Gaming PC needed--Build or Buy

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I manage to drive down the cost to $1,269.99 total including shipping but not taxes. I've decided on the 9GB DDR3 Tri-channel RAM config, the i7 920 CPU, and the 1.8GB Geforce GTX 260. I thought about RAID0 config but decided not to deal with the hassle for a small % gain. The price also includes Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. I've decided to wait two more weeks to order this, but hopefully prices won't change that dramatically. I may upgrade the video card to something better down the line, but the CPU was a big decision. The i7 950 was a hefty $300 more for a mere performance gain. THere are new lines of CPUs coming out but I don't want to play the waiting game anymore. I've waited long enough. That's the computer world for you. As soon as you get something, there will always be something better and faster coming out in a few months. Oh well, what can we do right? Unless you have tons of money to spend.

I chose the higher RAM count because my laptop was spiking near 4GB for a period of time while I have my programs open. I'm sure 9GB will give me plenty of headroom for intense game playing, recording studio, and running Adobe Premier at the same time side by side.

Overall, pretty good for the price? I also included memory card reader, a 750GB SATA 3Gb/s drive (may consider the Raptor drive), and Dolby Digital sound integrated on a 7.1 surround soundchip on the motherboard.
 
Forget the Raptor. The WB Blacks are about as fast for loads less. Seriously.

9GB of RAM? I am guessing 3 x 2GB and 3 x 1GB? If you want to throw money at it, go right ahead. Unless you are doing some serious editing or encoding it won't make a difference.

Oh , and for Pete's sake, DO NOT BUY A LG OPTICAL DRIVE!!! They are garbage and die very quickly. And forget a RMA... it is always your fault no matter what happens. Grab a LiteOn or a Sony or something.
 
I've been using my new customized HP Elite gaming PC and it's fast. I forgot how quiet a desktop PC can truly be since all my previous ones were mostly loud. They did a great job designing it. One thing I hate about it is that it uses a mATX motherboard and has all these stupid expansion hard drive slots on the outside of the case. Well, they're inside, but you can stick them in from the outside. To make it worse, you have to use their specified media drive, not just any ordinary external or internal drive.

The i7 line is definitely best for gaming so unless you plan to do anything else otherwise, I'm sure the i5 is adequate. I can immediately see the difference in gaming experience compared to my old PC. Fast load times, smoother graphics, more shading. Windows 7 is the best OS to date. Very nice features that make navigating a busy Desktop with ease. I love what Microsoft did to it.

On a final note, if you want to save money on a gaming PC, it's probably better that you buy a premade system through some manufacturer than doing it yourself. With the specs I have, I would've spent at least $600-$800 more!!!! That's money saved. Plus, I got a lot of nice hardware included like the memory card readers, upgraded high speed RAM, Windows 7 (never use the crack version because they're so unstable--always purchase), free keyboard and mouse, Norton IS 2010 for 15 months, TV tuner w/remote lol. Plus, the video card and motherboard supports HDMI so I can hook it up to HD!!!!! It has several eSATA ports too. The back and front are loaded with USB ports and audio/component ports. All that for just under $1,264!! After I configured everything from Newegg for a complete build, my lists went way over that price limit. That includes everything from a good PC case, power supply, down to the nitty gritty components inside the case .....but I do lose the satisfaction of picking out my own high performance parts though. I guess that's the sacrifice you give for a cheaper PC---but all in all, it's fast, plays games extremely well, and best of all, it has updated hardware and software for the future-proofing. At least for the next 4-5 years anyways :p.
 
How did you work out 9GBs of ram? I'm not familiar with 3Gb sticks.

I don't really get what happened there... so you ended up building? If so, congrats.
 
Just to echo what 90% of the forum will say: build it yourself it's far more satisfying and cost effective. However it can be quite a hair raising experience if you haven't built before and have little experience in computer hardware.

+1
buliding your fisrt computer (which i did two mounths ago) can be pretty fraustrating and if you dotn do you reseach can cost you money, even so, its a worth while learning expireance and although i ran into a lot of trouble i was so happy when it was all up and running, it made all my trouble worth while
 
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