Help me build a sub 850 rig!

[MiranoPoncho]

Hello all! I am going to be building me a rig within a week or so, and would like some opinions and recomendations for what 850 can buy. here are a few thigns i do not need:
Case(I purchased an black antec for 60 with a440w ps)
HDD(got one at staples)
Monitor/OS
Some prerequisites:
Used for moderate to heavy gaming, resolutions 12x10 to 16x12
1 gb minimum ram
5.1 speakers
please advise. thanks

 

[stevennoland]

That is a tall order for some serious gaming for only $850.00 .

If gaming is the order then I would go with the AMD 64. It's just as good if not better than Intel and usually cheaper. (I can't believe I would say that being an Intel fan for so long, but the FX-55 with the new Nvidia Nforce 4 with SLI is looking like the next dream system).

The cpu and mobo are where I would start first. A recommendation would be better left for a seperate thread.

The vid card is going to be the toughest. Of course I would recommend a 6800 Ultra OC but that would eat more than 70% of your budget. The 6800GT or even the 6800 would be the bare min. The X700 from ATI might be a good choice.

Ram is easy, get some Corsair value select. Their XMS stuff is great, but your unlikely to notice a difference.

5.1 speakers are everywhere. Determine the cpu,mobo and vid and see what you have left. You can use headphones till you have more $$$ for really good speakers.

GET MORE $$$, sell the GF's clothes, she has enough!

 

[db2]

The 6600GT is a very good value for a video card. I have seen prices from 179 to 229 for different brands of this NVIDIA graphic unit and according to all the reviews I have read it does very well in gaming.
Although an INtel fan myself - I agree with stevennoload that AMD has been getting a reputation for their cpu's doing better in gaming than Intel's.

 

[MiranoPoncho]

Athlon 64 Was what I'd like to get, However, IMost likley wont be playing at anything up to 16x12 until a month or so. But no way am i going to use my spare video card (geforce 4 440 mx), but it wont be that bad if i get the cpu to push it? I mean, I just want to have a zippy system, For my mom's getting the celeron. thanks. Oh! Is a 440w+ psu from antec sufficent?

 

[cheesehead]

For 850$?
Here's my dream system:
(all prices are from NewEgg unless stated otherwise)
-NF4 board (est. price-they're a shade rare at the moment)-120$
-A64 3200+ Winchester (200$)
-1GB (2x512mb) Corsair Value Select-140$
-GEforceFX 6600GT-180$
-NEC Dual Layer DVD burner-(65$)
-Logitech X-530 speakers-65$
-Logitech MX-510 (22$ @ amazon)
-Cheap keyboard-8$
TOTAL:800$
If you want to overclock, I would go with Patrot DDR500 (add 50$) and a Thermalright SLK-948u with AS5 and panaflo fan (another 45$). This will boost your RAM performance, and let you overclock to 2.5 ghz with ease. If you do'nt have Halo or Jedi Academy, you can also go with the Audigy 2 ZS gamer, which will slightly improve sound performance (the integrated audio is usually pretty good nowadays) and give you 5 games, for the low price of 100$. If you already have Halo and Jedi Academy (or can't find anyone to give these to as gifts), you might want to look at Chaintech's offering, which has decent 7.1 sound for a low price of 25$.
-Cheeshead.

 

[Mrvile]

^^I still dunno if that setup will run the latest games at 12 x 16 very well.

 

[cheesehead]

You have a point, but I would politely like to remind the author of this thread that he may need a serious reality check. Nothing short of 1.5k systems can actually run Doom III at 1600x1200, period. The rig shown above can run anything at a respectable 1204x768, and even 1280x1024 (you might want to OC to get decent frame rates at this resolution), but nowt1200x1600. For crying out loud, most monitors do'nt even support resolutions that high anyway, and anyone who can afford a 2001FP is not the type to worry about money. Besides, most people can't even tell the difference between XGA and SXGA anyway if the frame rate is high enough.
-Cheesehead.