Suggestions for $1500-2000 budget

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sekiface

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I want to either buy or build a gaming computer, and my budget is $1500-2000 (w/o monitor). Never built a computer before, and I'm not sure if I'm up for it. I would love some suggestions on a good setup.

Also, is it worth it to buy a pre-made gaming computer from those websites? Meaning, is it trustworthy, do they have good tech support, are the computers stable if they aren't overclocked?

cheers
 
I believe they are plenty trustworthy, it's just that you can save a lot of money. I would go to nvidia route, but some on here are going to argue and bicker and tell you to go with ATI. but here's what I'd do with that kind of money...

mobo- 350. is a bit overkill, but it will support any upgrades you want to do in the future. Is capable of doing 3-way SLI if you ever so choose to do way down the road
XFX nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard - NVIDIA nForce 790i, Socket 775, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, Dual Gigabit LAN, SPDIF, USB 2.0, Firewire, eSATA, RAID MBN790IUL9 at TigerDirect.com

Very fast, quad core 2.4 ghz $190.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor HH80562PH0568M - 2.40GHz, 8MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB, Kentsfield, Quad-Core, OEM, Socket 775, Processor at TigerDirect.com

1600 mhz OCZ ram. i've used slower OCZ no problems. 260 bucks before rebate. 4 gigs
OCZ Dual Channel Platinum 4096MB PC12800 DDR3 1600MHz DDR3 Memory (2x2048MB) OCZ3P16004GK at TigerDirect.com

evga gtx 280 409 after rebate
EVGA GeForce GTX 280 Video Card - 1GB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, FREE Special Edition EVGA Precision Overclocking Utility, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, Dual VGA Support 01G-P3-1280-AR at TigerDirect.com

psu- 4 PCI-E plugs so u can do dual sli with the gtx280 if u ever want to. 125 before rebate.
BFG LS 680-Watt ATX Power Supply - SATA-Ready, SLI Ready BFGR680WLSPSU at TigerDirect.com

I did the math and adding some tax and shipping(added bout 200 dollars for that). And before rebates comes to about $1500. u could get an aftermarket cpu cooler to OC better if you want to spend more, or even get a 2nd video card. Possibly instead two gtx 260s instead of one gtx280, or even two 9800GX2. whatever you want that's all preference and how much you want to spend.
 
e8400/e8500
Biostar I45 or 750i FTW
HD 4870/ HD 4870X2 or GTX 260 (or wait for the V2 of the GTX 280/260 cards)
Corsair 750tx
4gb DDR2 RAM

If you are impatient and want now, use that, or you could wait for Nehalem
 
You could wait for nehalem and blow more money, and not get as bad *** other things, or build what I said now and have close to the best computer on here I'd say with some minor OCing. I also heard nehalem doesn't do much better for gaming than just a quad core or dual core from intel.
 
You could wait for nehalem and blow more money, and not get as bad *** other things, or build what I said now and have close to the best computer on here I'd say with some minor OCing. I also heard nehalem doesn't do much better for gaming than just a quad core or dual core from intel.

I think it would make more sense to not go w/ the nehalem if performance isn't going to be drastically different, and if the price is going to be at its highest given there's really no competition for it yet...

I am definitely going to do some more research and give it a go in building one myself...

Also, is liquid cooling worth it if I'm not looking to OC?
 
Liquid cooling is great, if you dont want noise.

I would not recommend on your first build though. Even me, after 4 computers built so far, i am scared of going to that.
 
Liquid cooling is great, if you dont want noise.

I would not recommend on your first build though. Even me, after 4 computers built so far, i am scared of going to that.

It still scares me to think about as well. Not that my X2 set up would need it. Couldn't over clock past 3.2ghz whether I got water cooling or a nice heat sink.
 
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