building first pc

[snugz13]

Hi i am wanting to build a computer mainly for gaming but i only have a budget of about 900 dollars. I was wondering if anyone can give me suggestions. I am a first time builder and do not have that much experience. I have heard that corseir is a good ram but idk. i need some advice

[Jamie Nixx]

Hey, i'll price your Rig for you if you want.

[Jamie Nixx]

If you want the best bang for your buck, you should go with this system here.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 CPU, $189.99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029
Excellent gaming CPU, very fast, very cool.

Gigabyte motherboard, $149.99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048
Excellent motherboard, supports DDR2 and DDR3 memory for future proofing, also comes with a P35 chipset which is an awesome gaming chipset.

EVGA 8800GT Graphics card, $289.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130303
Simply put, one of the finest graphics cards ever made, simple as that, this is the hot card to go for now, simply blows away the GTS cards at both 320mb and 640mb versions and its only 3% less in terms of performance than a GTX which costs double the price. its in stock but it won't be for long.

Corsair XMS memory 2GB, $47.00 after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034
Simply awesome gaming Ram, one of the best ever made, this is enthusiast memory but its so cheap right now its daylight robbery.

This lot together comes to $676.96 which leaves you $230 left to buy a case, Power supply, Harddrive and optical drive.

The bulk of your remaining money should be spent on the Power supply, it is the most important component, it needs to be good quality and a brand name, you should never chance buying cheap PSU's especially with a powerful rig like this one, they are too unpredictable and its not worth the risk when your spending lots of money.

$129.99 will get you the Corsair HX520w PSU, one of the very best in the world, absolutely faultless in everyway, although i have seen these for a $100 in some places.

$99.99 will get you a Hiper Type R 580w, another awesome PSU, the mainboard inside is enclosed in a mesh body and its modular, so you plug in the cables you need to use, the Corsair is also modular, the Hipers modules however are incased in aircraft metal, it looks and performs excellent, its not as good as the Corsair but still excellent, plus its cheaper.

Antec also make excellent PSU's in the same price range but they are not in any way superior to these two.

You may think the PSU is not worth it for what it is but you don't want a duff $40 one that could blow up, like said you need quality for a computer of this calibre.

I'll leave the case, optical drive and harddrive down to you, go for a SATA HD and optical drive, casewise i would recommend the Antec 900 gaming case but it will make you surpass your budget by at least a $100.


Hope this helps.

P.s for $900 there is no way you could get a better computer than the one i just priced for you, if you decide to go for it it will be a killer gaming rig :D

[PhilGSmith]

For case what about the Sonata III, it is a good case, and has a good PSU with it as well.

[Jamie Nixx]

What the Earthwatts PSU? i hate that PSU with a passion.

[PhilGSmith]

Why, you included it in my build spec you did.

Plus I thought Antec always supplied good PSU's with their cases !!

[Jamie Nixx]

Uh Uh, i suggested the Sonata III to you, not the PSU that comes with it.

I have had three of them in the past, don't get me started on this PSU, you will lose this battle with the rant the would ensue on just what i think of it ;)

They may be a good PSU, reviews are good, they are built by Seasonic, but both me and the Wise Monkey have had trouble with them not to mention various other people.

Plus i equated a better PSU into his budget so its alll gooood :D

[PhilGSmith]

How long ago was that. Have they changed since then.

Plus, whats wrong with them. Should i stick with it, surely its good enough for what i want.

[Jamie Nixx]

Do you really want me to tell you what happened?

Ok you asked for it, first one failed, replacement failed, second replacement caught on fire and took down one of my systems, £500 system in one go, this was only about 5 or 6 months ago and the PSU's haven't changed in any way, shape or form.

I don't know what problems WM had with his, overall, honestly they look like a very good PSU, they just have a habit of setting on fire, and unluckily for me i drew the short straw.

I am not saying blow a load of dosh on another PSU, just keep your eyes open with them.

[The Wise Monkey]

I bought several from the same batch for a few computers at work, and they all failed... XD

Just a particularly bad batch, but something like that tends to stick in your mind.

[Jamie Nixx]

Yep, things like that do tend to stick in your mind, espcially when one ruins a computer XD.

[PhilGSmith]

OMG.

Well start building tomorrow, and i will keep my fingers crossed.

Changing the subject slightly,

Tell you what I cant find for love nor money is GoBack 4. Not even as a download on the Symatec site.

I have GoBack 3 but this does not work with XP :-(

Do you know where you can get one as Rob reccomends installing it as soon as you have loaded XP.

[The Wise Monkey]

Taken from GoBack's wikipedia page:

"July 2007: GoBack is now sold with Norton System Works[8]"