Gaming PC's

Here's what I've got together so far, like I said before, we can peek and tweek as we go but just wanted to get a baseline setup going.

CPU: Phenom II X4 955 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674
CPU Cooler: Zalman 9500A http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223
CPU Cooling Paste: Artic Cooling MX2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020
MOBO: ASUS M4N75TD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131637
RAM: G.Skill DDR3 1600 2x2Gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 260 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125241
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 500 Gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

This seems like a solid system, and it fits your budget. One question about that case, and most other cases. Do the audio ports, and USB ports that are on the front of the case need to be connected to the MOBO? or anything else? or would they just work?

[(TKC)-o]T3[o]

Here's what I've got together so far, like I said before, we can peek and tweek as we go but just wanted to get a baseline setup going.

CPU: Phenom II X4 955 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674
CPU Cooler: Zalman 9500A http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223
CPU Cooling Paste: Artic Cooling MX2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020
MOBO: ASUS M4N75TD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131637
RAM: G.Skill DDR3 1600 2x2Gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 260 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125241
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 500 Gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

This seems like a solid system, and it fits your budget. One question about that case, and most other cases. Do the audio ports, and USB ports that are on the front of the case need to be connected to the MOBO? or anything else? or would they just work?

They have to be connected. There should be wires in the case and they will attach to the mobo.

This seems like a solid system, and it fits your budget. One question about that case, and most other cases. Do the audio ports, and USB ports that are on the front of the case need to be connected to the MOBO? or anything else? or would they just work?

They have to be connected. There should be wires in the case and they will attach to the mobo.

Right, that case isn't one that I particularly like. I prefer the USB ports and audio ports be at the top. The one I'm using now has them at the bottom and it's aggravating to have to reach ALL the way down there to plug and unplug stuff. Plus, my audio plugs apparently are shorted out as everytime I hook them up to the mobo it causes both the input ports for my mic to induce a high-pitched ringing noise.

[kingloser]

i would suggest that if he doesnt really need the 955 to drop down to the 945. also mine came with a pretty decent cpu fan and its own paste. so as long as ur not a super overclocker and ur case doesnt bake brownies the stock stuff will be fine. also i would suggest a different card than that since that one seems to have issues. i have a BFG 260 gtx the maxcore i believe. and i have a msi nf750-G55 mobo. i opted for the lil bit cheaper 1333mhz ddr3 ram. unfortunately hard drives seem to be a craps shoot right now, which is rather disconcerting. especially the ones over 500 GB. i see alot of bad reviews. in the neighborhood of 30% of all hard drives are getting 1 and 2 star reviews. From a technological standpoint that is just ridiculous. and power supplies is another either or subject. if u dont plan on upgrading in the relatively near future the 600W should be good but if u think u might wanna upgrade to SLI i would go bigger. the lowest recommended power supply for 2 260 GTX's is 750W's and i would definately spend the lil extra to get a modular. They are just too nice. Especially if u get a mid tower case to save on room. Also be aware that most of the newer cards are beasts and to read the rieviews of the cases ur looking into to see if others have the bigger cards and how theyre fitting. I have seen some people say they had to saw into their hard drive bays to get the cards to fix, crazy right. other than that everythign is pretty much a personal preference. Oh and make sure whatever u get its all compatible and has cables or u need ot buy some. i needed to buy a sata cable since my hard drive was a bare drive.

Updated build with some of King's suggestions:

CPU: Phenom II X4 945 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103809
MOBO: ASUS M4N75TD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131637
-or- MSI NF750-G55 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130235
RAM: G.Skill DDR3 1333 2x2Gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231275
GPU: EVGA GTX 260 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 500 Gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 850W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341003
-or- Thermaltake 850W Modularhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153106
Case: Azza Solano 1000 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811517004
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

Total: $944.92 - $964.92 for the Thermaltake PSU
Minus mail-in rebates: $904.92 - 944.92 for the Thermaltake PSU
Estimated shipping (I just put in my zip to Virginia Beach): $15 - $8 for the Thermaltake PSU

The motherboards are the same price so it'll be more on preference there. The MSI offers on board video whereas the ASUS does not. The MSI also had more reviews on Newegg. Outside of that their pretty much the same mobo, except the MSI SATA ports are on the side of the board with the exception of one. I forgot to ask if you needed a DVD drive or if you had one.

I'm good friends with him in real life, and I can say he's gonna need a dvd drive. Their house burned down on the 4th of July last year and they lost everything. They've been getting stuff slowly since then, but they don't have any extra computer stuff laying around except the HDD from their old computer that they saved from the fire. I know how to put ocmputers together, so I can put this together for him if he buys it

Add $25 for the DVD drive. Same one I've got and it's lasted through thousands of burns/copies, literally.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

Do you know what monitor he was looking at getting. A model number would be nice, but size would do.

Add $25 for the DVD drive. Same one I've got and it's lasted through thousands of burns/copies, literally.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

Do you know what monitor he was looking at getting. A model number would be nice, but size would do.

Not sure really. He likes the one I have, it's an Acer X193W. My parents got it for me for Christmas 2 years ago for $100 from NewEgg. 1440x900 max res, only VGA though.

Acer must have updated this model, cuz now it has 1680x1050 max res, and DVI input as well. O_o

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16824009127

How about this guy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009211

How about this guy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009211

That one should be good. He's not looking for anything too fancy, but nothing bad at the same time, so yeah that should do it for him.

[kingloser]

well if hes going high end vid card then i would go for a hd monitor. or at the very least the 1680x1050. if he doesnt go that high i would suggest a drop in the vid card then as well. also he should sign up for newegg and tigerdirect to receive their emails cuz they have ridiculous deals.

Redonkulous deals you mean. I would still say get the better GPU even with a 19" monitor. I've got the 5770 powering a 15" right now, lol. I do plan on getting a bigger one at some point just don't know when. It's also just nice to have for when I want to hook up my TV.

Hey guys sorry I've been working hard trying to earn money can't get on much at all, I'm liking the set up don't really have any complaints about the updated build at all. I don't really like your monitor Matt sorry I'll worry about the screen once I get enough money for one I'd like to be able to play Blue-Ray movies on it so I want an HD. If you could fine a Blue-Ray player too that would be nice I know this is going to add cost but don't worry I'm willing to splurge a little :D and I like the Case :D

Thanks all!
goodnight!

I don't really like your monitor Matt sorry

well you were drooling over it when I first got it

Hey guys sorry I've been working hard trying to earn money can't get on much at all, I'm liking the set up don't really have any complaints about the updated build at all. I don't really like your monitor Matt sorry I'll worry about the screen once I get enough money for one I'd like to be able to play Blue-Ray movies on it so I want an HD. If you could fine a Blue-Ray player too that would be nice I know this is going to add cost but don't worry I'm willing to splurge a little :D and I like the Case :D

Thanks all!
goodnight!

I did a little digging about the Blu-Ray player software issue and didn't really dig up much. From what I can tell all Blu-Ray's use the MPEG-4, MPEG-2, and VC-1 codec's which you can get by downloading and installing K-Lite Codec Pack Full from here: http://www.codecguide.com/download_k-lite_codec_pack_full.htm. Apparently this drive comes with PowerDVD 8 that's plays blu-ray with a patch: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136183&cm_re=blu-ray-_-27-136-183-_-Product.

I have always used that pack and never ran into a video I couldn't play, but I've never tried playing an actual Blu-Ray, just a few "backups" that were in a .mkv file format, but I think that still uses the same codec's.

For you monitor dreams, this thing is a beast: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009203