# Solved: Build a gaming computer



## miadude777 (Aug 14, 2007)

I want to build a computer that only will be used for games (like Battledfield 2142, sims, online games, etc). My parents have offered to help (they're both mechanical engineers so they know a bit about computers) but I wanted to know where we should get all the parts so that we get good stuff for the least possible money (we dont have a big budget), and if there are any like manuals for building a computer. Also if anyone has any hints or helpful tips, that would be really appreciated!!! Thanks!!!!!


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## YesYes (Jun 10, 2005)

If you are in United States then you can visit www.newegg.com
And for UK, www.dabs.com , www.cclonline.com and www.ebuyer.com are the good and reliable ones that I shop from normally.
Can't help if you're elsewhere. Sorry.


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## jbennet (Sep 4, 2007)

In the UK also have a look at "Novatech" (i think its just novatech.com)


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## Tyrion (Jul 28, 2007)

I just finished building my first computer
Its fun.
Newegg is the way to go!!
A book I would reccomend is
Build your own PC by Morris Rosenthal
Get the latest addition
Its is incredibly helpfull
Its slightly out of date so it doesn't have the latest hardware.
If you would like somehelp on that part just give me your price range and the length of time you want your computer to last!


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## jbennet (Sep 4, 2007)

If you want a good book look for the Haynes builpd your own computer guide (i dont know if you get these in your country, but here Haynes are the people who make those big car maintainance guides for all the difference models)


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## absolutezero1287 (May 23, 2007)

Newegg and all those other sites are definitely the way to go. If you want your PC to be Nvidia SLI enabled I suggest you check this site out. http://www.slizone.com Nvidia is pretty cutting edge in terms of Graphics and for a gaming PC that's a must!


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## jbennet (Sep 4, 2007)

SLI is crappy. I used to have SLI set up on my machine and its not a particually big performance gain.

i had 2 geforce 7600s on SLI and swapped them for a single, better 7800 card and it performed massively better.


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## absolutezero1287 (May 23, 2007)

were the rest of your components SLI ready?


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## jbennet (Sep 4, 2007)

They were running on an nvidia SLI motherboard with 2 x PCI express 16 slots


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## miadude777 (Aug 14, 2007)

thank to all of you for all the info!!! i think wer'e just about ready to start!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Waldo_II (Apr 13, 2007)

These are my preferences, they are what I went on when building my new computer (I finished just two or so weeks ago).

1. An nForce motherboard. I have always loved nForce. I haven't had any problems with nForce. Asus I hear is good too, but I haven't tried it out.
2. Make sure the motherboard is SLI-ready, uses DDR2 ram, built in audio, USB2 and Firewire capabilities, two or more PCI-E slots, and SATA connectors.
3. Use a nVIDIA video card. I have a deep dislike for ATI. (Mostly because I use Linux, and ATI cards are evil on Linux. Their drivers stink, they are hard to install, etc.) nVidia is the best.
4. Get a DVD writer. It WILL come in handy. Do a lot of research, though. More than usual.
5. An AMD processor. Intel has become evil. (Intel is trying to squash the One Laptop Per Child organization because OLPC laptops use AMD chips). Oh, and make sure the CPU is dual-core (or quad-core) and is 64-bit.
6. Make sure that your CPU cooler is excellent. Not just good, but excellent. I went through three CPU coolers, and with the one I am using now, my CPU still hits 53 C when gaming.
7. Make sure the case has tons of air holes. Tons.
8. Use a Seagate hard drive. I have never, ever had a Seagate hard drive go out on me. They are the best. I haven't used Western Digital, but I hear they are good too. Not as good as Seagate, but good.
9. Use thermal grease, such as Arctic Silver 5 or Zalman thermal grease. Arctic Silver 5 is a bit better than Zalman, but I Zalman is a bit easier to apply. Arctic Silver 5 is quite cheap (five or six dollars). It is worth it.
10. Use Windows XP Pro x64 (x64 meaning it is the 64-bit version). I suggest Linux for everyday use, but for gaming, use Windows.
11. Pay attention to your motherboard's power needs. If it needs a 8-pin power connector, make sure the power supply has an 8-pin connector. I wasted good money on a good power supply because I didn't pay attention.
12. Have at least one gig of RAM. If you can get faster ram for only five more dollars, go for it.
13. Don't bother with a fancy sound card, unless you plan on doing a lot of audio editing. These cards can be expensive, and the drivers are quite specific. On-board sound cards are very, very good in my experience.
14. If you have an extra $200, get an Ageia PhysX card. This is pretty much only used for gaming, though. They are expensive. You can still play PhysX games without a PhysX card, but it uses the CPU/GPU instead, so it runs slower.


Remember, always, ALWAYS, do background research on your components. 

And make sure your components are all compatible with your motherboard.

This is my gaming rig I build recently (for about $750. Probably a bit more.)

EVGA nForce 590 motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ motherboard
1024 MB of 667mhz DDR2 RAM
Zalman 9700 LED CPU cooler
XFX nVidia 8500 GT w/ 512 MB of DDR3 RAM (or is it DDR2? I really should know this..)
Seagate 160GB SATA hard drive (soon to add a 80gig IDE hard drive for Linux)
Windows XP Home (I should have gotten Pro x64. I cant use 64-bit programs  ) (Soon to dual-boot with openSUSE 10.2
A CD/DVD writer. I'm sorry, but I don't know the name offhand.
Zalman Thermal Grease (I got it free with my CPU cooler!)

(A lot of the brands mentioned are my preferences. I strongly urge you to heed my advice and use my preferred brands, but it's your computer. Build what you want.)

I hope this helps!


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## edgar818 (May 9, 2005)

hey ive had quite a bit of experience with computers let me tel you what i think ,
Don't i mean do not, get a amd procesor, get a INTEL cor 2 duo something e6600 model or if thats too expensive get the e4500,
Ill tell you from personal experience the intel procesors will kill the amds, i built a amd and intel computer one day apart, the intel was a cheaper model and it killed the amd in anything,
Get a gforce video card 8600 model or better at least, if you want to run latest games on good graphics
Get a Asus, Gigabyte, or Msi motherboard, either of them work fine, just get something as decent as you can, For saving cash i would recomend the gigabyte
get 2 gigs of ddr2 800 ram, and make sure your ram has a heat spreader
At least a decent 500 watt power supply. 
dont be fooled by thos expensive cases, they dont do anything but put a hole in ur wallet unles your doing something super hardcore
Windows xp proffesional is the best way to go, vista is still unstable and only runs slower, and less games work on it
Any SATA 2 hard drive will do, if you have the extra money go for the 10k rpm raptor.

Hey try as best as you can going with what i said i promis youll have a good pc. you shouldnt go over 850$
hope this helped you, if you have any further questions let me know


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## jbennet (Sep 4, 2007)

I got an AMD X2 and a Intel Core2Duo. The Core2 kicks the *** off the AMD for video editing, database etc... but for me games performance (FEAR) is better on the X2. X2 is cheaper and easier to install though.


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## Tyrion (Jul 28, 2007)

You are probably sinking under a titlewave wave of info
If you want a 2 year computer go wuith amd
If you want an upgradable 4+year computer go with intel and put down and extar fify bucks
I would recoomend the core 2 duo 6750
It runns cricles arounf the fastest amd x2 processor
only 4 bucks more..
Its all up to you though!!!


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## Tyrion (Jul 28, 2007)

sorry i ment to sat 40 instead of four


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