NEED HELP Choosing Parts for New Gaming Rig

[MoeBackus]

Hey guys,

A friend of mine is looking for a new computer. He is asking me to build one for him. His budget is around $1000. He wants it to play the latest games. I've been out of the loop for a while and have no idea what to look for. Any suggestions? I also know he wants at least 1gb of RAM and I think we will go with a PCI express video card. What do you guys think? Can you help me out?

Thanks,

Morgan Backus

 

[i1o0i]

Antec Sonata II w/ 450watts power supply
EPoX EP-9NPA+ Ultra Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3500+
Seagate 7800.9 250gb
eVGA 7800gt
Corsair VS 2x512mb (1GB) RAM
NEC ND-3550A DVD Burner

Total-$925+shipping/tax

Need Keyboard+Mouse, Monitor, Speaker or OS?

 

[MoeBackus]

Yeah, I think he needs a keyboard, mouse and monitor.

 

[i1o0i]

I would suggest you order these parts on internet then go to store and find keyboard, mouse and monitor.

 

[MoeBackus]

Any other suggestions for parts? I don't think he will need 250GB of space. More like around 100GB. I have been trying to decide on the right 7800 card. Can anyone recommend which one to go with?

 

[MoeBackus]

Bump. Please help. Thanks.

 

[MoeBackus]

Bump before bed

 

[Icepick]

If you need a 7800 series video card then I would suggest the 7800GT on your budget. Better bang for the buck than a 7800GTX. A 7800GT will give plenty of performance for today's games, especially at lower resolutions.

What other parts are you planning to purchase for this build?

 

[MoeBackus]

Well, I am planning on putting together an AMD machine. So a Socket 939 motherboard (i've heard good things about that epox, but I heard its on order at most places) and I'm kind of stuck on the CPU. The hard drive can be anything really, but it has to be at least 80 GB or so. I know we want to go with a DVD/CD burner and a gig of RAM.

 

[bamacre]

Thermaltake Soprano VB1430BWS Mid-Tower W/X-Window 430W Power Supply
$111.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...3156&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=11-133-156

Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI nForce4 Athlon 64(FX)/64 X2 Dual-Core Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard
$93.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=242615

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939 Retail
$295.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-1

Corsair VS1GBKIT400 1GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 CAS2.5 Value Select Memory Retail
$75.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80098-21

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer
$97.60
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101220-12

NEC ND-3550A 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Bare Drive (Black)
$43.88
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058

eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/HDTV, Dual DVI & VIVO Retail
$276.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322749

Total Price Shippeed: $994.45

 

[MoeBackus]

Originally posted by: bamacre
Thermaltake Soprano VB1430BWS Mid-Tower W/X-Window 430W Power Supply
$111.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...3156&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=11-133-156

Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI nForce4 Athlon 64(FX)/64 X2 Dual-Core Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard
$93.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=242615

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939 Retail
$295.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-1

Corsair VS1GBKIT400 1GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 CAS2.5 Value Select Memory Retail
$75.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80098-21

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer
$97.60
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101220-12

NEC ND-3550A 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Bare Drive (Black)
$43.88
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058

eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/HDTV, Dual DVI & VIVO Retail
$276.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322749

Total Price Shippeed: $994.45

Thanks man! Thats probably what we will go with. Another thing, would I have to go with that SLI motherboard? Is there another alternative?

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: MoeBackus

Originally posted by: bamacre
Thermaltake Soprano VB1430BWS Mid-Tower W/X-Window 430W Power Supply
$111.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...3156&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=11-133-156

Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI nForce4 Athlon 64(FX)/64 X2 Dual-Core Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard
$93.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=242615

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939 Retail
$295.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-1

Corsair VS1GBKIT400 1GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 CAS2.5 Value Select Memory Retail
$75.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80098-21

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer
$97.60
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101220-12

NEC ND-3550A 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Bare Drive (Black)
$43.88
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058

eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/HDTV, Dual DVI & VIVO Retail
$276.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322749

Total Price Shippeed: $994.45

Thanks man! Thats probably what we will go with. Another thing, would I have to go with that SLI motherboard? Is there another alternative?

Nope, you can go with something cheaper...

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=247018

One thing you should be aware of however, is that you may need to set the jumper on the sata ii hard drive back to sata i, as there are some compatibility problems with sata ii drives. You can see that HERE.

 

[MoeBackus]

Can someone recommned a cheaper CPU. I don't want to go with dual core, so a new mother board too. Thanks for all of the help.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: MoeBackus
Can someone recommned a cheaper CPU. I don't want to go with dual core, so a new mother board too. Thanks for all of the help.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80719-5

You can still use the same motherboard.

 

[GamerExpress]

Originally posted by: MoeBackus
Can someone recommned a cheaper CPU. I don't want to go with dual core, so a new mother board too. Thanks for all of the help.

May I ask why you don't want to go dual core?? and you don't have to switch MOBO just because you aren't going dual core.

 

[Bobthelost]

If you want to save money on the build then the CPU is an easy way to save money, but it is worth keeping the dual core if possible.