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Forums - PC Discussion - Getting a gaming rig. Buy or Build?

Epoch said:
tallgnome said:
Whats your price range?

MAX I would spend would be $1500. But that owuld take some convincing.  I'm comfortable with $1200-1300.

 

Dude, f that. You can build a kick ass rig for under 1,000. Especially if you have the monitor and can get the OS for cheap.



Had to change my sig to get some moderator to quit bitching about it......

 

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Nabraham said:
Epoch said:
tallgnome said:
Whats your price range?

MAX I would spend would be $1500. But that owuld take some convincing.  I'm comfortable with $1200-1300.

 

Dude, f that. You can build a kick ass rig for under 1,000. Especially if you have the monitor and can get the OS for cheap.

Alright, so any idea what parts I should start with?  I have very little knowledge of individual components, which is why I'm hesitant to just buy a bunch of stuff and slap it together and hope it works.

Also: it appears that I can get Windows 7 for free from my school?? This seems very odd to me, also whats the difference between Windows 7 Pro x64 vs Windows 7 Pro x86 ??



Mainly the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit is how much RAM it can see. In 32-bit, you can only see around 3-4gigs of RAM. In 64-bit, you can use a LOT more ram (depending on the OS, ex- Windows 7 home, professional, ect).

This can be a useful chart,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions#Comparison_chart



64-bit could also have some compatibility issues with older programs (and also requires drivers to be signed), but one way you can get around that is by dual booting or using Windows 7 pro's XP-mode for the software you want to use (I dual boot and my CPU doesn't support virtualization so I don't know much about XP mode).



Epoch said:
Barozi said:
build your own PC. You will save several hundred bucks.

Did you build yours? Any tips if you did?

Problem is, I have very little knowledge about individual components and can't tell whats a quality part, what is compatible and what isn't.  So I'd basically be ordering the parts listed for pre-built computers and assembling them myself. 

I would definitely prefer to save a few hundred that I could spend on a new monitor (I've got an ancient LCD), but I am having problems even putting together a comprehensive list of what I need.  Kinda seems like a lot of work =/

Got mine for around 700€ (~$950) about half a year ago.

Newegg prices are much cheaper than anything here in Europe, so you really shouldn't pay more than $1000 for a PC that will easily outperform mine.



IllegalPaladin said:

Mainly the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit is how much RAM it can see. In 32-bit, you can only see around 3-4gigs of RAM. In 64-bit, you can use a LOT more ram (depending on the OS, ex- Windows 7 home, professional, ect).

This can be a useful chart,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions#Comparison_chart



64-bit could also have some compatibility issues with older programs (and also requires drivers to be signed), but one way you can get around that is by dual booting or using Windows 7 pro's XP-mode for the software you want to use (I dual boot and my CPU doesn't support virtualization so I don't know much about XP mode).

My bad, for some reason I thought that the 32 bit version would be called x32.  I know the difference between 32 and 64 bit OS, just wasn't sure what the x86 meant.



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Here's something to start with. I just sort of pulled out products with good reviews and such so I'm sure you or others can find other stuff that'll work as well. So consider this more of a starting point of researching prices.

Things like keyboard, mouse, and speakers aren't included as that all depends on what you want and/or have. For example, I use a Logitech G5 that I've had for a while, a 7 year old keyboard, and a used set of Logitech 5.1 speakers that I got for half the retail price at the time. Heck, I've also been using my DVD burner and DVD-Rom for years as well. Might want to include some thermal compound in there as well.

I'm going to try to copy and paste of the products I put into Newegg's cart. Taken from US Newegg site.

1
LG DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH24NS50 - OEM Item #: N82E16827136177Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

 
$24.99
1
Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail Item #: N82E16811129043Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
-$40.00 Instant

 
$199.99$159.99
1
SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD154UI 1.5TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Item #: N82E16822152175Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

 
$109.99
1
XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video ... - Retail Item #: N82E16814150442Return Policy: VGA Replacement Only Return Policy

 
$299.99
1
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail Item #: N82E16817139006Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card17-139-006
 
$139.99$119.99
1
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail Item #: N82E16820231193Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy

 
$104.99
1
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Item #: N82E16813128412Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$5.00 Instant

 
$139.99$134.99
1
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail Item #: N82E16819115214Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant

 
$289.99$279.99
1
Intel Gift - INTEL LYNNFIELD KIT - OEM Item #: N82E16800995081Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
-$39.99 Saving

 
$39.99$0.00
1
XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail Item #: N82E16835233029Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

 
$44.96

$1,279.88 not counting shipping of course.

1
LG DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH24NS50 - OEM Item #: N82E16827136177Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

 
$24.99
1
Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail Item #: N82E16811129043Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
-$40.00 Instant

 
$199.99$159.99
1
SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD154UI 1.5TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Item #: N82E16822152175Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

 
$109.99
1
XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video ... - Retail Item #: N82E16814150442Return Policy: VGA Replacement Only Return Policy

 
$299.99
1
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail Item #: N82E16817139006Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card17-139-006
 
$139.99$119.99
2
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail Item #: N82E16820231193Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy

 
$209.98($104.99 each)
1
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Item #: N82E16813128412Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$5.00 Instant

 
$139.99$134.99
1
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 - Retail Item #: N82E16819115214Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant

 
$289.99$279.99
1
Intel Gift - INTEL LYNNFIELD KIT - OEM Item #: N82E16800995081Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
-$39.99 Saving

 
$39.99$0.00
1
XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail Item #: N82E16835233029Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

 
$44.96


Get the 64 bit edition, most new rigs now have over 4 gigs of RAM (not including the video card RAM), you don't want to bottleneck your pc down the road with a 32bit OS.



Had to change my sig to get some moderator to quit bitching about it......

 

@ Paladin, holy shit bro, thanks for that.  That i7 processor is the one I was looking at getting, its got a combo with

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/14-131-185-TS?$S125W$) no-repeat scroll 0% 0%;">  
1. POWERCOLOR AX5870 1GBD5-MDHG Radeon HD 5870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card 
for $650.  Seems like thats a good chunk of the budget. 
I like that power supply, I'm guessing 750W is enough to run the PC just fine?


Depends on what you want. The Radeon 5870 is $100 more than the Radeon 5850 and the combo you listed gives you a $25 discount compared to buying the Radeon 5870 and i7 860 on their own.

Here's a link to Guru3d's review of the Radeon 5850. The page it's on is the first of the benchmarks. If you scroll down you can see a graph on each game benchmark page with the results of numerous graphics cards (including the 5870) at 1920x1200 resolution and 8xAA. 

As for the power supply, I think that would be enough unless you planned on having dual GPU's.



Build= better=cheaper=most parts have longer indivdual warrenties than a whole bought computer.



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