$800 to $1k build advice, be kind, I am new, you are the experts.

[Roguester]

Hello,

 

See my signature for current parts.

I have my monitor, keyboard, mouse and motherboard picked out.

I need to buy parts and build a computer now.

I have an A.S. in Electrical Engineering from UF.

I have seen the post about step by step computer assembly.

So I think I can do it with the help of this forum.

I want to build a gaming computer, current games Guild Wards, and WoW.

Who know what games the future will hold, but I hate decreasing the setting on those two.

 

My ideas for parts come from here, Tom's hardware guide, and Anandtech.

My vendor choices include newegg, monarch, zipzoomfly, and clubit.

Please give me your experience on these parts.

 

$125 DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D; Of course.

$115 AMD 3000+ Venice Core 939 socket;

Should I go 3200 or 3500 and decrease another part? Most games are graphic card dependant.

$215 XFX Geforce 6800GS;

Should I go 7800GT and decrease another part? NO ATI please.

$150 OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB)

This is mediumly priced, could I go with something cheaper to get the better CPU or Video card?

$140 Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

I heard its overkill, too expensive, and other options are available.

$55 Aspire X-Dreamer II;

Lots of cases out there, this one is about the cheapest nice looking one.

$76 ENERMAX Noisetaker 485W Power Supply

Cheapest PW on the recommended list.

$125 Misc. parts DVD burner, Floppy drive, CPU goo and shipping.

 

Thanks for your input.

[Nero.Jacinth]

I would say go for the 3200+ (for the higher multiplier, nice to have even if you don't oc), and then drop the raptor and go for either some Hitachi 80GB Sata II, or a bigger hard drive like a 200~250GB (just depends on what you need). Otherwise the rest of it looks good to me, but don't just take my opinion, other people will undoubtedly have better suggestions.

 

P.S. You might want to look into 2GB of memory, I am not sure if you could afford it, but if you can I would suggest it.

[DocGiggs]

Here's what I did...

 

MOBO: Ultra-D (shopped around and got it off a for sale/trade forum for $85. It was still brand new and sealed the in the box. If ou shop around these can be had for $110 to $120.

 

CPU: Opteron 146 from Mwave @ $146. These are about to come out in greater quantities and lower prices. These are superior to the regular Venice chips. I wouldn't even bother with a Venice chip. These can be had for around $160 on average right now with the Opteron 144's being found for about $140.

 

Heatsink/Fan if going with air cooling: Thermaltake Big Typhoon. Just make sure you "lap" the bottom of the heatsink before using it. Also, it IS a pain in the a$$ to install this thing but provides the best air cooling out there and it's sooo quiet too! It's about $50 at most places and can sometimes be grabbed for $40.

 

Hard drive: I got 4 raptors so I love them. Right now outpost is selling the 74GB for like $120 after rebate. I'd also recommend a bigger, but slower storage drive.

 

Memory: most decent to good 1GB kits are going to cost around $100 to $150. Personally, I went with 2GB kit but it was a tad more expensive at $220 for the GSkill ZX line.

 

Video Card: Your on your own for Nvidia bud. I went with an ATI GTO2 card for $200 and modded it to an x850xtpe which is a $450 card.

 

DO NOT GET THAT ASPIRE PSU. It's CRAP!

 

Seriously, if you must get something cheap go with that Enermax. However I will tell you this. Spending a little bit extra on the PSU is MUCH better then skimping. The PSU and case you buy can be used for multiple builds and upgrades if you buy quality parts the first time around. This will save you money in the long run and provide a better, stable system now and in the future.

 

As for the misc. parts, you can get a good DVD burner for around $35 off newegg. The floppy drives are cheap just about anywhere and if you spend over $10 for one you got ripped. You can get decent and cheap cases starting at $40 shipped. You might even find something decent locally if you looked around.

[Boppo]

I would get a Hitachi drive and a 7800GT. You will definitely want the GPU horsepower.

[red930]

Let's get this moved over to the Recommendations section.

[Brambey]

Nice rig doc XD, but yeah I think you could get some significant upgrades to your PC for just a small increase in price. My build cost about 1200... but I did already have the case and dvd-drives, etc. I also got the operating system for free through my university, but you can always use a not-so-legit version

[Kaparski]

$125 DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D; Of course.

$115 AMD 3000+ Venice Core 939 socket;

Should I go 3200 or 3500 and decrease another part? Most games are graphic card dependant.

$215 XFX Geforce 6800GS;

Should I go 7800GT and decrease another part? NO ATI please.

$150 OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB)

This is mediumly priced, could I go with something cheaper to get the better CPU or Video card?

$140 Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

I heard its overkill, too expensive, and other options are available.

$55 Aspire X-Dreamer II;

Lots of cases out there, this one is about the cheapest nice looking one.

$76 ENERMAX Noisetaker 485W Power Supply

Cheapest PW on the recommended list.

$125 Misc. parts DVD burner, Floppy drive, CPU goo and shipping.

 

$125 DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D; Of course.

-> Good choice, mod it after to allow for SLi and SATA II

 

$115 AMD 3000+ Venice Core 939 socket;

-> I love the dual core 3800 but 3000 will be fine, just make sure to overclock it once you're ready. Gaming is affected by the CPU but gfx is more important in terms of quality.

 

$215 XFX Geforce 6800GS;

-> Um, only $215?...if it is get this...7800 is too expensive for its stats. Get SLI of 6600 instead if you love smoothness in games. 2 6600 are about $215 CAN each. 6800 is $500.

 

$150 OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB)

-> Stick with this, good overclocking capabilites and very good brand. Go with a lower end model from OCZ and put it into gfx or CPU, if you're that concerned. Stick with 1gb however.

 

$140 Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

-> It does make a difference in loading times for miscellaneous tasks but you shouldn't get the 74gb ($215 CAN) model....get the 36gb ($130 CAN) model [both are 10,000 rpm], and put the rest of the money into a 150 gb harddrive (around $100 CAN). Make sure they're SATA.

 

$55 Aspire X-Dreamer II;

-> Make sure it has a good flow of air in the unit. Sounds good though.

 

$76 ENERMAX Noisetaker 485W Power Supply

-> For future reference, don't buy the cheapest PW because stability of your system is important. A bad PW may also fry up your components. However, energyMAX kicks butt and high in quality, so I'd advice it. If you go SLi, get the 535W model.

 

$125 Misc. parts DVD burner, Floppy drive, CPU goo and shipping.

-> Get a multi-card reader.....helps out a lot with just about all electronics.

 

Also, get a good sound card if you enjoy music. I got the Creative X-Fi and its amazing. A bit pricy though @ $150 CAN.

 

Hope it helps.

[Brambey]

lol yeah I think your confused by american/canadian dollars Kaparsky Those look like correct numbers american for the GPU. The 7800 goes for around 350-450 american. But yeah the dual 6600s would be cheap... didnt realize the 6600s were so cheap these days.

[Kaparski]

Holy crap...electronics in the US are much cheaper.

[oliveryochest]

$140 Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

Get Hitchachi 80GB Sata II. This will free up about 80-90US for you to upgrade your gfx.

 

I would definately go for the 7800's

[Roguester]

$125 DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D

$140 AMD 3200+ Venice Core 939 socket

$309 XFX 7800GT

$159 OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB)

$84 Maxtor DiamondMax 10 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150

$76 Antec SUPER LANBOY

$85 Enermax Noisetake 485w

 

Computer thoughts in progress...

[lowboy]

List looks good but some suggestions ,you can get the enermax 535W for $89. at zipzoom, and I would drop the Maxtor hdd and get two hitachi 80gb sata II for around $112. for both,setup as a raid array, and you will get the performance of the raptor but with 160gb of storage.