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[Heliman]

I've decided that I want to build my next computer to be an awesome gaming PC, but the problem is, I don't even know where to start looking for the parts.

I have a budget in mind of 1500 dollars, and the only prerequisites I have (besides being really good at playing games) is a solid-core hard drive and a windows 7 operating system, any suggestions for good parts to buy/ where to buy good parts?


EDIT: Herp Derp forgot to add budget.

[Blargityblarg]

I'm not much of a PC builder, but the first thing i see asked in these threads is your budget. Might want to throw one out there.

[Tellemurius]

awesome gaming pc can set you back.... 1500?

[Heliman]

... Shit I forgot to add my budget, lol.

Yes, my budget actually is 1500.

[RedKing]

I'm still not sold on solid-state drives yet, if only because the capacity isn't there yet. When they start making 500GB solid-state drives that won't require taking out a second mortgage, then I'll look into them.

$1500 should be able to get you a pretty nice system, though. I buy all my parts through Newegg, and have been happily using them for several years now.

I know this is liable to open up a 10-page tech jihad, but I'd say focus on processor speed instead of number of cores. Multithreading just isn't supported like it needs to be to make all these fancy quad- and hex-core processors that much better. The one real benefit is that, with some attention to detail and manual tweaking, you can assign different helper programs to seperate cores for a performance benefit (for example, running WoW.exe on Core1, running TeamSpeak on Core2, running a raid assistant app on Core3, keeping a browser window open with Thottbot loaded on Core4, etc.)

But since 95% of my gaming is single-player offline, that's a rare situation for me. If you tend to do a lot of gaming where you use secondary apps, then multi-cores might be more important.

[Haschel]

For windows 7, you can get it reasonably cheap if you are a student at college, or know someone that is a student. Check the bookstore. I got my copy for $30, which isn't too bad. Technically you can get it the free way, but I personally don't trust cracked copies with such an integral piece of software.

As for the rest of the stuff, Newegg is generally the way to go. I actually have a local retailer that has pretty competitive prices, but a much more limited selection. Got a nice case and cooler there, at least. You can run windows 7 on a SSD with everything else on a bigger drive, but apparently windows 7 doesn't let you change the default installation path for new programs, so it always defaults to the windows drive. All you have to do is change the (example) C to D at the beginning of the path, but it can be pretty annoying and a few programs will still add junk to the main drive. I haven't had any issues yet, but my PC is only a few months old.

Doing some reading is always a good idea, like here, and here. There is quite a lot of reading to be had there, but try to stick to the articles instead of forum posts (and try to stick with the most recent stuff possible, obviously). It's easy to get bogged down with too much information about too many things, so try to pace yourself, look at Newegg as much as possible, and try to find what's a good deal for the performance you're getting. Blowing $1500 on a great computer is easy, but squeezing as much as you can out of the deal is where it takes some effort.

[Nadaka]

$1500 is more than enough to build a great computer.

I built a decent one October before last on a budget of only a grand.

newegg is a great shopping resource. They are very reliable and reasonably priced.

Before you lay out money for parts, be sure to check the manufacturers sites for compatibility guides. It can save some headaches and reduce the chances that something odd happens, even though most components with the right interface will work even if they are not listed as compatible.

[DJ]

I don't think that solid state drives are worth their price just yet, but if you insist on it I suggest getting a smallish one for your system drive and a big classic drive for data storage.

[woose1]

I got a six core compooter with a newer-ish graphics card, 4 gigs of RAM, and a shiny monitor for about $800-900.

/brag

Hell, with $1500 I'd just go with a prebuilt one from somewhere, maybe here. Especially if you've never built one before or if you don't know anyone that has. (Never used the site before, but I've heard good things.) The trick is getting a computer that will last you for a long time, and won't break due to faulty or low quality parts. :/

As for a solid state drive, meh. What DJ said, they're not really worth the extra money and space you have to sacrifice.

[Darkone]

For 1500, there's zero reason to get anything less than a Core i7 for the processor, and 6 gigs of RAM. As for specifics, I dunno, you can probably get the entry level i7, a good aftermarket cooler, good case, good PSU, top end graphics card, etc. Don't get anything past the entry level i7 - paying for a higher clock is pointless when they're so easy to OC. Try looking at prebuilt computers from botiques like ibuypower and cyberpowerpc, and see how well they match up with the actual price of the parts used. They can put everything together for you, including installing water cooling and other such things.

[woose1]

^^^
Prebuilt computers are really useful when it comes to installing very finicky very fragile things such as the CPU and RAM. In addition, it basically guarantees that you won't get a bent pin on one of the boards. (Which happens all the frigging time)

[Heliman]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. The idea for having a SSD for the system is really good, I think I'm going to try that so I can get an ass ton of disk memory on another drive.

I'm going to have to look into prebuilding too.

Also: 32 bit or 64 bit? I can't decide.

[Dwarf]

If you're spending 1500 bucks, you might as well go for it.

An Intel Core i7-2600K is to be recommended, it's wicked for its price.
A fitting, high-end mainboard would probably be the ASUS Maximus IV.
You'd probably want to combine that with a nVidia GTX 590 or AMD 6990. Performance-wise, they have shown to be more or less equal, with the nVidia being quieter.
About 6-8 GB of good Corsair RAM ought to round the package off.

[white_darkness]

Just go for 64-bit.  It's what all the manufacturers are pushing now, even though most people don't need nor will they use the capabilities.

The biggest drawback with that will be if you have any interest in older games that are 16-bit or have 16-bit installers.  Of course, if you're buying M$'s OS for installation you'll get both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, so you can always set up a dual boot environment.

Some of the OEM's will supply you with alternate bit version disk if you ask for it (while under warranty).

[lordnincompoop]

If you're going to have more than 4GB of RAM, a 64-bit OS is a must.