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$1500 Budget, Need Help Building Gaming Rig

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fultz

Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2005
Well, I can't actually BUILD it myself, I was all ready to try and I chickened out, I know it's all easy and stuff and im a pansy for being afraid to try but I just can't afford the loss if something busts on me.

I need the best performing system possible for $1500 and a source of where to get it if you can tell me. The Power Supply must be enough for the contents within and the cooling has to be sufficient. I DO plan to overclock it.

I figure $1500 is not a low budget but it's a budget nonetheless. All that must be included for the $1500 is the PC tower, no monitor/keyboard/mouse or Speakers are necessary for that price.

The PC will be used for Heavy Gaming, Most Likely Max Settings @1280x1024 on all new games if the computer and card can handle it. It will also be used for multi-tasking, video edit, heavy downloading, basically everything you can think of. Im kinda thinking I may have to stray from the Nvidia Geforce 6800GT that I want so badly because I just cant squeeze enough into the $1500 budget. :(!

What can I get for this price and where (if you can show me where to get it)?

What I originally wanted (but I doubt I'll be able to get it for $1500) is:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester Socket 939
Any Good SLI Compliant Motherboard with 2x PCIe16 Slots
1GB PC-3200 DDR Ram @400MHz
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (I can buy this seperate from newegg for $74.98 Shipped.)
NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT 256MB PCIe Video Card
250GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache HDD
16x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
3.5" Floppy Drive
Decent Case with Sufficient Power Supply
Decent Cooling for Overclocking

If I can't afford the AMD System with a good video card and SLI then im not going to go with AMD and for a Pentium 4 System for $1500 I would want:

Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache w/HT
2GB PC-3200 DDR Ram @400MHz
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (I can buy this seperate from newegg for $74.98 Shipped.)
NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT 256MB AGP8X Video Card
2x 200GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache HDD
16x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
3.5" Floppy Drive
Decent Case with Sufficient Power Supply
Decent Cooling for Overclocking

I've seen several systems around this price with almost exact contents but the cooling or power supply were crap or the video card sucked, I think for $1500 I should be able to get one of those just for the PC, no monitor/speakers/keyboard or mouse required... Please help, can't build it myself. :(

Thanks for viewing and any help I can get.
 
instead of the 3500, i'd get the 3200 (or even the 3000) and then you'll probably have enough $ to get a single 6800gt, or dual 6600gt's.
 
Would a 3200+ 64-Bit Athlon 64 Still outperform the P4 3.4GHz @ 4GHz in gaming?
 
Lose the sound card and get a good mobo w/ good built in sound, lose the 2gb for the intel system and LOOK around. You almost have everything down. Also the best cooling for AIR would be the xp-120, but you probably already know that. So did you really need any advice w/ anything? Just post back and we shall help :D


PEACE
 
A64 3000 or 3200>>>>150 to 200
SLI mobo (i think people like the DFI)>>>>150?
2 6600GT>>>>> no idea, i think they are like 500 for 2
1 74 GB raptor>>>>>150
1GB of RAM>>>>>250
Audigy 2 >>>>100

i think that's close to your budget.
 
Well, I do know that but im kinda in a jam, I CAN NOT afford to mess anything up, I have no clue how to install a XP-120 cooling system or any CPU cooling system at all, im not computer illiterate, I could actually probably do it, but Im afraid of messing up, I can't risk breaking something. I also can't build the system myself so I guess what I was asking is where can I cut to fit a good gaming system into $1500 for the computer without monitor/speakers/keyboard/mouse, is 1GB Ram PC-3200 @400MHz enough? Im not trying to be absurd in what I want (I know it's a lot) but I won't be able to afford a new computer for at least 3 years, I MAY be able to purchase upgrades occassionaly.

Im also not in the position to be buying the BEST anything, all I need is sufficient. If I could get cooling that would let me overclock a P4 3.4GHz to 4GHz or a AMD Athlon 3500+ to 2.6 or 2.7GHz stable with safe temperatures I would be more than set.

Is the power supply good enough? I also can't necessarily pick the exact components unless you know a place that would build a pc for me and let me pick what to put in it. :(

Thanks for the reply, any insight or help is appreciated!
 
Okay. Screw that, AMD only lol, what would you guys put in the box? Please don't forget important factors such as non-stock cooling and sufficient Power Supplies. Also, where can I order one since I can't build it? Thanks a ton. Thanks guy, I knew about newegg but I can't build a PC myself cause Im a chicken. :eek:

Thanks for all the replies guys.
 
Remember, I can't build this myself and I need a place that has a system I can configure for $1500 or under without monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers with all this stuff. :(

I suppose I could buy a barebones system if you guys can link me to a good place that already has:

A Good Power Supply that will support what I was asking about above
A AMD Athlon 3200+ or 3500+ Pre-Installed with the Barebones
All Paste Pre-Applied and a good CPU cooler already installed
A Good Mother Board

I can install RAM, HARD DRIVE, VIDEO CARD, FLOPPY DRIVE, DVD BURNER, SOUND CARD all myself, I just can't install the cooling system (fans or cpu cooler), processor, thermal paste (for the cpu cooler and processor), the power supply or the motherboard.
 
So what do you guys think about the barebones system idea I posted about above?
 
Alright I'd maybe look at newegg. But lately they've been increasing there prices and many other reliable competitors have much better prices. Like ZipZoomFly, Xoxide, Sidewindercomputer and many other places but just look around. As for what to put in the beast. I'd say 2 6600gt for 400(both) and well......not to sure about the MOBO because thats up to you with what you want to be upgradeable in the future. Some very good power supply company would be Fortron. I don't know what to say about the dual video cards and the power supply. But now that I think of it I would rather go for one 6800gt or 6800oc from www.outpost.com for 250 and flash it to a GT. Then you should save for another one later on for a much much better gaming system. And also get a friend who knows how to build a system. It's really not all that hard and it will be MUCH cheaper because most likely, if he's a true computer guy, he will do it for 30 bucks or less :p If ya need any help just PM me.


PEACE
 
Here's mine, for reference:

--A64 3500 Newcastle
--XP-90 (don't have 'proper' fan yet but bf is loaning me a 70mm screamer for temporary use)
--Asus A8V Deluxe (non-PCIe although PCIe board prices should be coming down later this year)
--1GB Mushkin (2x512)
--ATi Radeon 9550
--Fortron BlueStorm 500W
--Plextor optical drive (CDRW/DVD)
--Samsung 160GB SATA
--Tt (I know :rolleyes: ) SViking (it has the cooling I wanted and was within my case budget at the time).

Total: $1200 (give or take; my math may be slightly off).

Speedguide.net has a tutorial on building PCs (don't have the URL handy); the General PC section of any major bookstore should have computer building books.

EDIT: Here you go, not the speedguide link but it's a start :) http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=90594&page=1 I'm building my first-ever PC in a few days; I was also too chicken to try it until I watched a build. The key is to read, read, read and get the input of someone who has done it before.
 
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