help on a gaming computer?

[mikeeey]

EDIT:
So I've decided I will build a computer, here's my newegg wishlist so far...
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=16358487

-------------------------

I'm looking to buy or build a new computer. I'm pretty much behind a few generations lol.. I'm still using a single core Pentium 4 3.00ghz processor, 1 gb of ram, PCI (not express).

I haven't experienced PCI Express or Dual or Quad Core.

I plan on getting a computer for gaming, preferably with a windows 7 upgrade. I was looking at this one here:
Costco - Hot Buy ZT Affinity 7332Ma Phenom II X4 945 3.0GHz 1 Terabyte Hard Drive

and it even has a nice phenom II processor!

I also plan on buying the Nvidea GeForce GTX 275:
GeForce GTX 275

But I have no idea if this computer will play games at a high speed. I've seen multiple people go out and buy a new computer and it's not even that great at gaming. Does anyone know anything about ZT computers?

 

[larrball]

Might not be too bad at most games.. but it only has a 300 watt Power supply.
Im thanking you'r going to need at least 550W power supply if you get the
GeForce GTX 275 card.

 

[pseudolobster]

I get a lot of costco brand computers coming into my shop for repairs... Notice how they don't tell you what brand of motherboard, hard drive, psu, ram, etc? It's all the cheapest possible, and will have a good chance of dying in the first year or two.

I really prefer building my own, that way I know I'm getting an ASUS motherboard, an Antec power supply, Kingston ram, good quality parts. It comes out to the same price as getting it pre-built, only I know I'm getting solid hardware.

I'd also suggest an ATI video card if you're looking to cut costs.. They're really cheap for the performance you get. A $300 ATI card is usually just as good as a $500 nvidia one. The Radeon HD5870 just came out, and is currently the most powerful single video card on the market, priced at least $100 less than Nvidia's offerings.

 

[Trevor]

The best advice I can give you is to build it.

The computer I'm on is built, it's amazingly fast and plays games great. Buying it from a company would have been a whole lot more expensive.

It cost me $1,800 + the time taken to build it. If this is something you'd be interested in doing, drop me a PM - I'll be happy to help in any way I can.

This is my build: Newegg.com - Once You Know, You Newegg

Trevor

 

[Byrnz93]

Yeah, as twhite828 said, building is the best option. Just completed my first computer build a month or two ago now and it's great! For only around A$1300 as well.

 

[Grix]

I recently built a gaming computer myself, very cheap compared to it's power. I had never built a PC before either, but it turned up great and the PC is very stable, no problems so far!

This is the parts I used:
Antec Three Hundred Case
Intel E7500 CPU
P5Q SE2 Motherboard
Powercolor Radeon HD 4870 1GB GPU
OCZ 4GB PC8500 RAM
Random 1TB HDD
Random DVD burner
Silver Power 600W PSU

I would VERY much recommend a ATI Radeon GPU instead of nVidia, because they are cheaper and more powerful.

I would also recommend that you download Windows 7 Final: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/502...255_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCU , and then use a cheap genuine activation key from ebay. ( http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-Window...ZViewItemQQptZUS_Software?hash=item27ac1d896a )

 

[jwc]

I build my own systems. You get more for your money.

For $1700, I built this:
Intel Core i7 920 (OC'd to 3.2GHz without any change to Vcore)
EVGA X58 Mobo (EVGA mobos are typically more expensive, but they have constantly been rated as top-tier; I was willing to pay a little more)
6GB DDR3 1600 RAM
3 640GB hard drives (in RAID 5)
CoolerMaster V8 (enormous CPU cooler)
Antec 1200 (ENORMOUS case with 6 fans, plus slots for 2 extra fans, which I have filled)
EVGA nVidia GTX 285
Some DVD Burner
Corsair 850W PSU

On top of that, I added 3 more 160GB hard drives I had lying around, and the case _still_ isn't full. I can add at least 3 more hard drives and 2 more 5" things.

I can't argue with Grix on whether or not ATI makes cheaper and more powerful GPUs because ATI has absolutely horrible Linux support. The drivers from ATI are buggy and rarely work well (and the homegrown ones are only a little better). So, if you want to use Linux, nVidia is the way to go. My GTX 285 is spectacular; it will blast through any game I want to play. Furthermore, the CUDA architecture is a lot of fun; I've done some testing with checksum generators and have seen some amazing results.

So yeah, don't be afraid to build your own system. It really isn't too hard and you have much more control over what you buy. You get to choose the products that have whatever specifications you want.

 

[Grix]

I can't argue with Grix on whether or not ATI makes cheaper and more powerful GPUs because ATI has absolutely horrible Linux support. The drivers from ATI are buggy and rarely work well (and the homegrown ones are only a little better). So, if you want to use Linux, nVidia is the way to go. My GTX 285 is spectacular; it will blast through any game I want to play. Furthermore, the CUDA architecture is a lot of fun; I've done some testing with checksum generators and have seen some amazing results.

Tru dat, but I haven't heard of many gaming computer with linux on them. I highly recommend Windows 7 as I said before, it's a very smooth OS

 

[bobhaha]

i got this at $1800

intel core i7 920
Asus P6T mobo
3GB DDR3 1600 Corsair
500GB HDD
Thermaltake V9 midi gaming case
Gigabyte Radeon HD4890
no name brand DVD drive
Corsair 620W PSU
Blue neon

 

[nikokapo]

I build my own systems. You get more for your money.

For $1700, I built this:
Intel Core i7 920 (OC'd to 3.2GHz without any change to Vcore)
EVGA X58 Mobo (EVGA mobos are typically more expensive, but they have constantly been rated as top-tier; I was willing to pay a little more)
6GB DDR3 1600 RAM
3 640GB hard drives (in RAID 5)
CoolerMaster V8 (enormous CPU cooler)
Antec 1200 (ENORMOUS case with 6 fans, plus slots for 2 extra fans, which I have filled)
EVGA nVidia GTX 285
Some DVD Burner
Corsair 850W PSU

On top of that, I added 3 more 160GB hard drives I had lying around, and the case _still_ isn't full. I can add at least 3 more hard drives and 2 more 5" things.

I can't argue with Grix on whether or not ATI makes cheaper and more powerful GPUs because ATI has absolutely horrible Linux support. The drivers from ATI are buggy and rarely work well (and the homegrown ones are only a little better). So, if you want to use Linux, nVidia is the way to go. My GTX 285 is spectacular; it will blast through any game I want to play. Furthermore, the CUDA architecture is a lot of fun; I've done some testing with checksum generators and have seen some amazing results.

So yeah, don't be afraid to build your own system. It really isn't too hard and you have much more control over what you buy. You get to choose the products that have whatever specifications you want.

Well I was gonna start doing a list but I think jwcawesome has already sent you on the right direction. That configuration is pretty good. I'd cut back on one HDD and add an SSD to load Windows.
Good choice on the proc. No need to spend more money when you can OC

 

[rangedunits]

Intel I7 is the best.

 

[pseudolobster]

I would also recommend that you download Windows 7 Final: 7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCU (download torrent) - TPB , and then use a cheap genuine activation key from ebay. ( Original Window 7 Ultimate Key (32 bit & 64 bit) Retail - eBay (item 170391341418 end time Nov-05-09 05:11:21 PST) )

I wouldn't recommend that... Why go out of your way to pirate the software, then pay actual money for a pirated key, when you could simply wait two weeks, pay $100, get an actual legitimate genuine copy, and not have to worry that your computer is going to start locking you out for piracy?
Most of the keys on ebay are stolen from a large OEM, others are people's personal technet or msdn keys, which will expire after 10 activations, others are the keys for the beta and release candidates that won't work at all. Why pay $80 now, with the chance of being arrested, with the chance that your computer is going to lock you out in a couple months, only to have to pay the $100 anyways?

If you're going to pirate windows 7 you'd better get a copy that deactivates the cd key altogether, doesn't use windows update, never contacts microsoft's servers, etc. Make sure you have a good antivirus though, a lot of those cracked versions come with extra surprises preinstalled, also since you won't be able to update, you'll constantly be vulnerable to the latest viruses.

 

[Grix]

I wouldn't recommend that... Why go out of your way to pirate the software, then pay actual money for a pirated key, when you could simply wait two weeks, pay $100, get an actual legitimate genuine copy, and not have to worry that your computer is going to start locking you out for piracy?
Most of the keys on ebay are stolen from a large OEM, others are people's personal technet or msdn keys, which will expire after 10 activations, others are the keys for the beta and release candidates that won't work at all. Why pay $80 now, with the chance of being arrested, with the chance that your computer is going to lock you out in a couple months, only to have to pay the $100 anyways?

If you're going to pirate windows 7 you'd better get a copy that deactivates the cd key altogether, doesn't use windows update, never contacts microsoft's servers, etc. Make sure you have a good antivirus though, a lot of those cracked versions come with extra surprises preinstalled, also since you won't be able to update, you'll constantly be vulnerable to the latest viruses.

I don't know about Canada's prices, but the version I now got for $30 costs almost $500 here in Norway. I also asked the seller where he got the key and he said that his company gave them to their employees and that he resells them. Not entirely legal, but I'm very sure that Microsoft won't bother with it, and if they do block out the key, the seller will refund me anyways.
The .iso I linked to was also verified using the MD5 checksum to be a non-touched installer. It's clean, everything works as if I had bought the full version.

Worth it IMHO.

 

[iskor12]

I get a lot of costco brand computers coming into my shop for repairs... Notice how they don't tell you what brand of motherboard, hard drive, psu, ram, etc? It's all the cheapest possible, and will have a good chance of dying in the first year or two.

I really prefer building my own, that way I know I'm getting an ASUS motherboard, an Antec power supply, Kingston ram, good quality parts. It comes out to the same price as getting it pre-built, only I know I'm getting solid hardware.

I'd also suggest an ATI video card if you're looking to cut costs.. They're really cheap for the performance you get. A $300 ATI card is usually just as good as a $500 nvidia one. The Radeon HD5870 just came out, and is currently the most powerful single video card on the market, priced at least $100 less than Nvidia's offerings.

I wouldn't recommend that... Why go out of your way to pirate the software, then pay actual money for a pirated key, when you could simply wait two weeks, pay $100, get an actual legitimate genuine copy, and not have to worry that your computer is going to start locking you out for piracy?
Most of the keys on ebay are stolen from a large OEM, others are people's personal technet or msdn keys, which will expire after 10 activations, others are the keys for the beta and release candidates that won't work at all. Why pay $80 now, with the chance of being arrested, with the chance that your computer is going to lock you out in a couple months, only to have to pay the $100 anyways?

If you're going to pirate windows 7 you'd better get a copy that deactivates the cd key altogether, doesn't use windows update, never contacts microsoft's servers, etc. Make sure you have a good antivirus though, a lot of those cracked versions come with extra surprises preinstalled, also since you won't be able to update, you'll constantly be vulnerable to the latest viruses.

Listen to this man...he knows what he is talking about.

Also...I prefer Intel processors

 

[mikeeey]

Alrighty so I will build one. for a case I'm thinking about this (I like lights and windows!):
Newegg.com - RAIDMAX SMILODON Extreme Black ATX-612WEB 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case - Computer Cases
I'm thinking about buying all my stuff from newegg, but if there is a site someone may know of offering better cases then that would be fine too (newegg seems to have a small selection).

for the motherboard I'm really not sure.. like I said, I'm way behind, never used a PCI-e before, only PCI. I'm thinking of Asus. Any suggestions?

For a processor I'll definitely go with the Phenom II. Who doesn't want 4x cores each 3.00ghz each??

For a video card I really am thinking about the GeForce GTX 275, but if someone can convince me of something better even for a better price, I'd be down for that. (I heard radeon mentioned a few times). Maybe some spec comparisons or youtube videos showing a video card's power?

As far as a soundcard, I'm not sure if I want/need a new one. Can a PCI sound card work with a PCI-e motherboard? I have 5.1 surround sound in my room, so anything that supports that really..

for a hardrive I'll just get a 1TB one from newegg

for ram I'm unsure what to get..

 

[Trevor]

for the motherboard I'm really not sure.. like I said, I'm way behind, never used a PCI-e before, only PCI. I'm thinking of Asus. Any suggestions?

I've had issues with Asus before; never with EVGA though. In my opinion an x58 EVGA motherboard would be great.

For a processor I'll definitely go with the Phenom II. Who doesn't want 4x cores each 3.00ghz each??

Go with an i7. AMD isn't doing so hot right now.

For a video card I really am thinking about the GeForce GTX 275, but if someone can convince me of something better even for a better price, I'd be down for that. (I heard radeon mentioned a few times). Maybe some spec comparisons or youtube videos showing a video card's power?

nVidia is great.

As far as a soundcard, I'm not sure if I want/need a new one. Can a PCI sound card work with a PCI-e motherboard? I have 5.1 surround sound in my room, so anything that supports that really..

I think the EVGA motherboards have good on-board sound cards.

for a hardrive I'll just get a 1TB one from newegg

Do yourself a favor; set up RAID. Redundancy is a blessing sometimes.

for ram I'm unsure what to get..

I'm a big Corsair fan; if you end up with an i7, pick up 6-12gb of the RAM I put in my build. Some of the best-reviewed on Newegg.

See quote.

-Trevor