First Attempt Gaming PC Build <$1000

[jaharris87]

This is my first attempt at building a PC. I'm curious to see what you guys think and any suggestions you have. I'm looking for good components without breaking bank. I prefer Intel and I'm going to be building this in the next week from scratch.

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811133062"]Thermaltake Armor+MX VH8000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case[/url] ($99.99)

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128359"]GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard[/url] ($99.99)

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817341019"]OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply[/url] ($52.49)

Motherboard + PSU Combo Discount: (-$20.00)


Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115041"]Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W[/url] ($219.99)

Graphics Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130433"]EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB[/url] ($163.99)

Processor + Graphics Card Combo Discount: (-$20.00)


Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231270"]G.SKILL Trident 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Desktop Memory[/url] ($59.99)

Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136319"]Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive[/url] ($74.99)

Optical Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827118030"]Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B[/url] ($31.99)

Monitor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824009174"]Acer P224Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor[/url] ($139.99)

Speakers:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16836121014"]Logitech S-220 17 Watts 2.1 Multimedia Speaker System[/url] ($23.99)

Misc:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835154003"]Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound[/url] ($4.99)

OS:
Windows 7 RC

Total Price + Shipping = $985.21

 

[jae]

Either go Phenom II or i7..

 

[imported_Asianman]

For that budget, a phenom 2 will probably be fine for you.
Here's a phenom 2 955 and a 790 GX motherboard for $255
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.212203
G Skill Ram- $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231189
NZXT Hush case-$80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811146035
EVGA GTX 280-$230
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130492
Tuniq 650w power-$50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817611007
Most of these prices have mail in rebates, if you don't like them, you may have to look a little harder.
It comes to just slightly over 1000 dollars, although the GTX 280 will perform way better than the GTX 260. If budget is an issue, look for a 275 or HD 4890.
The only other thing is the monitor. I have a 22 inch Acer, and the colour reproduction is quite average. I have to flip through the menu everytime I play a different game, just to correct the colours. ASUS or Viewsonic would be a better choice.

 

[jae]

go with antec sonata casw with the 500w psu included for $99

 

[un1b4ll]

I wouldn't go with a PII 955, at the $250-$300 price point it is a no brainer to go with a core i7. Cheaper than that you'll find a much better value with the Phenom chips, and a socket 1366 setup will future-proof you.

Newegg prices.
=
i7 920 runs about $280
ASRock 1366 mobo will be $170
6GB OCZ DDR3 10666 ram will be $100
Antec Three Hundred case will run you $55
Another great option would be a Radeon 4870 video card, at 22" resolution you can get away with 512mb vram, and at $140-ish, it's an awesome value. To me it'd be a tossup between that card and the one you've selected, depending on the games you play.
A decent cooler will run you $30-40, I use a Kingwin XT-964, but there are plenty of coolers in that price range, and shouldn't be difficult to find.
your hard drive, optical drive, monitor, speakers and power supply all look good.

That'd bring you up to just over $1100, but if you can afford it it would be a very VERY fast system. Games these days are becoming more and more CPU dependent, and the Core i7 is extremly overclockable, newegg is now shipping D0 stepping processors which are capable of 4.4Ghz with ease. Keep in mind that'll give you more performance than a single CPU that would cost as much as this entire system (Core i7 965/75)
If you can't do the extra 100, save yourself some dough and go with a less expensive Phenom system and maybe throw in another video card. If you're curious about what to expect, check out this article from Tom's. In any case though, I would recommend staying away from a Core 2 Duo/Quad. Hope this helps.

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...gamer-dragon,2337.html