5AZY
Case
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan $50
http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-CHALLENGER-Computer-Fans-1x-Fans-2x/dp/B003YVJJ5Y
Networking
300Mbps Lan 802.11 n/g/b Wireless Wifi Network PCI Card $26
http://www.amazon.com/300Mbps-802-11-Wireless-Wifi-Network/dp/B003OZG5NE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1326014180&sr=8-3
Motherboard
ASRock H61M/U3S3 Intel H61 Micro ATX DDR3 1333 Motherboard $75
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-H61M-U3S3-Intel-Motherboard/dp/B004S0CTNE
Memory
Corsair 8GB 1333mhz PC3-10666 204-pin DDR3 SODIMM Laptop Memory Kit CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9 $40
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-1333mhz-PC3-10666-204-pin-CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9/dp/B002YUF8ZG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1326015520&sr=1-1
For a total of $1259.
(It occurs to me that I'm only inches away from just being better off abandoning the build entirely and getting http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/iBUYPOWER_HS_11 -- except for tax)
My objective is to spend about $1200, all-inclusive-- so, about $830-ish on actual system things. My plan was to just take the System Builder Marathon $600 rig, upgrade to 8 GB of RAM and a 60GB SSD for Windows and Photoshop. This ran into trouble.
The motherboard lists some kind of SSD warning on its website: "While you set up an SSD with ACHI mode, for performance and stability, we suggest you enable hot plug for better system warning." As I know almost nothing about motherboards, this frightened me off and I grabbed one from a semi-random recommendation on the forums.
The Xigmatek Asgard II B/B case also appears to have been discontinued. I replaced it with a recommended Xigmatek Asgard II B/B CPC-T45UC-U01 though I prefer the aesthetics on something like a NZXT Technologies Source 210 Computer Case (White). On top of that, I pretty consistently had trouble matching the prices quoted in the System Builder Marathon exactly, eating away at my margin.
Do I really need no sound card now? What about a networking card?
Video Card
Sapphire 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1 GB $190
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004H8C2XO/ref=asc_df_B004H8C2XO1850921?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=pg-469-34-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395097&creativeASIN=B004H8C2XO
CPU
Intel Core i5-2400 $190
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-2400-Socket-LGA1155-Processor/dp/B004EBUXIA
Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500 GB SATA 6Gb/s $72
http://www.amazon.com/Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-Bare-OEM-ST3250312AS/dp/B004IZN492
SSD
Samsung 830 64 GB 830 $128
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064XAJVC/ref=asc_df_B0064XAJVC1851675?smid=AZ8ZZL30AH7DI&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B0064XAJVC
Optical
Samsung 22x DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222AB $29
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Internal-Writer-SH-S222A-BEBE/dp/B001IAMU2W/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1326015327&sr=1-1
Monitor
ASUS VE276Q 27" LCD Monitor 2 ms - 16:9 - Adjustable Display Angle - 1920 x 1080 - 16.7 Million Colors - 300 Nit - 100000:1 - Speakers - DVI - HDMI - VGA - Black - RoHS, WEEE $270
http://www.nothingbutsoftware.com/catalog_type.asp?ProductCode=132133&ai=1550
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 $99
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=sr_1_1?s=software&ie=UTF8&qid=1326005170&sr=1-1
Power
Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD platforms - CMPSU-650TXV2 $90
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Enthusiast-Certified-Compatible-platforms/dp/B004LB5AZY
Case
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan $50
http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-CHALLENGER-Computer-Fans-1x-Fans-2x/dp/B003YVJJ5Y
Networking
300Mbps Lan 802.11 n/g/b Wireless Wifi Network PCI Card $26
http://www.amazon.com/300Mbps-802-11-Wireless-Wifi-Network/dp/B003OZG5NE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1326014180&sr=8-3
Motherboard
ASRock H61M/U3S3 Intel H61 Micro ATX DDR3 1333 Motherboard $75
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-H61M-U3S3-Intel-Motherboard/dp/B004S0CTNE
Memory
Corsair 8GB 1333mhz PC3-10666 204-pin DDR3 SODIMM Laptop Memory Kit CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9 $40
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-1333mhz-PC3-10666-204-pin-CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9/dp/B002YUF8ZG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1326015520&sr=1-1
For a total of $1259.
(It occurs to me that I'm only inches away from just being better off abandoning the build entirely and getting http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/iBUYPOWER_HS_11 -- except for tax)
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