Building a Gaming Computer

[spronty]

Ok so I pretty much know next to nothing when it comes to building a computer but I have a friend who said if I can get him the parts he will build me a gaming computer for me. Now here's the problem, I have absolutely no idea what components I need to buy and what is good and what is not. My max budget is $1000 and if anyone could help me with this, it would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[Skvadrin]

if you buy parts online from newegg.com then $1,000 is plenty. My brother built a top of the line gaming rig for $1,400. The trickiest part is making sure all the parts are compatible with each other. If you buy different hardware pieces that don't fit, or require a different port, then you're kinda SOL there.

[Apostolic]

Intel i-core5 CPU + Motherboard = $400
3 GB DDR3 Ram (Triple Channel) = $150
1TB HDD = $200
ATI or Nvida Card = $200

And your at a $950 right there, add in the case and power supply of your choice and your good to go.

You can get all that from Newegg.com

Also it might be a good thing to read this article at TomsHardware.

[evan_s]

Intel i-core5 CPU + Motherboard = $400
3 GB DDR3 Ram (Triple Channel) = $150
1TB HDD = $200
ATI or Nvida Card = $200

And your at a $950 right there, add in the case and power supply of your choice and your good to go.

You can get all that from Newegg.com

Also it might be a good thing to read this article at TomsHardware.

The core i5 isn't not a triple channel memory config. It is only dual channel.

A 1 tb hard drive should be 100$ or less.

The simplest way to get a good gaming system is going to be to pick a moderate dell or gateway pc and just swap out the video card for a good gaming card. 600$ system and a 150$ video card and you've got a system that is more than capable of handling WOW with minimal effort.

[Apostolic]

The core i5 isn't not a triple channel memory config. It is only dual channel.

A 1 tb hard drive should be 100$ or less.

The simplest way to get a good gaming system is going to be to pick a moderate dell or gateway pc and just swap out the video card for a good gaming card. 600$ system and a 150$ video card and you've got a system that is more than capable of handling WOW with minimal effort.

Aye you are right on the iCore5 not being triple channel. Seems like only the iCore7 is. That jumps you up to $800 for MB+CPU.

I would stay away from Dell and HP since most likely they are not using a standard ATX MB thus upgrading in the future will be hindered. Also, building you own PC is more about the case you chose and customize yourself then whats actually in the system. I have had my Customized case for the last 12 years. Swapped parts quite a lot in that time thought.
Meh, I don't run Intel anyways.

[diseous]

Really, you dont have to buy one, as many manufacturers deal directly with companies like newegg.com

got to their web site, and look for a gaming barebone

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%20-%20%241000


There are 21 of them for less than 1k$

[evan_s]

Aye you are right on the iCore5 not being triple channel. Seems like only the iCore7 is. That jumps you up to $800 for MB+CPU.

I would stay away from Dell and HP since most likely they are not using a standard ATX MB thus upgrading in the future will be hindered. Also, building you own PC is more about the case you chose and customize yourself then whats actually in the system. I have had my Customized case for the last 12 years. Swapped parts quite a lot in that time thought.
Meh, I don't run Intel anyways.

The dell and hp computers on my desk here both have standard enough atx mb's. Someone who isn't comfortable building their own pc isn't going to be swapping motherboards anyway so it's rather moot.

[chaud]

I am looking for a new desktop also, got about $900 to spend. Looking at the above product list, i seen

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883227176

Was wondering if this would run WOW really well, with a high amount of settings and shadows. Thanks.

GPU is weak, and it is overpriced.

[Vehemence]

Hmm...I sure could use a newegg for europe... ;-(

[Lotena]

Ok so I pretty much know next to nothing when it comes to building a computer but I have a friend who said if I can get him the parts he will build me a gaming computer for me. Now here's the problem, I have absolutely no idea what components I need to buy and what is good and what is not. My max budget is $1000 and if anyone could help me with this, it would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance

If you have to resort to asking a site like mmo-champion, you're likely going to get a really expensive, crap computer. Just a warning.

[Lodar]

I myself am looking at a nice gaming laptop for a change if anyone could help me out with that ~4g ram etc.

For ~500/600 euro's

[Lokomah]

As some people have said above I would just get an off the shelf system from newegg, microcenter, big box store and upgrade the video card to fit your gaming needs. I recently bought a computer for $400 and put in an $80 nvidia 220. That is an older card but more or less covered what I need. The computer was a 500GB, 2.3GHz dual core AMD with 3G of RAM. So you could easily put in a much more recent video card and up the hard drive a little and still meet your $1k price point. Some people will spout out prices and what not that look good but sometimes there are hidden costs. Do you have a non OEM version of windows you can load? Do you have a DVD drive that you can take out of an old computer (assuming you don't want to keep your old computer in a running state)? If not I would again recommend getting a pre-built system that you only need to upgrade a little (vid card and/or HDD)

[Distorter]

so i guess we are all assuming that he is american and talking US Dollars, Apostolic has got it right thou, in my country NZ the Intel option is an i5 2.66ghz and a P7P55D-E with the extras he has said, or for more gaming grunt Amd x4 955 and Asus 785g Evo board, imo id go for a 4890 over a 5770 for graphics cards but alot of people seem to want the 5770s. Also dont get cheap ram that is the cause of all computer problems good ram doesnt cost that much more and please dont buy a pre-built system, they area always overpriced

[uofwone8@hotmail.com]

I did the leg-work for you

Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131623
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115221
Memory - Get TWO of these kits - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134492
Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136490
CD-ROM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136177
Case and Power Supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.312681
Graphics Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150357

With two memory kits (for a total of 4GB) this works out to @707.91.

You will need a copy of Windows from somewhere, if you are buying a new one I would recommend this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-758-_-Product

This will bring your total to @857.90

If you really want to spend that whole 1k order these two items instead of the ones listed above. These will bring the price to $962.90 but this machine will last you a LONG time.
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115220
Graphics Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-294-_-Product

If you have any questions PM me - I would be happy to help.

[Lokomah]

Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136490


If you have any questions PM me - I would be happy to help.

I would only change the hard drive. More of a personal preference but for an extra $10 you can get the 7200rpm version and I think being that it came in so far under the price point I would pay the $10

Two more expensive but 7200rpm drives.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148433
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136236

[Elektrik]

As someone has said, your best bet is to look for a good "Barebone" deal on Newegg or Tiger Direct. You can really save a lot of money by going this route, and avoid a lot of headaches.

If you're really ambitious, find a few barebone kits and look at the components. Figure out which one(s) you like, and look at buying each of those parts individually from random places on the internet. You might be able to save even more money this way, and since they were originally part of a barebone, you can be sure they work.

That being said, try to stick to Newegg or Tiger Direct, and Amazon if you don't mind the chance of waiting 3 weeks for a part to arrive at your door.


edit: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...1&Sku=B69-1164 looks pretty good. Obviously you'd need to add a video card. You could get a very good video card (or two good ones) and still stay in your price range, because the rest of the components are pretty good and nothing should throttle your performance.

[lilbandit]

Intel i-core5 CPU + Motherboard = $400
3 GB DDR3 Ram (Triple Channel) = $150
1TB HDD = $200
ATI or Nvida Card = $200

And your at a $950 right there, add in the case and power supply of your choice and your good to go.

You can get all that from Newegg.com

Also it might be a good thing to read this article at TomsHardware.

what you gona watch it on?

meh I just got a brand new 27" iMac and its fantastic for WoW. Make the switch, you'll love it :P

[Mr_Bojangles]

You got a 27 inch iMac for one thousand dollars? Also, I assume he would watch it on the same monitor that he currently has.

[Elektrik]

You do realize that if you took the ridiculous amount of money you spent on that iMac and built your own PC, the PC would blow it out of the water...right?

Sure, Macs run great and people are happy with them, but anybody with computer knowledge who spends over $1000 on a computer is going to get an amazing machine.


edit:
hahaha wow, i just looked at the apple site. Here are the specs of the cheapest 27", which costs $1700:
-3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
-4GB memory
-1TB hard drive
-8x double-layer SuperDrive
-ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics with 256MB

Let's see how much those things cost.

Processor - $145
4GB memory - $100
1TB hard drive - $90
8x double-layer drive - $50
video card - $75

That comes to $460. Add a case, power supply and monitor, and we're looking at $250 more. So if that computer wasn't a Mac, it would cost $990 less...or 42% off.


Sorry tink...this wasn't directed at you, just at my anger towards Apple's price line.

[lilbandit]

actually it cost me about £400 all things considered, which is about $650 in current climate

but regards playing wow on it, it's amazing. 27" screen + 2560x1440 resolution = a stupid amount of real estate, and with the LED screen the colours are really nice (as good as WoW can be anyway). Ultra settings = ~80-150fps questing/cities (not tested dalaran), not sure about raids.

to Elektrik : I'd spend 4x that amount to NOT have to use windows again. Combine that with a 27" better than HD display with LED backlit screen -, completely silent running, and an OS that destroys windows, to get anywhere near that you would have to spend a LOT more than I did