Building a New System

[Gooze]

I'm sure you guys get this same question a lot but...

I plan on building a new system pretty soon. I'm not to savvy on the newest parts, so I'm not too sure on what I want parts-wise. I'm hoping to keep the system around $2,000 or so. A little over is fine.

If anyone could enlighten me, or even suggest a build that would be within this price range it would be most appreciated. I'm looking to play the latest games, high to highest settings. Not top of the line, but definately looking to build a gaming machine.

Thanks!

[CMcguire]

Well from my experience building my first PC last week
(was a gaming system as well but a bit more money.. though if you are in america you might get things cheaper)..

Go for a dual core processor I went quad and I don't think anything is really taking advantage of the extra power. (intel chips are performing much better then AMD at the moment)

Be cautious with your heatsink for the cpu. I recommend going for one that screws in rather then clips in (Clips on mine were loose and nothing you can do to tighten them so had to make up something with nuts and bolts etc..) not sure if you'd want to go for watercooling or whatever but think about it.

Graphics/sound cards are really a personal choice.. i went for nvidia gtx 8800 and creative extreme gamer

Currently vista doesn't run as fast as XP but I am hoping the direct x 10 capability will pay off in the future.. i went for vista home premium



The system i went for was the following
Samsung SM-226BW 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black
Logitech Media Keyboard Elite
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
Nova Winner Mousepad
Razer DeathAdder Blue 2000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer 7.1 Soundcard
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755)
Samsung SH-W183 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC2 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Intel Extreme D975XBX2KR BAD AXE 2 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB)
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x1GB)
Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)

but i do not recommend the heatsink i got...


Its hard to say really if there is anything i would do differently at the moment as i haven't been using the PC long enough to really have any problems with the various components.


P.S. I recommend you get something to clean your cpu (just in case you have problems like I did and need to switch the heatsink) either high purity isopropyl alcohol or some name brand cleaner like ArctiClean and some cotton swabs

[odie2190]

wait about a month intels price cutting the q6600 to like 256$ instad of its 580 price tag. you defiantly want something intel and nvidia.

but my advice is wait, a month or 2 you can buy things like hdd's case's power supply's stuff thats doesnt make or break a decision. i would wait on video cards and mobos and cpus to tell you the truth.

[Zertz]

Do you need a monitor also? Because if not, you can get a pretty sick computer for 2000$ now, especially with Intel's price cuts coming in late July. So unless AMD's Phenom turns out to be insanely good (most likely not) and ATI releases their new core soon and outperforms nVidia (most likely not), you will want something Intel/nVidia-based.

[Darkstar]

Well, for 2G you can come pretty close to top of the line at current prices, If you are not overclocking, not looking to Mod, just want a killer gaming system then it should be no problem. But, if you can stand to wait, prices will be dropping (they always are) and if not a little shopping around can get you some good deals. But like others are saying the drop in july will pay some rewards $$ wise, and you can use the time to do a little research as to what might do it for you .

[DaIceMan]

for $2k you could easily build the system in my sig. I spent about $2400 and the memory alone has come down about $150 since I built at the end of January.

I'd definitely recommend everything in my system. There isn't a part that I have that I would change, with the exception of a better overclocking mobo and upgrading to a quad core (after price drops of course). If high overclocking or quad core isn't for you, then like I said, $2k would definitely get you there.

[jtrain]

Here is my rig:
Intel CoreDuo 2.14ghz $186
MSI P965 $86.00
Corsair DDR2 800 XMS 2x1gb $84 after rebate
RaptorX 150 $174 after rebate
XFX 8800GTX 768mb $529(PNY ick)
Creative Fatality Xfi: $145
Thermaltake 750W PSU $129 after rebate
Thermaltake Armor $124.00 THIS CASE IS THE BOMB, add $39 for 240mm case fan side with lexan window.
Samsung 22" WS $269 225BW after rebate.

$1745ish: This is minus shipping and stuff but you get the picture. Add another $100 for fans and other nonsense, like the G7 $65

(all prices from newegg.com)