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Building a gaming system

O

Offbeat

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Messages
117
This is the first system I will be building myself; my goal is to make a system that can Fraps World of Warcraft at 1920x1200 @ 60 FPS with zero stuttering at decent settings. I don't have a huge budget, but I'm reusing a lot of parts.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around $600, shipping including but I don't pay sales tax where I live :)

3) Where do you live?
Wilmington, Delaware

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything besides what I'm listing in #5. CPU, motherboard, RAM, Video Card?

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Reusing OCZ GameXstream 700w(OCZGXS700) PSU, 700gb HDD, old thermal take tsunami case, DVD/CD ROM drive, and reusing my X-Fi Xtreme Gamer sound card.

6) Will you be overclocking?
If it's needed to reach my goal I will give it a shot.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I have a 24 inch monitor

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Anytime this month

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
I don't know of any features that I absolutely need.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
I guess I could reuse this XP key that I have?
 
Is that XP key OEM or retail license?

Just an FYI and for future reference, that PSU you have is barely a good 500W PSU let alone decent 700W PSU. So keep that in mind with future upgrades: You have a 500W PSU not a 700W PSU. If you want a dead system, then think you have a 700W PSU.

Oh and can you wait until Sept 10 when ATI is supposedly releasing their new cards? It might lower the prices of current cards now.

Anyway, here's a prelim build for ya:

$226 - AMD Phenom II 945 CPU + Biostar TA790GXE AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX mATX Motherboard Combo
$48 - OCZ SLI-Ready Edition OCZ2N800SR4GK 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM
$200 - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$80 - Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W PSU
----
$554 plus tax and shipping.

I included a new PSU since the HD4890 requires more than a so-so quality OCZ 500W PSU. The Antec 550W PSU above is far superior bot in quality and power capability so it is a good buy.
 
Offbeat said:
why not http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131398 ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
and DDR3 RAM ?

edit: oh, and the XP is OEM
Click to expand...

If it's OEM, then you might need to get a new OS key as OEM keys are non-transferable. With that said, I've heard of other people getting their OEM keys working on brand new hardware without any trouble after a quick phone call to MS activation. That's what I've heard and have not had a chance to try it out myself (most of the people I build PCs for have illegal OS copes sadly).

If you look at the combo deal, it drops the cost of that mobo to $56. The cost of that AMD AMD mobo is $44 more than the combo and a new set of DDR3 RAM will cost an additional $21. Up to you if DDR3 and socket AM3 is worth that extra $65 for potentially better CPU upgrade path.
 
That PSU and some other Antec ones have a $10 promo code ( ANTECAUG) knocking it down to $70 right now too.

I am rapidly becoming a Windows 7 fanatic and would certainly recommend it to you if you end up having to buy an OS. You can get it pretty cheap through the MSDN Academic Alliance if you are a college student.
 
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