Looking to build a new PC

[Brucelee]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to build my own gaming rig but I have absolutely no idea where start. I have 2k to spend and I'm in no rush to build this beast. I would like to have it up and running by June 2008. So knowing what to get, how to build it and whether or not to wait for better hardware to come out will be extremely helpful.

I'll appreciate all the help I can get

 

[ssc456]

ok wait a month or so new processors expected to come out in mid feb time and possibly a price drop in DDR3, although the DDR3 price drop has not bin documented im just saying it as a possibility,

the CPU's shud definately be out though,

 

[Thelis]

Ok, I'll start.

First off, you will need a good processor. If you don't want to wait, I say go for the Q6600 @ 2.4 and OC it to around 3.2-3.7 range.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017- $279.99

If you wait for a while, the new REAL 45-nm quads will come out for Intel, but that will be in a while.

Mobo

Grab the 680i A1 revision, or if you can wait, wait for the 780i which will support DDR3.

A good edition is eVGA's:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188013- $259.99

Then RAM. I have never had a problem with Corsair, and I think they OC well, so I would say 2-4 Gigs of their XMS2 PC6400 RAM. They OC like beasts. My 667Mhz is running at 1.2Ghz lol.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184- $114.00

PSU
I recently got the Abs BZ800 baby and I am in love. I don't know how long it will live for, but it is beautiful.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817814014- $219.99

HDD

For this, get a 150GB raptor. They are mad fast for gaming.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136012- $169.99

Case

Antec 900. That is all I have to say.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021- $119.99

Now, the last thing is the GPU. There is a new 9xxx seires coming out quite soon. I would wait for their 9800GX2.

 

[worshipme]

The 9800Gx2 is going to be around the $500 mark. Just get two 8800GTs in SLI. As for the RAM. I would recommend going for some faster stuff so that when 1600FSB CPUs come out, you're RAM won't limit your OC'ing. Get some 1066MHz DDR2 from either OCZ, Corsair, Kingston, Crucial etc. The 780i is basically just the 680i but with 3-way SLI and PCI-E 2.0 support so I don't think it's worth the extra money. And WAIT for the 45nm CPUs. They are only about a month away. Go with the Raptor if you want but it will only improve loading times, not actually gaming performance.

 

[Thelis]

Well, even though it is gonna be in the 500 mark, it will still be better economically than two GTS' which would cost him around 600.

As for the RAM, the 800Mhz is easily OCable to higher speeds.

He will want to 3-way SLI though, he told me, so the 780i is the way to go for him.

Lastly, I know what you mean about the loading times, but you must admit that long loading screens in game are annoying as hell.

 

[worshipme]

Maybe you're right about the GPU then.
For the HDDs, how about he has all his games on a 74gig Raptor then have another 500gig drive. That would be better than just one 150gig Raptor which I don't think anyone could fit all of their stuff onto. And do you agree with me about the RAM?

 

[Thelis]

Yeah I am with you on the RAM man, I guess you shouldn't rely on OCing.

As for HDD's, Bruce doesn't have all that much stuff, plus he has a huge external. I guess if he wants to keep it all on his rig, then what you said is a good way to go.

 

[Brucelee]

Yah thanks a lot thelis, ssc456, worshipme
I think the 150gb raptor and use my external

I think Ill wait for the 9 series to come out
as for RAM I think Ill take 4gb of the ram thelis recomended because DDR3 looks too expensive

thanks for all your help

Also which OS should i get? Vista ultimate I'm guessing right?

 

[worshipme]

Getting 4gigs is a wise move. A lot of people will tell you that there is no need for more than 2gigs even if you are running the most demanding applications around. I ALT-Tabbed in Crysis the other day and was using 2.5gigs. ATI are also coming out with a dual chip card based on two 3870s.

 

[Brucelee]

Yea I've been wanting to play Crysis