Need help with a new rig

Hey all,

I am moving off for my first year of University and need to get my parts ordered for a good gaming rig. I used to be pretty knowledgeable in this department, but with not keeping up over the last couple years I am lost.

If you guys would just send me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated. I would prefer AMD and ATI for my PU's but it seems the common trend right now is with there direct competitors. I have a budget, but it is a pretty big one, so I can go and get some of the top end items.

Thanks alot, and sorry for making you guys have to answer another one of these!

A pretty big budget? How big? If you are talking around $2000 or more, then you can build yourself a monster rig which would comprise of an AMD 64 X2 6000+, 2GB of DDR2 800 RAM (or 4GB if you want), HD 2900XT graphics card, 320GB HDD (or more) and the normal stuff like case, monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.

Swap the CPU with an Intel one like an Q6600 and the graphics card with a 8800GTX if you want.

Thanks TicTac,

I looked into what you recommended, and I put together this,

Coolermaster CM Stacker 830 E-ATX Brushed Aluminum Case 9X5.25 4X3.5INT No PS W/ 2X120MM Fan

$253

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive

$150

OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit

$100

Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 ATX LGA775 Conroe P965 DDR2 PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 GBLAN Audio Motherboard

$140

$220

ATI Radeon HD 2900XT 740MHZ 512MB 1650MHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDCP VIVO Video Card

$520

v Silverstone Strider ST1000 1000W Modular Power Supply ATX 20/24PIN 135MM Fan High Efficiency Black

$220

v Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Gamer 24BIT Sound Card 7.1 PCI Retail Box Bilingual
$100

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM

$30

Total 1,790.00 CDN

Canadian price, so it will be a little higher.

Does all that make sense? Will it work right, and how long do you think it will last me?

I dont have much more financial wiggle room on that.

Your motherboard is incompatible with your processor - you'll need an AMD AM2 socket motherboard, probably with the nForce 590 chipset. I'd shoot for something from DFI, but you can go with whatever company you really feel comfortable with.

I'd also avoid spending that much on a case if you're infringing on your performance budget. You can still find a very nice aluminum case of high qualityfor $100 less than what you're paying, which will give you a hell of a lot more "financial wiggle room".

Power supply is good, but hugely overkill - look into something like the Ultra X3, Enermax Infiniti, PC Power & Cooling Silenceror Antec Truepower Quattro - even if you pick up a Crossfire-capable motherboard and go with it, a decent 800w unit will be more than enough for your setup.

Last but not least, your cooler is compatible with your motherboard, but not your processor. - if you want theAC, get the 64 Pro, not the 7 ProAnd while it's not a bad cooler, it's not all that great either (unless you're just looking for silence, in which case it's excellent). Something like the Tuniq Tower 120 or the Thermalright Ultra 120 would be much more efficient, although you will need to provide your own fan for the Thermalright.

Thanks alot Rayvin,

Do I still want the nForce 590 Chipsets even with the ATI card?

Is this motherboard one that makes more sense?

ASUS M2R32-MVP ATX AM2 Xpress 3200 Crossfire 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 1394 GBLAN Motherboard

And this fan,

Sunbeam Tuniq Tower 120 AM2 LGA775 S754 S939 S940 Heatpipe Cooler 120MM Blue LED Fan CPU Heatsink

PS

Silverstone Strider ST75F 750W ATX12V 24PIN Modular Power Supply W/120MM Fan Active PFC SLI Ready

Case

Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Gamer Case 900 ATX 9 Drive Bay No PS Top USB2.0 1394 Audio

Thanks alot for the help guys.

Amd 64 X-2 6000+ $160

4 Gb Ram 1x4GB $200

Nvidia 8800 Gts 640 Mb GDDR3VRAM $360

$130 Thermaltake armor series

750W PSU DVD/CD Rom/Burner $140

Vista Ultimate Home Builders $200

320Gb HD $80

Mobo $140

LCD 20" 1050x1680 $200

So before I order, does everything look correct and compatible? Any little tweeks?

Thanks alot for the help!

My current computer plays all new games fine, its outdated but, still a very useful computer. However considering the fact hat I am moving away for school, I need one all to myself. I dont want to upgrade for a while and my budget is right around 2 grand.

Do I need a sound card with that board?

My current computer plays all new games fine, its outdated but, still a very useful computer. However considering the fact hat I am moving away for school, I need one all to myself. I dont want to upgrade for a while and my budget is right around 2 grand.

Do I need a sound card with that board?

Sonic_basic

No, you do not need one - but it might be nice to have one. Still, if you feel that the $100 would be better-spent elsewhere, go for it.