Please Help Me Pick Out A Gaming P.C.

[shredpilot]

Hey,

I'm looking to get a gaming pc before Christmas this year, and I need it to be at or below $1000. Basically, I want the most bang for my buck. I need it to be able to handle any new, or upcoming mmo's and I want it to last for at least 4 years. I don't need a monitor, mouse, keyboard, or any of those extras, but if it's included, than what the hell, I'll take em... Any help will be great...

Thanks,

Shred

Oh Yea, Please No AMD Processors, Or ATI Video Cards....

[George Hallam]

Do you mind building your own PC? you will get a lot better performance

Oh Yea, Please No AMD Processors, Or ATI Video Cards....

Why not ATI cards they are the best bang for buck at the moment ;)

[shredpilot]

Um... I wouldn't mind building it myself, but I'd perfer something more along the lines of a company like cyberpowerpc building it to my specs...

Personally, I prefer nvidia... Its more just a prefrence more than anything else...

[George Hallam]

Hmm if you build your own you will

-Get better parts each with its own warranty
-You will learn one heck of a lot
-You will get a lot more money

I know, go to the cyber power pc website and build a PC on there and i will see what you get and i will let you know if you are getting good bang for buck ;)

[shredpilot]

Aight... I went to CyberPowerPc, and this is what I configured... Its $1190, and thats about $120 over what I wanna spend....[EDIT]- Thats Before All Applicable Rebates. -[EDIT]

CASE: Apevia X-Cruiser Mid-Tower 420W Case W/ WINDOW, MultiMeter Display & Control (Red Color)
Neon Light Upgrade: NONE

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans

POWER SUPPLY Upgrade: 580 Watts Power Supplies (SLI Ready Power Supply)

CPU: Intel® Core™2 i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366

COOLING FAN : ($10 off Mail-in Rebate) Thermaltake V1 Gaming CPU Cooling
Fan (Excellent Overclocking + Silent Proof + Smart CPU & System Thermal Monitor)

MOTHERBOARD: MSI X58 Platinum Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA, Dual GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394a, & 7.1Audio

MEMORY: 3GB (3x1GB) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)

VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 16X PCI Express (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA)

VIDEO CARD 2: NONE

VIDEO CARD 3: NONE

LCD Monitor: NONE

2nd Monitor: NONE

HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

Data Hard Drive: NONE

Hard Drive Cooler: None

USB PORTABLE DRIVE: NONE

Optical Drive: Sony 20X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)

Optical Drive 2: NONE

SOUND: Creative Labs SB Audigy SE

SPEAKERS: NONE

NETWORK: ADDITIONAL PCI 32 BIT 10/100 NETWORK CARD

MODEM: NONE

KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BLACK COLOR)

MOUSE: PS2 INTERNET MOUSE W/ WHEEL (BLACK COLOR)

Extra Thermal Display : NONE

Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card

Flash Media Reader/Writer: None

Cable Wiring: None

Rounded Cable: None

VIDEO CAMERA: NONE

PRINTER: None

PRINTER CABLE: None

IEEE CARD: NONE

USB PORT: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

FLOPPY: NONE

OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (32-bit Edition)

FREEBIES: FREE! (Halo 2) Game

Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner: None

SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

RUSH SERVICE: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS

[shredpilot]

I just found this... but I personally think its overpriced... but how bout u?

My Components
Intel® Core™2 Q9400 Quad-Core (6MB L2 cache,2.66GHz,1333FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium w/ Digital Cable Support SP1
1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs
500GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
No Monitor
nVidia GeForce 9800 GT 512MB
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Dell USB Keyboard
Dell Optical USB Mouse
Dell 19 in 1 Media Reader with Bluetooth
Dell Media Card Reader included in Dell Bluetooth Package
No Modem Requested
Dell 1505 Wireless-N PCIe Card
My Software & Accessories
McAfee SecurityCenter 15-months
Microsoft Works 9.0
My Service
Receive an E-mail for your Dell Remote Access
Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year
Also Includes
Windows Vista™ Premium
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0 Multi-Language
XPS Specialized Support
375 W Power Supply
No Entertainment software pre-installed
No ISP requested

[shredpilot]

Aight...
I've decided to build it myself... I can get a much better deal, and have great hardware....

[George Hallam]

Here is your system, i am sorry i chose you an ATI card (well two in fact :p) because it will give you awesome performance

MOBO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

GPU x 2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

DVD-rw
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

total is $895

leaving you spare cash for any extras you will like

An after market CPU cooler like this and a bit of OC'ing will get you a massive performance gain on that E8400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118020&Tpk=Zalman%209700

+ $65.99

Also you will need to buy a copy of windows home premium 64bit

+ $100

[shredpilot]

Coooooool! Thanks for your help...

[Starman27]

Don't forget a hard drive for that build.

Also, I would recommend going for an Asus P5Q Pro instead of the Gigabyte mobo. In my opinion it is a little better board for the same price, and also you can get it in a combo deal with the 8400 to knock the price down to end up saving you $30 Here is the link to the combo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.138376

Although George knows a lot more than me, so I would check with him first, that is just my advice. Good luck with the build, I am undertaking my first right now as well.

[George Hallam]

A HDD is included in the price (a 500Gb WD i think) forgot to add the link :D

with mid range MOBO there all about the same [both have solid capacitors and Intel ICH10R southbridge, the reason i chose the Gigabyte is the better NB cooling, cooling on the whole and it has ultra durable 3 ;)

Although George knows a lot more than me, so I would check with him first, that is just my advice. Good luck with the build, I am undertaking my first right now as well.

No problem mate, its always good when there is choice :D

[mjc]

Besides, Asus seems to have been slipping a little from being 'king of the hill' lately. I'm liking a number of the Gigabyte offerings, lately, usually the same or more features without the 'name' premium of the Asus counter part board.

[jlreich]

I have chosen Gigabyte boards for my last two personal builds for those reasons. The board in the system I am running right now has been running excellent for the last ten months since I built it.