I don't think there's an actual definition of what constitutes an "Elite" gaming rig exactly. If you want your system to be viable for at least two years, you're looking at dropping at least $1000. A more comfortable budget would be $1500, but I think it could be done for a thousand...if you choose your components wisely.:D
Some gamers swear by SLI. Others prefer a single, uber-powerful vid card. I say get a board that supports SLI, but for now only run the best video card you can afford. In the future, you can pair it with another in SLI to keep your rig pounding out the FPS. How good is SLI, depends on how good the cards are you are planning to run in SLI. Two cards running in SLI will run 65% - 75% faster than a single card of the same type...depending on who you ask. Basically the work load is divided between the two cards, although never quite evenly, because the picture on the screen will never be uniform in a game. On the bad, is heat and power consumption. SLI has it's price.
2000 US$ would be a safe bet, as with that budget, I could get by mid-August: -Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 -2 GB DDR2-1066 SDRAM -nVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB -Auzentech X-Fi Prelude -500 GB 7,200 RPM SATA HDD -Intel X38-based motherboard (can't say for sure yet since they haven't actually been released) -a good case of some sort (looking at several Lian-Li offerings, as well as the Antec 900) Oh, wait, that's actually 1800 US$, since my 2000 US$ figure includes an OEM copy of Windows Vista Ultimate. Nevertheless, it should chew through Bioshock, Crysis, and any other game released in the next year or two without any problems. Anyway, here are my suggestions: -Intel's Core 2 line is the way to go right now. If you have to get it now, I'd go for the E6320 or E6420 and install a Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme or Tuniq Tower 120 to assist in overclocking it to around 3.4 GHz or so. I'd rather wait until July 22 so that you can get a Q6600 for around 260 US$, though-four cores beat two! -And with that Core 2, I'd get an Intel P35-based motherboard, or maybe an X38-based one if you're waiting until August. -I suggest just getting one powerful graphics card, like a GeForce 8800 GTS, and not bother with SLI or CrossFire; the slight performance increase isn't worth twice the cost, twice the power consumption, and twice the heat, unless you're playing at insane resolutions like 2560x1600. Besides, when you would normally add a second card to increase performance, you can just get a single card that runs faster than the two of them, runs cooler, and draws less power, not to mention freeing up another PCIe slot. -A good sound card is a MUST for any gaming system if you have the extra cash for one. A Creative SB X-Fi XtremeMusic or better is recommended(do NOT get the XtremeAudio, as it lacks the X-Fi chip and relies on your CPU to do the work), or if you can hold off until late July, spring for the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude. -Don't skimp on the PSU. I'd get one rated for 600W or 700W, if not more, just to be on the safe side.
If I ran one for a while than my pc started having trouble with games on higher settings I could always add a second right?FootballGamer
If you have an SLI mother board and the second video card is running the same GPU core as the first one, then yes. I'd just buy the same model/brand video card, so everything matched up nicely, if I were upgrading to SLI.
This will be my first gaming pc, and I want it to be amazing, and last for 2 to 3 years.FootballGamer
Look into systems that are $2000 and above if you want a computer to last three years. Go to Cyberpowerpc, Ibuypower, or avadirect. They will have the best prices for the money.
2000 US$ would be a safe bet, as with that budget, I could get by mid-August: -Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 -2 GB DDR2-1066 SDRAM -nVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640 MB -Auzentech X-Fi Prelude -500 GB 7,200 RPM SATA HDD -Intel X38-based motherboard (can't say for sure yet since they haven't actually been released) -a good case of some sort (looking at several Lian-Li offerings, as well as the Antec 900) Oh, wait, that's actually 1800 US$, since my 2000 US$ figure includes an OEM copy of Windows Vista Ultimate. Nevertheless, it should chew through Bioshock, Crysis, and any other game released in the next year or two without any problems. Anyway, here are my suggestions: -Intel's Core 2 line is the way to go right now. If you have to get it now, I'd go for the E6320 or E6420 and install a Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme or Tuniq Tower 120 to assist in overclocking it to around 3.4 GHz or so. I'd rather wait until July 22 so that you can get a Q6600 for around 260 US$, though-four cores beat two! -And with that Core 2, I'd get an Intel P35-based motherboard, or maybe an X38-based one if you're waiting until August. -I suggest just getting one powerful graphics card, like a GeForce 8800 GTS, and not bother with SLI or CrossFire; the slight performance increase isn't worth twice the cost, twice the power consumption, and twice the heat, unless you're playing at insane resolutions like 2560x1600. Besides, when you would normally add a second card to increase performance, you can just get a single card that runs faster than the two of them, runs cooler, and draws less power, not to mention freeing up another PCIe slot. -A good sound card is a MUST for any gaming system if you have the extra cash for one. A Creative SB X-Fi XtremeMusic or better is recommended(do NOT get the XtremeAudio, as it lacks the X-Fi chip and relies on your CPU to do the work), or if you can hold off until late July, spring for the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude. -Don't skimp on the PSU. I'd get one rated for 600W or 700W, if not more, just to be on the safe side.NamelessPlayer
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