Gaming Computer

[Tret]

I want to make the ultimate gaming computer but my limit is 2000 dollars. any suggestions?

 

[chocobaR]

AMD or Intel based?

 

[Tret]

amd

 

[McCarthy]

What games? This might make a difference (see above SimCity thread)
Stationary or totable for LAN events?
Case styling a concern or basic beige great for you?
Already have a monitor, going to get a new monitor for this build? If latter, size?
What are your noise concerns?
What is your time concern? Do you want to put it together once and be done or spend time tweaking/overclocking?

Just for games? Only to be played on the monitor or would you like to play on the TV? TV out video question.
Headphones, PC stereo speakers, surround audio prefered?

Just as 'ultimate' and it won't be more than a couple hours before people are suggesting 15k SCSI drives in RAID arrays, which might be the ideal thing for you, or might not depending on what games you're doing.

 

[Tret]

all the new games that our coming out, i have the monitor already and i have the speakers. i dont want any of that fancy case. noise concern doesnt really matter

 

[Tret]

in other words just the computer

 

[Tret]

im not going to overclock

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

Something like...

A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon Xp 3000+ (Barton)
Two sticks of 512MB PC3200 or 3500 DDR
Western Digital Raptor WD360 (36.7GB SATA) (possibly two)
Lite-on 16xDVD read 48x CD read drive
Lite-on 48x burner drive
Windows 2000 Pro or XP Pro (your choice)
EDIT: 9700 Pro. (forgot this one but its a no brainer, or wait for 9800)


EDIT: It's not the "ultimate gaming computer" if you aren't going to overclock. OCing is easy on the A7N8X anyhow .

 

[McCarthy]

Ok, got something to work with now. I'll toss this out and let others revise it up/down.

Going Newegg.com for prices
CPU: 2100+ for $87 is a great price/performance point. 2700+ for $258 is higher end, after that it's real steep. Toss in Barton 3000+ for $585 for comparison. I'd say go with the 2100+ for today and upgrade later, but that's my opinion. Retail heatsink/fan is fine if you're not going to overclock, but a reasonable upgrade from stock can be nice too. That SLK800 bolt on appeals to me for 'no worries and stay quiet' reasons.

Motherboard: nForce2 chipset. Many options here, but I'm leaning towards the Abit NF7-S version 1.2 personally.
Ram: PC 3200. Why? Because if you do upgrade later to a 400mhz FSB Barton you'll be set for ram, assuming the nForce2 boards actually do support it with bios updates.
Power supply: Antec 400w, $62. I hate Enermax, but I won't bother you about that.
Video: Either an ATI 9700pro or hold out a bit for a 9800pro.
HD: CD: DVD: No comment.

There's a start, jump in and fill it out everyone

 

[yhelothar]

for 2000, i'd definately go promentia

promentia
barton 2600+ @ 2.8GHz or so
abit nf7-s
onboard soundstorm
radeon 9700pro
lian li pc65
2x wdc raptor drives on RAID

without monitor and speakers..
with, prolly $200 past 2000

Logitech Z-680
21" CRT

 

[Chaotic42]

I'll just throw in that you should really get at least 1024MB of memory. Especially if you are going to play Battlefield 1942 or Sim City 4.

 

[AtomicDude512]

Originally posted by: McCarthy
Ok, got something to work with now. I'll toss this out and let others revise it up/down.

Going Newegg.com for prices
CPU: 2100+ for $87 is a great price/performance point. 2700+ for $258 is higher end, after that it's real steep. Toss in Barton 3000+ for $585 for comparison. I'd say go with the 2100+ for today and upgrade later, but that's my opinion. Retail heatsink/fan is fine if you're not going to overclock, but a reasonable upgrade from stock can be nice too. That SLK800 bolt on appeals to me for 'no worries and stay quiet' reasons.

OC 2100 to 2700 with FSB... Last you longer that way plus you get a higher FSB for that 9700 to feed off of.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

You may want to check out alienware but those come pre-built, unless you really want to build this

 

[Tret]

alienware is a joke overpriced

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: Tret
alienware is a joke overpriced

If you read what you get with alienware, its not such a bad deal.

The pre optimise it for you.
You get outstanding support
A auto update feature
And loads more.
Plus they look great.

 

[MarkFahey]

Originally posted by: BoomAM

Originally posted by: Tret
alienware is a joke overpriced

If you read what you get with alienware, its not such a bad deal.

The pre optimise it for you.
You get outstanding support
A auto update feature
And loads more.
Plus they look great.

Why make the over-paid executives at Alienware more over-payed!? Build it yourself, with a little bit of hard work and patience and ALOT let money you can have the rig of your dreams. There is alot of pride in owning a rig that you have built yourself!

There is PRIDE in ownership! Own your own rig, not one that someone else thought you should own!

 

[snidy]

Originally posted by: ArmchairAthlete
Something like...

A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon Xp 3000+ (Barton)
Two sticks of 512MB PC3200 or 3500 DDR
Western Digital Raptor WD360 (36.7GB SATA) (possibly two)
Lite-on 16xDVD read 48x CD read drive
Lite-on 48x burner drive
Windows 2000 Pro or XP Pro (your choice)
EDIT: 9700 Pro. (forgot this one but its a no brainer, or wait for 9800)


EDIT: It's not the "ultimate gaming computer" if you aren't going to overclock. OCing is easy on the A7N8X anyhow .

It looks pretty ultimate to me. The only thing that would be better is the 9800 pro.
I think that would be a great setup, except I would get Windows XP foresure, better gaming performance IMO

 

[snidy]

Originally posted by: MarkFahey

Originally posted by: BoomAM

Originally posted by: Tret
alienware is a joke overpriced

If you read what you get with alienware, its not such a bad deal.

The pre optimise it for you.
You get outstanding support
A auto update feature
And loads more.
Plus they look great.

Why make the over-paid executives at Alienware more over-payed!? Build it yourself, with a little bit of hard work and patience and ALOT let money you can have the rig of your dreams. There is alot of pride in owning a rig that you have built yourself!

There is PRIDE in ownership! Own your own rig, not one that someone else thought you should own!

I agree, you can get way more for your money, and you're your own tech support.

 

[jonmullen]

Originally posted by: ArmchairAthlete
Something like...

A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon Xp 3000+ (Barton)
Two sticks of 512MB PC3200 or 3500 DDR
Western Digital Raptor WD360 (36.7GB SATA) (possibly two)
Lite-on 16xDVD read 48x CD read drive
Lite-on 48x burner drive
Windows 2000 Pro or XP Pro (your choice)
EDIT: 9700 Pro. (forgot this one but its a no brainer, or wait for 9800)


EDIT: It's not the "ultimate gaming computer" if you aren't going to overclock. OCing is easy on the A7N8X anyhow .

OK the Raptor drives r nice, but there small capacity can lead to head ackes, you might think about a RAID setup with 2 WD SE drives. That way even if you use 80's your going to have 160GB. The other choice may be to get one Raptor drive and a bit WD SE drive for storage and what not and use the Raptor for the OS and swap or whatever. Whatever you do pay attention to I/O it is you main bottle neck most of the time.