Need Help With Computer Build

So I want a computer that can play games and do basically anything. Budget $2000 or so

I don't know much about computers so any help is welcome.

What I have so far:

Audio Card: Razer Barracuda AC-1
Windows Vista

Pabst..

Will you be building this yourself?

Amd or Intel? Dual core or Quad core? Single or multiple video cards?

Here's a quick setup that sounds like it would work well for you. All the items can be gotten from newegg.com.

now before you go running out and buying every single part under the sun remember one thing. sometimes it can be tricky to get a computer set up right. there is usually always something that will go wrong (missing parts, bios problems, whatever) just take your time.

another note: if you feel you dont want the possible headaches you can always get an alienware computer here:
http://www.alienware.com/

they're high end computers and loaded to the gills with some of the best equipment you can get and they are built damn nice. you can customize your computer. you can easily get a nice one in your price range. a nice area 51-7500 should be around $1500

now if you build it yourself, my list should run you about $1000. depending on what you're looking for in a computer this amount can be easily lowered or raised to meet your computing needs.

AMD build (cause I only build amd's...lol):

$145 Motherboard (amd):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128339
$90 Motherboard (amd): my pref
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138113

--------

CPU (amd):
$205 phenom cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103249
$150 athlon64X2 6400+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103228

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

Harddrive:
$110 hitachi 750GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145166
$75 western digital 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

--------
Graphics Card(s):

$90 XFX 8600GT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229
$170 XFX 8800GT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150252

--------
sound (what you already have, i assume):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=Razer+Barracuda+AC-1

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

Power supply:
$145 Rosewill 850Watt
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182070
________

Memory RAM:
$45 2GB g.skill (get two orders of these($90) for 4GB total, that should be enough)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
or
$80 4GB g.skill (get two orders($160) for 8GB total, pleanty and then some)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

-----------

CD/DVD Drives:
(personally I prefer one of each)
$14 CD 52X (cd player only)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106038
$29 CD/DVD burnner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827140028
<high end>
$180 pioneer everything...lol
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129016
--------------

Case(really there are tons of cases to choose from, just a couple i liked that i seen right away):
$150 antec
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025
$115 areo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811196021
--------
grab a nice lcd screen, mouse, and all that other crap

if you've got a nice sound card get some nice speakers (what I've got)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836116025&Tpk=t6100

do you people ever get laid?

Quote:

Originally posted by ev1l0ne

Pabst..

Will you be building this yourself?

Yes I will be building it myself.

@Poop: Yes, I do have a fiance after all.

For graphics go with at least the 8800GT. If you want multiple cards. Crossfire for ATI or SLI for Nvidia. Go with Intel. Like the E8400 Dual-Core. I really can't say much about the quads. Never ran them. With the motherboard there are to many to list. My system has P5K-SE motherboard. Lapped E6600 oc @3.6GHZ. An Asus Silent Knight cooler That has been lapped as well. Nvidia 9600GT OC video card. 4x1 gig 6400mem. 250gig hd and 500gig hd. Running Vista. A Cooler Master Centurion case modded for cooling. With this setup I can play any game out there.

Have hand will travel.

CPU - $113.99
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103773

Memory - $59.99
G.SKILL 2GB (2 X 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144[/iurl]

MB - $124.99
GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX Ultra Durable II
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128075

HD - $174.49
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB SATA 3.0 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102

Video - $284.99
SAPPHIRE 100243L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102748

CD/DVD - $259.99
LG Black Super Multi Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136137

Case - $119.99
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

PS - $199.99
OCZ GameXStream OCZ1010GXSSLI 1010W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341007

Total is $1,338.42 which leaves enough for a nice KB/Mouse and a good 24 inch LCD monitor.

i would actualy go for a ATI Radeon HD4850 when it comes to the GPU, it has the same, if not better performance than a 9800GTX and costs roughly 200bucks. 8800GT aint that great of a deal anymore if its a gaming computer you want :P.

even greater but more pricey is the hd4870, which is better than a GTX260 from nvidia, but with a smaller price tag.

as for the processor the best buy in my opinion at the moment would be a intel Q6700 as they are easy to clock and has sunk in price like mad lately.

i have good experiences with the Quad core processors as i have one myself. More games keep coming out that can use more than 2 cores, the good times of the dualcores are about to go away imo.

also, get yourself a good PSU with at least 550watts, i can recommend Corsair's Psu's.

When it comes to a motherboard i would aim for either a x38 or a p45 chipset mobo, as intels chipsets mostly runs Crossfire if you ever wanted to get another card, and because these chipset's run boards with PCI-Express 2.0 slots.

Rocknthefreeworld,

a 1010 watts powersupply would be sufficient for a threeway-SLI system (3GPU's), why would he need that for one card?
and i would deffinetly NOT recomend a crappy 6000+ from AMD, intels stuff is far better at a slightly higher (but more worthy) price.

i got a powerful, watercooled overclocked system and i run it on a 550watt from corsair without problems..

If you're not scavenging parts from other places (for free), then don't overlook just buying something from Dell. If you catch them at the right time, they actually sell systems for far less money than you could buy the individual components (through bulk discounts and selling at a loss with the hopes of making up that money later on service plans). That being said, I built my last two computers, but only because I saved a lot of money scavenging parts.

The powersupply is to provide for the possibility of using two 4870's in crossfire if he desired. He could drop that to a 700 Watt if he only wanted one. I should have noted that in the post.

Quad core processing is over-rated. Many games do not use two cores effectively. Testing shows that you are better off upgrading the video and sound sub-systems than increasing cores when it comes to gaming.

Also, the Q6700 shows only a 5-10% increase in FPS in testing vs the 6000+ but has a price almost 3 times as much. The savings would allow for more RAM or almost another Video Card.

Quote:

Originally posted by ToxicTeaBag

i would actualy go for a ATI Radeon HD4850 when it comes to the GPU, it has the same, if not better performance than a 9800GTX and costs roughly 200bucks. 8800GT aint that great of a deal anymore if its a gaming computer you want :P.

even greater but more pricey is the hd4870, which is better than a GTX260 from nvidia, but with a smaller price tag.

as for the processor the best buy in my opinion at the moment would be a intel Q6700 as they are easy to clock and has sunk in price like mad lately.

i have good experiences with the Quad core processors as i have one myself. More games keep coming out that can use more than 2 cores, the good times of the dualcores are about to go away imo.

also, get yourself a good PSU with at least 550watts, i can recommend Corsair's Psu's.

When it comes to a motherboard i would aim for either a x38 or a p45 chipset mobo, as intels chipsets mostly runs Crossfire if you ever wanted to get another card, and because these chipset's run boards with PCI-Express 2.0 slots.

Rocknthefreeworld,

a 1010 watts powersupply would be sufficient for a threeway-SLI system (3GPU's), why would he need that for one card?
and i would deffinetly NOT recomend a crappy 6000+ from AMD, intels stuff is far better at a slightly higher (but more worthy) price.

i got a powerful, watercooled overclocked system and i run it on a 550watt from corsair without problems..

Power supplies that are rated for higher usages generally run more efficiently than ones rated lower, so I assume that's why he recommended one.