Help me build a computer

Im gonna build a computer but need help from scratch cause i dont know what im doing.

It needs to be a gaming computer and I would like the budget to be under 1200. So Help me get started. What do i need?

My build goes like this:

(Price When Purchased/Price Now)

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4 GHZ $324/$223
2 GB (4x512) Patriot PC2 5300 RAM $198/$104
320 GB Western Digital Hard Drive $119/$114
eVGA 7950 GT KO Video Card $289/$219
Viewsonic 22" Monitor $319/$349
Cooler Master Centurion Case $89/$49
Pioneer Dual-Layer Read/Write Drive $35/$31
Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 Motherboard $139/$119
550 W Power Supply by Cooler Master $119/$95
CPU Fan $39/$30


Ran me about $1800 to $1900.

Everything there, now, would cost $1303 without tax.

You could easily cut corners though. If you have your own computer, you could save on monitor, peripherals, etc.

ill take the secondarys one.

Seriously though help me out.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y245/Desi...Clipboard01.jpg

From looking up the RAM to buy more of it when I get my summer loan money (that computer came out of the spring semester loan), I know that all of the components are cheaper than they were before. It is generally the object of jealousy on all CSG servers I play on, as well as my friend who has an Atari Showcase Cabinet built for playing arcade games in MAME (with a custom control panel that includes every control imaginable) whose computers don't run nearly as many games at 100% as mine does. You could easily fit a fancy gaming keyboard, mouse, and giant monitor in your budget with my setup as your base. (I would check benchmarks and newegg's current specials, though, you might be able to get even better for cheaper still.) Best place to do all your comparison shopping is from newegg - unless you want to overpay for some parts or order from multiple stores using pricewatch.com - and add in the benchmarking charts on tomshardware.com.

I just got the first parts for mine:






















Full specs:

Intel Core 2 Quadro Q6600 @ 2.4GHz
Intel Bad Axe 2 Motherboard (3 PCI-E, 2 PCI)
BFG GeForce 8800GTS Overclocked (Upgrading to SLI around Christmas)
2 x (2 x 2GB Corsair Dominator RAM DDR2 800MHz) YES 8GB RAM
Enermax Galaxy 1000W Powersupply
Creative X-Fi Music 7.1 Sound card
Creative 7.1 speaker set
LG 22" widescreen monitor (Or my 26" HDTV)
Titan Amanda CPU cooler
2 x Samsung DVD RW drives
7g Arctic Silver Thermal Compound
2 x Western Digital Raptors (150GB, 10,000RPM, 16MB cache)

Came to around $4000

Erm... $4000 is a little out of his price range.

I offered up mine just on the idea that it stays in his budget even if he needs a monitor and peripherals. I'd have to actually search the sites again to find the edge of his budget combined with maximum performance if he doesn't need a monitor, but it shouldn't be too tough - there are usually huge divides between performance levels where price is concerned (even if the differences in performance aren't all that great.)

Bahahaha...wow. You do realize no games/programs will push that system until 2010, right?

Ah $1200, I didn't read that bit first time.

Ok, I assume that you can use your current peripherals (Keyboard, mice, montior..) and your DVD drives.

Ok:

Processor
Great little Core 2 Duo, which I have only heard great things about. E6700.
Price: $318.00

Power supply
Rosewill RX750 - never heard of it, seen any benchmarks, but specs look pretty good.
Price: $144.99

Case
Antec 900. Great case, I have one and love it. Some small niggles for SLI setups, but on a budget, I presume you won't be going SLI.
Price: $129.99

Graphics card
BFG GeForce 7950GT 256MB.
Price: $199.99

RAM
G.Skill 2GB 800MHz, PC6400 DDR2. Again, haven't tried G.Skill before, but I have only heard good things.
Price: $119.99

Motherboard
Intel Bad Axe 2 - 3 PCI-E, 2 PCI. 8GB max RAM. I have yet to use mine, but supposedly it is fantastic.
Price: $229.99

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar SE WD5000AAJB 500GB 7200 RPM 8MB - can you ever go wrong with Western Digital?
Price: $119.99


TOTAL: $1265

Not a bad machine for that amount of money, if you have an extra 65 dollars or so.

Don't depend on that all being compatible, but as far as I can see it is.

Also, I wish we could get prices like that over here.

That is the point.

I am time proofing it. The more I spend now, longer my rig will be kick ass.

Yea well i can go a little above that. I just want a good gaming computer without spending a fortune. I still need to save up though. I wont start ordering parts for a while. Maybe one part a paycheck...

The only thing holding you back in the rig I setup is the graphics card - when we get into DX10 territory. But a 7950 is awesome for DX9 and will last you a good while yet.

100% Agreed on the power supply.

lol @ me and Retslag having very similar computers.

@ Retslag.

I agree completely. If it were me, I wouldn't have a baldy about overclocking, so I would spend that bit more on the better one.

And also, I am a bit clueless with power supplies - all I know is that the Enermax Galaxy range is kickass (Hence I got the 1KW Galaxy).

Also, I can't wait to boot up my new computer. It will all be finished in 13 days, all being well.

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129021
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$129.99

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JB 250GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822144309
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$61.99

ASUS M2N Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 430 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131042
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$74.99

BFG Tech BFGR88640GTSOC2E GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814143092
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$30.00 Instant
$439.99
$409.99

OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI ATX12V 600W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817341001
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$129.99
$119.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Item #: N82E16835100007
Return Policy: Consumable Items Return Policy
$5.99

Kingston HyperX 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model KHX6400D2LL/1G - Retail
Item #: N82E16820134065
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$140.98
($70.49 each)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ Windsor 2.8GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA5400IAA5CZ - OEM
Item #: N82E16819103768
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
$155.00

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835185125
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$29.99

Subtotal: $1,128.91

If you're not dead set against AMD, this is in budget, should run cooler, and is faster for just about everything you'd use it for.

Oh cool thanks what is overlocking though?

U should wait until you get the money, then look at parts, prices always go down especially during summer. But wateva's necessary.