$2000 Gaming Build

[Powerslave]

Things I would do...

Change the GPU to Nvidia
Cheaper sound card
Get a 3700+ or X2 4400+

Would you now......I'm sure I wouldn't, and so would the rest of tf's population.

 

[Istasi]

Why the heck would he want to change the GPU to Nvidia? Thats one of the most ridiculous comments I've heard in a while...

Looks great, go for it. Nice pick on the X-Fi but you need good speakers, or a nice headset to get the most out of it.

I've got some fairly nice speakers (Logitech z5300e) and excellent headphones (Sennheiser HD595) so I think I'll be able to take advantage of the sound card.

Thanks for reaffirming that this is a solid build guys. I'll probably be ordering it tonight.

 

[Ridlyn]

IF you can afford it, i recommend buying the X2 4400+ instead, then oc it to a 4800+

 

[Unknown Envy]

Thats what Im planning to do..

 

[BennyV04988]

Buy a nVIDIA! eVGA has a step-up program that allows you to trade in the card before 90 days after the purchase. And you can OC w/o voiding the warranty! wow!

So basically buy anything you want from eVGA and then trade it in for the difference by snagging a G80 which we all know will own the XT/Xs. Anyone follow this train of though??? the G71 and G80 should be out within 3 months. or atleast the G71. Doesn't look like either will support DX10 yet though. so ya...

 

[ShoobieRat]

Anyone follow this train of though???

No, sorry, your train of "though" must have missed me. Anyway, I thoughT you should probably have a look at the trade-in policy from eVGA. I very much doubt they'd shoot themselves in the foot like that.

 

[Istasi]

Alright, I changed it around a bit. Here are the major changes:
Switched from DFI Ultra-D to MSI neo4 Platinum (the board I originally wanted)
Switched from an X2 to an Opteron (cheaper, larger L2 cache)
Upped the monitor size to 19"

Mobo: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum ATX AMD Motherboard
$118.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813130484

CPU: AMD Opteron 165 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor
$325.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103588

GPU: POWERCOLOR Radeon X1900XT 1900XT512MB retail Video Card
$534.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814131005

RAM: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model F1-3200PHU2-2GBNS
$169.00
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231047

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$110
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822144701

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
$121.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16829102188

Case: Antec Performance I P180 Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$124.99 (-$10.00 instant savings) = $114.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129154

Monitor: HYUNDAI L90D+ Silver 19" 8ms LCD Monitor
$299.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824179014

PSU: Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 550W Power Supply
$118
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817103941

Floppy Drive: SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
$9.45
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16821103203

Keyboard: Logitech Ultra X 2-Tone Wired Keyboard
$19.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16823126135

Mouse: Logitech MX518 2-Tone Mouse
$38.89 (-$5.00 instant savings) = $33.89
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16826104178

Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
$5.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835100007

Heatsink: Scythe SCNJ-1000 CPU Cooling Heatsink
$39.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835185122

Fans: Xoxide OEM Silent 120mm Fan x2 (These are re-branded Yate-Loons so they should be very quiet)
$12.00
http://www.xoxide.com/xoxide-120mm-silent-fan.html

Total: $2,027.15

I'm going to order in a few hours, so if any has suggestions, speak now or forever hold your peace (well, at least until I get more money to upgrade.)

 

[BennyV04988]

No, sorry, your train of "though" must have missed me. Anyway, I thoughT you should probably have a look at the trade-in policy from eVGA. I very much doubt they'd shoot themselves in the foot like that.

Well maybe YOU should have a look...

eVGA "Step-Up" Policy (Terms and Conditions)

and I quote...

"Your purchase price will be reduced by the amount equal to the original purchase price of the graphics card that you are trading in. Because this value is initially entered by you, it will be subject for review by EVGA - who may elect to add or remove additional charges based on the accuracy of the original application. Also, the Step-Up upgrade cannot be used with any other offers or promotions."

What's not to love about that? And overclocking is covered in the lifetime warranty...have a look at THAT too.

eVGA Lifetime Warranty

and I quote...

"There is no physical damage to the PCB, GPU/chipset, or components"

 

[Istasi]

I'm going to pull the trigger on this in about an hour. Any final comments?

 

[Vybuni]

What happened to the Saitek keyboard?