Building Gaming Computer

Hi, i'm looking to build my own computer. I have a few years ago. So looking to build a whole brand new gaming machine. I'm not really sure on what I should go for. I have about $2000 to spend maybe little more, less money the better but more power the better :mrgreen:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX-57, or should i go FX-60?
Motherboard: I have no clue, I know I would never use two video cards at once though.
Video Card: ATI Radeon X1900 XTX
Ram: I was thinking either 2gb or 4gb, not sure on brand or anything.
Harddrive: Not sure, probley pick up a 10,000 RPM one.
Case: Looks don't matter alot, I'll probley pick up a $100 one with good airflow.
Power Supply: Here I don't know, probley a 550 watt or so. Not sure on brands.

I have a monitor,keyboard,sound card, mouse, cdplayer/dvdplayers etc allready. Want this computer to last awhile. Any suggestions/help? Thanks :) Oh and I do not overclock at all.

welcome to the forum :)
You might want to wait a month or so - AMD has supposedly pulled Socket AM2 forward to 23rd of May.
as for case the Kingwin SK-523 looks (& is supposed to be) good for the money (~$60) - wish i could find it over here.
PSU: Enermax, FSP, OCZ, PCP&C & Tagan all make good units in that area.

yay, i'll spec you up a computer quickly. I wouldn't really be that bothered with AM2, but I will give you a baseline. Send me a pm with your email address and I'll send you the computer specced up in excel for you ;)

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Originally Posted by BUFF

welcome to the forum :)
You might want to wait a month or so - AMD has supposedly pulled Socket AM2 forward to 23rd of May.
as for case the Kingwin SK-523 looks (& is supposed to be) good for the money (~$60) - wish i could find it over here.
PSU: Enermax, FSP, OCZ, PCP&C & Tagan all make good units in that area.

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Thanks :) ya i won't be buying for about 2 months or so when I recieve the money.

sent you an email :)

forgot Seasonic for PSUs :o

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Originally Posted by BUFF

forgot Seasonic for PSUs :o

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get a Hiper instead :mrgreen:

Hiper is good vfm (got 1 myself) but imo all the others I've mentioned are superior. :)

Here's what I came up with:

- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ ~ $632.00
- Abit KN8 Ultra NF4 Ultra ~ $89.99
- 512MB HIS Radeon X1900 XTX ~ $509.00
- 2GB (2X1GB) G.Skill Value Series ~ $181.99
- 150 GB Western Digital Raptor Enterprise ~ $274.99
- 250 GB HGST (IBM/Hitachi) Deskstar T7K250 ~ $93.00
- 600w Seasonic S12-600 ~ $169.99
- Antec P180 ~ $114.99

- $2,065.95 -

not really a point getting four gig ram as windows only uses about 3, and just because that ram is the most expensive doesnt malke it the best i would go with some g skill.

That is one serious spec, but for the amount of money been spent i would change the case to the Antec P180.

Just my 2pence worth.

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Originally Posted by NightshadowUK

- £1,943.04 -

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i thought the budget was $2000

nah that case may not look as cool but its the daddy for space and cooling nice bar the ram issue see above

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Originally Posted by johnny02004976

i thought the budget was $2000

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That's a very good point... to ebuyer USA!

EDIT: Which no longer exists... anyone know a good US site for hardware?

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Originally Posted by NightshadowUK

That's a very good point... to ebuyer USA!

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newegg or monarch or zipzoomfly

Nice one, see my last post for edited-ness.

P180, Eclipse 62, 600W power supplies... Do people really need a half ton of E-ATX case that can sink an iceberg at 20 knots?

It stuns me that in days when almost everything is integrated onto the motherboard the cases seem to be getting bigger.



Sorry for the rant, I'll go have a lie down now :)

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Originally Posted by Valo

Ram: I was thinking either 2gb or 4gb, not sure on brand or anything.

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I will answer that one with another quote:

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Originally Posted by Agent

You cant run 4gig properly in a normal desktop. You'll only have just over 3gig useable due to addressing of PCI devices, and various other system level components.
Go with 3 gig at most, anything more is a waste.

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Originally Posted by rainbow

not really a point getting four gig ram as windows only uses about 3, and just because that ram is the most expensive doesnt malke it the best i would go with some g skill.

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i belive i had said that already, oh well

Thanks for all the help :)

Why not get an opteron 170, overclock it, and use the rest of the money on a Sycthe Ninja+ (they are cheap in the US), and perhaps an even larger storage space to the 250GB suggested. 320GB WD for bang for buck IMO, or the WD4000YR for performance. You get a P180 with the change too.

Exceededgoku has been helping me, and came up with this build. I like it, what do you guys think?

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103584
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127234
Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102672
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145575
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817194004
Harddrive: (2) RAID0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145082
Storage Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136003
Dvd Burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106015

Comes out to around $1,953.96

I kinda started thinking maybe Crossfiring x1900xtx's but not sure if the extra price would be worth it.

other than that by the time that you are building AM2 should be out i won't knock your CPU/mobo at all.
Gfx is fine.
RAM I would probably go with this
PSU is a good choice although we all have our particular favourites.
Again personally I'm not a fan of RAID on the desktop but that's just me.
Similarly I would go with an NEC burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827152070

if you are thinking about Crossfiring X1900 no point in getting an XTX as the CE Master card will downclock it to XT

BenQ also has a solid rep for DVD-Burning quality.

I am also not keen on the choice of RAID-0 80GB HD. The Raptor would do better IMO as the OS/App drive.

Opteron 170 probably clock as high as 175, while being a bit cheaper. I also question the benefit of getting premium DDR RAM now when DDR2 is right around the corner. Even if you intend to keep your PC for a while, I suspect that premium RAM will depreciate more than budget RAM by the time you build your next one. Why? Well, I assume that people going for premium RAM would be those looking to squeeze every bit of performance. Yet by then, they'll probably be looking at next gen systems, which will use DDR2. Leaving people shopping for DDR RAM those with older rig and probably looking more for bang for buck than every bit of performance.

I know 2 people who've had the P180 and said it's crap (flimsy, plasticy, not a great layout), and both get lots of different cases (reviewers)

Why not go for something simple like a Lian-Li PC-7 Plus, or Thermaltake Shark Aluminium. They are a nice size and light too. If you want big, either Akasa Eclipse or Coolermaster Stacker are my favs.

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Originally Posted by BUFF

RAM I would probably go with this.

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Originally Posted by Valo

Oh and I do not overclock at all.

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:p