Building New PC For College/Gaming

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ssbaudi

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Hello Tech Forums!

I just got done reading all of the PC building guides and while I was hoping to find answers to my questions in the "recommended builds" thread, It seems the components on there were a bit outdated.

Anyways, I'm currently on an ancient dell dimension 4600 and was looking to upgrade to a newer dell, hp, etc tower. I quickly noticed that the prices got pretty high, higher than i'm willing to pay. So I turned to building it myself.

Currently, I have 1000 dollars in the bank and some parts laying around (antec truepowerII 550 watt power supply and a nice sony optical drive) that I would hopefully be able to move over to the new project. Optimally I would like to have the same specs that HP wanted $1,300+ for for under $800 or less, if possible. That would give me more money for say, a new monitor in the future.

I guess i'm just looking for a personalized build from you guys because you know a lot more than I do and I feel a bit overwhelmed when browsing newegg. I'm obviously going to need it as a general use PC but I would like to make it a little future proof as not to be outdated in a year or two, and to do some causal+some gaming (source games, Call Of Duty 4). Oh, and I would probably like to have a nice sound card, unless that is unnecessary for 2.1 speakers. Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Here is a dynamite gaming system that I just built with a budget of $1000. All parts were from Newegg. I am very happy with the system. I could have saved some money on a cheaper power supply and case. Hope it gives you some ideas for your system. I forgot I returned the Kingston memory for crucial ballistix DDR2 800 (2 x 2gb)

Enjoy.

Invoice Summary:
1 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148262 $54.99
1 Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KHX6400D2LLK2/4GR - Retail
Item #: N82E16820104043 $60.99
1 Microsoft Windows XP Home SP3 for System Builders - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116511 $89.99
1 ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835186134 $26.99
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115037 $164.99
1 COOLER MASTER Mystique RC-632S-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum/ SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119129 $79.99
1 GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128359 $119.99
1 CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139001 $109.99
1 Palit XAE/48500+T352 Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814261027 $169.99
1 SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q - OEM
Item #: N82E16827151173 $28.99
Subtotal $906.90
Tax $65.75
UPS 3 DAYS $30.18
Order Total $1,002.83
 
Thanks for the list, there are a few things on there that I will pick up for sure. A roommate of mine is a pc builder and he is going to help me set this build up, but he has been recommending AMD processors over the intel options that I am specing out. What should I do here? also - operating system wise... vista or xp?
 
choose whatever you like, there is nothing wrong with either AMD or Intel.

some like Vista some like XP, once again personal preference.
 
dmj, that video card you suggested says it is deactivated on newegg... whats another sensible option?
 
I would just search on Newegg for the HD 4850 and list all the results by best rating. There are a number of video cards that all use the same chip. They are all pretty similar, but find one that has gotten many excellent reviews. Just read the reviews and you will be able to find out which ones perform well and are relatively cool and quiet. Remember, your power supply for this card should be at least 450 watts and have at least one 6 pin output to plug into the video card.

XP is definitely snappier, but Vista does look prettier and DX 10 (which comes with Vista) does look a little nicer in games. I choose XP because I play a lot of older games that may not work well on Vista. Another good source. . . look on AnandTech: your source for hardware analysis and news They have a system builders guide with some good suggestions and prices.
 
Hey, thanks for all your help, i'm almost done with the build. One more question - is it worth the extra 40 bucks to have 1gb of memory in the 4850?

Thanks!
 
I switched out the ram he had for some OCZ in my setup - i'll show you all what I have so far

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129042

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148261

SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814102810

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Item #: N82E16835100007

OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Model OCZ2RPR800C44GK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820227267

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128359

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115017

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders OEM
Item #: N82E16832116488

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835186134

Price - $730 with 3 day shipping.

is this a good build? How much better is the G.Skill ram than the OCZ? (I'm using my antec TP-II 550 for now, and i'll throw in an extra 7200rpm hdd from my old computer)
 
im not sure if ur saying u bought all that already but if u havnt u'll want to change a few things:

replace your heatsink with this:
Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks
it also comes with tx-2 thermal paste, the best u can get, so drop the artic silver 5

i storngly reccomend u get this motherboard instead of the one u have selected:
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TPower I45 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
if it cost to much this is also very good:
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

if the ocz ram u have selected is this:
Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
then its ok, but the gskill still has lower timings, witch is better.

ull want to change your hard drive to this, its a better hd, and twice the space, and doesnt cost too much more:
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

if ur wanting to overclock, or thinking about it u dont want to get a q6600 right now, look into the e8500 or q9450

u will want to get a 1gb 4870, i always reccomend the powercolor one to everyone cuz it comes with a awesome aftermarket cooler:
Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR AX4870 1GBD5-PPH Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards


this pc might be cutting it close for a antec 550 especially if ur wanting it overclock.
i would recommend a corsair 650 for this build:
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies
 
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