New Gaming Rig $850-$950

[Maladon]

Hey everyone,

I'm interested in building a new gaming PC on a $850-$950 budget including a new monitor. I can use the case and optical drive (though I would prefer not to) from my current rig, but everything else will have to be new. As far as the OS goes, I already have a licensed copy of Windows 7 ready to go.

Here's what I'm thinking at this point. All of this comes out to $900, shipping included. If you see any ways to cut down the cost or have any other suggestions I would really appreciate the help. After all, this is my first build.

ASUS VH236H 23" LCD - $169.99 after MIR - Newegg.com - ASUS VH236H Black 23" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 20000 :1 (ASCR) Built-in Speakers
WD 750gb Black Caviar - $59.99 w/promo (bought it a week ago) - Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Corsair 650TX - $69.99 after MIR - Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
Corsair XMS3 2x2gb DDR3 1600 - 84.99 after MIR w/promo code - Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9
Phenom II X4 955 BE in combo pack with ASUS M4A89GTD 890GX - $274.98 - Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
EVGA GTX 460 1GB - $229.99 - Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1371-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

I'm not sure whether or not it's worth the extra $10 for the superclocked 460, any thoughts? I'd also love to hear any ideas for a cheap way to incorporate a decent case.

Thanks for reading through this =)

[_dangtx_]

decent choices. too much power for one gtx460. expensive mobo + cpu. id get the giga 870(check the review) and a duallie.240 or 250.

[jcmaz]

Get the AR (Lifetime warranty) version of the 460.

[Maladon]

Thanks for the responses guys.

You don't think its worth going with the quad? What about for games that utilize 4 cores? Any suggestions on a different PSU?

[_dangtx_]

spend 50-60 bucks on a nice duallie(again 240 or 250) and you wont be disappointed in a 6-12 months time IF/when you sell it for 30 and get a quad(bigger cached) for 100 or hexa for 150.

always balance and or think things out. did this for a living for a while. gaming? start with decent gpu, work your way down a system that will support said gpu. like i said sli 1 gig 460's is the way to go. in 6 months time a used 460 should be around 150-170 for the 1 gig version.

[Maladon]

Well the problem is that there are very few SLI-capable motherboard options with the AM3 socket.

[_dangtx_]

true, a couple asus boards. talking about the last am3 chipsetted board. you can find 750's for less than a hundred bucks tough...hmmm.....sorry for mentioning it :p

ive had hit and miss luck(also very lazy lol) with modded drivers to make p45 for exemple work with sli.

but question is, do you want to run right off the bat 460 sli? id go for it.

Buy ASUS [M4N75TD] ASUS M4N75TD ATX AM3 DDR3 nForce 750A SLI 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI 6SATA Sound GBLAN Motherboard

pm that one off ncix

and this guy

PCV Online - AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - ADX240OCGQBOX - CPUs/Processors

or this guy

Amd Athlon Ii X2 250 Dual Core Processor Socket AM3 3.0GHZ 2MB Cache 60W Retail Box - DirectCanada

[Pukka]

If you get a lower end AMD CPU you might be able to unlock extra cores, as well :D

[InsertNameHere]

Originally Posted by jcmaz

Get the AR (Lifetime warranty) version of the 460.

+1, thats tricky. I gotta watch that when I build my new rig.

Thanks for the info!!