m1stery

I have a laptop right now and I am planning on upgrading. I need help building a PC from scratch, and I am a little behind in new computer parts.

Budget: Prefribly no more than $900, willing to go pu to $1,000 though

Brands: I don't really care much about brands, but I would like to know more about AMD compared to Intel. I never really understood the difference.

Multitasking: I will be using Ventrilo, Steam, Internet, and Games all at the same time.

Gaming: This computer will be for games only, and I will be playing newer games like Half Life 2 and a few older games such as Counter Strike: Source

Calculations: Maybe in the future

Overclocking: I do not plan on overclocking unless it is necessary or the factory will still give me the warrenty on the parts.

Storage: I will need around 250 gigs due to the fact that I record in game demos and they take up a lot of storage.

Legacy Support:

Operating System: I want to have Vista on my computer.

Case: I would like a case with a side window, and I want it to be at least mid-tower, if not full tower.

Accessories: No need.

Recycled Components: None

Monitor: No

Stores: Anything that doesn't make you pay tax if you live in Florida, such as Tiger Direct. This is only because taxes get expensive int he $900 range.


Location: United States

Deathdragon

If you *must* have Vista and have a budget around $1,000, I recommend a few things.

1. Get at Least 2GB of RAM. (I use DDR2 800, 4-4-4-12).

2. You want to use DirectX 10 right? That's one of the reasons to go Vista? Well then, get a Good Video Card. Especially since you're into many of the same games I play myself. I would get a eVGA nVidia 8XXX series video card. I use a 8800 GTX ACS3 KO myself, perhaps get something a little less expensive to fit your budget constraints.

3. Get an Intel Core 2 Duo. I use a E6600 myself. They're Cheap. They Overclock Great! I spent a few bucks for my processor and it out performed the $1000 processors at the time. You don't have to overclock though, and it's still great.

4. Buy your PC components off of Newegg.com. They're cheap, reliable, and fast.

m1stery

Thanks Deathdragon

HawMan

Hi M1stery.


Ill put together a rig in the morning, ive drank a little too much beer tonight and its nearly time for bed.

m1stery

Lol. I don't want a drunk man building my computer!

TheMatt

Right now I would choose Intel because you can have a lower budget while still getting high quality parts. Start with something like this:

ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131225

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115029

OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227089

MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127284

I'll let HawMan do the rest.

m1stery

If I were to get a 8600, I'd probably go with eVGA for their overclocking warrenty http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130311 I would also get a Zalman fan so I could overclock it higher. My question is that is a 8800 GT going to be a huge upgrade from an 8600? I had someone else show me a PC I could possibly get and it would cost $1,000 with the OS.

TheMatt

The 8800GT will be over twice as powerful as the 8600GT but at almost twice the cost.

FreoHeaveho

The 8800GT is about 5% slower the the GTX, so its great value.

TheMatt

Yep, but faster than the 8800GTS G80. The 8800GTS G92 (the 512MB one) however is faster than the 8800GTX and comes close to matching the Ultra.