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Help me build a gamer with $1200

1K views 32 replies 10 participants last post by  broddam 
#1 ·
Ok, I have 1200 to spend. I already have a viewsonic 20in WS monitor so I dont need a monitor, just the computer itself. I am not sure whether to go Intel or AMD. Would like to have the 8800 card if we can squeeze it in. One thing is though, I do need to purchase the OS. I dont have a disk for it from my other systems. Help me all you can. I have never built one myself nor spec'd one out. It just confuses me as to which parts are better for their money.

thx
 
#2 ·
You are definately going to want to go with Intel as the Core 2 Duo processors are the best around for the money. They are also very good overclockers. I will put a build up for you in a couple minutes.
 
#3 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Malaziel View Post
You are definately going to want to go with Intel as the Core 2 Duo processors are the best around for the money. They are also very good overclockers. I will put a build up for you in a couple minutes.

Thx for helping....
 
#4 ·
With that budget, there is no way you are going 8800 at the current time, maybe a few months down the road but right now they are at $500 which means that you will be putting that 8800 in a pile of crap.

I would suggest something like a Core 2 Duo 6300, 2 Gig of DDR2 800, a Nvidia 7950GT or 7900GT. That will do you well in any current gaming, I would assume you are going to overclock, if you are not, maybe go with a C2D 6400 or 6600.
 
#5 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamakazi View Post
With that budget, there is no way you are going 8800 at the current time, maybe a few months down the road but right now they are at $500 which means that you will be putting that 8800 in a pile of crap.

I would suggest something like a Core 2 Duo 6300, 2 Gig of DDR2 800, a Nvidia 7950GT or 7900GT. That will do you well in any current gaming, I would assume you are going to overclock, if you are not, maybe go with a C2D 6400 or 6600.
Never have overclocked anything so I dont know if I am going to or not. I do agree with your discussion though of the 8800. WIll consider what you listed and also what Malaziel is going to list. Thx for the info
 
#6 ·
You really should look into overclocking (you are on an overclocking forum after all
), it is the best way to get the biggest bang for the buck, and it isn't that risky at all.
 
#8 ·
Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe. Very good overclocking motherboard for Core 2 Duo.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131045
$180

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300. With that motherboard you should be able to overclock this to at least 3 gigahertz.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005
$184

RAM: Buffalo Firestix. Best ram in that price range. Really good stuff. 1 gigabyte 2x512. Later you could upgrade to two gigabytes.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820150053
$122

Video card: 8800GTS. Should be able to handle any game you throw at it at 1600x1200 for quite awhile.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133188
$409

Powersupply: Enermax Noisetaker. Well known for reliability.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817194009
$80

Harddrive: Seagate 250gb with perpendicular recording.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148144
$80

Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5. Large and easy to use. For the price it is an awesome case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068
$50

DVD-RW/CD-RW Drive: Lite-On
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106042
$30

Sound Card: Audigy SE. Cheap good sound card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102003
$30

OS: Windows XP Home with an upgrade coupon for Vista.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116169
$90

All of that comes to $1225 without shipping.
 
#10 ·
If you need the price to go lower especially if you aren't going to be overclocking the price can be lowered considerably. Though with Core 2 Duos you can achieve overclocks of well over 50% so I would look into it if I were you.
 
#11 ·
thats a really good build there malaziel, that case is a nice one i have my folding rig in it and it was prob one of the easiest cases ive put a system into

i would go for that if i was you broddam if you can afford it

edit: if you arent going to be doing raid i would jsut get a biostar p965 board, they oc just as good as the p5b deluxe and they are only 104$, then maybe you could get liek 2x1gb instead of 2x512 ram whcih would really help in the gaming
 
#12 ·
Will not be doing RAID so I will look into the other mobo and more RAM. Also, AM actually considering going with the 7950 card instead of the 8800 or is the 8800GTS really worth the cash? I can spend the 1250 this will cost me, but if I can save a couple hundred, that would be nice too!
 
#13 ·
MADMAX22 is right about the motherboard. Go for the Biostar p965. They are amazing overclockers especially for the price. Then use the extra money to get the 2x1gb set of Buffalo Firestix. A 7950GT is a good card but is nowhere near as powerful at a 8800GTS. Also the 7950GT doesn't support DX10. So basically it comes down to how much you are going to be wanting the DX10 games that are coming out and what settings are acceptable for you to play your games at.
 
#18 ·
Ok, a few questions here about what was spec'd out for me earlier....

1)Will I need to purchase anymore cooling fans or will there be enough to keep it cool already?

2)Will I need to purchase anything else if/when I do decide to overclock

3)Concerns that the cpu will bottleneck the 8800?

4)Have never in my life put one together. All I have ever done is swap out video cards. Can I do it?

5) Is this PS big enough? 485W?

6)I am sure there are somewhere on here that there are some step bu step directions as far as building one, I have not located one yet. Where is it?

Will probably order the parts listed earlier tomorrow....
 
#20 ·
1. probably no more fans, maybe a good CPU cooler
2. nope! just go into the bios, adjust the FSB about 5mhz at a time, and load windows. if you cant boot, lower the FSB.
3. no, it shouldn't bottleneck, the e6300 is a great proc
4. ya its pretty easy, read the manuals of the motherboard and case... they have good info.
5. you should definitely go up to 550-600 watts for expandability and crash protection
6. um... idk look it up on google?
 
#21 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Malaziel View Post
Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe. Very good overclocking motherboard for Core 2 Duo.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131045
$180

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300. With that motherboard you should be able to overclock this to at least 3 gigahertz.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005
$184

RAM: Buffalo Firestix. Best ram in that price range. Really good stuff. 1 gigabyte 2x512. Later you could upgrade to two gigabytes.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820150053
$122

Video card: 8800GTS. Should be able to handle any game you throw at it at 1600x1200 for quite awhile.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133188
$409

Powersupply: Enermax Noisetaker. Well known for reliability.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817194009
$80

Harddrive: Seagate 250gb with perpendicular recording.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148144
$80

Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5. Large and easy to use. For the price it is an awesome case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068
$50

DVD-RW/CD-RW Drive: Lite-On
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106042
$30

Sound Card: Audigy SE. Cheap good sound card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102003
$30

OS: Windows XP Home with an upgrade coupon for Vista.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116169
$90

All of that comes to $1225 without shipping.
I'd ditch that Sound Card, get a SATA DVD+RW Burner from Lite-On ($35) and that'll put you at $1,200 even - unshipped.

If you are running Windows XP Home/Professinal on your current PC you can drop Windows XP out and that'll put you at $1,110. ALSO, that PNY 8800GTS has a $20 Mail-In-Rebate.

EDIT /// Check Above.
[OCN] Ninja_Boy
 
#22 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamakazi View Post
You really should look into overclocking (you are on an overclocking forum after all
), it is the best way to get the biggest bang for the buck, and it isn't that risky at all.
Only two risks with overclocking are:
1) You are stupid and don't watch your temps
2) You don't get a good week or stepping

Also:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malaziel View Post
Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe. Very good overclocking motherboard for Core 2 Duo.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131045
$180

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300. With that motherboard you should be able to overclock this to at least 3 gigahertz.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005
$184

RAM: Buffalo Firestix. Best ram in that price range. Really good stuff. 1 gigabyte 2x512. Later you could upgrade to two gigabytes.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820150053
$122

Video card: 8800GTS. Should be able to handle any game you throw at it at 1600x1200 for quite awhile.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133188
$409

Powersupply: Enermax Noisetaker. Well known for reliability.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817194009
$80

Harddrive: Seagate 250gb with perpendicular recording.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148144
$80

Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5. Large and easy to use. For the price it is an awesome case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068
$50

DVD-RW/CD-RW Drive: Lite-On
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106042
$30

Sound Card: Audigy SE. Cheap good sound card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102003
$30

OS: Windows XP Home with an upgrade coupon for Vista.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116169
$90

All of that comes to $1225 without shipping.
Get 2GB RAM and a DS3 instead of 1GB and a P5B-Dlx. It should come out to about the same, and you will get almost the same overclocking ability, but much better performance.
 
#24 ·
Broddam you won't need a more powerful power supply unless you are planning on going SLI. Even with the stock cooler that E6300 should be able to get up to 3-3.2 ghz. Also putting a PC together is fairly easy just go slowly and make sure you do everything correctly.
 
#25 ·
Wow, thanks for all the info once again. Will consider all the other reccomendations. Still getting conflicting suggestions about a PS though. I do not plan on going SLI.

Quote:


Originally Posted by Ninja_Boy
View Post

If you are running Windows XP Home/Professinal on your current PC you can drop Windows XP out and that'll put you at $1,110.

Ninja_boy, I have four computers in my house now, 3 with Home and one with Pro on them. None of these systems came with a disc for windows though. How can I go about NOT buying Windows again?
 
#26 ·
Uh.. not unless you happen to work for a university or go to one which gives out windows. That's not gonna happen actually. And the activation process is there so not unless you intend to get around it(which most of us dont condone) you're better off buying a copy of windows.
 
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