Back in the game

Hello all, it's been a long time but I managed to get back into PC gaming. While reading some of these posts, I am realizing just how out dated my 5 year old PC is. Being out of the game for years, I would like to ask for recommendations for building a new gaming system. Budget wise I could go around $1000. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Taylord526

I have all the essentials, but really require a new motherboard, cpu, memory, and vid card. Old system has a weak Gigabyte board with a AMD 3000+ chip, 1gig of pc 2700 memory, and an Nvidia 7600 GS vid card. System is old, and crashes when pushed to hard.

Ok this is a shade over 1k. If it's too much there are a couple areas where I guess you could downgrade. I also may not have always made the best choices, so look at it just as a baseline to work with.

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B
$28.99

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$139.99 -$20.00 Instant $119.99

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$89.99

VisionTek 900241 Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
$199.99

Antec NeoPower 650 Blue 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
$159.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
$5.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK
$104.99 -$15.00 Instant $89.99

ASUS P5K PRO LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
$119.99 -$15.00 Instant $104.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400
$189.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD
$109.99 -$10.00 Instant $99.99

Antec 77095 120mm Blue LED Case Fan
$13.99

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
$36.99 -$10.00 Instant $26.99

Subtotal: $1,130.88

Corsair 550W would be just as good and costs 70$ less.

You don't need to pay 134 dollar for the case, thereare much cheaper solutions.

For HDD I'd siuggest to upgrade to 640AAKS model as it's only 5$ more.

Furthermore, buy Radeon 4850 instead of 8800GT -it's faster.

Corsair 550W would be just as good and costs 70$ less.

You don't need to pay 134 dollar for the case, thereare much cheaper solutions.

For HDD I'd siuggest to upgrade to 640AAKS model as it's only 5$ more.

Furthermore, buy Radeon 4850 instead of 8800GT -it's faster.

Ptosio

550w won't cut it though if he decides in the future to SLI 4850s (which is the card in there, an early edit had a different motherboard and an 8800GT). Case is only $120 and you get what you pay for. You don't skimp on cases if you value low temperatures and ease of assembly, not to mention aesthetics. Truly good cases such as certain Lan-Li models cost upwards of $200.

BlackKAT--Doesn't the Arctic Cooler come pre-applied with MX-2, which is actually better than Silver 5? Correct me if I'm wrong.

I would also recommend a cheaper case, there are some good $50 Coolermaster cases. I myself have a Nine Hundred, and while the cooling is excellent, I think it might be overkill in this case.

Same thing with the PSU. There are some good PSU's in the $75 range. PC Power and Cooling makes some good PSUs that are a little more affordable, as does Corsair.

If you're tight on cash, the E7200 and 8800GS are cheaper alternatives to the E8400 and Radeon 4850. Not as powerful, but the money savings (and power savings) may be worth it.

In short, be weary of being persuaded into spending more than you need to. I spent $1200 on a PC back in January, and while I love all the components, in hindsight I could have shaved a few dollars and still have had a solid build. Live and learn.

At what resolution will you be playing ?

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9817728

This is what im getting in September.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9817728

This is what im getting in September.

Jamiemydearx3

We can't see your list.

Make your wishlist public, then search it's title in the public wishlists section and post the URL from there.

[QUOTE="Jamiemydearx3"]

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9817728

This is what im getting in September.

tequilasunriser

We can't see your list.

Make your wishlist public, then search it's title in the public wishlists section and post the URL from there.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9817728

There lol.

[QUOTE="tequilasunriser"][QUOTE="Jamiemydearx3"]

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9817728

This is what im getting in September.

Jamiemydearx3

We can't see your list.

Make your wishlist public, then search it's title in the public wishlists section and post the URL from there.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9817728

There lol.

I like it. I'd have gone cheaper on a few things (GPU, CPU, case) and gotten a diffrent PSU since that mobo won't be crossfiring anyway, but it looks good if you don't mind spending a grand.

[QUOTE="Jamiemydearx3"]

[QUOTE="tequilasunriser"][QUOTE="Jamiemydearx3"]

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9817728

This is what im getting in September.

tequilasunriser

We can't see your list.

Make your wishlist public, then search it's title in the public wishlists section and post the URL from there.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9817728

There lol.

I like it. I'd have gone cheaper on a few things (GPU, CPU, case) and gotten a diffrent PSU since that mobo won't be crossfiring anyway, but it looks good if you don't mind spending a grand.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

(550watt)

EDIT: Would that would with a HD 4870? I know it request two 6 pin connections.

id suggest using ur old CD/DVD drives, if u have good RAM id also suggest using that. old hard drive if ur happy with the size.

as far as a PSU i'm happy with the BFG tech 650W PSU, its like $70-$80 i believe.

Yeah atfirst I was going to crossfire two hd 4850s and get a differnet mobo. BUT now I think im going to get this power supplies.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

(550watt)

EDIT: Would that would with a HD 4870? I know it request two 6 pin connections.

Jamiemydearx3

Oh hell yeah. Thats plenty of power and a good choice.

For now, dual cores suffice as the programs are not optimized to utilize all the cores in a quad. It will likely be that way for at least a while. By the time you would truly NEED a quad core you will already need all new hardware anyhow due to aging, and they'll probably have 8 or 16 cores you'll be asking if you NEED then. ;)WDT-BlackKat