Need help picking new gaming rig.

[xander5000]

I have $2,000 to spend on a new rig. I've looked at alienware (3 weeks!), abs, atlas and polywell. are there any other places i should check out or are there any places i should avoid? i definitely want an AMD 2000 and Geforce3 500.
thanks for the help.

xander

 

[Ionizer86]

Hello xander5000! Welcome to AT General Hardware forum

$2000 is a lot of money, but if you buy on Alienware, you may not be able to buy as much as you wish. If you were to assemble your own computer, $2000 would do wonders.

Here's a possible setup that you can build:
Antec 1040 case and power supply $120
Athlon XP 2000+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$270
Alpha 8045 HS and fan of choice . . $40
Abit KR7A-Raid board . . . . . . . . . . . $150
Geforce 3 Ti500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300
2X Seagate Barracuda 4 40gb . . . . $200
SB Audigy MP3+ or X-Gamer . . . . . .$100
19" aperture grille monitor . . . . . . . $300
32x CD burner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$150
16x DVD ROM drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50
512mb Crucial PC2100 DDR ram . . . $150
Keyboard and Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . $20

That's $1850 which leaves room for shipping and tax and stuff like that. Not bad at all for $2000, is it? You can add a few more bucks for a modem or network card if you need them. $2000 does wonders if you build your own system. And it'll look much like an Alienware comp (same case )
In addition, with that much money, nForce boards are worth a look. And don't forget to raid the two Seagate drives Heck, with that much $, you can raid two Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 120gb drives

 

[Sniper82]

With that kind of cash you should also wait for GF4.

 

[YBS1]

I've went and looked at the abs site before and they actually looked pretty nice for the price the time I was there. There were a few components they used that I personally don't care for, and I've not heard of anyone talk of them 1st hand experience so I can't help you there, but the deal certainly looked nice for someone wanting a pre-built system. Check out gamepc.com also, I've always heard good things about them but the prices were quite high last time I checked (long time ago).

 

[Ausm]

Iwould build your own.....


Ausm

 

[bigshooter]

If you go one step lower on some of the components, like get a xp 1900+ instead of a 2000+ and maybe get a geforce 3 ti200 instead of $500, you can save some money to do other things with. You could get a 21" monitor (if you need a monitor) or a 17-18" LCD. You could also save the money for a few months and while playing at great frame rates on your ti200, you could upgrade it to a geforce4. Here's what I got off newegg if you want to build your own instaed of buying one. I'm also assuming you're not going to overclock, as that would defeat the purpose of buying a prebuilt pc (warranty).


Antec SX1040 w/400W Antec PS - $127
PLEXTOR PX-W2410TA-BPS 24x10x40 CD-RW - OEM - $132
TOSHIBA INTERNAL DVD ROM, 16X DVD, 48X CD ROM - $68
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 100GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1000JB-SE - $248
Abit KR7A-133Raid VIA KT266A Chipset ATX Motherboard - $162
VGA LEADTEK Geforce3 TI200 64MB TV -$57 (I like MSI, but they were out of stock)
AMD 1700+/266 FSB Athlon XP PROCESSOR -$132 (save money on processor for upgrade later on)
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 100GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1000JB-SE - $248
PLEXTOR PX-W2410TA-BPS 24x10x40 CD-RW - $132
CREATIVE LABS SOUND BLASTER AUDIGY - $62
LINKSYS LNE100TX ETHERFAST 10/100 LAN - $15
Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 THX Certified 5 piece Personal Audio System - $400

Total - $1503 + $50 - $60 shipping

This gives you $500 to buy a monitor with which could get you a low end 21" or a high end 19". You can also get some cheaper speakers like the Logitech Z560's that peopel seem to like. This system will give you performance on par with a faster system, but for a lot less money. You get high end everything and also get to save money for the next generation of processor and video card. Plus it's more fun to build on your own. You could also make changes like getting another huge 5400 rpm hard drive and never worry about storage. I just realized I forgot the RAM, but get it 2 256meg chips from crucial.com for $140 + free shipping. YOu migh also want to wait for the new NForce 415-d motherboards that should be good performers for less than the Abit I put in. Unless you have money you have to spend now and will never have again, don't get the absolute highest end. Spending another $200 for a geforce 3 ti-500 will give you a few extra fps in games today, but will still be not be able to play games a couple generations from now much faster than a ti200. Also between teh XP1700+ and the 2000+ there is a $140 price difference. You could take that money and upgrade to a much faster processor 6 months to a year from now. These are just a few thoughts. I always spend my money on stuff that will make a bigger difference. For $140 I don't care about a 200 mhz speed difference that I will hardly notice. I'd rather have really good speakers like the Klipsch's or get a high end monitor that I will keep for a while. Getting a incredibly fast hard drive like the 8meg western digital will be a better thing to spend money on than a little bit faster processor.

 

[Ionizer86]

I would like to second bigshooter's suggestion for attaining maximum value. Doing some upgrades later on is very fun! In addition, with that much $, Kingmax PC2700 ram is worth a look also.

BTW, don't forget to use the FS/FT and/or Hot Deals forums to help you with getting the stuff you'd like at very good prices

 

[JMichna]

Check out Outside Loop Computers for real solid, top name component, fast systems. Bill and Dave Jeffers are the owners, and you get excellent, personal service -- both sales and service. OLP specializes in catering to the pc enthusiast and gamer. They are very well-rated at Reseller Ratings. They stand behind their products. I've bought two rigs the last two years, and have recommended them to several friends, none of whom have been disappointed. IMHO, you cannot find a better pc builder at a good price.

Check them out.
jmichna

 

[xander5000]

Hey, thanks for the tips everyone. Now, I'm torn between getting a pre-built system (which would be easier) or building from scratch. I really don't wanna call all over the place trying to get deals. Is there one place that's good to buy from?
What happened is this: We had a real bad wind storm in Pittsburgh. I have a self-built PIII 1Ghz. Well, the lights were dimming and then surging and wouldn't you know it, the surge fried my surge protector (it's got burn marks!), fried my monitor and trashed my mobo. Homeowner's insurance is gonna pay for it. You're thoughts are appreciated.

x

 

[Ausm]

Try Newegg.com great prices


Ausm

 

[xander5000]

Anyone have an opinion on the Kingmax 2700 memory?

I think I'm gonna buy the components. It looks like outsideloop is a decent place.

x

 

[bigshooter]

If you get the pc2700, you'll be future proof for DDR 333 mobo's. I heard the Kingmax is good stuff.

 

[naner502]

I agree with Ionizer86.