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    The PC (Personal Computer) is a highly configurable and upgradable gaming platform that, among home systems, sports the widest variety of control methods, largest library of games, and cutting edge graphics and sound capabilities.

    Help building a PC around 700 dollars?

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    imayellowfellow

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    #1  Edited By imayellowfellow

    hey im helping my friend build a computer for around 600-700 bucks, but its been about 1.5 years since i last built my computer and the hardware has all changed dramatically since then

    i was just wondering if i could get some help from anyone here on finding the rite combinations for what im looking for

    • i'm pretty positive that we'll get the intel q6600 for his processor, not so sure about overclocking but we want to leave it as a possibility for the future
    • memory will be DDR2, but im not sure about what would be a good kind for overclocking for the q6600
    • graphics card will be of the 8800 series, im split between the 8800 GT and the 8800 G92 (will we need a pci express 2.0 board to get the full capabilities of this card?)
    • case, hard drives (plan on having them in raid so keep that in mind for mobo)  , power supply (probly going to be 600-700 watts) will be running around 200ish togethher

    any input would be fine on configurations for the gpu, memory and motherboard  would be much appreciated and if any of u guys could give me advice from ur own rigs that would be awesome
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    DeadlyPain

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    #2  Edited By DeadlyPain

    - i'd recommend the E8xxx series, they have far better overclocking and stay cooler even on air cooling, i hear they can quite happly do upto 4GHz on air cooling
    Quad isn't used yet tbh in gaming, and won't be for some years yet. (Besides, most of the processing will be done b ythe GPU, so 4 cores again won't be used that often......)

    - 800Mhz will be fine but get the 1066mhz if you can

    - get the 9800 GTX or if you can, get the GTX260 - the 8800GT is a great card, but doesn't play crysis at max - the 8800GTS 512 can do nearly max
    your trying to future proof yourself so getting the 9800GTX will be the best bet - don't get the 8 series in my oppinion.
    if your not too fuzzed about Really nice high end graphics then get the 8800GT and save yourself some cash.

    - im not too good with cases, my only experiance so far is with the antec 900, its a great case, but can be very cramped.

    -----------------------------

    my rig is a E6600 - 8800GTS 512 - 2gb 800mhz - all on stock and i play crysis in Dx10 mode with all its eye candy at max, and the rest on High - good enough frames to play it normally.
    it plays all other games at max - Gears // CoD4 // Assassins creed // Grid // Mercs 2 // Bioshock // DMC4 you name it, all on max  -- i play all games at 1440x900
    the only game thats not is Clear sky - God rays is turned off, but thats a game issue not system issue :P

    anyway, hope that helps

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    xruntime

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    #3  Edited By xruntime

    It seems to me that the 8800 series is sort of becoming a little old as THE gamer's card. The newer cards that most gamers get are the HD4850/70, GTX 260, or 9800 GTX. The 280 and the 4870 X2 add a little more punch but for a lot more money, not worth it IMO. 

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    pause422

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    #4  Edited By pause422

    Deadly definitely seems like he knows what hes talking about up there, I agree though..not sure what kind of games hes looking to play on it so can't say for certain if its a must, but if its anything modern you really don't wanna go with a 8800 card, if it is just get the Gt..if not like they said GTX260/9800gtx are really good values for a great card. The quad core processor definitely isn't necessary, just go with like a core 2 duo 2.6-3.0GHZ one I would say.

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    Maru

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    #5  Edited By Maru

    600 to 700 bucks thats a budget gaming comp.

    Forget about raid, I don't think it makes much diffrence on gaming.  Just get a regular SATA drive if you want to save money.

    PSU:  Anything from Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, and Enermax.

    Motherboard:  I would go for  Evga 750i FTW (if you want SLI) if not Gigaybyte P35 or P45 series, those are cheap and good.

    Videocard:  What Deadly said.

    Case:  Check this out, I'm building a PC for my bro in future and considering this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160  or Antec 900 which I own (cable management will be pain).

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    Dreadnought

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    #6  Edited By Dreadnought

    700 dollars does not get what it used to get.  Your going to have to make a compromise somewhere, Probably on the Sound card as it's the least important one.

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    xruntime

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    #7  Edited By xruntime

    On the contrary, I'd say 700 dollars gets you a lot more than it used to get. 

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    deactivated-5c5cdba6e0b96

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    I have a q6600 and a 8800gt and I run pretty much any game at high settings with great frame rates (Fuck crysis) but I would still recommend a 9800gx2 or a 9*** series card as they will be more future proof.

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    SimpleBear

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    #9  Edited By SimpleBear

    As of now I'm using a Q6600 and 8800GT combination and it pretty much runs many of the current games with these settings:

    - 1680 x 1050 Resolution
    - 2x AA
    - 8x AF
    - High settings

    Just ordered a MSI 3870 X2 from NewEgg.com since its price is marked as $200 (with mail in rebate) *curse me and my spur of the moment purchasing* - otherwise you should look into the 4850 series if you want a single card solution. You might want to take a look into that. As for power supplies, with your budget I suggest checking out Antec's NeoHE 500 watt, as I don't think you're looking into doing a SLI/Crossfire configuration. Motherboard a new popular chipset P45 has been getting high praises - the ASUS P5Q-E in particular has caught my eye.

    Is there a particular reason why you want to run RAID? If it's mainly for gaming purposes, it's not really needed.

    When shopping especially with your budget, try to keep a look out on these particular websites for computer parts on sale:
    - slickdeals.com
    - fatwallet.com
    - bensbargain.net

    Good luck!

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    imayellowfellow

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    #10  Edited By imayellowfellow

    oh im sorry i forgot to mention reason why im going raid and quad core was because my friend wants to do some video editing on the side other than just pure gaming and he probly needs a quick and nimble storage system

    so i was just wondering the specs for a good budget gaming/multimedia pc

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    xruntime

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    #11  Edited By xruntime

    Wow, 1 8800GT is enough to play all the modern games? Damn, I wonder what wonders the 9800 GX2 could work. 

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    deactivated-5c5cdba6e0b96

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    xruntime said:
    "Wow, 1 8800GT is enough to play all the modern games? Damn, I wonder what wonders the 9800 GX2 could work. "
    Yeah man, now it may not run everything really superb but it is an underrated card, now since the 9*** series has come out everyone thinks the 8**** series is obsolete but it`s a really good card for what you pay, I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a cheaper card.
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    xruntime

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    #13  Edited By xruntime

    What sucks is while there's a really good $100 card (8800GT) and $200 card (9800 GX2) the performance of cards that cost more than that aren't porportional to the price increase. 

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    SmugDarkLoser

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    #14  Edited By SmugDarkLoser

    not happening if you mean a gaming computer.

    To even play games to the level you'd expect, youll probably end up spending about $1000.

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    xruntime

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    #15  Edited By xruntime
    SmugDarkLoser said:
    "not happening if you mean a gaming computer.

    To even play games to the level you'd expect, youll probably end up spending about $1000."
    Nah...He can definitely do it in 700 bucks, but he needs to reconsider raid and quad core. 
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    VACkillers

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    #16  Edited By VACkillers

    well i figured i'd do a pretty basic setup through newegg.com to show you what basicly your looking at for the 700 buck mark....

    Core2Duo E8400 3.0ghz  ($169)
    Gigabyte GA-73PVM Not SLi mobo ($64.99)
    GSkill 4GB DDR2 800 ($69.99)
    OCZ GamerXstream 700WATT PSU ($119.99)
    XFX 9800GTX 512MB ($199.99)
    Sunbeam Transformer Full Tower Case ($69.99)
    Samsung DVD+DVDRW 22X ($24.99)
    WD 160GB HDD ($41.99)

    total : $761.92

    Edit : I just wanted to add, you can make this cheaper by switching out the graphics card for something like an 8800 or something...

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    Iraqi_Gangster

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    #17  Edited By Iraqi_Gangster
    VACkillers said:
    "well i figured i'd do a pretty basic setup through newegg.com to show you what basicly your looking at for the 700 buck mark....

    Core2Duo E8400 3.0ghz  ($169)
    Gigabyte GA-73PVM Not SLi mobo ($64.99)
    GSkill 4GB DDR2 800 ($69.99)
    OCZ GamerXstream 700WATT PSU ($119.99)
    XFX 9800GTX 512MB ($199.99)
    Sunbeam Transformer Full Tower Case ($69.99)
    Samsung DVD+DVDRW 22X ($24.99)
    WD 160GB HDD ($41.99)

    total : $761.92

    Edit : I just wanted to add, you can make this cheaper by switching out the graphics card for something like an 8800 or something...
    "
    Nice list you got there but isn't DDR3 rams more suitable for gaming?
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    StressedOutCat

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    #18  Edited By StressedOutCat
    Iraqi_Gangster said:
    "VACkillers said:
    "well i figured i'd do a pretty basic setup through newegg.com to show you what basicly your looking at for the 700 buck mark....

    Core2Duo E8400 3.0ghz  ($169)
    Gigabyte GA-73PVM Not SLi mobo ($64.99)
    GSkill 4GB DDR2 800 ($69.99)
    OCZ GamerXstream 700WATT PSU ($119.99)
    XFX 9800GTX 512MB ($199.99)
    Sunbeam Transformer Full Tower Case ($69.99)
    Samsung DVD+DVDRW 22X ($24.99)
    WD 160GB HDD ($41.99)

    total : $761.92

    Edit : I just wanted to add, you can make this cheaper by switching out the graphics card for something like an 8800 or something...
    "
    Nice list you got there but isn't DDR3 rams more suitable for gaming?"
    the speed of ram makes almost no difference in gaming is usually the amount you have...
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    pause422

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    #19  Edited By pause422

    it does make a difference..just not noticable as much anymore since the GPU's out now really take most of the task when running games, a few years it was really the rest of your PC that got the load dropped on them more than just a gpu, things are definitely different now.

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    VACkillers

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    #20  Edited By VACkillers

    well the ram i put is really quite cheap for 4GB, and its a brand name, so you cant go wrong with what i put

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    xruntime

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    #21  Edited By xruntime

    @VACkillers - Why pay 200 bucks for a GTX when you can get a GX2 for like 40 bucks more? 

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    EntwineX

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    #22  Edited By EntwineX

    How'bout that EA Crysis PC, that was supposed to be 700 bucks and looked pretty decent. Sure you can get better building yourself, but it's not necessarily a bad choice if you don't feel like doing the research and assembling it yourself.

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    VACkillers

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    #23  Edited By VACkillers

    well the problem with the 9800GX2 was that when i added that, it pushed the pc well over 700 bucks, and this topic is all about getting a machine for 700 bucks, not 850/900 bucks, and 2nd reason i didn't add it, it zaps a crap load of WATT of the psu, and even though the 700 watt should be good enough, i would personally use a bigger PSU then that which also bangs up the price....

    as for the comment on the ram i chose earlier aswell, that gigabyte mobo doesn't support DDR3.... why the DDR2 ram

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    xruntime

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    #24  Edited By xruntime

    But its only 40 bucks more....not 150/200 like you just said. 


    A 700 Watt PSU is fine from what I have read. 
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    crunchUK

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    #25  Edited By crunchUK

    well on systemwars i was told i could build a gaming PC as powerful as the 360 for £200 =|

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    xruntime

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    #26  Edited By xruntime
    crunchUK said:
    "well on systemwars i was told i could build a gaming PC as powerful as the 360 for £200 =|"
    I think its reasonable to say that you can. 


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    crunchUK

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    #27  Edited By crunchUK
    xruntime said:
    "crunchUK said:
    "well on systemwars i was told i could build a gaming PC as powerful as the 360 for £200 =|"
    I think its reasonable to say that you can. 


    "
    sure maybe if you buy all the parts second hand off ebay from hong kong. mind you i think your avatar justifies your reply :P
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    xruntime

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    #28  Edited By xruntime
    crunchUK said:
    "xruntime said:
    "crunchUK said:
    "well on systemwars i was told i could build a gaming PC as powerful as the 360 for £200 =|"
    I think its reasonable to say that you can. 


    "
    sure maybe if you buy all the parts second hand off ebay from hong kong. mind you i think your avatar justifies your reply :P"
    Look I'm not some mindless PC fanboy. I honestly think you can. With new parts. 

    Not that I'm saying you should, because people shouldn't look at the PC as a console. Chances are you'll have a PC either way, so the cost it takes to turn that PC into a gaming machine capable of 360 performance or greater is less than $200. 

    And I love Halo, I just chose that avatar because it looked unique. 
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    Maru

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    #29  Edited By Maru
    imayellowfellow said:
    "oh im sorry i forgot to mention reason why im going raid and quad core was because my friend wants to do some video editing on the side other than just pure gaming and he probly needs a quick and nimble storage system

    so i was just wondering the specs for a good budget gaming/multimedia pc"

    If he really wants RAID, he would have to increase his budget.  If he really wants to save money,  I would just get a 8800 GT or even 9600 GT then skip this whole generation and upgrade later.

    In this case I would suggest Q6600,  get a good CPU heatsink and overclock it, also make sure you buy a good CPU overclockable motherboard (just google it ) avoid
    ASUS 680i at all costs.
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    VACkillers

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    #30  Edited By VACkillers

    i personally wouldn't trust an asus board... but that can be just down to personal preference i guess

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