Build me a Gaming PC, budget $2800

Thanks for all the input fellas.

Spent some time over a friends house, and while I did set a $2800, it was also exceptable to be lower. This is what we came up with.

ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD $134.99

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX6400CZBOX $175.99

3X Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $209.97

2X LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DH-20A4P-04 $49.98

2X CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4PRO $218.00

2X EVGA 640-P2-N829-A3 GeForce 8800GTS SSC 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card $779.98

Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 ATX12V / EPS12V 1000W Power Supply and Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Combo for $329.98

SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor $319.99

Comes out around to $2300.00. Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
Budget?

JLV2k5 [Just because the guy has a $2800 budget it doesn't mean use it all and waste his money]

Don't get 8 gigs of RAM like kungfumosquito has suggested. You do not need that for a gaming computer, 4GBs will suffice. He also does not need a $200 or a $140 sound card. A basic SC or a motherboard will good onboard sound will do for most gamers. I agree with the majority of the other selections made by kungfumosquito. Although, I like the Logitech G5 gaming mouse personally. If this is primarily a gaming system, the guy probably will not need 500gb of HDD space, so money can be saved there. And i dont know what DVD drive he picked out($80????), but i see lots of standard R/W DVD drives for like $30.

This will substantially save some money, hope it helps.

If I had a "budget" for a computer that would mean I have money specifically for a computer.
As for the memory I remember having a gig and thinking that was great. Now, just under two years have passed and 4 gigs is now the amount to have. Thats not really that long for a 300% increase. JLV2k5 is probably right here, but if I had $2800 for a computer...
Now the sound card; I have always used the on board sound on my mother boards, but.. once again, if I had $2800 I would go ahead and buy a decent card as for I have read many reviews stating that it does in fact help your frame rate.
The mouse JLV2k5 spoke of I can say has good reviews but I have never held it in my hands. I personally have an a4 techx-750 bf which I like but seems hard to find for some reason (it's a bit small but very accurate). I have held the Microsoft SideWinder in my hand and it feels even better then the mouse I have now. Input stuff is all very much personal opinion, so I'd say go out and pick your own.
I included 2 250Hdd for raid purposes if wanted. I don't know if it's something KitKatJam23 wants but it's something I would do.
The $80 dvd burner was for two. I just figured why not, whose counting. Plus is good to have a back up if one does happen to fail.
All in all I guess I don't think any of this would be a waste of money if I had the budget for it because if I wanted to save money I would lower my budget $ when I posted on a forum.
 
If you REALLY wanna go with GTSes, see if you can find a pcie 2.0 sli motherboard. The new 512 mb gts cards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143119) perform A LOT better than the old ones, and they're about the same price. In fact, I recently saw a benchmark that had em up near some of the GTXs or Ultras in SLI, I cant remember which :P

That being said, old GTS cards are worse than the old GTX cards. (Old being relative, theyre still rather new :P)
 
KitKat you need more RAM. You are below your original budget and you could use 4 gig total.

2X CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB)

Hes got 4gigs.

And scratch what I said earlier, looks the the only motherboard I can find to fit that description is the 780i, which is 340$ and intel only. If anyone else can find something similar, go ahead :P

Edit: And its not rare for a game to take up 8GB+, I can think of a few that easily surpass that with the amount of patches they put out, and dozens more that are near that mark. It doesn't take much to fill 300gb anymore.
 
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i bet this guy is wishing he never posted...lol like 10023456134 different opinions. i blame it on his large budget ;)
 
The GSX series was named that due to the type of engine. The GSX was also a series of engines that went into mitsubishi eclipse's. You just said "No" because you had never heard of it and I didn't agree with all of your posts earlier.

And yes, I did miss the 2X on the RAM meaning he has selected 4gigs total.

And no, more than 4gigs is not needed for gaming. Possibly in the future, but currently and in the near future, 4 gbs of ram will suffice.

And as for me, college student with an average amount of programs, files, and music. A 150-250 bg HDD will be more than enough for me. I don't store movies on my computer, due to the fact that I would never watch movies on my computer.
 
:confused:

CPU: QX9650 $1,075

HSF: Zalman 9700 $54.99

TP: MX-2 $6.99

Mobo: ASUS P5E X38 $229.99

GPUs: 2X Radeon 3870 HD $499.98

RAM: 4GB XMS2 $119 ($79 after MIR)

PSU: OCZ 700W $129.99 ($104.99 after MIR)

HD: Seagate 1,000GB $329.99

Case: Up to you. I'd recommend a full-tower.

OS: Vista Home Premium x64 $111.49

Feel free to add a soundcard, speakers, etc.

Total Cost = $2,557.42
After MIR= $2,492.42

I seconed this build.

Crossfire is far better than SLI at the moment. I would love to have two 3870's in crossfire. Also to go with the X38, which is meant for ATI, not nvidia. That motherboard is one of if not the best you can get at the moment also.

As mep said, for the case its mainly personal preference. But it needs to be big enough. I personally love the Cooler Master Stacker evolution
 
i would love to see what this guy ends up going with and how well its going to perform, then he can post about how big of a deal this computer was in 5 years and it will be the norm or below :( lol still gonna be a siiiick build
 
The GSX series was named that due to the type of engine. The GSX was also a series of engines that went into mitsubishi eclipse's. You just said "No" because you had never heard of it and I didn't agree with all of your posts earlier.

your offically retarded.

First, the GSX is the TRIM level of an eclipse, not the engine name. the engine is the 4G63, either 6 bolt or 4 bolt. The GSX was an AWD turbo Eclipse, not an engine. The GSX motorcycle was named rightly so due to the type of engine inside the bike, but the GSX is not an engine.

i said "no" b/c you posted completely false information
 
your offically retarded.

First, the GSX is the TRIM level of an eclipse, not the engine name. the engine is the 4G63, either 6 bolt or 4 bolt. The GSX was an AWD turbo Eclipse, not an engine. The GSX motorcycle was named rightly so due to the type of engine inside the bike, but the GSX is not an engine.

i said "no" b/c you posted completely false information


I had gotten false info about the gsx eclispe thing. I thought there were a series of eclispes with gsx engines. I love how so much car talk developed on a computer forum.
 
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Yeah, agreed. A nice monitor is critical of a good gaming system, espeically because your budget can allow it.
 
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