Help me build a rig

E

e MpTy

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I will be starting work soon and I'm going to get this computer store to build me a gaming rig, the thing is.. I'm out of date, I have'nt built a single computer in over 4 years.

So help me build a gaming rig for under 1200 dollers, I know what video cards are best but when it comes to ram/mb/cpu I am at a loss, everytime I think I researched enough on those hardware I find some annoying bug or a manufacturer defect untill after I have bought it >.<

So help me out here whats good for gaming?
 
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CPU: Intel Core i7 920 - $200 microcenter, $280 everywhere else
Mobo: Asus P6T - $~230, you can opt for cheaper ones if you want like MSI or Foxconn
RAM: Any decent DDR3 priced ram 6gb or more - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220369
you can go with watever ram you would like though, just get one thats decent and can overclock well if you want it to.
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 (I have this and highly recommend it)
Hard Drive: Any hard drives you want, SSD if you want ultimate performance + regular hard drive for storage
Heatsink: Prolimatech Megahalem for ultimate heatsink performance, Swiftech water-cooling kit if you want water-cooling.
Graphics Cards: Go with an ATI 5870 when they come back into stock and become cheaper.

This setup is pretty much maxing your budget i would have to say. Downgrading the GPU to an ATI 5850 will save you some money.
 
I have a rig picked out for myself that I'm ordering in a few days, including mouse and keyboard., it's $11190, with $80 worth of mail in rebates.

If you're interested, I could post the setup.
 
Putty said:
I have a rig picked out for myself that I'm ordering in a few days, including mouse and keyboard., it's $11190, with $80 worth of mail in rebates.

If you're interested, I could post the setup.
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An $11,000 rig?:O

I think you have an extra 1.:P
 
RedOne said:
Go to www.newegg.com and www.zipzoomfly.com to pick out your hardware. I always like to look at Alienware to see what they put in their rigs. Lots of times you can build the same rig for less going through these sites.
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This is very true my one rig cost $1500 instead of Alienware's $4000 rig. I suggest buying Nvida right now. As well as AMD processors and motherboards to cut cost but not performance.
 
How much money you looking to spend.. If your jsut looking for something that runs the games and is still very quick, I just built a Dual Core for a lady with a 9800GTX for 7 hundred bux.. 4 gig, 500 Gig, Lian Li case, Modular PS 730, Intel Extreme Mobo, and 2 burners..
809 total with shiping..

So I guess it al depends on what you wish to spend..

Look on Newegg for there one day sales or Combo deals.. Sometimes you can REALLY get some deals.
 
For hard drive, the 300g velociraptors are a nice drive. Not as fast as a SSD, but a nice balance between performance and capacity. With games typically installing 8+g of files each, an 80g SSD goes fast.

I use a pair of them in RAID-0 for my apps/games.

The WD black 640g drives are a nice deal in the ~$60 range.

At Newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-322-_-Product

Use coupon # EMCMMML52, for $199 and free shipping.
 
i7 920- 200
x58-ud3r 190
Any HDD for storage 50
intel 80GB SSD 250
BFG GTX260 170
OCZ 1600 RAM 150
CM RC690 70
cpu cooler CM V8 50
ACER 23" 1080p 160
DVDRW 30
corsair tx750 PSU 110
win 7 110
This total comes to $1540 with an Intel SSD . Worth the $250 if ur building a machine like this.
Without it puts u at $1290

All prices come microcenter excluding the case, PSU, and SSD. Case and PSU are from newegg, you may need to look around a bit to get the SSD at that price
 
dbee said:
i7 920- 200
x58-ud3r 190
Any HDD for storage 50
intel 80GB SSD 250
BFG GTX260 170
OCZ 1600 RAM 150
CM RC690 70
cpu cooler CM V8 50
ACER 23" 1080p 160
DVDRW 30
corsair tx750 PSU 110
win 7 110
This total comes to $1540 with an Intel SSD . Worth the $250 if ur building a machine like this.
Without it puts u at $1290

All prices come microcenter excluding the case, PSU, and SSD. Case and PSU are from newegg, you may need to look around a bit to get the SSD at that price
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250 on a solid state drive and 170 for the video card? That just doesn't make sense in a gaming rig.
 
V8 cooler sucks tbh. Get the Hyper 212+ for cheaper plus it's alot better. SSD effects load times and how long it takes to download games. For MMOs it can effect how quick you load textures but not so much in FPS. Other than that it makes you OS load very quick, but at your price range not worth it ATM.

Definitly get i7 920 and OC it to at least 3.6ghz.
For a MOBO AsRock has a good value one.
PSU go for Corsair TX750.
Graphics card get a ATI Radeon 5850. Crossfire down the road.
Case get HAF 922.
HDD get Samsung Spinpoint F3, 1TB.
Monitor Asus 25.5" go to Bing Shopping then pick ZipZoomFly use that plus EbillMe.
For ram get OCZ Platinum 3x2 GB. Use Micro Center Walk In Deals, Newegg and ZipZoomFly. Total should be around $1250-1300.
 
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Ryken said:
250 on a solid state drive and 170 for the video card? That just doesn't make sense in a gaming rig.
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Agreed kinda.........its definitely not worth it to get a GTX 260 for $170......and its really not a good idea to get the old cards now unless they're dirt cheap. The old cards have actually gotten more expensive though :glare:
I say new ATI 5800 series or get a cheap card to be a placeholder till you upgrade to a newer one considering you want a better card like the GTX 300 series or ATI 5800 series. The GTX 300 are expected to come out next year now from what they've said, atleast january 2010.
 
Point being of the SSD is when building something such as an i7 @ 4ghz, your HDD is the bottleneck. So really, whether your clocked stock , or to 4ghz + , your likely not going to see a huge improvement without the SSD. I know this because i have one myself and have done test upon test . Torque, SSD's do not affect download times. They do affect load times as you said, if you would look up the performance stats on one, you will see its more than a faster OS and load times. And please notice i noted the SSD as optional , if u want total speed from your i7.

Something more reasonable would be a 4800 series card instead of the GTX 260, dunno why everyone's hatin on it so much. a 5870 series card would run $400 at the moment, if you can find one in stock and the 5850 at $300. With what i posted , thats gonna put him way over his budget. Tell the guy to wait for Nvidia's new lineup, hes likely to spend $500 on one of those at release.

V8 does not suck, maybe compared to others it does. I use the Noctua myself but do have friends using v8's with great success.
 
All this and it still does not include a $50 gaming mouse, $80 keyboard, and a say $100 set of speakers. Keep in mind dude has a budget.
 
Main idea

e MpTy said:
I will be starting work soon and I'm going to get this computer store to build me a gaming rig, the thing is.. I'm out of date, I have'nt built a single computer in over 4 years.

So help me build a gaming rig for under 1200 dollers, I know what video cards are best but when it comes to ram/mb/cpu I am at a loss, everytime I think I researched enough on those hardware I find some annoying bug or a manufacturer defect untill after I have bought it >.<

So help me out here whats good for gaming?
Click to expand...

Seems we lost the point of this thread, e Mpty knows what he's looking for in the graphics department. He is concerned about RAM , MOBO , CPU .

Those three pieces i would get from Microcenter if you have one close by. If somethings wrong, simply take it back and swap it out. No need to mail back and forth and wait , then wait some more. The CPU alone at MC is $80 cheaper than NE.

Good luck e Mpty! Build that beast!
 
PewPewBangBang said:
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 - $200 microcenter, $280 everywhere else
Mobo: Asus P6T - $~230, you can opt for cheaper ones if you want like MSI or Foxconn
RAM: Any decent DDR3 priced ram 6gb or more - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220369
you can go with watever ram you would like though, just get one thats decent and can overclock well if you want it to.
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 (I have this and highly recommend it)
Hard Drive: Any hard drives you want, SSD if you want ultimate performance + regular hard drive for storage
Heatsink: Prolimatech Megahalem for ultimate heatsink performance, Swiftech water-cooling kit if you want water-cooling.
Graphics Cards: Go with an ATI 5870 when they come back into stock and become cheaper.

This setup is pretty much maxing your budget i would have to say. Downgrading the GPU to an ATI 5850 will save you some money.
Click to expand...

If I had to choose between all these builds I've read, I'd go with this, if you wanna save some money go with an ATI Deneb 3.4 GHz QC chip instead of the i7, but I'm more of an AMD ATI guy, but yea, the i7 is the best... But you can't go wrong with an ATI card, I'm using a 4870 ATM and it's wicked...

!up pewpew
 
Theres we go, AMD is an option. You can get the tri-core phenom II BE 720 for 120 and a gigabyte 770 mobo for 80, i bought that combo for a good friend of mine and he topped it off with a V8 cooler, yes the V8 , had her clocked to 3.6 with ridiculously low temps. Really made me a bit jealous . You also save some dough on the RAM, Take your savings from everything and get that 5850/5870 .
 
I've got a ton of storage space now. 3 Tb total now and filling up with home movies and such. Building a rig is a ton of fun too, though. This last build was with one of the Extreme Intel MB with a Wolfdale cpu. Plus, I decided on Crossfire instead of Dual SLI. Just for fun.

Get around 200+ fps on CS:S. And still get head-shotted by better folks than I ?!?!?

Cheers,
Whishabe.
 
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