I'm planning to purchase a new computer to replace my current rig. I'm looking for a configuration that I wouldn't have to upgrade for quite a while, and one with good build quality. Also I'm looking to play games like Crysis and other games that might come out in the future -- as I said, I want one that I wont have to upgrade for a while.

My budget is about $500 - $750, but it's not very tight and I can adjust it if required.

mobo 90 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813128059
cpu 70 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036
ram 45 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
video 180 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150252
hd 90 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
case 120 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
psu 100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
cpu cooler 35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

this setup will cost about $730. the cpu will easily overclock to 3ghz and the video card can handle almost all games on high.

Thanks. Just a few things I want to know about:

mobo - Is Gigabyte good? Won't I get an Intel or ASUS one in that price range?

cpu - What about a Core 2 Duo instead? The budget is flexible as I said.

video - I don't have any problem with this one, but could you recommend an ATI alternative?

hd - I forgot to mention that I don't need one. I have a 320 GB SATA that should suffice for now.

case - I'd like to save some money for the other parts and buy one for about $40

cpu cooler - After I burnt my old 5700LE by overclocking it to twice it's speed, I have sworn that I will never overclock another part again, so do I need this?

others - I think you forgot to mention a monitor and an optical drive

EDIT: Spellings

cpu 200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
video 165 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103050
case 55 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068
optical25 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16827151153
monitor 260 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001236

if you don't want to overclock then you will need a cpu that is faster. the e8400 is at 3ghz and will play any game you want. the video card is just a 3870. is there a reason for wanting ati over nvidia? the monitor is a samsung with a 1680 x 1050. it is one of the best monitors i have ever seen. my friend has one and it is awesome. the mobo i listed is good. i am using it in my computer with no problems.

Of you want a gaming rig stay the hell away from Intel! Its garbage!
ALWAYS go with AMD! And for your mobo go with ASUS! Gigabyte isnt that great!!!
for the video card go with anything Nvidia! I recommend EVGA!
For RAM stick with Crosairs, Kingston or OCZ.
If you go with AMD you will not need a CPU cooler. The ones they come with are as good as a 3rd party cooler!
I suggest you spend a little bit on the case as well. If you buy a cheap case, they PSU will be garbage and youll just end up buying another one. Plus your rig will be noisy!
LCD can be bought cheaply if you look around. I got a 21' for like 150$ I think..

I have build a lot of pcs from scratch. and everyone that i have build for are pleased with it. so i kinda know what im talking about! ^_^

abd b4 anyone says it, I have never had a good experience dealing with Intel garbage!

VGM out...

Originally posted by VGM:

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Of you want a gaming rig stay the hell away from Intel! Its garbage!
ALWAYS go with AMD! And for your mobo go with ASUS! Gigabyte isnt that great!!!
for the video card go with anything Nvidia! I recommend EVGA!
For RAM stick with Crosairs, Kingston or OCZ.
If you go with AMD you will not need a CPU cooler. The ones they come with are as good as a 3rd party cooler!
I suggest you spend a little bit on the case as well. If you buy a cheap case, they PSU will be garbage and youll just end up buying another one. Plus your rig will be noisy!
LCD can be bought cheaply if you look around. I got a 21' for like 150$ I think..

I have build a lot of pcs from scratch. and everyone that i have build for are pleased with it. so i kinda know what im talking about! ^_^

abd b4 anyone says it, I have never had a good experience dealing with Intel garbage!

VGM out...

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Intel is definitely the best option for gaming. i had amd for about 7 months then i upgraded to the p35 ds3l and an e2200. i oc the cpu from 2.2 to 3.2. i got way better performance in games with intel. also gigabyte makes great boards. sure you can get an lcd for $150 but it will suck. the samsung monitor i suggested will make any other monitor look like crap.

no the $150 one I got does not suck. it was on sale! so there for i got it for an amazing price! with a rebate too. so ya!



VGM out...

Originally posted by krj15489:

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cpu 200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
video 165 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103050
case 55 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068
optical25 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16827151153
monitor 260 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001236

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Thanks for that.

Originally posted by krj15489:

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is there a reason for wanting ati over nvidia?

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I didn't mean that. I've heard that ATI cards as as good as NVIDIA ones, so I was just curious about an ATI alternative. What do you personally recommend, and why?

Originally posted by VGM:

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Of you want a gaming rig stay the hell away from Intel! Its garbage!

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I've heard mixed opinions on that one. Some say Intel is better, some say AMD. I've never actually used AMD, so I myself don't really know how it would be.

Originally posted by VGM:

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I suggest you spend a little bit on the case as well. If you buy a cheap case, they PSU will be garbage and youll just end up buying another one. Plus your rig will be noisy!

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I agree about the PSU being garbage. I am in fact going to buy a PSU separately, but the cheap case should be fine, I think.

EDIT: krj15489,
I got to say, that monitor is a real beauty.

the 8800gt is better than the 3870 and that is why i recommended it. but the 3870 is cheaper and if you want to save $15 then use that one. it is a good card but just not as fast as the 8800gt. right now the only people who say amd is better are fanboys who dont know what they are talking about. intel cpus perform better right now and the prices are good, so there is no reason to buy an amd chip for gaming.

@ VGM: Go back to the gaming forums. :)

To be honest, owning the latest ATI products, I'd go with nvidia. ATI/AMD stuffused to be good, but since the merger and AMD's financial crisis, they've been reducing the quality of their parts to save money, and it shows. Not to mention that Intel and nvidia currently have the better performing products.

I own two HD3870s and recommend the Geforce 8800. Need I say more?

Originally posted by krj15489:

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the 3870 is cheaper and if you want to save $15 then use that one. it is a good card but just not as fast as the 8800gt

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It's quality that matters more, as I said before.

Originally posted by sammorris:

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To be honest, owning the latest ATI products, I'd go with nvidia. ATI/AMD stuffused to be good, but since the merger and AMD's financial crisis, they've been reducing the quality of their parts to save money, and it shows. Not to mention that Intel and nvidia currently have the better performing products.

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Thanks for the info.

Originally posted by sammorris:

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I own two HD3870s and recommend the Geforce 8800. Need I say more?

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Wow. After reading so many negative opinions about ATI, I think I'll stick with NVIDIA :-)

And the config that krj15489 gave is fine, so thanks for your help so far everyone.

One last question though, should I go for one of NVIDIA's 9 series cards if they're affordable, or may be wait for a while until they are?

There's only one defense that ATI have and that's that their cards are significantly quieter than nvidia's. (Yep, nice bit of role reversal there) so when people ask for quiet PCs I often say to go with 3850s and the like, they're a bit more reliable than the 3870.

The 8800GT is still probably one of the best price/performance ratio cards available, if you want a 9 series card then i'd suggest the 9800GTX, but it's a lot more (Double the price) and it just doesn't offer that much performace increase in games. Either go with the 8800GT now or wait a while for the 9800GTXs go down in price.