Spec'in out a gaming desktop

Hey everyone i am planning on building a new gaming desktop and looking for some help in which parts to buy. i'm trying to look ahead and spec the pc to run a few future games that havent come out yet. I'm on a semi limited budget trying to keep the price at or below an even 1000$, and the games a plan on playing are Aion (after they upgrade to 3.0) and possible the new star wars mmorpg coming out within the year any help would be greatly appreciated!!

thanks again everyone

Do you need an Operating System, a Monitor, Mouse, or Keyboard included in that price? Also what resolution do you plan to game at, and do you need "Max Settings"?

i might need the operating system but its not an issue i can get one from a friend no need for a mouse or a monitor or keyboard just really the tower and components. sorry for being so vague Elder

For Aion and Star Wars any new generation dual core CPU paired with a HD 5700 series GPU and 4GB of RAM ought to be plenty. How much more than that you get is only limited by your budget.


if you would like suggestions as to specific parts I can try to post some options here tomorrow, I would tonight, but it's my bedtime and I get very ornery if I don't get my beauty sleep. lol

if you could post parts that would be awesome and help lots if you dont have the time it's okay though

Questions:

Do you have or have access to a legal copy of Windows7 Home Premium or Pro? (aka student discount, free MS software through your school, already purchased copy, etc)

Do you have a decent monitor with a good resolution? (1600x900 or better)

Do you have a mouse and keyboard that you want to reuse?


Give me that info, and I'll whip up a parts list for you.

I'll slap something together after work today - unless Rahja beats me to it....

I would seriously consider this build if I were looking to build a gaming PC for $1000.00:

PSU/CASE Combo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.325660

Mobo/CPU Combo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.345241

GPU/RAM Combo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.347142

HDD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136284

Optical Drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136177

Total comes to $984.29 after rebates (shipping included) - If you don't need that much storage space you could save a little by getting a smaller hard drive. Of course if you have the time to scour the deals of the week etc. you could probably knock $50-100 off of that and get comparable hardware. I like this build because it gives you plenty of room and capability to expand down the road if you want to run a CrossfireX setup etc... hope that list helps in your search....

wow thank you so so much elder and rahja i can get a legal copy of windows 7 from my college without a problem and have a decent monitor and mouse ect.

Here ya go:

Mobo: ASRock is quickly becoming well known for very very solid products at very low prices. I have one in this rig, and it runs beautifully.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157185

CPU: While this Intel is labeled at a Corei5, it's actually a Corei7 without Hyperthreading. Most modern games don't and won't be using more than 4 cores, so the loss here is minimal. It features a very aggressive Turbo Mode to accelerate games that only use 1-2 cores (the majority of them). For $199, it's unstoppable.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115215

RAM: Cheap, reliable, built to last. GSkill is a purest company, and they know their stuff. I won't touch any other brand with a 10ft pole at this point. GSkill has yet to release a faulty series. I use this exact RAM in my system, and it pops up with its XMP profile instantly, and performs like a champ.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231303

PSU: While Corsair has fallen from grace in a few areas of their memory line, their PSUs have become some of the highest rated in the industry. They are affordable, reliable, and provide more than enough power and features for almost any build.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

GPU: XFX moved over to be an ATi partner a while ago, and it seems to have gone well for them. They make good cards at good prices. While they may not have all the bells and whistles others do, you pay 30-50 less per card typically. (Updated to Reference cooler card due to stock issues*)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150442

HDD: Personal preference and opinion here, but I have a thing for Seagate. They have had their issues, but they have fixed them. Seagate is very innovative, and their drives are some of the most reliable as a result. I have never had a Seagate drive die on me, EVER.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148433

Case: This is a new company I've been reading up on. This case has received good reviews on Newegg, and other sites follow suite. AZZA seems to be the Japanese version of Antec, but, with Thermaltake styling (aka better in my opinion) Did I mention they are cheap!?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811517004

Optical Drive: Reliable, quick, cheap. LiteON is a pretty easy choice these days.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106289

Total price? $1,046.01 (and this includes shipping!) Mission accomplished.

do not buy an azza case, I have one sitting on the other desk behind me and it is JUNK. It is the worst quality case I have ever purchased, and I have bought at least 10-12 "budget" cases over the last 2-3 years or so. Just steer clear of them --- oh it's also the only rebate I have failed to receive in the past 12 months (out of at least 2 dozen).

I personally like my build better, but to be honest there is nothing wrong with Rahja's either -- other than the case that is. You would likely be pleased with either list of components. For what I do with a computer on a regular basis, I really like to have a quad, but the typical user does not "need" 4 cores right now, and the i3,i5,i7 series are all amazingly fast. I also don't trust Seagate anymore, but that is more personal preference than anything else.

I kinda disagree with one of the comments about the i3, and also see something else that is wrong. The disagreement being that claim of hyperthreading effectively making it a quad core. In some cases it may perform comparably, yes. But there are plenty of things, including some more recent games, where it will fall behind an actual quad. As for the thing that is wrong, it's that the i3 5xx series does not include turbo boost if i recall what i read about them correctly.

That's correct regarding Turbo modes. I had forgotten about that. I revised the parts list to reflect that. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

As for HyperThreading, it does its best in gaming actually. It's true multithreaded apps (which games are not) where it doesn't do as well as 2 more physical cores. That is why I said "for your purposes".