Need help building gaming PC,

[milsteadg]

Okay now..
I'm building a roughly $850 gaming pc later this year.

I'm a AMD fan, never had any problems with them
also, I would rather have an ATI graphics card.

Any friendly replies welcome.
If you have the time please list a whole build.


Thanks

 

[Shargrath]

Hey, I just ordered an AMD build for about $950...

Im going to scale something down to fit in your budget...

Here is what I went with, based on weeks of research...

Motherboard : GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P : $120
CPU : Phenom II X4 : 940 (I went with a 955) : $180
GPU : XFX Radeon 4890 1GB : $198
HD : WD Black 320 (I went with a RE3 model) : $76

Thats $574 and it still leaves room for a case, a DVDrw or anything else u may want.
Case tastes vary, so look around for what you like and I dont know if you need a DVD rw or any other parts, but thats the core basics, that are similar to what I just ordered.

Any questions, just ask

 

[milsteadg]

Will you list your whole build, that would really help. I can scale down the GPU or whatever to fit my budget. Thx for the fast reply.

 

[Shargrath]

Sure thing, no problem.

This is from ZipZoomFly, NewEgg might have different prices/items (Zip ships for free)


Mobo:
1 x (10010088) GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AMD 790X AM3 Phenom II Socket AM3 5200 MT/s PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333) ATX Motherboard Retail @ $109.99

GPU:
1 x (10010262) XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express x16 (2.0v) Video Card Retail @ $197.99

RAM:
1 x (10009555) CORSAIR TW3X4G1333C9 4GB PC3-10666 (DDR3-1333) DDR3 Memory Retail @ $82.99

HDD:
1 x (10010076) WESTERN DIGITAL RE3 WD3202ABYS 320GB SATA II 7200 RPM 16MB Buffer Hard Drive Bulk @ $70.99

CPU:
1 x (10010385) AMD HDZ955FBGIBOX Phenom II x4, Black Edition 3.2Ghz,8MB Cache,125W,45nm 3.20 GHz AM3 4 x 512KB Desktop Processor Retail @ $245.00

PSU:
1 x (10007112) CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX TX 750W Power Supply Retail @ $109.99

CASE:
1 x (10008513) THERMALTAKE VH8000BWS Armor+ MX Aluminum Mid Tower Case Black Retail @ $128.99

I pretty much done all I can in terms of research on these parts.
Some went up in price after I ordered it.
Feel free to ask questions...

 

[Shargrath]

Also dont forget that you might need an OS.

If you have Vista, you're fine.

If you have XP (like me), you may want to leave some money aside to buy 7 and use the RC until 7 comes out...XP wont recognize all the ram for instance, so make sure you keep the OS in mind as well...

 

[milsteadg]

I'm just gonna switch the Processor over to a Phenom II X2, I don't really believe I will need that much.

AMD HDZ550WFGIBOX Phenom II X2 550 BLACK EDITION 3.10 GHz Socket AM3 Desktop Processor

Fully compatible right? Just tryin to make sure

 

[Shargrath]

Yeah, it's a socket AM3, so I am pretty sure it should work.

 

[milsteadg]

Thank you so much for the advice.

 

[Shargrath]

You're welcome, I'm happy to help. Feel free to ask anything else u have on ur mind

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I'd stick with the 955 - it has the most potential

 

[Shargrath]

Or actually if you want to go higher but lower in price, the X4 940 looks good as well.

 

[milsteadg]

Will the 750W be adequate?

 

[Shargrath]

From the research that I did, it should be more than enough.

 

[milsteadg]

Eh,, I guess I'll go back to the 550. I can shove in a hundred or two more $$

 

[milsteadg]

Okay, sorry for all the questions people, but if I wanted to go with the Phenom II X4 940; what mobo would I need to use?
I'm a newb at this stuff. Sorry.

 

[brblx]

anything that claims to fit socket am3. there are am3 only boards, and there are am2+ boards. any recent am2+ board should allow am3 compatibility out of the box, but it's best to check the mfg's website (and/or product reviews) to ensure compatibility. am3 boards will use ddr3 instead of ddr2.