gaming rig....need suggestions

[NoStateofMind]

Hello everyone, I'm pulling my hair out trying to configure a gaming rig. I've spent many hours adding and subtracting from shopping carts from around the net, and im tired of going in circles. I have $1050 for parts, already have a case (Antec P180). So a power supply you guys pick has to have long enough cables (power supply in bottom). Would like to have a video card in the 7800 series prefferably BFG or EVGA. Other then that the door is wide open.


Any and all help is appreciated


The Surgeon :-D

 

[adamcz28]

Power supply suggestions would change depending on your mobo. Which one did you have in mind?

 

[OdiN]

Meh....I and my friend have Neo480's and they work great.

 

[NoStateofMind]

shoosh, well I probly won't go SLI for a while so those are ruled out. I'm looking for stability first before overclocking potential, simply because I'm inexperienced. So really just about any board that is stable, easy to set up. I've thought about Asus A8N5X $95 shipped from newegg, but like I said....I'm pulling my fricken hair out!

Thats why I was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction, seeing as though i can't decide myself!


here's an example of what ive put together:

Asus A8N5X $95 (out of the box X2 support, scared of flashing, wanna learn sometime tho)
AMD 3200+ $152 (couldn't fit X2 in budget)
Corsair Value Select 1GB $72 (budget thing again)
BFG 7800 GT w/Free CoD2 $360 (this is where I splurge, REALLY WANNA PLAY THIS GAME!)
Sony DVD-ROM $26
Maxtor 80GB SATA $64 (budget and that ive had this 160GB drive for over a yr and haven't used more then 30GB the entire time!)
Antec TruepowerII 550 $90 (seems like my options are limited)
floppy $12
Windows XP $90 (damn bill!)
Arctic Silver 5 $11
Keyboard & mouse $30

All this comes out to $1002 shipped, can i do better?


Thanks for any and all replies

The Surgeon :-D

EDIT: Sony 17" CRT $145 ,already buying this...doesn't effect the $1050 budget

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: OdiN
Meh....I and my friend have Neo480's and they work great.

In the Antec P180 case?

 

[OdiN]

I have it in a P160 and he has his in a Lian-Li V2000 or whatever that semi-BTX one is with the PSU on the bottom.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: OdiN
I have it in a P160 and he has his in a Lian-Li V2000 or whatever that semi-BTX one is with the PSU on the bottom.

The power supply is on the bottom but, isn't the board inverted/upside down? wouldn't that make the connections closer?


anyways, please if any of you have any comments don't hesitate on posting. did i miss anything? anything you guys would change?

again, thanks for any and all replies

The Surgeon :-D

 

[bamacre]

ZZF has a 7800 GT w/ COD2 for $320 minus $20 MIR = $300 shipped.


Or, you could just get a Dell and save yourself a lot of trouble. Even comes with COD2

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: bamacre
ZZF has a 7800 GT w/ COD2 for $320 minus $20 MIR = $300 shipped.


Or, you could just get a Dell and save yourself a lot of trouble. Even comes with COD2

well on that page it states "FREE CALL OF DUTY 2 OFFER", that tells me it's not in the box...its from EVGA. and EVGA is OUT of copies!!!!! i could be wrong about it not being in the box, just don't wanna take any chances.

Hey... i do appreciate your help tho

any other suggestions guys?


The Surgeon :-D

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: bamacre
ZZF has a 7800 GT w/ COD2 for $320 minus $20 MIR = $300 shipped.


Or, you could just get a Dell and save yourself a lot of trouble. Even comes with COD2

well on that page it states "FREE CALL OF DUTY 2 OFFER", that tells me it's not in the box...its from EVGA. and EVGA is OUT of copies!!!!! i could be wrong about it not being in the box, just don't wanna take any chances.

Hey... i do appreciate your help tho

any other suggestions guys?


The Surgeon :-D

I have bought 9 of those from ZZF, it's in the box. Trust me.

 

[NoStateofMind]

As for buying a pre-built, $#!% NO! that is what i have now....you wouldnt believe the crap i went through just to change cases (not the P180), not just that....but i want the experience of building my own pc. a learning process i need. So no longer would i have to go to anyone else to buy an overpriced non-upgradable pc (Sony Vaio for example). again thanks for the suggestion but I'd rather be a do-it-yourselfer then a bend-me-over-and-@#$%-me kinda guy.

bamacre, that anger is not directed toward you in any way....still have some pent up anger i guess.....therapist....i know...a therapist.

 

[adamcz28]

I would get a FSP Group AX450-PN ATX12V 450W Power Supply $49.99(newegg) to save money on the power supply. You could also get a cheaper, yet stable motherboard(a chaintech) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152049 , to save $30 bucks. Then you could get a 3800+, or 3700+ athlon.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon
As for buying a pre-built, $#!% NO! that is what i have now....you wouldnt believe the crap i went through just to change cases (not the P180), not just that....but i want the experience of building my own pc. a learning process i need. So no longer would i have to go to anyone else to buy an overpriced non-upgradable pc (Sony Vaio for example). again thanks for the suggestion but I'd rather be a do-it-yourselfer then a bend-me-over-and-@#$%-me kinda guy.

bamacre, that anger is not directed toward you in any way....still have some pent up anger i guess.....therapist....i know...a therapist.

Ouch. Anyone who has ever owned a Sony Vaio would probably agree

I used to build systems. I parted out my last one and got myself a Dell. I actually like it, and it was hella cheap.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: adamcz28
I would get a FSP Group AX450-PN ATX12V 450W Power Supply $49.99(newegg) to save money on the power supply. You could also get a cheaper, yet stable motherboard(a chaintech) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152049 , to save $30 bucks. Then you could get a 3800+, or 3700+ athlon.

hmm, the only problem i see with those 2 parts is the motherboard. the problem? I'm worried about the power cable dangling over the video card to connect. wouldn't this be a problem?

I know that cable management is important for the P180, so I have to question anything that has to do with that first.


thanks for the replies and more are appreciated

The Surgeon :-D

 

[adamcz28]

I don't think it would be a problem. I have a p180, and I used to have a motherboard in there with the power plugs in the same spot. It actually worked really well. What are you concerned about? airflow? The power cables would easily reach.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: adamcz28
I don't think it would be a problem. I have a p180, and I used to have a motherboard in there with the power plugs in the same spot. It actually worked really well. What are you concerned about? airflow?

no i wouldn't say that. aftre hearing you say that you used it im not that concerned. to be honest the reason why i was going with Asus was because of the 'detailed manuals' . you see when i changed my cases i didn't know or how to connect the pins from the case (HDD ligh, reset, power, led) to the jumpers on the motherboard. and i really dont want to fry a board. my front USB still dont work LOL. anyways, I'm concerned about the setup/installation factors. I also noticeed the motherboard standoffs in the P180 dont seem to line up with the chaintech from what i could tell from the pics. I tried to take out the standoffs (by hand) and they wouldnt budge. thanks for helping.


more help would be greatly encouraged


The Surgeon :-D

 

[adamcz28]

you can change the the standoffs in the p180 by unscrewing them with some pliers. It won't fry your motherboard if you get the hdd light, reset etc, etc wrong. I've done it before. I wouldn't be worried about the chaintech manual not being detailed enough, even the most crappy manuals show where to plug in the leds. And if you can't figure it out, I'm sure plenty of chaintech owners around here would be nice enough to help you out if you had trouble. I think it would be more worthwhile(if your budget is that strict) to spend the extra on processing power, instead of a detailed manual. It is also a nforce 4 ultra chipset, instead of just the nforce4 chipset that is in the asus.