First time gaming build

[Blasko1223]

Hi everyone,

Im planning on building my first ever gaming rig. The two main games I want to play are Shogun 2 and the Witcher 2, and I want to run them on max settings if i can.

I have done some research but am wondering what are the best parts for the money right now and what brands are the best.

My budget is around $950

My friend who is also building a pc right now recommended this build:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER CD drive $25

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER Windows 7 home
premium $190

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER PSU $80

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER Wireless Adapter $28

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER GPU $168

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER 2 TB HDD $70

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER RAM $44

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER Mobo $105

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER CPU $135

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER Case $60

I want to play at 1920 x 1080 resolution at probably around a 23 in. monitor.

Is this a good setup and are there better/cheaper alternatives?

Please help a noob out

 

[mfenn]

First things first: you cannot run the Witcher 2 at 60fps at 1080P all maxed on a $950 machine. Heck, you can barely do it with a $2000 machine, so don't worry about that too much.

As for the parts:
- ODD : Fine, if a little high
- OS: Fine
- PSU: Way overkill. The 430CX is plenty of power for a 6870
- Wifi: Fine, but try to use wired Ethernet if at all possible
- GPU: Fine
- HDD : You don't want to use a drive with "green" technology as your OS drive. Get the Samsung F3 1TB instead.
- RAM: Fine
- Mobo/CPU: I'd probably try to do a Sandy Bridge at this price point. Look at the GA-H61M-USB3 and the i5 2300.
- Case: Fine

Also, unless you are in a state where Newegg charges sales tax, you could probably do this whole build cheaper there.

 

[Blasko1223]

Thanks for the help. For witcher 2, if I turned off ubersampling and maybe AA and SSAO, could I still max everything else with a 6870?

 

[mfenn]

Depends on your idea of acceptable framerates. You're probably looking at 30fps or so in that config.