I could use some gaming rig advice.

[Maverick220]

Ok, so Im brand new to the site and forums first off, I chose this site because the people who post seem really knowledgable.

To get right to the point, I want a gaming pc BAD!

There are so many options it's overwhelming. I dont know what I need/dont need. BUT, I do have a general idea. Im not a total newb when it comes to the hardware components and installing them myself, so building one from scratch is not a problem, heck it's the best way to go. I'll appreciate it all the more.

So, my question is.....

Without spending a fortune, what would it take to build a decent gaming pc, that will simply run the games as they were meant to be played. Im tired of playing games on my current pc with nothing but utter dissapointment, KNOWING what I am missing out on.

I'd appreciate any help/advice I can get. Thanx for you time guys.

[zetachi]

1st off welcome to the forums. If you could post your current specs (go to user cp Edit System Spec
and also post the games you want to play and the $$ you are willing to spend.

That way we have a base to go by.

Thanks

Z

[Maverick220]

My current system is irrelevant, I tried listing the specs in my profile, but there was an error, and I lost all the info, didnt feel like retyping it. It's an intel celeron d processor though.

Im hoping to not spend more than $1,000 dollars.

And the games I like to play are usually First Person Shooters, and mmorpg's. The kind that have high end requirements.

[fords8]

Do you have a Dell or a HP? Or is it something you put together?

EDIT: Also, welcome to the site!

[Maverick220]

It was a built pc, I bought from Office Max, when I used to work there. It's and Acer Aspire. I put a gig of ram into it bringing me to 1.5

I also bought a Nvidia GeForce FX 5500 graphics card for it as well. But, it wont play high end games well, if at all. It's frustrating.

I want a whole new system though.

[fords8]

How about something like this:

Antec 1650 Case with 350W PS (62.00 or so)
Asus Motherboard (M2N-E runs about 100.00)
AMD AM2 3800 DC (runs about 140.00 to 150.00)
1 Gig (2 gig if you have the cash would be cool) (Kingston 2 gig runs around 260.00)
SATA hard drive (250 Gig is pretty cheap now) (SATA2 WD is like 80.00)

So far this added up to 652.00 or so.

7600 or above video card (7900GT would be cool) (MSI 7900GT 256M is around 290.00)

So total this is 942.00 or so. I am sure if you look around, you could save a few bucks here and there.

Hope this helps!

[Maverick220]

What do you think of this setup, my first attempt at a build.

CASE:
Ultra Black Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports And Ultra X2 550-Watt Power Supply ($130)

MOTHERBOARD:
Asus A8N 32-SLI-Deluxe NVIDIA Socket 939 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / SLI / Dual Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / Dual RAID ($180)

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 2.60GHz Dual-Core Processor with Fan ($900)

GRAPHICS CARD:
BFG GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual GPU / 1GB GDDR3 / SLI / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card ($610)

MEMORY:
Corsair TWINX Dual Channel 2048MB PC3500 DDR 433MHz Memory (2x1024MB) ($285)

HARD DRIVE:
Seagate / 320GB / 7200 / 16MB / SATA-300 / OEM / Hard Drive ($110)

DVD DRIVE:
Sony 16x DVD-ROM / Black / Cyberlink Software / DVD Drive ($40)

DVD-RW DRIVE:
Plextor PX-755SA / 16x8x16x DVD+R/RW / 16x6x16x DVD-R/RW / 10x +R DL / 6x -R DL / 48x24x48x CD-R/RW / Black/White Bezels / SATA Internal DVD Burner ($120)

CD-RW DRIVE:
Plextor PX-230A/SW-BL / 52x32x52x CD-RW / Internal / Black / CD Burner ($50)

Monitor:
ViewSonic VX922 / 19" / XTREME 2 ms Response Time / SXGA 1280 x 1024 / Silver-Black / DVI-VGA / Ghost-Free LCD Monitor ($260)

GRAND TOTAL: ($2,685)

[amd5150]

thats a ton of $ for your first build, i'd hate to see something go wrong like drop the CPU and bend some pins or something

[amd5150]

How about something like this:

Antec 1650 Case with 350W PS (62.00 or so)
Asus Motherboard (M2N-E runs about 100.00)
AMD AM2 3800 DC (runs about 140.00 to 150.00)
1 Gig (2 gig if you have the cash would be cool) (Kingston 2 gig runs around 260.00)
SATA hard drive (250 Gig is pretty cheap now) (SATA2 WD is like 80.00)

So far this added up to 652.00 or so.

7600 or above video card (7900GT would be cool) (MSI 7900GT 256M is around 290.00)

So total this is 942.00 or so. I am sure if you look around, you could save a few bucks here and there.

Hope this helps!

go to www.newegg.com
this would be a very good start. and you will never see the dif between what your thinking. + the cost is much lower

[Maverick220]

I know it's a lot of money, but I dont think I will be happy with my system otherwise.

What do you mean about dropping the CPU, you mean like physically dropping it, cause you can bet money on me being super extra careful with all the components =)

Anyway's I was just trying to get feedback of what people thought of the build? Everything seem well put together? Good parts etc. etc.

[amd5150]

Look at the System in "My Profile". I get the same FPS as the system you are looking at in any game and mine was under a grand. just tryin to help ya out.

[Lenny]

You could save a ton of money by buying a less expensive CPU, video card and DVD-RW and yet still have a very fast system. You also may not need the extra DVD-ROM and CD-RW drives which would save another $90. I have the same VX922 monitor and it doesn't ghost at all. I think you'll be happy with that.

Lastly, you might want to look at a different PSU. I don't think Ultra is considered a good quality brand and you don't want to skimp on your power supply.

[My PC is loud]

Is that your dream system or one your actually gonna buy and build cause its way over a grand and thats all you said you wanted to spend.....

[morerandomsn]

i agree with lenny on the PSU. Maximum PC magazine tortured tested some PSUs and the Ultra failed miserably. i'm not sure but i think the cheap generic one they tested might have done better. and i've also seen several threads around the net about the Ultra PSUs dying and taking out some hardware along with it. try something from antec or enermax or several other manufacters that have a good reputation. and if you really want to get something nice you can go with PC Power & Cooling, also the new corsair PSUs are getting very good reviews.

[Maverick220]

First off thanks for all the VERY helpful advice. Especially on the PSU, I didnt realize "Ultra" wasnt the best brand to go with.

Yeah this is pretty much my dream machine, the first post of mine did state I wanted to only spend around a grand but then I got to thinking, if Im gonna do this, I want to do it right. So saving up is key for me.

Now the most expensive part I have on the list is the CPU. I dont know much about them, I kinda just went on price point, which I know isnt a very informative choice. What would be some good choices when considering a cpu, keeping in mind I want somthing above average, that will run my games at a solid framerate with no lag or jitters.

Also on the Video Card. I hear SLI is really good, what should I know about them? Again, wanting somthing above average here as well.

Thanx for the info on the monitor Lenny, seems like a good one.