[Carbon]

About four days, about four pages in OpenOffice - it's finally done!

Note: I'm using dollars, not pounds. Halving my dollar totals should give you a similar amount in pounds, but there may be a difference due to inflation so you should check your local site or retailer's prices on anything I say here. It may be different in the UK, but most of these trends will be universal.

Another note: This is a gamer-oriented guide. While I have a budget section, that's more oriented towards budget gamers than people who just want to surf the Intertubes and play Texas Hold'Em. As such, you can get a way cheaper setup, it just tends to be a good idea to get mid-high end parts right now and I reflect that here. With 45nms coming out, as well as DDR3 and with the G92, we are clearly starting a new generation of hardware.

CPU

Best deal: The E8 series, or “Wolfdale” (this name also applies to other desktop processors like the T series, but you don't want those). You can buy them now! They're 45nm, which means cooler, quicker, and easier to overclock. E8400 is the best deal at the moment.

Quad-cores are recommended for non-gamers, because while they can be overclocked well, the 45nm ones are over a thousand dollars a piece and extra cores are not used very well or at all in most games. People who run rendering programs like 3dsmax may get usefulness out of a quad-core, however.


The excellent choice right now is the E8400 – if you are building a new PC, this is the chip to buy.

But I'm on a budget!: The E6850 is good, but its price is still relatively high and occasionally more expensive than the E8 CPUs. Go for a E6450. Extreme budgeters may want to go for a Pentium D, but if possible get a Core 2 Duo.

But I've got tons of cash!: Go for a 45nm Core 2 Extreme Yorkfield like the QX9650 and laugh as you absolutely destroy CPUMark.

Should I wait?: No, because the waiting is done. The new 45nms are here, go hog wild!

RAM:

Best deal: Good old DDR 800. DDR 1066 is lame and won't be useful unless you're overclocking your FSB to a ridiculous degree. Make sure it's not “Value” RAM, manufactured by a good company, and is dual-channel (80% of the RAM you'll find is good memory, just watch out for SuperPowerMemorySpeedClockPC's VALUEMAX 4000 stuff).

But I just got mugged!: DDR 800 is so cheap right now, there's no real reason to suggest anything lower.

But I just mugged somebody!: If you have the cash, go for DDR3. Make sure your motherboard supports it, however. It should have a solid speed increase over DDR2. Tom's Hardware is in love with OCZ's PC3-10666 Platinum Edition, and they have lots of money so we should listen to them. Of course, it's $300 per 2GB, but this wasn't too bad for RAM a few years ago, when it wasn't dirt cheap like it is now, and it's certainly worth the money. If you have it.

Should I wait?: Maybe. DDR3 is somewhere between cutting-edge and bleeding-edge right now, and is unlikely to catch on for another few months. The best solution is to get a motherboard that supports both DDR2 and DDR3 in exchange for slightly lower supported DDR3 speeds. I will expand on this in the Motherboard section.

Hard Drive

Best deal: Anything, really. Hard drive prices have ran into the ground over the last eight years or so. One can easily pick up a terabyte of storage for under $250, an amount of storage large even for a server at the start of the millenium.

All that needs to be said is this: pick a reliable brand, and more cache is better – almost all hard drives are 7200RPM, which is the recommended speed. Most people feel Western Digital is one of the most reliable brands, mixed opinions about Seagate, with Hitachi, IBM, Maxtor, and Samsung at the bottom, but this is largely situational.


Your best bet is to purchase more than one hard drive to minimize problems if one goes dead – setting them up in a RAID setup will allow you to “mirror” the disks. While your drives will fill up faster, capacity is so cheap that most will never run into a problem.

Global recession: Hard drives are so cheap, there is no real “budget” version. Get a smaller drive if you need to really save.

Never mind, I just made five million dollars on the stock market!: Go for 10,000 RPM hard drives. The most common is Western Digital's Raptor series. Speed, speed, speed. You may want to invest in solid state, but it's not really worth it at this point. Definitely get at least two hard drives.

Should I wait?: Hard drive capacities seem to be stalling. Solid-state solutions are overly expensive and will stay there for the near future.

Motherboard

Best deal: Anything based on the P35 chipset is a good pick. For a midrange machine, EVGA and ASUS are good brands: the former for their Step Up program, latter for their low failure rate and good capacitors. Make sure to pick something that supports a FSB of 1333, this will allow you to use the 45nm Wolfdale chips discussed above.


Don't spring for SLI – most boards will not let you run two cards at their intended rates of x16. Instead, try getting a board with PCI Express 2.0 support. Some boards can support DDR3 as well as DDR2, which may be a good idea if you've got a lot of DDR2 lying around. Avoid the X38 chipset – it has poor BIOS support and is relatively hot.

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: If you're on a budget, try the 650i.

Uncle Phil's Mansion: Lots of cash means you can buy the relatively expensive DDR3 up. Definitely spring for a good DDR3 motherboard. You may want to check out SLI boards – make sure that both slots can run in x16 mode. Get 4GB and a 64-bit OS for best performance.

Should I wait?: The DDR3 motherboards are actually pretty decent at the moment, so no.

Video Card

Best deal: nVidia's 8800GT and the ATI 3850 are competing right now as the best card on the market. Both companies have largely abandoned their other cards, visible as the 8600GT, GTS, (the old) 8800GTS, 8800GTX, and even the Ultra have been relegated to obscurity in the face of a cheaper and more efficient G92.


The 256MB 3850 is much cheaper than the GT, but the VRAM will make much more of a difference on ATI's offering. The 512MB version is therefore recommended, putting it on a more-or-less even playing field with the 8800GT. Both cards are amazingly fast. ATI, to my knowledge, does not have a “Step-Up” program like manufacturers such as EVGA have, however, so you may be relegated to throwing your old 3850 in the trash or selling it on eBay once the new thing in graphics comes along. This is why I favor the GT: your mileage may vary.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?: If you're not getting a 8800GT (or a 3850), you may be getting much less bang for your buck. Try as hard as you can in your budget to make room for one. If you can't, the GDDR3 8600GT may be a decent deal for around $100.

Now Give Me Money (That's What I Want!): SLIing two 8800GTs will set you back about $475, but it will be the highest-end solution that is realistic (two Ultras or GTXs would be a simple waste of money).

Should I wait?: Possibly, if you have a lot of money to throw down. High-enders may want to wait a couple months for the 9800GX2. Otherwise, not worth it.

Power Supply

Best deal: This tends to fluctuate. Right now, the best price point seems to be at 650-700W, with the average retail price hovering around $100 to $120 with rebates. What you want to look for here is a good manufacturer (OCZ, Antec, Coolermaster, Corsair, PC Power and Cooling), good rails, and anything over 500W or so. Over 600 is recommended to give yourself a little breathing space for new stuff or SLI. You also want to consider the strength of the rails, but this should be quite easy simply by reading customer reviews. I like the 700W OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI. However, I bought one and a capacitor exploded. Probably a fluke.


One thing that I demand out of my recent purchases of PSUs is “modular cabling” - this basically means you can plug in the cables you need, rather than leaving the useless ones dangling around like retarded, airflow blocking snakes.

Working in fast food: Anyone worth their salt will tell you that skimping on PSUs is not a good idea. When in doubt, get a 500W from a good company or wait until you have the cash to get a good one.

Working in the Bush administration: Go 800W or higher. You'll need it if you're going to SLI. Make sure you have two PCI-E connectors!

Should I wait?: Possibly, but not in the way you think. Power supplies tend to be inundated with rebates. Like a certain PSU? I guarantee you two weeks later you'll see a mail-in rebate on it.

Other parts and final thoughts

Yes, I'm leaving out DVD drives, monitors, heatsinks, cases, and sound cards. And here's why:

• DVD drives are rather cheap, all work similarly, and there's little to talk about other than make sure you have enough IDE/SATA slots!

• Monitors are very subjective, though I like the Hanns-G JW199D (cheap, bright, 19”, 5ms response time).

• As for heatsinks, there are only a couple brands worth buying and I'm not as experienced with them.

• Cases are subjective as well. Get something pretty, ATX, and with good airflow. I like the Antec 900.

• The only recommended sound card is something from the X-Fi line from Creative – otherwise, you're best off with onboard which tends to be pretty good (or at least good enough).

Here is a recommended build (minus the above) based on the recommendations in this guide: All prices are after mail-in rebates.

PROCESSOR: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz ($225)

MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 ($160)

RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) ($34)

HARD DRIVE: Western Digital Caviar SE WD5000AAJS ($100)

POWER SUPPLY: COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-750-ACAA-A1 750W ($70)

VIDEO CARD: EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB ($270)


GRAND TOTAL: $860

[Krlll]

Great post!
Love the titles.lol
Rep+

[Eltocliousus]

Very nice, im going to be using this from now on.

Reped and bookmarked *Hot nipples*
Thanks.

[Gazmondo]

Fresh Prince of Bel Air

lol

Not a bad review there, though i think a monitor section would be good, advising on which graphics card to go with which screen based on resolution, along with the nerdy-breakdown of what contrast ratios are, or response time or all the connectivity types, along with HD shizzle.

[Carbon]

I don't know as much about monitors as I'd like to - all I know is avoid high response times to avoid ghosting. I bought my LCDs only because they had good ratings.

I should have expanded on the VRAM -> resolution thing a bit more, but oh well.

[Airescape]

With the 8800GT, why do you suggest getting the Super Clocked version? For 30-40 dollars cheaper you can just get the regular one correct? Is it that much better?

Also, can you suggest any case/power supply combos? How many watts is required to run this setup? Would 500 be sufficient?

Thanks.

[Carbon]

I recommended that version as it was less than $20 from the "regular" version when I checked, and also because I love EVGA's step-up program (as opposed to all the others' "throw old card in the garbage" program).

500W will be sufficient but I do not like cutting it that close. I usually go for 600W. For a case, I'd definitely go with the Antec 900. It's one of the most popular gamer cases around for a reason: it's good. It's easy to work in, has excellent cooling, and lots of expandability.

[Carbon]

Err, just found a bit of a typo. Quad-cores are NOT recommended for gamers, only for those who run applications that can utilize the extra cores.

Sorry about that :)

[alex]

Originally Posted by Carbon

Err, just found a bit of a typo. Quad-cores are NOT recommended for gamers, only for those who run applications that can utilize the extra cores.

Sorry about that :)

Edited for you.

[Carbon]

Appreciate it. Is there any way this could be stickied? I'm constantly referring people to it and a couple people have asked me why it isn't. I'd hate for it to get lost in the mass of new threads.