Oi! Alas and avast ye maties and scurvy dogs!
I am Netu, you can just call me Netu, for short, though; and I am a college student! (Note the use of the semicolon! That obviously makes me a college student!)
As a college student, I recently received a nice little technology-based grant that gives me $2,500US a semester for a year. I decided that since I already have a nice grand saved up for car payments and the like, I am totally going to do what I have always wanted to do, for as long as my wee lil' heart has played games:
Buy a new frickin' computer!
Now, I've been researching for a while now, and am at the point of "Hmm. Well, let's see what someone else has to say!" That's where you guys come in! I want you to pretend you have $2500US just laying around and are going to buy a new computer! If you want, that is, of course. ;-)
Here's what a friend of mine came up with:
As you can see I have yet to decide on RAM...because I ran into this weird issue with that motherboard. I got really irritated that I couldn't find the answer out and that's when I decided to start posting around for general help.
Just as a side-note: I have to build this machine from the GROUND UP! I have no keyboards, no mice, not even screens!
My current computer is a Dell laptop...with integrated graphics...I've had it for a year now, and before that I had a Compaq with even worse specs than this laptop. I've never, ever had a computer even decent enough to be considered for gaming... I want to change that. Gaming is a my hobby--and I wish to evolve that hobby.
I ask for your guys' help; however know you don't have to give it, of course! Any advice, recommendations, websites of interest, further reading, extra research I can and should do, etc., is of course more than welcome!
Thank you everyone, very much, for taking the time to read this and thank you a billion times more for posting a helpful comment. I hope this community is as helpful as I have found it to be for the past few months upon...stalking...lurking...whatevertheword...the site!
Adieu!
UPDATE: These are my current specs! Quite the improvement, I'd say!
Total I'll pay up front: $2525.80
Total after rebates, etc.: $2423.30
I am Netu, you can just call me Netu, for short, though; and I am a college student! (Note the use of the semicolon! That obviously makes me a college student!)
As a college student, I recently received a nice little technology-based grant that gives me $2,500US a semester for a year. I decided that since I already have a nice grand saved up for car payments and the like, I am totally going to do what I have always wanted to do, for as long as my wee lil' heart has played games:
Buy a new frickin' computer!
Now, I've been researching for a while now, and am at the point of "Hmm. Well, let's see what someone else has to say!" That's where you guys come in! I want you to pretend you have $2500US just laying around and are going to buy a new computer! If you want, that is, of course. ;-)
Here's what a friend of mine came up with:
Computer Components
Case: Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000
URL: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...Thermaltake-_-11133154
Price: $149.99
PSU: Corsair 620W Power Supply
URL: http://ozdirect.com/product_in...rrency=USD&language=en
Price: $141.17
MOBO: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
URL: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...ntel-_-EVGA-_-13188012
Price: $180.00 (After rebate)
GPU: EVGA GeForce 8800GTX
URL: http://www.clubit.com/product_...827&cmp=OTC-pricewatch
Price: $485.99
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.00GHz 4MB Cache
URL: http://www.antaresdigital.com/...d=17759&cat=419&page=1
Price: $280.00
Sound Card: Razer Barracuda AC-1 Gaming Audio Card 7.1
URL: http://www.ecost.com/detail.as...110944&ci_sku=34670601
Price: $169.42
HDD: Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM
URL: http://3btech.net/wedi15rax1rp.html
Price: $189.00
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium (OEM)
URL: http://www.newegg.com/Product/..._-Microsoft-_-32116204
Price: $114.99
As you can see I have yet to decide on RAM...because I ran into this weird issue with that motherboard. I got really irritated that I couldn't find the answer out and that's when I decided to start posting around for general help.
Just as a side-note: I have to build this machine from the GROUND UP! I have no keyboards, no mice, not even screens!
My current computer is a Dell laptop...with integrated graphics...I've had it for a year now, and before that I had a Compaq with even worse specs than this laptop. I've never, ever had a computer even decent enough to be considered for gaming... I want to change that. Gaming is a my hobby--and I wish to evolve that hobby.
I ask for your guys' help; however know you don't have to give it, of course! Any advice, recommendations, websites of interest, further reading, extra research I can and should do, etc., is of course more than welcome!
Thank you everyone, very much, for taking the time to read this and thank you a billion times more for posting a helpful comment. I hope this community is as helpful as I have found it to be for the past few months upon...stalking...lurking...whatevertheword...the site!
Adieu!
UPDATE: These are my current specs! Quite the improvement, I'd say!
CASE: Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16811129025
$159.99
MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16813128048
$154.99
CPU: Xeon - X3220 -2.4 Ghz Socket 775- L2 Cache - 8MB
Ain't gonna give you the link for this one. Mine, mine! ;-)
$299.99
POWER SUPPLY: OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16817341001
$119.99
OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16832116202
$111.99
HARD DRIVE: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16822148140
$79.99
FAN: Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler LGA775
http://www.svc.com/acfzp7.html
$24.99
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16820146565
$109.99
GRAPHICS CARD: EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16814130072
$529.99
SOUND CARD: HT OMEGA CLARO Plus+ 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16829271003
$174.99
MONITOR: LG L206WTY-BF Black 20" 2ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16824005096
$239.99
DVD-ROM: SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black SATA Model SH-S183L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16827151141
$33.99
KEYBOARD: Logitech UltraX Silver/Black USB Standard Media Keyboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16823126022
$15.99
MOUSE: Logitech G7 Black 6 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB RF Wireless Laser Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16826104203
$67.99
SPEAKERS: Z-5500 Digital Speaker System
http://accessories.us.dell.com...dhs&cs=19&sku=A0405790
$279.00
HEADPHONES: Sennheiser HD 555
http://www.headphone.com/produ.../sennheiser-hd-555.php
$109.95
POWER STRIP: Kensington 62668 6 Outlets Power Strip
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...p?item=N82E16812120802
$11.99
Total I'll pay up front: $2525.80
Total after rebates, etc.: $2423.30