[lexmark]

Hello, id like to buy a gaming rig to replace the one I have. The last time I looked around was when the fight was with amd 5000vs e6600...as as you can tell ive been outa the game for awhile


can someone point me in the right direction on what to look for? such as what mobo would be the best deal at the moment...money isn't a problem but Id prefer to keep the budget at 2k max (including monitor)


thanks a bunch

[Insomnia]

What size monitor would you be looking for? If its under 22"inch then it shouldn't put too great a dent in your budget.

More importantly you should answer some of these questions so we can get some kind of idea of what exactly you'll use your computer for:

What kind of games do you want to play smoothly?

What else do you use your computer for?

Would you be planning to add new components such as graphics cards, RAM etc in 6-18 months time?

[mbonwick]

OK, here's what I plan to build (see if it suits you):

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair)

Asus STRIKER EXTREME 680I SLI Socket 775 onboard Audio ATX

Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-12) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty

Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache (WD Caviar 500GB)

XFX 8800 Ultra Extreme 768MB GDDR3 DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card

Antec Nine Hundred - Gaming Case with 200mm Top Fan - No PSU

Enermax Galaxy 850W EGA850EWL CrossFire ATX2.2 Modular PSU

With Vista Ultimate and Office 2007 pro, total cost :£1598
How's that for your needs and budget?

All you'd need to find is a monitor, and they're not that expensive.

[sgtoku]

CPU: The current best bang for your buck and still very powerful (if you want to go quad core) is the Q6600 at 2.4ghz each core. I retails in USD 279.99 at new egg. (Canadian and American are very close in dollar count so this should be relatively the same price for you). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115017

I would not recommend the extreme model CPU's as they cost much more and the performance diffrence is not huge based on reviews from reviewers on line.

GPU/Graphics Card: I would recommend with your budget an 8800 GTX 768mb GPU. It will run all the latest games quite easily and will run Crysis well too. They generally all perform about the same no matter what brand you get so choose what you like the best. I have experience with EVGA, MSI, BFG, XFX, and PNY. They are all great brands.

GPU Prices on the 8800 GTX: MSI $499.99. XFX $539.99. PNY $529.99. BFG $529.99 and EVGA $549.99

Out of these pick your favorite, they all work well. I actually like the MSI cause of it's price and it is actually factory clocked abit faster then some of the others. I have great success with MSI GPU's so I tend to stick to them.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127281

Motherboard: The Asus P5N32-E SLI motherboard is a great motherboard with it's own seperate supreme FX sound card so you wont have to worry about bad sound. It also supports 2 Graphics cards if you want to in the future and will support the next generation Intel processors when they come out. Priced at $204.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131073

Power Supply: Cooler Master 650w true power supply. It is rated at 650w but can deliver up to 780w. I love this and will use it in any build I can do. It can support two 8800 gtx if you want to sli in the future. $109.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171023


This is what I would do in your situation, do as you see fit because what matters is what you want out of your system. Here is a build under $2,000 (priced at $1,778.23 including shipping) that includes some of the best parts I could think of, hope this could help you in a way. All you need is a computer case of your choice and then it is a complete PC.

$111.99 Operating system: This is a windows vista home premium 64bit version to take advantage of the 4gb of ram in this build. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116204

Asus Dvd Burner with lightscribe $28.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135148

$109.99 Hard drive: It is 500gb western digital caviar http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073

$234.99 Acer 22" monitor 5ms: I personally have one of these (except mine is 20") It performs well and comes with a dvi cable so you can connect it to your DVI connection of your graphics card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009094

$499.99 Graphics Card: MSI 8800 GTX factory overclocked. I would go with this over the ultra version of this card simply because you save a good deal of money and you get performance levels close to the same overall.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127281

$109.99 Power supply: Cooler Master Real Power Pro 650w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171023

$139.98 Memory/Ram: A-Data 4gb ram at 4-4-4-12 speeds. A-Data uses the same chipset as Mushkin so you get Mushkin performance for much less because it is not Mushkin brand name. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211174

$204.99 Motherboard: Asus P5N32-E SLI 680i with included supreme fx sound card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131073

$279.00 CPU: Intel Q6600 CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115017

$39.99 Cpu Cooler: Zero Therm BTF90. I included this because I cant live without one. Though the cpu comes with it's own as you may know so you can go with that if you want. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835887002

Total with shipping: $1778.23. There is $105.00 in rebates with this setup but it really depends where you purchase your items. Powerful build here if your into that much. In the end choose what you like the most. Hope this helps.

[lexmark]

awesome! thats great help but I was also recommended the evga nf68 a1 mobo and its only $60 more over here...is it worth it?

[sgtoku]

Yes the Evga A1 Motherboard is a very strong motherboard and will work very well. If you are leaning more in that direction then by all means go with EVGA A1. Just as good as the one I would go with. Have a look around http://www.ncix.com/ for pc hardware in Canadian dollars.

Go with which ever motherboard you think you want more. Both the one you have there and the Asus one I showed you will not do you wrong. Good luck

[BrucieBonus]

mbonwick where are you getting your parts from. I'm asking because i have started up a business and ive just checked with my suppliers priclist and i can get roughly the same parts for a better prices, only changes are because my suppliers dont do the same hardware

INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 1066FSB SKT775 RET Cost: 168.166
ASUS SKT-775 STRIKER S/L SLI 1333FSB Cost: 145.47675

CORSAIR TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX 2GB DDR2 800 DUAL CHANNEL CL4.0 Cost: 68.86675

WD HD SERIAL 500GB UDMA 300 7200RPM 16MB OEM Cost: 74.36575

GAINWARD NV GF 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E 8262 Cost: 341.455

ANTEC FULL CASE NINE HUNDRED BLK63.46175T/TAKE W0131RE 850W TOUGHPOWER CABLE MANAGEMENT RET Cost104.8805

MS WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE 64-bit 1 PACK OEM Cost:107.85325

mS OFFICE SMALL BUSINESS 2007 1 PACK OEM £143.17375


TOTAL 1217.6995

Not sure how big the difference in the psu and the graphics cards are though. Although i would add a £30 handeling fee onto that for my profit and then there is P&p about £6.

Not that im trying to sell to you, im just trying to geat a grasp of weather or not my prices are competitive enough. I know you can get cheaper parts, but i can beat alot of places. Need to get the prices on processors down tho!

[mbonwick]

My prices are from www.ebuyer.com, some of your parts are cheaper, but others are more expensive (the Vista OEM for example, I can get for £94)