Aug/080
Building a new gaming computer for ~$1000
It’s been a year now since I got my laptop, a Dell Inspiron 1720 with a Nvidia 8600 GT, 2gb ram, a Core 2 Duo processor, and windows Vista, but now I am really starting to miss my old desktop just because of the power it had. Not to mention my 17″ laptop isn’t really portable, its about 8.5 pounds so lugging it to and from class is a pain, but that’s another story for another day. This post will be about the components for my new computer that I just ordered off of newegg and why I picked each of them. Hopefully I can cut out some of the confusion that I faced when making this computer for other people.
Why get a new computer?
Well, I am a hardcore gamer and with Warhammer Online coming out in a month or so, I didn’t feel that I would get the desired performance with my laptop that would allow me to play to my best ability in large scale RvR battles. I also wanted to replace my TV so I bought a nice little tuner card to go inside my new computer that will allow me to have TiVo in my room, without a TiVo box. 
My budget
Realistically, I could have prepared a computer as expensive as I wanted, but I didn’t want to go over $1200, not counting the price of the monitor. I figured that I would go ahead and buy a $200ish 22″ monitor because the old ones I used to have on my old desktop just aren’t cutting it in times of picture quality any more.
So, What parts are you getting?
First, I will list the parts and how much they cost, then I will do a little write up about each part and explain why I chose it.
Required Parts:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor $170
Processor Fan: COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-L9U1-GP 92mm Hyper TX2 CPU Cooler $30
Video Card: VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 $270
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $70
Ram: mushkin 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) $185
Mobo: Intel BOXDX38BT LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX DDR3 $210
Case: COOLER MASTER Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower $40
Power Supply: Antec BP550 Plus 550W ATX12V V2.2 $40
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit $100
Optical Drive: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black $25
Extras:
TV Tuner Card: KWORLD PlusTV Analog Lite PCI TV Tuner Capture Card $20
Wireless Adapter: Rosewill RNX-G300LX IEEE 802.11b/g PCI Wireless Card $10
120mm Fan: EVERCOOL EC12025 120mm $5
I also got a USB-Dongle bluetooth adapter ($17) from AZiO so I can sync with my cell phone wirelessly.
I also bought the 22″ Monitor, Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22″ 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor, $200.
Some of you are like ew.. Wireless adapter… I know.. but my router is in the kitchen and my room is on the opposite side of the house, so unless I run like a 50 foot Ethernet cable through my attic, wireless is all I have. 
So, If we add all the required parts up, my system cost me ~$1040 which is what I was going for. Throw in the $100 for Vista and you have $1140 and then if you throw in the Extra parts, then my machine ran me ~$1175. The monitor adds $200, but I won’t count that into my calculations.
So, here we go, into why I bought each part that I bought.
1. My Processor, the E8400 3.0 GHZ Core2Duo.
I bought the processor because I didn’t really want a Quad core processor, and I really like the Core 2 Duo line. If AMD processors were on the same level as Intel’s right now, I would have gotten one from them, but sadly they aren’t, in my opinion and based on the charts from Tom’s Hardware. I got the E8400 because It is a solid processor and can be overclocked to over 4GHZ if I choose to. I normally don’t like to overclock components because it decreases system life, that’s why I get things that are good enough where you don’t have to overclock them.
2. The Video Card, Radeon HD 4870.
This is probably the component I spent the most time debating with myself about. I initially was going to get the Nvidia GTX 260, but I read about the 4870 and decided that it was time to go back to ATI because they really have produced a monster card. This card is dominating the market like the 8800 did a few years ago. The 4870×2 is a beast, but I don’t need that much performance and I really don’t want to spend that much money on it. The 4870 provided the best performance:price in my research, scouring through countless comparisons on the web. I don’t really like to run SLI, I would normally just like to buy 1 really good card than 2 ok cards, but that’s another can of worms.
3. The MOBO, Intel X38
I chose this Mobo for one reason really, it was DDR3. DDR3 was one of the things that I really wanted when I was making this computer. I want it to last me for a year or so before I need to upgrade anything, and I think that by having DDR3 it will allow me to do so. The mobo also offers SLI should I ever want to do that.
4. The RAM, Mushkin 4GB DDR3 1333
RAM is all about preference, and I prefer mushkin ram. A friend from World of Warcraft told me about it about 3 years ago and it has been the best ram I have ever owned. It is also nice DDR3 ram that costs ~100/2gb.
5. The OS, Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Another thing I really wanted to do with this computer was to make it 64-bit. I want to see how much a difference 64-bit makes versus 32-bit. Also I wanted to be able to have over 3GB of ram, so that was really a no-brainer. I picked Vista because XP-64bit is really, really bad. Why not get Ultimate, Well Home Premium is already $100 and I really didn’t want to spend that much, but I have Home Premium on my Laptop so I had to get at least that on my Desktop. I can always upgrade later if I need to…
The Cooling System
I chose to go with an air cooling system because I didn’t want to pay an extra $300+ to have my system water cooled when, if you know what you are doing, routing the air through a clean and managed case can deliver great cooling. The Processor Cooler is a must for a gaming rig, in my opinion. You need to keep that baby cool, but if you really don’t want to ever overclock it, you could probably do without it.
The rest of the parts
I bought the PSU because it had Modular cables which makes for routing the cables out of the way for maximum airflow a snap. The Segate 500GB HD was my choice because of its great capacity and Segates great reputation. The Optical drive was honestly just one of the first ones, I rarely use them any more because most games don’t require the CDs. But it seems to be a good one, I probably should have gotten a SATA one though, meh too bad.
How does the machine stack up?
Just for fun, I built an equal spec machine on Alienware’s website. The computer costed nearly $1000 more than mine, and it has annoying flashy lights.
I should get all the parts by Wednesday so I will probably put it together then, hopefully all goes well and nothign is DOA, but only time will tell. I will write up a post about building it then with some nice pictures.
What do you guys think about the parts I chose? Do you prefer ATI or NVIDIA? Any cool experiances building computers? Share with all of us in the comments!