I'm starting to put together a new build for gaming. I'm not a hardcore PC gamer, but I would like to be ready to run up-and-coming games like Portal II and Diablo III with all of the setting cranked up. I'd also like to futureproof a little (of course) so that I don't have to drop any more money for another 4-5 years.
Goal of this Build: Best AMD Budget Gaming Rig Possible for Mildly Graphic Intensive Games
Games Played: Portal (Portal 2), Diablo II (Diablo III), Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Age of Empires II, Dragon Age, World of Warcraft
Budget: $1,000.00 (USD) - (Can adjust slightly for significant improvements)
Intended Purchase Date: Before Friday July 30, 2010. (This Week)
Location: USA
Preferred Site to Purchase from: newegg
Components Required:
-Case
-PSU/Power Supply
-Motherboard
-CPU/Processor
-Aftermarket CPU Cooler
-RAM/Memory
-GPU/Video Card
-Optical Drive (DVD+RW)
-O/S
Components Not Required:
-Peripherals (Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers)
-HDD/Hard Drive
Possible Future Expansions:
-4GB RAM (Additional)
-SSD (6.0GBps SATA)
Components Currently Decided/Firm on:
-AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
Components Being Considered:
-Cooler Master Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP
-Corsair 650W - 80+ Bronze Modular Active
-G.Skill Ripjaws Series (2 x 2GB) DDR 1600
-Asus 24X CD/DVD+RW
-Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - OEM
Additional Information: I am new to overclocking, but willing to try given my current budget for a gaming system. I know making a futureproofed gaming rig can be difficult at any budget, let alone mine, so in order to compensate for the lack of funds, I'm willing to try my hand at OC.
Also, while my budget says $1,000.00, I am not afraid to go a little over that if there will be some significant improvements. Obviously you can keep improving performance and price indefinitely, but what I mean is that if $1,100 (for example) will make a significant increase in performance in a component, or on multiple components, than I'm not going to nit-pick the last $100 away. I have more than enough cash laying around to build a really, REALLY nice system, but I also have a wedding I have to start paying for, and it's not going to be cheap. Not to mention I would one day like to live in a real house and not one made out of the boxes my PC components come in. ;-P
On a final note, I listed WoW as one of the games I play. I've actually quit playing for over a year now, but you just never know if I'll ever pick back up the habit. Not to mention Blizzard is working on a new MMORPG and I more than likely will end up playing that (a lot).
1st Request - Help Picking out a Chipset/Motherboard
I am currently trying to determine the best chipset for this build. I was initially considering the AMD 890FX, but I'm not sure if I need it. Obviously the newer chipsets are going to make for more expensive motherboards. I think I will be able to get away with the AMD 870 as it will still support upgrading to SSD with a 6.0GBs SATA connector. However, I don't want to skimp on the nervous system of the PC and create bottlenecks in the system. Obviously once I decide on a chipset I can then pick out a motherboard.
2nd Request - Help Picking out a GPU/Video Card
I've never kept up on video cards at all as I've only been in the PC gaming market for about 2-3 years now. The last (and only) video card I bought, and am still currently using, is an nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS and I didn't even pick it out. I let the guy at my local computer builder's store pick it out for me. I haven't had a single hiccup with it (well, I burned one out by letting the active cooling fan collect dust and lock up, but I can't blame the card for that, now can I?), so I've never felt the need to learn about them... until now of course.
3rd Request - Critique/Confirm/Comment/Suggest All Remaining Components
Pretty self-explanatory. It seems like there's at least 1,001 of every component out there nowadays. While being somewhat confined by compatible socket types, amount of slots, money, etc will obviously help narrow down the choices, it can still be a bit overwhelming. Thankfully sites like newegg allow you to sort by best/most rated, and people are decent at making full reviews, but even then there's a lot out there. If you know of or can find something better out there than what I was looking at, I would love to hear about it.
Before I actually buy anything I'll do my best to search for combo deals, incentives, and price shop around a little. If, somehow I can squeeze some extra savings from my originally intended budget I'd like to stick an SSD in there, so suggestions/recommendations on those are a plus too.
Final Request - Deleting a Forum Post
This one isn't really related to the rest of this post. You may have noticed that I made one other thread before this one. I had jumped the gun a little on making that as I was in a giant hurry to just buy something at that point (I have a hyperactive instant-gratification gland I guess). I got some good suggestions on those components, but after really considering what I might be getting myself in to, I decided to step back a bit, re-evaluate the situation, and start fresh. I jumped the gun on a lot of the parts from that build and... it really doesn't matter. I'm just curious if anyone knows how (or if I can) delete that post. If there isn't a way I guess I'll just mark it as solved.
Thanks!
EDIT: P.S. - I noticed all of my hyperlinks, with the exception of newegg, add "http://www.&.com/#034" (or similar, I didn't check them all) to the front of the actual URL. How do I fix this to make life easier for everyone?
Goal of this Build: Best AMD Budget Gaming Rig Possible for Mildly Graphic Intensive Games
Games Played: Portal (Portal 2), Diablo II (Diablo III), Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Age of Empires II, Dragon Age, World of Warcraft
Budget: $1,000.00 (USD) - (Can adjust slightly for significant improvements)
Intended Purchase Date: Before Friday July 30, 2010. (This Week)
Location: USA
Preferred Site to Purchase from: newegg
Components Required:
-Case
-PSU/Power Supply
-Motherboard
-CPU/Processor
-Aftermarket CPU Cooler
-RAM/Memory
-GPU/Video Card
-Optical Drive (DVD+RW)
-O/S
Components Not Required:
-Peripherals (Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers)
-HDD/Hard Drive
Possible Future Expansions:
-4GB RAM (Additional)
-SSD (6.0GBps SATA)
Components Currently Decided/Firm on:
-AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
Components Being Considered:
-Cooler Master Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP
-Corsair 650W - 80+ Bronze Modular Active
-G.Skill Ripjaws Series (2 x 2GB) DDR 1600
-Asus 24X CD/DVD+RW
-Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - OEM
Additional Information: I am new to overclocking, but willing to try given my current budget for a gaming system. I know making a futureproofed gaming rig can be difficult at any budget, let alone mine, so in order to compensate for the lack of funds, I'm willing to try my hand at OC.
Also, while my budget says $1,000.00, I am not afraid to go a little over that if there will be some significant improvements. Obviously you can keep improving performance and price indefinitely, but what I mean is that if $1,100 (for example) will make a significant increase in performance in a component, or on multiple components, than I'm not going to nit-pick the last $100 away. I have more than enough cash laying around to build a really, REALLY nice system, but I also have a wedding I have to start paying for, and it's not going to be cheap. Not to mention I would one day like to live in a real house and not one made out of the boxes my PC components come in. ;-P
On a final note, I listed WoW as one of the games I play. I've actually quit playing for over a year now, but you just never know if I'll ever pick back up the habit. Not to mention Blizzard is working on a new MMORPG and I more than likely will end up playing that (a lot).
1st Request - Help Picking out a Chipset/Motherboard
I am currently trying to determine the best chipset for this build. I was initially considering the AMD 890FX, but I'm not sure if I need it. Obviously the newer chipsets are going to make for more expensive motherboards. I think I will be able to get away with the AMD 870 as it will still support upgrading to SSD with a 6.0GBs SATA connector. However, I don't want to skimp on the nervous system of the PC and create bottlenecks in the system. Obviously once I decide on a chipset I can then pick out a motherboard.
2nd Request - Help Picking out a GPU/Video Card
I've never kept up on video cards at all as I've only been in the PC gaming market for about 2-3 years now. The last (and only) video card I bought, and am still currently using, is an nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS and I didn't even pick it out. I let the guy at my local computer builder's store pick it out for me. I haven't had a single hiccup with it (well, I burned one out by letting the active cooling fan collect dust and lock up, but I can't blame the card for that, now can I?), so I've never felt the need to learn about them... until now of course.
3rd Request - Critique/Confirm/Comment/Suggest All Remaining Components
Pretty self-explanatory. It seems like there's at least 1,001 of every component out there nowadays. While being somewhat confined by compatible socket types, amount of slots, money, etc will obviously help narrow down the choices, it can still be a bit overwhelming. Thankfully sites like newegg allow you to sort by best/most rated, and people are decent at making full reviews, but even then there's a lot out there. If you know of or can find something better out there than what I was looking at, I would love to hear about it.
Before I actually buy anything I'll do my best to search for combo deals, incentives, and price shop around a little. If, somehow I can squeeze some extra savings from my originally intended budget I'd like to stick an SSD in there, so suggestions/recommendations on those are a plus too.
Final Request - Deleting a Forum Post
This one isn't really related to the rest of this post. You may have noticed that I made one other thread before this one. I had jumped the gun a little on making that as I was in a giant hurry to just buy something at that point (I have a hyperactive instant-gratification gland I guess). I got some good suggestions on those components, but after really considering what I might be getting myself in to, I decided to step back a bit, re-evaluate the situation, and start fresh. I jumped the gun on a lot of the parts from that build and... it really doesn't matter. I'm just curious if anyone knows how (or if I can) delete that post. If there isn't a way I guess I'll just mark it as solved.
Thanks!
EDIT: P.S. - I noticed all of my hyperlinks, with the exception of newegg, add "http://www.&.com/#034" (or similar, I didn't check them all) to the front of the actual URL. How do I fix this to make life easier for everyone?