I Want to build a custom gaming PC and need help

Anyone want to link me to helpful sites you have personally used and or would recommend?

Budget: 600-1k dollars.

Games I would like to run at max or near max settings with very high performance:

-WoW
-Monday Night Combat
-Oblivion
-League of Legends/Dota
-CoD 4
-TF2
-SC2

Pretty sure we all use http://www.newegg.com/

Go to town!

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af1 ... /Guide.png

The guide is updated often, so bookmarking the link won't lead you to outdated versions and so on.

My PC fits most of that criteria. Sweet. My video card hates Starcraft 2 for some reason.

There are some good guides here. I'm trying to build one right now as well.

Assuming you have monitor/keyboard/mouse and not including the OS:
AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO Motherboard
Gigabyte Radeon HD 6950 2GB
Antec Nine Hundred
CORSAIR 750W PSU
Kingston HyperX 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 SDRAM
Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA HDD
ASUS SATA DVD Burner

Should come to right around $1,000 with shipping.

I've been waiting for a thread like this.

Guys, does assembling your rig from component parts require any technical expertise or is it just plug'n'play?

Honestly, any idiot should be able to put together a computer given a good step by step guide. However, the problem that arises is that often times computer components are DOA (dead on arrival). If you run into problems, diagnosing those problems is going to take a lot more expertise than assembling the computer itself. I've seen enough amateurs run into problems to say that I would suggest that you seek help from someone with technical experience when attempting your first build.

Intel > AMD
NVIDIA > Radeon

Suck it PohTayToez.

Three years ago I would have agreed with you, but right now nothing gives you better bang for the buck than the Phenom II. The i5's and i7's are great processors, but I don't think they give you significant performance increase to warrant the current price difference.

As for the current state of NVidia vs ATI, I haven't been following PC gaming hardware close enough lately to tell you who's the leader right now, but I'm sure they're not too far apart.

All three of these are solid companies, and whoever has the best tech at the best price is subject to constant change, so right now my brand loyalty is up for grabs.


P.S. Suck it, Rooben.

Thanks for the responses thus far everyone!

Billy, could you post your current set up so I can compare it against others?

So I actually have a post at Tom's Hardware forums about a PC around 800$ that would (probably) fill most of your criteria, it's the one i'm planning on building. There's some great responses in there that make the computer come out to almost exactly $800( +9.65 shipping and handling).

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/301 ... g#t2237486

I've put a few computers together while not knowing anything about the actual technical stuff, it isn't hard, but it's always a good idea to have someone you can at least email in case any problems arise.

rebuilding mine and god is it a mission to fit everything within a small budget

I thought I might note that I don't see any mention of a PSU in that thread. You'll need to make room in the budget for another $50-$100 for a decent power supply.

In regards to the setup I previously posted, if you need to knock some money off of it, you can go with 4GB RAM, 1TB hard drive, a bit cheaper PSU, and a lower end GPU. I was basically just shooting for great performance with reliable parts at a $1,000 budget.

Also, I thought it might be worth mentioning that I own and operate a computer repair store. If anyone needs any help in regards to this sort of stuff, I can definitely assist with any technical issues.

Do not buy a cheap PSU! I work in IT and we have a network with >300 PCs. Cheap PSUs will die an early death and can even fry some of your other hardware when they die. Get a decent 500-600W PSU, don't buy the cheap no name crap.

Welcome to the dark side Hudson, your cookies are waiting for you!

Huh. I didn't notice that. mind sending me a PM with a suggestion?

AMD Phenom II x4 955 Black Edition
EVGA's GTX 470 SC
Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3
Samsung spinpoint F3 hdd
Lite-On 24X DVD Writer
A-DATA Gaming Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)
CORSAIR Builder Series 600W
Rosewill Challenger Case
Hyper 212+ CPU cooler

Just built it today, actually. So far, so good.

Please note I said "cheaper" PSU rather than "cheap" PSU. The one I originally picked out is about as reliable as it gets, but a bit pricey for the performance. You could easily knock $30-$40 off of it and still end up with a good quality PSU.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=13526 fairly cheap for AUS standards...i still hate how we are getting screwed over with our currency when its worth the same

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=13526 fairly cheap for AUS standards...i still hate how we are getting screwed over with our currency when its worth the same[/quote]

Lol, don't get me started on the Euro :lol: