budget gaming computer

[elemith]

I need help with the design and I dont want to break my bank. I would like to hit a sweet spot between price and performance. Here are some starting ideas but I don't know much about brands so advice is appreciated!

gc: 8800 GTS 512
cpu: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor 2.40GHz

 

[stalin90]

for the video card brand get either evga or xfx, look at there warrenties and then decide wats better for you.

for motherboard it depends if you want to sli down the line.
sli: evga 680i A1 or 780i

non sli:
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R
ABIT IX38 Quad GT


psu:
CORSAIR 520HX

case it really depends what you wanna do i would get a coolermaster cm690

ram:
Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

cpu cooler:
Newegg.com - Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler - Retail

hdd:
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

 

[solidsteve]

may i suggest the xfx 8800 gt for your graphics card just for the simple fact that its cheaper and runs better then the gts

if you look at some benchmarks they should tell you the differences, it most it shows the gt running a bit slower then the gtx at a lower price of the gts so it a good "bang for buck" as people call it

 

[elemith]

thanks for the help!

ok, here is the new look:

gc:
EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB DDR3 PCI-E w/HDTV/2DVI

cpu:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor 2.40GHz

psu:
CORSAIR 520HX

as for mobo, I don't plan on going the sli road. well, I think the GIGABYTE is ugly and the ABIT IX38 Quad GT is expensive. Is the mobo really worth spending a good amount on? any asus mobo's worth considering?

Also, would 4gigs of ram be an ok idea instead of 2gigs?

 

[stalin90]

well the mobo is a backbone to the computer so yes it worth spending a good amount of money on... also its ugly? who is gonna see it?

you dont really ned 4 gb of ram unless your doing video editing. but if you are going to get vista it might be something to look into.

also the 8800gts 512 is better then the 8800gt. its kind of confusing because they remade the gts, teh 640 and 320 ones are bad the 512 is awesome

 

[Brinson]

Oh, dear...what would you do with an ugly motherboard....because we all know the physical appeal of your motherboard is what is important....



I'd buy a motherboard made by a good company but still with a moderate price.

But, this is from the guy with an ECS...but in my defense I got it for free...and it has a 3 year warranty.

 

[nerdygeek]

yea the new 512 GTS owns. Get it!

 

[stalin90]

I'd buy a motherboard made by a good company but still with a moderate price.

But, this is from the guy with an ECS...but in my defense I got it for free...and it has a 3 year warranty.

wtf... ecs lol

 

[dude112]

"as for mobo, I don't plan on going the sli road. well, I think the GIGABYTE is ugly and the ABIT IX38 Quad GT is expensive. Is the mobo really worth spending a good amount on? any asus mobo's worth considering?"

Other mobo's recommended in these forums that are similar to the Gigabyte are Abit IP35 and Asus P5K.

And yes the 8800GTS 512 is better then the GT but it's also more expensive...