Building a Gaming Computer [HELP]

Equinox · 12-12-2009, 02:00 PM

Okay, so, I'm a computer scientist, in the stand point that I program, I'm not exactly a hardware buff. I can solder, and assemble computer hardware, but I'm at an impass when it comes to me building a new gaming computer. I find the hardest thing about building a new gaming computer, is selecting the hardware, I need help.

Okay, Here's the layout - Gaming computer to run the latest games, ie, Modern Warfare 2, Unreal Tournament, Fall out 3, and all the other benchmark games, built to run at 1920 x 1200 resolution.

Budget: I'd like to build a computer for 1500 or less, not including monitor, or peripherals, unless that addition that busts the budget, is a must have, like it cooks oven baked cookies for you. PC EZ Bake oven

I haven't built a computer in 6 years, so I'm way out of the game with new technology, and even worse, the computer world is going through a change (FSB speeds switching to Interlink path tech measured in G/Ts, and so on)

I thought I had it all figured out, read a bunch of reviews on best processor for price, find a matching motherboard chipset that performs well, maintain a high FSB speed to match super fast RAM, then find the best single video card for your money that runs on PCI-E x 16. I ended up with

Build List:
CPU: Intel i7 920, 2.66GHz, 4.8 G/Ts Bus speed $269.99
RAM: 6GB
Corsair Dominator 1600MHz (3 x 2GB) $204.98 (also has 20$ mail in rebate)
PSU: Corsair 750W $109.99
MOBO: Asus Rampage II Extreme $364.00
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 5850 1GB $318.00
HD: WD Velociraptor 150GB 10k rpm $149.99
Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14 Ultra Silent CPU Cooler $90.00

total: $1507.00

Monitor: Samsung 23" LED Monitor $318.00

What do you think?

kdo2milger · 12-12-2009, 02:28 PM

have you tried toms hardware website?

its a good place to read decent reviews of the latest hardware

Tom's Hardware: Hardware News, Tests and Reviews

also price shop Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! for your components

ive always built my own machines, but ive always used amd, so i couldnt really help you too much on an intel machine...

vipor · 12-12-2009, 02:42 PM

I've built a few quad core 4+gb machines recently with 24" lcds, and all peripherals w/o going cheap on anything. i'm talkin 80$ keyboards and 60$ mice. >100$ cases and 200$ psupplies. a 1500$ bugdet is easy to make. i'm about to run an errand but when i get back i'll look at some stuff for you.

ChrisSlicks · 12-12-2009, 03:02 PM

You can definitely save some money on a gaming rig by using the previous generation CPU, and there really aren't any games that are truely multi-core enabled yet (or CPU bottle-necked). But from the other side of things, by purchasing the new technology now you will save the hassle of upgrading the motherboard and CPU again in 18 months when the games start to catch up. Quad-core definitely helps out if you are doing other things like video editing, video encoding.

bigaudiofanat · 12-28-2009, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisSlicks

You can definitely save some money on a gaming rig by using the previous generation CPU, and there really aren't any games that are truely multi-core enabled yet (or CPU bottle-necked). But from the other side of things, by purchasing the new technology now you will save the hassle of upgrading the motherboard and CPU again in 18 months when the games start to catch up. Quad-core definitely helps out if you are doing other things like video editing, video encoding.

Also I think that the i7's from intel are sort of overkill on no need for them. I have been with amd for a long time now and still prefer them over intel. They are cheaper and they can be overclocked if wanted or need be.

I also think that computer parts and peoples opinions on them are crazy. Meaning that there are millions of opinions but you should get what you want. My also recommendation is ati but a lot of people say that nvidia has faster ones. Me I know that but I choose to stick with a company that I trust. Not saying that nvidia is bad but I just prefer ati.

alvinmathew88 · 12-12-2009, 02:58 PM

As you know there is no such thing as future-proofing for computers, so try and get the latest stuff, and sell parts before they become obsolete. My 2 cents.

My recommendations:

Processor - i7 (199 @ microcenter)
RAM - Corsair/OCZ 3gb of ram (unless your going 64-bit) then go 6gb (even then, its overkill), speed is dependent upon MOBO & what you want to do for overclocking
Power Supply - seasonic/ corsair power supply (preferably modular for ease)
Motherboard - Gigabyte, MSI, or DFI lanparty Mobo
Graphics Card - ATI 5850 or 5950
HDD - 10k raptor drive as your main, Seagate 7200 rpm hdd any size as your secondary, or if your feeling expensive SSD
OS - XP or Windows 7 (avoid vista) or OS X (technically illegal)
Monitor - avoid TN panel, if you want quality.

Newegg is the best place to get the parts or you can shop around. I didnt check the price, but i just gave your parts you should try and use! If you have more questions ask. I build computers, as a hobby, for elderly, regular household users, and gamers!

Division · 12-12-2009, 03:08 PM

My theory for my last 2 rigs has been buy 1 rev old. Why pay the "tax" on the premium hardware? The money I've saved by buying the 'former top of the line' gear has allowed me to upgrade more frequently - keeping up. Two different theories, but after building two over priced PC's, this approach seems to work better for me.

Some advice- attempt to buy all your stuff from the same site - what you save by shopping around could end up being eaten by shipping and handling fees. Newegg is always my first recommendation- good prices, and more importantly, a solid reputation.

Equinox · 12-12-2009, 03:31 PM

this is some good advice guys - and the shopping aroudn part that I'm doing, I always make sure they have free shipping, so that doesn't hurt me.

As far as Intel and not AMD. I've always been an AMD guy, but AMD also has been keeping up and surpassing, somethings, Intel, but right now, the new FSB interconnect technology is my must have. I've never had a compy with higher than 333 FSB speeds, and I reallly wanna try a 1600MHz FSB compy.

I'm actually gonna have a small (30GB) SSD for the operating system to work on, and a larger 750GB HD 7200 rpm on the side, or 300GB 10k rpm

I plan to do light overclocking to get the 2.6GHz proc up to the 3.X+ range.

A lot of my review serches do actually end up on Tomshardware.com, I used to actually used Hard OCP as my review site ever since my first build, probably back in '98

UPDATE: I threw some more info on the first post as I decide on what I want. I'm using it as a working note pad. I think my hardest decision will come down to GPU and MOBO. I've always loved NVidia, and every review I've read seems to be swayed with bias, like only Radeon, or only NVIDIA.

EVGA nVidia GeForce 275 Superclocked – 896MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0 seems like an option for around 300

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/computing/h...#ixzz0ZVugrOVc

Division · 12-12-2009, 03:49 PM

Since your in CS, you'll appreciate this article Agner`s CPU blog - Stop the instruction set war Some more "food for thought" on the Intel vs AMD war. (warning: Heavy geek content)

The new Western Digital Black drives have been getting some good press lately. I ordered two 1TB drives to replace some aging 500gig drives in my home server. SSD's haven't proven themselves to me yet, still nervous on the read write issues. Speed is one thing, but I'd rather have reliability.

Equinox · 12-12-2009, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Division

Since your in CS, you'll appreciate this article Agner`s CPU blog - Stop the instruction set war Some more "food for thought" on the Intel vs AMD war. (warning: Heavy geek content)

The new Western Digital Black drives have been getting some good press lately. I ordered two 1TB drives to replace some aging 500gig drives in my home server. SSD's haven't proven themselves to me yet, still nervous on the read write issues. Speed is one thing, but I'd rather have reliability.

the read write issues have supposedly been solved with Windows 7's support of the TRIM firmware, and a lot of existed SSD's just update their firmware to have TRIM fix their issues. *goes and reads the geek article, lol*

DIGItonium · 12-12-2009, 06:24 PM

Here's core components of the box I built over a month ago:
CPU: Core i5 750 ($198)
MB: MSI P55M-GD45 ($110)
MEM: 4x2GB G.SKILL DDR3 1333MHz (8GB total for $140)
VID: ATI HD5850 ($254... tee hee, ordered before prices went up)
PSU: Corsair HX650 ($120)
SSD: Intel X25M 80GB GEN2 ($280)

For gaming, I have my computer hooked up to a 1080P HDTV. All of my games run at max settings at 1920x1080. I leave out anti-aliasing since I sit far from the TV. Attached is photo without the graphics card in place.

TipsZ · 12-12-2009, 09:01 PM

Nice build .. what Heatsink are you using? Very clean lay out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DIGItonium

Here's core components of the box I built over a month ago:
CPU: Core i5 750 ($198)
MB: MSI P55M-GD45 ($110)
MEM: 4x2GB G.SKILL DDR3 1333MHz (8GB total for $140)
VID: ATI HD5850 ($254... tee hee, ordered before prices went up)
PSU: Corsair HX650 ($120)
SSD: Intel X25M 80GB GEN2 ($280)

For gaming, I have my computer hooked up to a 1080P HDTV. All of my games run at max settings at 1920x1080. I leave out anti-aliasing since I sit far from the TV. Attached is photo without the graphics card in place.

SmoothZ · 12-12-2009, 06:26 PM

Don't get the GeForce card from PNY. They have crappy heat issues (I should know).

DIGItonium · 12-12-2009, 06:31 PM

In regards to ATI vs. nVidia, new product offerings from ATI made me switch from nVidia. The HD 5850 is a bargain of a card, and it was cheaper than my $300 budget for a gaming video card. The only gripe I have with ATI is the Catalyst Control Center, but I don't notice any issues with the SSD haha.

Seriously, though... I switched back and forth looking for performance bargains as well as power efficiency.

ATI 9700Pro -> GeForce 256 -> X800XL ->X1800GTO2 -> 8800GT G92 -> 8800GTS G92 -> HD 5850... that's everything I've owned since 2000.

alvinmathew88 · 12-12-2009, 08:25 PM

Damn DIG, you just went old school on me, 9700 pro, that was a beast of a card at the time! When ATI > Nvidia! Put ATI on the map!

12-12-2009, 02:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
Equinox Track Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Beaumont, TX Posts: 685 Drives: 06 Porsche Carrera S Rep Power: 18	Building a Gaming Computer [HELP] Okay, so, I'm a computer scientist, in the stand point that I program, I'm not exactly a hardware buff. I can solder, and assemble computer hardware, but I'm at an impass when it comes to me building a new gaming computer. I find the hardest thing about building a new gaming computer, is selecting the hardware, I need help. Okay, Here's the layout - Gaming computer to run the latest games, ie, Modern Warfare 2, Unreal Tournament, Fall out 3, and all the other benchmark games, built to run at 1920 x 1200 resolution. Budget: I'd like to build a computer for 1500 or less, not including monitor, or peripherals, unless that addition that busts the budget, is a must have, like it cooks oven baked cookies for you. PC EZ Bake oven I haven't built a computer in 6 years, so I'm way out of the game with new technology, and even worse, the computer world is going through a change (FSB speeds switching to Interlink path tech measured in G/Ts, and so on) I thought I had it all figured out, read a bunch of reviews on best processor for price, find a matching motherboard chipset that performs well, maintain a high FSB speed to match super fast RAM, then find the best single video card for your money that runs on PCI-E x 16. I ended up with Build List: CPU: Intel i7 920, 2.66GHz, 4.8 G/Ts Bus speed $269.99 RAM: 6GB Corsair Dominator 1600MHz (3 x 2GB) $204.98 (also has 20$ mail in rebate) PSU: Corsair 750W $109.99 MOBO: Asus Rampage II Extreme $364.00 GPU: Sapphire Radeon 5850 1GB $318.00 HD: WD Velociraptor 150GB 10k rpm $149.99 Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14 Ultra Silent CPU Cooler $90.00 total: $1507.00 Monitor: Samsung 23" LED Monitor $318.00 What do you think? __________________ Check out my Albums '13 Subaru WRX STi \| '06 Porsche 911 Carrera S (SOLD) \| '96 Mazda RX-7 6.0L V8 RHD (SOLD) \| '09 Nissan Nismo #0058 (SOLD) Last edited by Equinox; 12-13-2009 at 02:46 AM.

12-12-2009, 02:28 PM	#2 (permalink)
kdo2milger OG Priesthood Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Fargo, ND Posts: 17,859 Drives: NISMO T Rep Power: 60	have you tried toms hardware website? its a good place to read decent reviews of the latest hardware Tom's Hardware: Hardware News, Tests and Reviews also price shop Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! for your components ive always built my own machines, but ive always used amd, so i couldnt really help you too much on an intel machine... __________________ Project *NISMO*

12-12-2009, 02:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
vipor A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Euless, TX [ DFW ] Age: 42 Posts: 13,531 Drives: Nismo 09-0183 QAB Rep Power: 49	I've built a few quad core 4+gb machines recently with 24" lcds, and all peripherals w/o going cheap on anything. i'm talkin 80$ keyboards and 60$ mice. >100$ cases and 200$ psupplies. a 1500$ bugdet is easy to make. i'm about to run an errand but when i get back i'll look at some stuff for you. __________________ 2009 NISMO # 0193 \| QAB \| Albums! \| 05.04.10 (Dynojet) 291.94hp/248.28tq Oil Cooler (DIY) \| Custom Headlights \| GTSPEC Braces \| F.I. Long Tube Headers

12-12-2009, 03:31 PM	#8 (permalink)
Equinox Track Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Beaumont, TX Posts: 685 Drives: 06 Porsche Carrera S Rep Power: 18	this is some good advice guys - and the shopping aroudn part that I'm doing, I always make sure they have free shipping, so that doesn't hurt me. As far as Intel and not AMD. I've always been an AMD guy, but AMD also has been keeping up and surpassing, somethings, Intel, but right now, the new FSB interconnect technology is my must have. I've never had a compy with higher than 333 FSB speeds, and I reallly wanna try a 1600MHz FSB compy. I'm actually gonna have a small (30GB) SSD for the operating system to work on, and a larger 750GB HD 7200 rpm on the side, or 300GB 10k rpm I plan to do light overclocking to get the 2.6GHz proc up to the 3.X+ range. A lot of my review serches do actually end up on Tomshardware.com, I used to actually used Hard OCP as my review site ever since my first build, probably back in '98 UPDATE: I threw some more info on the first post as I decide on what I want. I'm using it as a working note pad. I think my hardest decision will come down to GPU and MOBO. I've always loved NVidia, and every review I've read seems to be swayed with bias, like only Radeon, or only NVIDIA. EVGA nVidia GeForce 275 Superclocked – 896MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0 seems like an option for around 300 Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/computing/h...#ixzz0ZVugrOVc __________________ Check out my Albums '13 Subaru WRX STi \| '06 Porsche 911 Carrera S (SOLD) \| '96 Mazda RX-7 6.0L V8 RHD (SOLD) \| '09 Nissan Nismo #0058 (SOLD) Last edited by Equinox; 12-12-2009 at 03:51 PM.

12-12-2009, 06:24 PM	#11 (permalink)
DIGItonium A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Kansas Posts: 3,800 Drives: 09 Z34-TT 6MT Rep Power: 43	Here's core components of the box I built over a month ago: CPU: Core i5 750 ($198) MB: MSI P55M-GD45 ($110) MEM: 4x2GB G.SKILL DDR3 1333MHz (8GB total for $140) VID: ATI HD5850 ($254... tee hee, ordered before prices went up) PSU: Corsair HX650 ($120) SSD: Intel X25M 80GB GEN2 ($280) For gaming, I have my computer hooked up to a 1080P HDTV. All of my games run at max settings at 1920x1080. I leave out anti-aliasing since I sit far from the TV. Attached is photo without the graphics card in place. __________________ Last edited by DIGItonium; 07-06-2010 at 06:03 PM.

12-12-2009, 03:02 PM	#4 (permalink)
ChrisSlicks A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: North East Posts: 6,203 Drives: 09 370Z Sport M6 Rep Power: 654	You can definitely save some money on a gaming rig by using the previous generation CPU, and there really aren't any games that are truely multi-core enabled yet (or CPU bottle-necked). But from the other side of things, by purchasing the new technology now you will save the hassle of upgrading the motherboard and CPU again in 18 months when the games start to catch up. Quad-core definitely helps out if you are doing other things like video editing, video encoding.

12-12-2009, 02:58 PM	#6 (permalink)
alvinmathew88 Enthusiast Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Irving, TX Posts: 268 Drives: 97 Civic Ex Coupe Rep Power: 17	As you know there is no such thing as future-proofing for computers, so try and get the latest stuff, and sell parts before they become obsolete. My 2 cents. My recommendations: Processor - i7 (199 @ microcenter) RAM - Corsair/OCZ 3gb of ram (unless your going 64-bit) then go 6gb (even then, its overkill), speed is dependent upon MOBO & what you want to do for overclocking Power Supply - seasonic/ corsair power supply (preferably modular for ease) Motherboard - Gigabyte, MSI, or DFI lanparty Mobo Graphics Card - ATI 5850 or 5950 HDD - 10k raptor drive as your main, Seagate 7200 rpm hdd any size as your secondary, or if your feeling expensive SSD OS - XP or Windows 7 (avoid vista) or OS X (technically illegal) Monitor - avoid TN panel, if you want quality. Newegg is the best place to get the parts or you can shop around. I didnt check the price, but i just gave your parts you should try and use! If you have more questions ask. I build computers, as a hobby, for elderly, regular household users, and gamers!

12-12-2009, 03:08 PM	#7 (permalink)
Division Base Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Central FL Posts: 199 Drives: 2009 370Z Sport Rep Power: 16	My theory for my last 2 rigs has been buy 1 rev old. Why pay the "tax" on the premium hardware? The money I've saved by buying the 'former top of the line' gear has allowed me to upgrade more frequently - keeping up. Two different theories, but after building two over priced PC's, this approach seems to work better for me. Some advice- attempt to buy all your stuff from the same site - what you save by shopping around could end up being eaten by shipping and handling fees. Newegg is always my first recommendation- good prices, and more importantly, a solid reputation.

12-12-2009, 03:49 PM	#9 (permalink)
Division Base Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Central FL Posts: 199 Drives: 2009 370Z Sport Rep Power: 16	Since your in CS, you'll appreciate this article Agner`s CPU blog - Stop the instruction set war Some more "food for thought" on the Intel vs AMD war. (warning: Heavy geek content) The new Western Digital Black drives have been getting some good press lately. I ordered two 1TB drives to replace some aging 500gig drives in my home server. SSD's haven't proven themselves to me yet, still nervous on the read write issues. Speed is one thing, but I'd rather have reliability.

12-12-2009, 06:26 PM	#13 (permalink)
SmoothZ A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Arrakis Posts: 7,952 Drives: giant sandworm Rep Power: 36	Don't get the GeForce card from PNY. They have crappy heat issues (I should know). __________________ "Once you go Asian, you never go Caucasian." "I talk to myself, and when I do that, I know I'm talking to an intelligent person."

12-12-2009, 06:31 PM	#14 (permalink)
DIGItonium A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Kansas Posts: 3,800 Drives: 09 Z34-TT 6MT Rep Power: 43	In regards to ATI vs. nVidia, new product offerings from ATI made me switch from nVidia. The HD 5850 is a bargain of a card, and it was cheaper than my $300 budget for a gaming video card. The only gripe I have with ATI is the Catalyst Control Center, but I don't notice any issues with the SSD haha. Seriously, though... I switched back and forth looking for performance bargains as well as power efficiency. ATI 9700Pro -> GeForce 256 -> X800XL ->X1800GTO2 -> 8800GT G92 -> 8800GTS G92 -> HD 5850... that's everything I've owned since 2000. __________________

12-12-2009, 08:25 PM	#15 (permalink)
alvinmathew88 Enthusiast Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Irving, TX Posts: 268 Drives: 97 Civic Ex Coupe Rep Power: 17	Damn DIG, you just went old school on me, 9700 pro, that was a beast of a card at the time! When ATI > Nvidia! Put ATI on the map!

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