Build a gaming PC

[shazzz69]

Hey guys....im a new comer to the gaming thing....i play at my cuz house on his PS3...like games like far cry, call of duty, crysis etc

I decided to build a PC to enable me to play these games and I need help on what components and what brand of components to buy.

Im not willing to spend thousands on a gaming rig but i don't want a low end system either.

Hope you guys can help me...I will appreciate all of your opinions and advise.

Thanks


Shazzz...

[LiNuX]

you need:

Dual core cpu of 2.6GHz+
2GB Ram
GeForce 8600GT or equivalent ATI Radeon GPU
600-700 Watts PSU

Those are the things you have to worry about at the moment, the hard drive and cd rom drive, flash drives, etc..won't make a lot of difference - for savings you should go for AMD processors and motherboards - the above mentioned are just some recommendations to help you run the games you mentioned.

and you shouldn't really worry about the brand, most computer parts come with reviews which can be found online, just read a few of those and you'll be fine.

[shazzz69]

I saw brands like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, EVGA etc..all have good or ok ratings but thew price is different obviously, however, I was told i need to know what i'm buying because of compatibility of components...don't wanna buy stuff then they don't work when put together.

Also, RAM DDR2 or DDR3? I personally prefer intel cpu's and ATi's graphics.....

help...

[LiNuX]

DDR2 ram is better

and as for the brands, they all have their ups and downs - i know people that are asus fans, others that are EVGA fans, I prefer to buy Gigabyte motherboards - they last a very long time and I am just used to them

as for compatibility, you have to know what your motherboard handles, like what kind of a GPU you can install, and how much power you can add, how many hard drives you can have, etc. - thats the compatibility of the components

and I'm the opposite of you, I prefer AMD CPUs and Nvidia GPUs :)

[shazzz69]

U prefer AMD processors even thought the benchmarks results lean towards intels chips? Why?
I also would like to know the difference in ram timing and if i must buy Corsair RAM.

In addition, the whole overclocking thing..i do not understand...

[LiNuX]

I prefer AMD because they are cheaper and they can provide just as much power, intel is just a bigger company so they have more fans than AMD but you can't count out AMD. I have nothing against intel, i just prefer amd more, it's been good to me over the years.

and ram timing - the shorter the time, the faster it will load files and programs, etc..

overclocking just makes the core speed faster, usually done to GPUs where a 500mhz core clock can be overclocked to let's say 600mhz - not recommended if you don't know what to do - overclocking can and probably will void any warranty on the card and if you fail, it will blow up, literally and has the potential to damage your other computer parts - that doesn't happen too often but its still a possibility - not to scare you or anything lol

[shazzz69]

so far i know this:

Item ----> Brand

Motherboard - Gigabyte
Processor - AMD / intel
Graphics - ???
RAM - ??

what do U use??

[LiNuX]

Gigabyte mobo
AMD Cpu
Nvidia geforce 8600gt gpu
OCZ 4gb RAM - DDR2 866mhz

thats what I use. and you should find what works for you, not anyone else since youa re building the pc yourself

[shazzz69]

is the GPU the XFX brand?

what kind of games do u run on your system stated and on what resolution??

[LiNuX]

yea GPU is XFX

i don't run a lot of games, no time for them really but i can tell you my computer can handle COD WAW, far cry, crysis, left 4 dead, and any other game currently out and i usually play on 1280x960

[shazzz69]

AMD Phenom 9950 BLACK EDITION Agena 2.6GHz Socket AM2+ 140W Quad-Core Processor Model HD995ZFAGHBOX

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-DS4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

XFX PVT98GYDLH GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPR10664GK 5-5-5-18

600W power supply

22" widescreen AOC flat panel monitor

Im leaning towards the above equipments...

what do you think??

[LiNuX]

looks good but you could try for 650-700watts on the PSU because you can't forget the hard drives and cd drives that you will be adding, and of course the fans use some power, not too much - the CPU is a strong one so it'll use up a lot of power, mobo will also use up power and the GPU is also a strong one

no comment on monitor, i could care less really lol...and is that an LCD? or a CRT? LCD would be best to go because CRTs tend to go "dark" faster.

nice to see I converted you to AMD lol...

[shazzz69]

haha...funny...AMD...well yes..your comments and mainly the price converted me....hahaha
yes the monitor is LCD....whats your take on AOC though??

[LiNuX]

haha...funny...AMD...well yes..your comments and mainly the price converted me....hahaha
yes the monitor is LCD....whats your take on AOC though??

no comments, I use acer, my sis has I-Inc and I don't have any negative reviews on any monitors so I can't say which to avoid and what to favor lol.

[Trunks]

I have

Intel Pentium Dual CPU 3.4ghz

8800 gt XFX

2 gigz of ram

650 watt power supply No SLI support

I run CoD WaW at full graphics and my resolution at 1152x 864
I do load the maps a little slow because of my RAM, but no big deal, doesn't lag.

[shazzz69]

nice system meng....

Was thinking about getting me a DELL lcd monitor...but i saw the AOC and some okish reviews....not a bad price too....1 yr warranty also...

[Trunks]

nice system meng....

Was thinking about getting me a DELL lcd monitor...but i saw the AOC and some okish reviews....not a bad price too....1 yr warranty also...

I would suggest buying everything from newegg if you aren't already. They probably have the best prices and still good quality parts. Plus everything comes with a 1 year warranty there.

[shazzz69]

i try..but i ship to Trinidad airfreight (costly) + my taxes here. so i buy the bulky stuff here...

Whats the best brand of RAM to use.. ???

[Trunks]

Personally, I think Kingston is the best, but it all depends on what speed you want. I use Kingston my self.

[shazzz69]

what kind of timings should I look for/?? what is compatible with my board?

[LiNuX]

I prefer corsair or OCZ - OCZ is powerful and you better have a good PSU otherwise it won't work properly - my old pc had Kingston and it runs well, my laptop has some other brand, pretty good too...uh...at the tip of my tongue, I'll get back to you guys on that lol

[shazzz69]

and the timings i should look for??

[Trunks]

Timing isn't that big of the deal. It's more of the speed of the ram. If you have the money I would get 1066 ram. It's pretty expensive, but ram speed can make a big difference in how fast your computer runs. If you don't want to spend the money I prefer these. Newegg.com - Kingston 4GB Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134730)

The speed is 800 and you can go to BIOS and change the timing too 5-4-4-15.

[shazzz69]

ok...I c. well....im not at stuck as i was b 4......i think i know what i plan to build.
I will post it up soon for any comments on the components..if they're good or not...

thanks alot guys...

[darkangel-pro]

For your processor i suggest you get a motherboard and cpu package at tiger direct with the AMD Athlon x2 6000+ 3.0 ghz

and the sapphire radeon hd 3870 GDDR4

thatll equel to about 200 dollars.

[mphilip876]

Thanks for the information...