Hello everyone! I am planning to build a PC and as I am new to it I thought I would come get some useful information. I am wanting a good gaming computer that can also do the basics, is reliable and will work well for as many years as I can get out of it. I would like to keep my budget under $1000 CDN. Here are some thing's I was looking at, and I am unsure of a video card I was going to go with NVIDIA and I haven't begun to look at towers, if anyone can give me there opinions on any of this I would greatly appreciate it. Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply ASUS P5Q-VM LGA 775 Intel G45 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express Interface Sound Card Thermaltake V1 Universal CPU Cooler (LGA775 / AM2 / 939 / 940 / 754) (CL-P0401) Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM Regards
Look ar an Antec 900 case,I have got one personaly and I think its a great case.It was also not to pricy.
The antech 900 is over $100 and does not offer much more than a $50 case. Below is a link to a $80 server chassis that is very nice. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811165065
Hey guy's thanks for the replies a friend of mine had recommended this case COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, anyone have any thoughts on it as well as my setup i've been looking at?
The case looks good. I would give it a try over the Antec 300. I, and others i've seen, have had problems with the quality of the audio connections on the front, other than that it's been a good case for me. With a budget of 1000$ CAD I wouldn't spent too much on the case anyways. Is there any particular reason why you are going with a micro-ATX motherboard? The mid-size cases you've been looking at fit full size ATX motherboards perfectly and you'll likely getting better bang for your buck with a normal ATX board. I haven't built an mATX machine before so anyone please correct me if that assumption is wrong. Easy places to cut cost without cutting much performance is getting rid of the sound card and using DDR2 ram instead of DDR3. On-board audio is fairly good nowadays unless you are looking at doing production level audio work. You'll get a lot more out of your money if you take that cash and use it on the GPU instead.
IF your not restricted to a small case, you should try to stay away from mATX mobo's. It can cause problems when it comes to upgrades in so many ways. I cheaped out on my mobo with an MSI K9M6SGM-V but when I put in a HIS IceQ 4670 Turbo vid card It took up the PCIe slot and forced me to shift my PCI wireless card. Not that big of a deal, but I then had to move my HDD sata connection from slot 1 to slot 2 on the mobo cause the vid card overlapped the first plug, now I'm limited to 1 sata without using y cables. Then I got a new PSU, the braided cables(which are much nicer) didn't allow as much bending in the cords so I had to move my HDD up a few spaces on the rail. Basically what I'm saying is if you don't HAVE to get an mATX board, you shouldn't. My problems were pretty small, but they were annoying. And I lost ports and connections because of the boards size. You'll most likely be limited to the amount of devices you can have running at the same time as well. ATX is much better, space wise, install ease wise, and upgrade wise. As for a vid card, It depends on what you need. If you can fit it into your budget, I'd suggest the HD4870 for sure. A great card leading the pack. $1000 is a pretty good budget, Over the last 6 months I've built mine for about $600 and I'm running AMD 5000+ x2 Black Ed. 4GB PC5400 DDR2, WD Caviar 500GB HDD, RoseWill 500W PSU, Pioneer 16x DVD-RW, 2x 80mm case fans, HIS IceQ HD4670 Turbo with a 22" Acer Monitor... I don't see how you can't get a great computer for $1000. In Canada, The best places are usually tigerdirect or newegg.ca for prices. Keep an eye out for good barebone kits on those sites. I know barebones can sometimes be a little disappointing with some of the items included, but sometimes they are amazing deals
