Ok, I have been doing a lot of looking and came up with this. CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017 For a motherboard, which one would be better out of these two: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127020 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131073 This is the case I chose: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021 Since this is a mid tower, will I have plenty of room to work in it? Here is my GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130312 I may change this to a 8800GT since they are cheaper, have not decided yet. RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590 PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002 Now my hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113 Operating System: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116202 I will also buy a dvd drive but that is no big deal. As for sound, I am just going to use onboard sound for now to save on costs, I may upgrade later. If anybody has any suggestions, my eyes are open. Let me know if there are any compatibility issues or you see where I can get my price down. The case and the motherboard is what I'm not sure on. I feel good about everything else I picked out. I want this build to last a while before I have to upgrade again. This is also my first build so I may be back asking for help putting it together. Also, I do not plan on doing any overclocking if that makes a difference. Also, when are the prices expected to drop? I would like to stay around $1000, but I will go higher if I have too.
Good setup so far. Between the motherboards, I would get the ASUS. They have well made quality products, and the abit has relatively the same features for more money. Everyone has the Antec 900 (including me), so dont show up to a LAN party because you'll blend in with everyone else. However, I dont go to them because there arent many around where I live, but regarding the case, its excellent! Nice and big inside, should fit a G92 in there nicely, or a 8800GT. OS is ok, 32bit will limit you to only 2GB of ram, 64bit goes pretty far though (is it 16GB? not sure) Looks good though, nice PSU you picked out, very reliable.
Rather than either of those motherboards and that graphics card, if you want to save some money with a minor performance impact, get these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102713 $400 versus the $550 odd you had before. The HD3870 is still a very respectable gaming graphics card and has several features the 8800GTS (or even GTX) doesn't have, overall providing a far better image quality. After all, isn't that what having a powerful graphics card is all about? As for the case, <yawn> everybody's got one, me included (but I was the first lol) At least nobody of the c.15 people I know with a 900 got it before me. What a trendsetter eh? If you want something that cools really well but stands out from the crowd (or if you want some peace and quiet) go with either of these cases. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146038&Tpk=Lexa+blackline http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025&Tpk=P182 RAM is good, Power supply could be improved. You will never need 700W, and odds are that OCZ won't be able to provide 700W before it fails anyway, not many of them can. get this one instead http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001&Tpk=CMPSU-520HX Trust me, it has plenty of power for any gaming build. Hard disk choice is good.
I think I am going to stick with an Nvidia card because that is the only brand I have ever used(except my dad's pc) and have been satisfied. I just feel better with Nvidia for some reason. Unless someone can convince me otherwise, I think I will stay with Nvidia. Plus I have always heard that Nividia cards outperform ATI cards. Don't know if it is true or not. As for the case, I think I would like to get a full tower case so I will have plenty of room to work inside of it and room to upgrade. On the case I picked out, how good is the cooling? I would think it should keep everything pretty cool since it has seven fans. On the PSU, if I can get a 700w for the same price as the 520w you(sammorris) picked out, why not? Can it hurt anything? On the operating system, that doesn't sound right about the 2gb limit. I don't know, I will look into that. I will probably get the 64 bit since it is only a few bucks more than the 32 bit. I appreciate the help so far, Guys.
It's complete BS. Nvidia cards will typically hold a frame rate advantage, but it's usually about 1-2%. TWO PERCENT. Compare that ATi graphics cards have ALWAYS produced better visuals, they are both worth considering. Example: A top of the range 8800GTX can't draw shadows as well as an old Radeon X1900XT in oblivion. Yes, it'll be faster, because it's much newer and three times the cost, but if the image quality is worse, why do it? As for the PSU, yes it can. First off, the 700W unit isn't actually 700W, it's just labelled such (trust me, it happens often). Secondly, if you overstretch a power supply, it often won't just shut down, it could potentially destroy all the components in your PC, and also cause a fire. With OCZ units this is rare, but with cheaper units it's absolutely rife. Since your PC will only use about 200W there's also no point in getting a 700W unit, you'll never use that much power. Corsair units are better built, quieter and overall better. As for the OS, the maximum a 32-bit OS can recognise is 4GB. It will actually turn out to be around 3.5 due to restrictions with your other hardware.
About the case you could try getting a Thermaltake Armor case. I have one and it's not loud, looks very cool, and keeps temps pretty cool as well.
I think I decided to go with the Corsair 520 watt PSU. Or may decide to go with the OCZ 700 watt PSU. Whatever I choose I will feel good about it. PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001 I have been reading reviews about that PSU and few of them said that the power is underrated. Also some of the reviews say that the cable for the SATA HD could be a little longer. Do you think that would be a problem with the case that I picked out? Does anybody see anything wrong with the case I chose or do you have any better suggestions? What about midtower vs full tower? Does a midtower case have plenty of room? I am still not sure what to get for the motherboard. There are so many choices out there. Man, I think my head is going to spin off. There are just so many things to pick from.
I'd take newegg reviews with a pinch of salt. Almost everybody who puts their technical knowledge as "high" hasn't got any idea what they're talking about, they just think they do. Trust me, the Corsair HX is plenty powerful enough, and far better than the OCZ.
