New Gaming PC... help a noob?

I'm gonna build a new comp, currently I have

Intel P4 (3.20Ghz), 1GB RAM (4 x 256mb (wtf?)), ATI Radeon x600 256Mb Hypermemory, and 140Gb Hard drive (too lazy to find specs). That basically sums it up...

I want to be able to play the latest games (SupCom, Crysis, Mass Effect, etc.), but currently they lag horribly (as you might've guessed), even on the lowest settings.

I'm thinking:

• GPU: Nvidia 8800GT (x2)
• CPU: Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo 3.00Ghz
• PSU: COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro 650W, 12V
• HDD: HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 320Gb 7200RPM (16Mb cache, SATA 3.0Gb/s, OEM)
• Mobo: I don't know about the motherboard, I don't know what to look for.
• RAM: I want 2Gb RAM, maybe 3. Not sure what to get, though... What is best, DDR? DDR2? DDR3? DDR9000? And what brands are best for gaming?

I really need to keep the internals under $1000 (or close), if possible, since I'm on a budget and I also need a mouse + keyboard + monitor + sound system + case. I 'm open to suggestions for these, as well.

I'm pretty clueless in general when it comes to computer components. Am I making any stupid mistakes so far (Like, any incompatibilities or anything)? If anyone could give me some guidance or suggestions on what to change/add to this list, it would be great.

Newegg Item numbers, if you want them:

8800GT: N82E16814130319

E8400: N82E16819115037

PSU: N82E16817171023

Hard Drive: N82E16822145213

You want all those components for $1k? Not going to happen. The monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, speakers, and OS alone are going to leave you with only $700 right off the bat. Throwing money away on two 8800GT cards is not the way to get a good gaming rig.

Give me a minute, I'll get something together.

A 4850 would be a better investment than 2 8800gt's.

3 or 4 gigs of RAM is probably best at this point. G.SKill has some very cheap, but high-performing RAM.

xp go with 2gigs

vista go for 4 gigs

you only need 1 8800 gt or a 4850 or 4870

get a gigabyte board that doesn't have sli because sli is dumb in my honest opinion will save you money

processer is great but if you want to save some money go for the e7200 it has a better price/performance then the one you choose but yours is fine. also make sure the mobo you choose supports 45nm and is socket LGA775.

also get ddr2 800 not worth getting higher.

should be good!!! good luck its fun and fairly easy to build your system, i would reccomend getting a aftermarket cpu cooler with your build, they look cool and will give you room to overclock in the future. I got teh asus vapor bearing cpu heatsink/fan. Works great, very quiet and stylish, highly reccomend it, getting 24 C idle which is the room temp. So those are my suggestions.

I chose the 2 8800gt's ($165 each) because they apparently outperform the 4870 ($300) and 4850 (around $200) when you use SLI, and they're only about $30 more (combined). I might go with the 4870, though, because then I could add another one when the price drops and when the games need it. Plus, just one 4870 almost outperforms 2 8800gt's.

Thanks for the RAM tip. I'm planning on getting xp, so I'll go with 2 gigs. If I ever upgrade to vista, I'll buy another GB or two.

I just have one question; do I need a sound card? (I'm planning on buying a headset)

Thanks for helping me out.

Like Rayvin said, PC + extras ain't going to fit in a 1k budget, especially for a good gaming PC, so you have to get the PC only, or increase your budget to get it with monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.

jusst go with 3 gigs for vista and 2gigs for xp anything over 3 is a waste unless ur usin a 64 bit OS and how ppl forgot to count there graphics cards vram as part of there ram)

as for the graphics card going with a croos fire mother board would be better 2 4850 can be found for 165$ on new egg and when crossfired they surpass the gtx 280 of course u could al ways get a 4870 for same price seeing as how it will max out every game u throw at and then croosfire l8r when price has dropped and u really need that extra power although it up to u.

Ok, I'm going with the 4870 now, SLI apparently isn't the way to go. Plus, I can crossfire it in the future if I want.

Thanks for those suggestions, I'm checking them out.

I'm not planning on buying a top of the line monitor, something under $200 hopefully (I don't care that much if it's widescreen or not).

I'll probably take the mouse off my current computer and give it a cheaper one, since I'm the only one who uses it for gaming. I can also take a keyboard from an old Windows95-era computer I have upstairs, but I'm not sure how that'll work out.

What case is good though? As long as it fits everything I'm fine with it, idc much about the appearance of it.

Oh and I'm not planning on ordering the parts until August/September (I probably should have mentioned that earlier...).

that OK to you if you want to play 1280x1024. instead of 1680x1050 . that is about 50% pixel and 1080p about 70% more 1920x1200 * usually if a game made to runt hat much pixel it as to be better looking tough but you require more horse power
4870 can fit cod4 : very high : 1920x1200 with stable fps just letting you know have fun =)
august ? why not go for e8600 ? and get more money O.o E8600 3.3Ghz incoming without OC and should be more oc or less wattage & heat for 4.3ghz OC from 3.1ghz to 4.3 instead it should be 3.3 Ghz to 4.3 still Or more ? ain't normally the more the mhz is. and the multiplier. as same the more you can oc like E8400 vs e8500 OC or something like that
maybe in a future ul get more money to a 1920x1200 monitor in 2 year they got down from 700$ to 500$ the top brand.
300$ the BenQ

i couldn't find an e8600, I'm assuming you mistyped and meant e8500.

E8500: 3.16 GHz/core

E8400: 3.00 GHz/core

It really doesn't seem like it would be worth it to spend $90 more for a 160MHz increase :S

Wait until after july 20 for a price cut on Intel cpus.matrixian

Wow, the E8500 is dropping $83, I think I'll go with that, since I was already prepared to spend that much on the E8400 (and it's only dropping $20).

Thanks for the link

you are defineately gonna want a sound card

if you have the money buy the razer barracuda sound card with their barracuda headphones they are awesome, in CSS it is amazing what you can hear and for music they are sick too:)

your not going to get a very good monitor as well as the rest. I'd dump one of the 8800s or even get a 9600gt/3870 swap the cpu for a e7200 which is still pleanty fast and much cheaper.

make sure your mob is lga 775 and supports the latest cpus with 1333mhz fsb. you want lots of ram slots (4 ) and you want ddr2 800+ support, unless you know you want dual cards just make sure you have a pcie slot. (ati and nvida dual cards require a different motherboard)

Ok, I'm going with the 4870 now, SLI apparently isn't the way to go. Plus, I can crossfire it in the future if I want.

Thanks for those suggestions, I'm checking them out.

CheeseGuardian

Get a X48/X38 motherboard, then. P35/P45 boards don't have two x16 PCIE slots, so it would somewhat limit performance in crossfire. X48/38 are significantly more expensive, tho, so you might have to sacrifice something to fit it under $1k.

Or you can just say screw it and just buy a P35/45, crossfire is still better than one video card even without the full PCIE bandwidth on both slots.

Added benefit of crossfire over SLI is that you can crossfire different GPUs from the same generation... 4870+4870x2 FTW?

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=6493574

( -$70, you dont need the tablet P: )