Buying a new PC - could use some help deciding

Hey everyone,

I want to buy a new powerful gaming PC for present and upcoming games and I've created two on Dell.ca and Alienware that seem like the best thing in my max price range. However, Im not a Computer wiz and Im not sure which of the two rigs is better for gaming. I want what everyone else wants: max graphics and no lag for games such as Dawn of War 2, Crisis, etc. Anyways Ill post both of the comp's I've made bellow (remember its Canadian prices).

Option 1 - $2,999

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7 960 (3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

MEMORY: 6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz - (3 x 2048MB)

HARD DRIVE: 640GB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 16MB Cache HDD

GRAPHICS CARD: Dual 1.8GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260 - SLI® Enabled

Option 2 - $2,783

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7-975 processor Extreme Edition(8MB L3 Cache, 3.33GHz)

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

MEMORY: 6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs

HARD DRIVE: 640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

GRAPHICS CARD: nVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB

I may make the hard drives 500GB to decrease the prices, but I need some peoples opinions first because I'm a bit lost, Thanks.

Don't buy from them,just read the manuals\online guides and you can build your own for a lot less,for parts,ask here. You could get much,much better that way.MonsieurX

+1

Id go with the i7 920, instead since they are very overclockable and that will save you a lot of money, along with a single 5870 card instead of the 2 midrange cards, it will save money also, and then you can just add another 5870 down the road instead of junking the two other cards and have to buy two more just to upgrade.

Just a thought.

If you absolutely need to buy a prebuilt, atleast go to iBuypower.com.

your budgetwould allow you to buy this much better one.

CPU: Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition - $1000
GPU: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 - $429
MOBO: EVGA E759 CLASIFIED LIMITED EDITION - $450
RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Redline 6GB DDR3 1600 - $210
CPU Cooling: Heatsink, 120mm Fan and Thermal Compound - $65 + $10 + $18
CASE: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 - $140
PSU: OCZ Z Series 1000W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular - $300
HDD: SAMSUNG Desktop Clas Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB Hard Drive - $75
OD: LG Black 8X BD-R Blu-ray Burner - $200
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM - $107
Total: $3004

This is the most kickass PC you could make. Buy these parts and either put 'em together yourself or go to your local PC shop and get them to build it for you.

You will spend less money if you build it yourself. It isn't that difficult to do. There are numerous guides on the internet. Including a pretty good one here on the forums, with pictures. If you need help there are plenty of people here that will help. Here is a system that is very similar to the ones you listed.

Core i7 920 - $309.99
EVGA X58 3Way SLI Mobo - $299.99
OCZ Gold 1600 RAM - $149.99
Corsair HX850 PSU - $179.99
Western Digital Caviar Black HDD - $79.99
EVGA GTX 275 GPU - $540.98 ($270.49 each)
CoolerMaster HAF 932 - $149.99
Sony DVD Burner - $32.49
Noctua CPU Cooler - $79.99
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $116.99

Total w/o shipping: $1940.39 with dual GTX 275 (from Newegg Canada)

Well how about this? Is this a good gaming rig - because I found a pc with this for like 1400 canadian.

Graphic Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250
RAM: 9GB PC3-8500 DDR3
Processor: Intel Core i7-920 Processor - 2.66GHz
Hard Drive: 1TB 7200RPM SATA

270$ EACH FOR 275GTX in my country.. that just OVerpenxiwve : HD5870 was 400-420$ and HD5850 320$ big max
but i find odd how HARD IS It to get The samsung Spinpoint F3 On canada. It the best 1TB for both Price & Performances in usa

as for Cpu Cooler : i don't recommend the noctua for that price and to look via shopbot.ca : I recommend the Mugen II + Two Scythe Kaze 3000rpm if you overclock it is better then Noctua Current cooler : but notcua is incoming with a premium cpu cooler that is superior then noctua you shown Jtcraft

beside I paid 54.99$ for my Thermalrihgt 120 True In october 2008 Look how thing changed ? and i know one thing noctua does fall far behind the True & megahalem for max airflow capacity

as for GPU if he want real power i suggest he wait HD5970 : the power of TWO HD5870 1GB while cost you 250-300$CAD LESS then buy TWO HD5870 1Gb minimum since we expect price to never go higher then 600$ to 649.99$ thx to tigerdirect,ca & there policy to rise price by +50$ then there concurent :) while TWO HD5870 1gb is 400$x2 = 900$ minimum


no it not if you took pre-build 250GTs = the power of 9800GTX+ = Weaker then HD4770 = 1280x1024 4:3 friendly but not 1680x1050 Friendly for max stuff Where you got this video card idea ?

and 1400$ I almost spitted the water from my water bottle :( it way overpriced lol

It's decent, but not for that price. Here, if you refer to this thread, I posted a build that could fit in to what you're looking for: Link. If you don't want to build it yourself, just add the $50 charge for them to build it for you.

Here I'll show you guys what my PC currently has - because If I wanted to upgrade it I think id have to FULLY take it apart and to get all the stuff would still be very expensive, like an i7 extreme processor and a powerful vid card.

you don't need core i7 extreme : you just need a Core i7 920 + OC and you get same stuff as if you did a OC most of Core i7 975 Tough Core i7 975 can raech 4.5Ghz while core i7 920 does reach only 4.2Ghz with safe temp : the +300mhz doesn't even worth to pay 4x the core i7 920

as for powerfull video card : one HD5970 will be more then enough for you'r Enthusiasm but it release soon and will take a huge tower to fit :HAf 932 is Suggested as for PSU only a 750W Would do fine but if you would Crossfire then TWO HD5970 which id say WHAT A HUGE POWER YOU GOT .. then ud need a 1000W PSU LOL

got a instant messenger ? I can tell you how to build ur pc and answer all you'r Question or this page can go up with over 50 page don't care.. il reply to all ur question that i can answer

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2009/09/08/intel-core-i5-and-i7-lynnfield-cpu-review/7
and i don't think very expensive : going own-build is SO much Cheaper and you really don't need core i7 Extreme I tell you .. il even show you proof
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2009/06/22/intel-core-i7-975-extreme-edition-review/10
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=857&p=11


as for gpu here http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_5870_CrossFire/11.html

270$ EACH FOR 275GTX in my country...

marcthpro

In mine it is around 19000 dinars, which is about 300 Canadian bucks! HD5870 is 530 American dollars...

yeah if they do well for canada but id really build it ur self it simple really you just need our support to find the right piece then put it together or ask a local pc shop around you'r city to do it or a member of ur family who can handle thing : as of me i can build it my own self piece by piece tough my father did it since he as over 15 Year of Experience as Tech in Electricians so it cakewalk for him tough .

i did learn from observe video and such so if he would have say do it ur self i would have done so :P but as long i get my PC fastest Builded and correct way I don't mind if it someone else putting piece in : you shoudl be able too i can tell it easy just long and frustating for read manuel but you save big $$$ and you almost get the Dream pc while pre-build you'r far away of it :

but for ibuypower / cyberpowe because they all cost +300-500$ then own-build and offer less Quality piece such as Low Quality ram : moderate quality motherboard : moderate Video card : average airflow Case : no cpu cooler of quality : if you can make it ur own ulg et better in all and will game smooth at 1920x1200 probabely even a bit smooth at 2560x1600 depending only of gpu part tough

Hey everyone,

I want to buy a new powerful gaming PC for present and upcoming games and I've created two on Dell.ca and Alienware that seem like the best thing in my max price range. However, Im not a Computer wiz and Im not sure which of the two rigs is better for gaming. I want what everyone else wants: max graphics and no lag for games such as Dawn of War 2, Crisis, etc. Anyways Ill post both of the comp's I've made bellow (remember its Canadian prices).

Option 1 - $2,999

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7 960 (3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

MEMORY: 6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz - (3 x 2048MB)

HARD DRIVE: 640GB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 16MB Cache HDD

GRAPHICS CARD: Dual 1.8GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260 - SLI® Enabled

Option 2 - $2,783

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7-975 processor Extreme Edition(8MB L3 Cache, 3.33GHz)

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

MEMORY: 6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs

HARD DRIVE: 640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

GRAPHICS CARD: nVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB

I may make the hard drives 500GB to decrease the prices, but I need some peoples opinions first because I'm a bit lost, Thanks.

GreyHunter117

or you will feel shame that a young gaming lady can do that but you not :D j/k ultimategamer he may not feel shame :( just being scared and buy 250GTS for 1400$+

Well Im buying a new one that has been built from scratch at TigerDirect. Its $2000 and ill post it's rig bellow:

CPU: Intel i7 920

Ram: OCZ 12GB PC12800

VideoCard: BFG Geforce 280 GTX

HDD: 1TB WD- TSD- 1000WD SY

It also has a blu-ray player and Windows 7.

Well Im buying a new one that has been built from scratch at TigerDirect. Its $2000 and ill post it's rig bellow:

CPU: Intel i7 920

Ram: OCZ 12GB PC12800

VideoCard: BFG Geforce 280 GTX

HDD: 1TB WD- TSD- 1000WD SY

It also has a blu-ray player and Windows 7.

GreyHunter117

MonsieurX you'r right

it is over-priced for the performances it give you only need 3x2GB : and 280GTX What the hell you get HD5870 1GB and almost a second for that price if you select on newegg.ca / ncix.com : you must be AWARE THAT TIGERDIRECt.CA ARE VERY HORRIBLE IN PRICE MATCH

2 month ago i swear i saw 4870x2 still at 650$ there compare to toher place at 450-500$ max and yes we are talking of canadian value same product an XFX 4870x2 : they removed 4870x2 now of there website and only sell 285GTX OC at 549.99$ when similar card with same OC Profile will be sold at 449.99$

And I saw HD5870 1GB 1 month ago for 479.99$ when retail price everywher else is 390.00$ To 425.00$ Big max and tigerdirect didn't offer faster shipping / better product

If you build alway pick shopbot.ca it will correct you : If you make it ur own You count at last 9 Thing : 10 if you OC

Processor / Motherboard / Ram / Video card / Powersupply / Case / HDD / DVD Drive / Cpu Cooler + thermalpaste / OS

Start off With Processor & mobo & ram : ou come at 550-700$ for core i7 920 + 3x2GB + X58 250-350$ :
PSU 100-200$ :
video card as low as 100$-1000$ (Two card)
Case 50-160$
HDD 50-100$
DVD Drive 20-32$
Cpu cooler 30-75$ (Quality Cpu cooler)
OS 120$ window 7 Premium home 64 bits
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(those price are Canadian) In American dollar it woudl be 200-450$ Less Confirmed
SO HOW CAN UR BUILD AS a 280GTX! they selling it at 450$ ? When 285GTX Max Overclock IS SOLD that price and that for 100$ extra you get a 295GTX?

if you put the sums : 1500$-2300$ : You did powerkill tigerdirect PC Build and that is piece by piece SELECTED BY UR VERY OWN HAND and i can also find an alternative powerfull more or less

If you want a VERY good gaming machine lend us you'r budget.. we take piece by piece via ncix / newegg.ca and you Got a VERY enthusiast Gaming machine

Current Build on newegg.ca
750W PSU corsair TX750
Core i7 920 +X58 EVGA 3-way Sli/Crossfire(X) 299$ // RAM 3x2GB 1600mhz C7 OCZ PLatinium
HD5870 1GB :
HDD 1TB + CASE HAF 932
Window 7 home Premium 64 BITS
DVD Drive :

Subtotal: $1,642.42$

all it miss is the optional cpu cooler that is missing for max overclock ability

See how i destroyed ur tigerdirect.ca ? i'm one of the best pc-builder around gamespot ;)

my budget is like $2000 canadian. maybe a bit higher.

well what you think of my bu ild at 1642$ ? you can even go higher power with a HD5970 it releasing soon : like in about 3 week of now is rumoured and to not be higher then 600$CAD while the HD5870 does cost 400$CAD

so it still fit in ur 2000$ Budget to think you almost bough a 2999$PC that offered such bad hardware you ad to come here and i seen you almost got ur leg into a Bear TRAP I ad to come remove those bEAR TRAP

Im really getting into the idea of building my own PC, I've seen some neat videos on Youtube of how to build it and it doesnt seem 'too hard' lol. This is what all you guys reccomended anyways so I may look into it. Im not 100% sure on what I need to buy to build a full PC however, I'll search it up but if you guys knows - do tell.

You'll need the following for a full build:

Motherboard

CPU (best to get a CPU cooler)

Hard Drive

Disk Drive

Video Card

Memory

Power Supply

Case

Optionals, if you don't have them, are:

Monitor

Keyboard/Mouse

Operating System

And that's about it.

jesus marcth, your a genius of these boards, but can you write more legibly? back when i was buying my new rig i just ignored all your posts because you sounded like that dude from the "17 dollars, now that's gangsta" picture.

Im really getting into the idea of building my own PC, I've seen some neat videos on Youtube of how to build it and it doesnt seem 'too hard' lol. This is what all you guys reccomended anyways so I may look into it. Im not 100% sure on what I need to buy to build a full PC however, I'll search it up but if you guys knows - do tell.

GreyHunter117

Okay well I got some stuff I found on TigerDirect together and I would like some opinions - would this stuff work together? would it work well? can I do better?

In total it's $1,567. Vid Card is Super Clocked.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1786776&sku=A406-1054

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5223968&sku=B69-6001

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5023038&sku=L12-1310%20OEM

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4494091&sku=A406-1116

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5201710&sku=TSD-1500EADS

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2443597&sku=ULT40030

Oy... Where to start. Okay, everything but that mobo/cpu/ram/gpu combo and the blu-ray drive suck, sorry to say. The Xion case only supports two 80mm fans, which is pretty bad for airflow. The Power supply is pretty bad, as I've looked it up myself. Efficiency rating is brutal, and the voltage stability is pretty bad as well. You have the right idea with the hard disk, but I'd prefer going for the Caviar Black series, as they are much faster than the Caviar Green's. Lastly, the CPU cooler you chose doesn't support your processor socket. I won't give you links, but here's what I propose you get:

Core i7 920

Asus P6T Deluxe/eVGA X58/Gigabyte ex58-ud4p

Any form of DDR3-1600 ram from brands like OCZ, Mushkin, Corsair, and G.Skill. Just make sure it's 6 gigs.

WD Caviar Black 1tb, but you can get 2tb if you wish

CM HAF 922/Antec 902. Something along those brands, since they are known to be very good case manufacturers

The Blu-ray drive you chose is good enough

Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer, Scythe Mugen-2, or Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme CPU cooler. Whichever fits in your budget, as they are listed from good to best.

A PSU of at least 750w from Corsair (Corsair TX750), Antec (Antec TP-750), PC Power & Cooling, or even the Kingwin Mach 1 if it can fit in your budget.

Lastly, the GPU: If you REALLY have your heart set to nVidia (which is a stupid position to be in, to be honest), then get at least a gtx 275/285. If you're willing to venture out of that brand, then by all means, try as hard as you can to get your hands on a 5850. It's the best bang for your buck atm.

So that basically sums up what you should get. If you want, I can hunt for parts for you, but if not, just post your prospective builds here and we'll let you know what you may or may not need to improve on.

jesus marcth, your a genius of these boards, but can you write more legibly? back when i was buying my new rig i just ignored all your posts because you sounded like that dude from the "17 dollars, now that's gangsta" picture.

12345678ew

In more gentle terms, he wishes you could improve your english typing skills a little, as it is a bit hard to read, unfortunately :?

yes i do know it is hard but it is detailed did you understand what iv try to mean topic creator ? iv re-edit my post at last 6 time and did paragraph i wonder what is that hard to read but my comment are quality and detailed how ever i wonder how could i compress them or say them another way ?

It's not that we don't understand you, and we do appreciate the effort you put in to fix your posts. It's just that some punctuation and alternate sentence formation could do wonders for your posts. I personally don't mind, as I can read your posts just fine, but some people do have a little trouble comprehending them.

Here's a Core i7 build. All parts are from Newegg.ca.

CPU: Intel Core i7 920

Motherboard: ASUS P6T SE (Crossfire)

Graphics Card: Diamond HD 5870 1GB

Power Supply: Corsair 750TX 750W

RAM: Corsair XMS3 6GB(3x2GB) DDR3 1600

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB

CD/DVD Drive: Lite-On CD/DVD Drive

Case: CoolerMaster HAF 932

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Total: $1751.92 (not including shipping)

crazy-player that basicalyl most of part i picked :P but i just didn't link them via newegg.ca was bothering to open window to do it should done it earlier lol i was more explaning the concept before urling them : tough you picked : 50$ more expensive ram but for +4 and being corsair it may worth it

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381
tough i was not sure about EVGA OR asus the best for overclocking perhap the SE is Better so he should go with the SE I guess

but anyway i guess we should go back to pc building this guy if he want enthsuiast 1920x1200 gaming i does know what he need to optimize that power but i don't know if he can know that such as Overclocking maybe he does since overclocking play a major roles in having best power for $$ in most of case

tough what really matter if you want to economize money is the GPU SETUP if you can oc a little no need to go very high so you don't pay +300-400$ for a +5-6fps if you want to save money you instead spend it on gpu Example Phenom II X4 945 + 50-70 less expensive mobo + TWO HD5850 Vs One HD5870 1GB + Phenom II X4 965 + AMD 790FX

The sames go for Core i7 no need to get 950 / 975 when you can oc 920 the only bonus you get from a core i7 950 / 975 is you get like only +1-2fps with higher oc from there more expensive we are currently in a decades where a cpu of 200-300$ does the job of a 1000$CPU at the 1% close because of overclocking made so easy : maybe in future it will change but i doubt of it happenign any soon and it good that way

Here's a Core i7 build. All parts are from Newegg.ca.

CPU: Intel Core i7 920

Motherboard: ASUS P6T SE (Crossfire)

Graphics Card: Diamond HD 5870 1GB

Power Supply: Corsair 750TX 750W

RAM: Corsair XMS3 6GB(3x2GB) DDR3 1600

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB

CD/DVD Drive: Lite-On CD/DVD Drive

Case: CoolerMaster HAF 932

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Total: $1751.92 (not including shipping)

crazy-player

Change that HDD to a Caviar Black, and the memory that Marcthpro has linked, and that build would be perfect :P

7200:12 is Faster then both caviar black and Green : But the F3 Spinpoint 1TB is unavabible in canada right now which is even better and will eventully hit store for lower price and better unless you guy can find it ?

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/10/06/samsung-spinpoint-f3-1tb-review/9
tough for is build it is awesome he can get stronger if he want by await the HD5970 (power of two HD5870 1GB and fit in Single PCI-E lanes

i second the Ibuypower vote. I have had good experiences with them. I found that I would only save like 100 bucks on my computer if I built it myself vs ordering from them, so I went with them and Im happy.

Hey everyone,

I want to buy a new powerful gaming PC for present and upcoming games and I've created two on Dell.ca and Alienware that seem like the best thing in my max price range. However, Im not a Computer wiz and Im not sure which of the two rigs is better for gaming. I want what everyone else wants: max graphics and no lag for games such as Dawn of War 2, Crisis, etc. Anyways Ill post both of the comp's I've made bellow (remember its Canadian prices).

Option 1 - $2,999

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7 960 (3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

MEMORY: 6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz - (3 x 2048MB)

HARD DRIVE: 640GB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 16MB Cache HDD

GRAPHICS CARD: Dual 1.8GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260 - SLI® Enabled

Option 2 - $2,783

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7-975 processor Extreme Edition(8MB L3 Cache, 3.33GHz)

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

MEMORY: 6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs

HARD DRIVE: 640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

GRAPHICS CARD: nVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB

I may make the hard drives 500GB to decrease the prices, but I need some peoples opinions first because I'm a bit lost, Thanks.

GreyHunter117

1067mhz ? Excuse egrapix but that a pre-build and that pc must cost 2999$ because all pre-build i vs een with TWO GPU higher then 260GTX / Crosfire 4850 DOES COST you' an arm and a leg while for 2000$CAD you do get almost TWO HD5870 1GB iv proved it

you should read previous post and i tell you there no point in getting anything higher then core i7 920 if he learn to oc unless he want 4.4Ghz OC that bad : i know two people such as Beefdog who does run there core i7 920 D0 Stepping at 4.2ghz and the highest clock i seen with watercooling was not a core 920 but it was 4.5Ghz with Core i7 975 nothing as surpass that yet from people i do know and the benchmark didn't provide much a performances increase over 4.2Ghz core i7 920 it was something as a mere +1fps that all 68fps became 69fps ? does that worth 999$US ? i don't think so

but if you got around 3000$ to burn per year on ur favorite hobby then you can go with core i7 960 but it a waste for the Very small performances gain if you learn oc which is easy as long you got the right motherboard /cpu cooler / Airflow Case Such as HAf932 : you get a very powerfull processor

How Ever core i9 Will Release soon for 1000$ and may outrun 975 but again it is very expensive and unknow when release the mainstream core i9 but from my experiance in benchmark it far possible you'd expect them around spring 2010 or summer 2010

but it would worth maybe if the core i7 960 could reach 4.7ghz With airflow gear but core i7 as it limit

Here's a Core i7 build. All parts are from Newegg.ca.

CPU: Intel Core i7 920

Motherboard: ASUS P6T SE (Crossfire)

Graphics Card: Diamond HD 5870 1GB

Power Supply: Corsair 750TX 750W

RAM: Corsair XMS3 6GB(3x2GB) DDR3 1600

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB

CD/DVD Drive: Lite-On CD/DVD Drive

Case: CoolerMaster HAF 932

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Total: $1751.92 (not including shipping)

crazy-player

So this is what I should get for my PC?