[MaksimilijanSimunic]

Hi guys,

Can someone please be kind enough to help me in setting up a gaming configuration (just the case and the components, exclude the screen and other stuff), my budget is $3000 max. I would like the components to be very "supportive" of each other, and for the cpu and gpu to be as best as possible keeping the price in mind.

Thank you.

This post has been edited by MaksimilijanSimunic: 21 June 2010 - 12:34 PM

[coastie65]

Hi and welcome to the forum. You are going to get all kinds of input on this subject. There are a lot of members around here who do enjoy spending other people's money, but do have good suggestions. $3000 is a good budget to work with, but as you'll come to see, probably not needed. With that budget, you could probably build something based around an Intel Core i7 ( 960 or 975 ) which will give you TriChannel memory capabilities. I don't know if that has any particular advantage over Dual channel, but I would imagine it would to some degree. The starting point would be with your case. You want to be sure to get one that has good air flow capabilities, for obvious reasons. The next would be a good Motherboard to support the Processor and Memory of your choice. With a Core i7, you would need something that has the X58 chipset ( these are Tri Channel as far as the memory goes ). As far as memory goes, Corsair and Crucial are good and 6 Gb would be fine to start with. Although SSD drives are good for mounting your OS, Drivers and other Boot stuff, they are rather pricey still. A Hard Drive on the order of a Western Digital Caviar Black would be fine or maybe Raptor. Optical drives are not that big of an issue unless you want to go to BluRay. You would also need a Processer cooling solution ( Fan, heatsink/heat pipes ) and a tube of Arctic Silver 5 Thermal compound. Also you may need additional fans such as intake if the case doesn't already have them. These are relatively inexpensive.

[coastie65]

Case: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811147153

Motherboard : http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813188065

Processor: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115225

Memory: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820145224

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139006

Video Card: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814121363

Thermal Compound: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835100007

CPU Cooling: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103055

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136533

CD/DVD Burner: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827106335

That is the pricey stuff, not including the Operating System. It comes to $1,127.94 to this point.

This post has been edited by coastie65: 21 June 2010 - 04:51 PM

[MaksimilijanSimunic]

Thank you for taking time to do that list and help me. I just saw some Alienware computers, are they really worth of money? I mean, are they really good as they say that they are?

[coastie65]

Hi, They used to be, but since they were bought by Dell, it is debatable as to how good they really are. I'm sure someone will come along and make some other suggestions ( probably with the case ). I was looking for a Modular Corsair 750w Power supply, but got in a hurry. They are better as you don't end with a lot of excess wires in the box.


Here is the modular PSU: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139010 Adds about $30 to the price.

This post has been edited by coastie65: 21 June 2010 - 04:30 PM

[waldojim]

a lot of it depends on just how much power you really want, and if you WANT to spend $3000. If you WANT to, it is very easy to do.

if you are trying to hit $3000 then here is my suggestion:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115225 - intel i7 930 - for $290 its cheap and OC's well. This is an easy place to save a few bones for other places, and still wind up with a heckuva rig.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119197 - Coolermaster 922 case. They are roomy, and quiet. While I have mostly Antecs at home, the Cooler Master is a definite nice choice. $90

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103055 - Cooler Master v8 CPU cooler. If you are going to OC, and why shouldn't you? Get a cooler than can handle the stress.. The V8 is a proven beast. $60

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820148254 - Crucial Balastix 6GB 3x2GB @ 1600Mhz with 8-8-8-24 timings. These should do you well, and you get plenty of room to play in. $173

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131642 - Asus Rampage III extreme mobo. USB 3, Sata 3, 4 way xfire/sli - a very high end board. and pretty too! It even matches the case (come on - cosmetics count! lol) - $370.00

I am very particular about my Power Supply in my gaming rigs.. as such:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817703028 - PC Power and Cooling Silencer 1000. It will take any OC load you feel like, and still let you run a couple or few of today's most demanding cards. - $250

Then comes the part that is hard to really decide on. The video card. I say grab the ATI 5870 because it is very powerful, and still manages to produce less heat, and less noise than the latest Nvidia offering (about 20C cooler - or more!) I don't care what brand you go with - but get the phoenix shroud! The phoenix shroud was actually over engineered for the card - allowing a very high OC on the stock cooling. http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125322 - $500

Then you haev your hard drive and optical drive choices from here... and this all depends on your taste. I would say, grab a velocirapter, as they will provide plenty of every day performance without blowing the budget, or sacrificing other parts.

now, that right there puts you at $1730 plus your drives (figure about $320 if you choose the Velociraptor 300gb + a storage drive at about 1TB - and about $100 if you want a blu-ray reader/dvd burner) so if you really want to hit $3000, you can grab two of the video cards for an extra $500, double the ram even... or go with a nicer case - like the Lian-Li's.

so there you have it, a way to hit $3000 with a rockin rig.

[MaksimilijanSimunic]

Hi all,

I'm still looking for suggestions. I did something fast just to see if I could do something on my own. What do you think about this?

Chassis Color:
ALX Space Black - Anodized Aluminum Chassis

Processors:
Intel® Core™ i7 960 Quad Core Processor (3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)

Alienware Area-51 ALX:
Alienware Area-51 ALX + TactX™ Headset

Operating Systems:
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

Cooling Option:
Alienware™ High-Performance Liquid Cooling

Video Cards:
Dual 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ HD 5870 CrossfireX™ Enabled

Memory:
6GB DDR3 1600MHz (3x 2GB) Tri Channel Memory

Hard Drives:
1.2TB RAID 0 (2x 640GB SATA-II, 7,200 RPM, 16MB Cache HDDs)

Sound Card:
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Optical Drives:
Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

Mouse:
Alienware TactX™ Mouse

Keyboard:
Alienware TactX™ Keyboard

Total amount: $3,900

[techie4fun]

I think you need to find a power supply, too.

[coastie65]

waldojim, on 21 June 2010 - 06:23 PM, said:

a lot of it depends on just how much power you really want, and if you WANT to spend $3000. If you WANT to, it is very easy to do.

if you are trying to hit $3000 then here is my suggestion:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115225 - intel i7 930 - for $290 its cheap and OC's well. This is an easy place to save a few bones for other places, and still wind up with a heckuva rig.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119197 - Coolermaster 922 case. They are roomy, and quiet. While I have mostly Antecs at home, the Cooler Master is a definite nice choice. $90

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103055 - Cooler Master v8 CPU cooler. If you are going to OC, and why shouldn't you? Get a cooler than can handle the stress.. The V8 is a proven beast. $60

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820148254 - Crucial Balastix 6GB 3x2GB @ 1600Mhz with 8-8-8-24 timings. These should do you well, and you get plenty of room to play in. $173

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131642 - Asus Rampage III extreme mobo. USB 3, Sata 3, 4 way xfire/sli - a very high end board. and pretty too! It even matches the case (come on - cosmetics count! lol) - $370.00

I am very particular about my Power Supply in my gaming rigs.. as such:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817703028 - PC Power and Cooling Silencer 1000. It will take any OC load you feel like, and still let you run a couple or few of today's most demanding cards. - $250

Then comes the part that is hard to really decide on. The video card. I say grab the ATI 5870 because it is very powerful, and still manages to produce less heat, and less noise than the latest Nvidia offering (about 20C cooler - or more!) I don't care what brand you go with - but get the phoenix shroud! The phoenix shroud was actually over engineered for the card - allowing a very high OC on the stock cooling. http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125322 - $500

Then you haev your hard drive and optical drive choices from here... and this all depends on your taste. I would say, grab a velocirapter, as they will provide plenty of every day performance without blowing the budget, or sacrificing other parts.

now, that right there puts you at $1730 plus your drives (figure about $320 if you choose the Velociraptor 300gb + a storage drive at about 1TB - and about $100 if you want a blu-ray reader/dvd burner) so if you really want to hit $3000, you can grab two of the video cards for an extra $500, double the ram even... or go with a nicer case - like the Lian-Li's.

so there you have it, a way to hit $3000 with a rockin rig.

I was hoovering around that case, but went with the other one, as the airfloww aspects seemed to be pretty good. I have the Crucial Ballistix 1600 Mhz in here ( but because of the limitations it only runs at 1066 Mhz ). I didn't even see that MOBO. Saw the Rampage Gene II which was mATX. I also looked at the Lian-Li case(s), but wasn't familiar with them, so skipped them. Yeah, you could double the ram, but in today's world, you wouldn't use it. I have 6 Gb in here and have barely used 2 Gb of ram at times.

[coastie65]

MaksimilijanSimunic, on 22 June 2010 - 01:34 AM, said:

Hi all,

I'm still looking for suggestions. I did something fast just to see if I could do something on my own. What do you think about this?

Chassis Color:
ALX Space Black - Anodized Aluminum Chassis

Processors:
Intel® Core™ i7 960 Quad Core Processor (3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)

Alienware Area-51 ALX:
Alienware Area-51 ALX + TactX™ Headset

Operating Systems:
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

Cooling Option:
Alienware™ High-Performance Liquid Cooling

Video Cards:
Dual 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ HD 5870 CrossfireX™ Enabled

Memory:
6GB DDR3 1600MHz (3x 2GB) Tri Channel Memory

Hard Drives:
1.2TB RAID 0 (2x 640GB SATA-II, 7,200 RPM, 16MB Cache HDDs)

Sound Card:
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Optical Drives:
Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

Mouse:
Alienware TactX™ Mouse

Keyboard:
Alienware TactX™ Keyboard

Total amount: $3,900

That looks like the specs for an Alienware Computer. I had initially gone for the Core i7 960, but realized that the place I have linked to, didn't have it in stock, so scratched it and went for the 930 instead. Over all, they are good specs, but a heckuva price.

[compnovo]

MaksimilijanSimunic, on 22 June 2010 - 01:34 AM, said:

Hi all,

I'm still looking for suggestions. I did something fast just to see if I could do something on my own. What do you think about this?

Chassis Color:
ALX Space Black - Anodized Aluminum Chassis

Processors:
Intel® Core™ i7 960 Quad Core Processor (3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)

Alienware Area-51 ALX:
Alienware Area-51 ALX + TactX™ Headset

Operating Systems:
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

Cooling Option:
Alienware™ High-Performance Liquid Cooling

Video Cards:
Dual 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ HD 5870 CrossfireX™ Enabled

Memory:
6GB DDR3 1600MHz (3x 2GB) Tri Channel Memory

Hard Drives:
1.2TB RAID 0 (2x 640GB SATA-II, 7,200 RPM, 16MB Cache HDDs)

Sound Card:
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Optical Drives:
Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

Mouse:
Alienware TactX™ Mouse

Keyboard:
Alienware TactX™ Keyboard

Total amount: $3,900

I really think you'll be spending too much for the Alienware name --- coastie and waldojim's suggestions give you a lot more bang for the buck. You can apply the money you save to a nice big monitor, speakers, and a bluray player for a top-of-the-line multimedia box.

[waldojim]

I could not pay those guys at Alienware, for a pc that can be built to higher specs and a lower price.

It is your call how you wish to spend your money, but I can promise you - if you build your machine with the budget you set, you can destroy that Alienwares performance.

[coastie65]

waldojim, on 22 June 2010 - 05:13 PM, said:

I could not pay those guys at Alienware, for a pc that can be built to higher specs and a lower price.

It is your call how you wish to spend your money, but I can promise you - if you build your machine with the budget you set, you can destroy that Alienwares performance.

I think we may have been abandoned in favor of the $3900 Alienware rig. Even after I told him about the problems after having been bought by Dell. We have a pretty good Custom Company here in Richmond called Velocity PC or Velocity something.

[MaksimilijanSimunic]

Hi all,

I'm very thanful for the answers, but a bit confused. I want really strong computer that will use maximum of my money. I don't understand why should i spend only 1200$ if I can get maximum for 3000$?

I'm not protesting, just asking =)

Thanks!

[AgentF]

MaksimilijanSimunic, on 22 June 2010 - 06:47 PM, said:

Hi all,

I'm very thanful for the answers, but a bit confused. I want really strong computer that will use maximum of my money. I don't understand why should i spend only 1200$ if I can get maximum for 3000$?

I'm not protesting, just asking =)

Thanks!

What they're saying is the components found in the Alienware computer are worth $1200 and you're then paying $1800 for the Alienware case design and ability to say, "I have an Alienware computer." For most people, I included, it's not worth it. We'd rather keep the $1800 or apply it in other ways. You can get a really awesome case for only $150. If you really want to spend all $3000, I'm sure the guys would love to help spend your money. Keep in mind, anything they pick out for $3000 will blow away your $3000 Alienware computer performance wise.

It's really about company prestige and extends far outside computer technology. Alienware is known for it's neat design and draws to techies looking for expensive builds. Aeropostal makes polo shirts just like hundreds of other companies. They charge more just because of their name, but the product itself isn't any better for it. I'd take a $15 shirt at JCPenny instead.

This post has been edited by AgentF: 22 June 2010 - 07:10 PM

[MaksimilijanSimunic]

Thanks for clearing that up.

I'm still looking for some suggestions and always look for something new. I saw that you guys are always on Newegg for your recoomandations and I wanted to look at finished PC desktops.

I came up with this: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16883229192

It looks too good to be true xD or whole industy washed my brain with 'only high price for quality' moto? As I look at that configuration it looks really amazing, but I don't know if there is any trap because I'm unexpirienced. What do you guys think?

Thanks, it means me a lot.

EDIT: this also looks very good to me http://www.newegg.co...N82E16883229183

This post has been edited by MaksimilijanSimunic: 22 June 2010 - 08:20 PM

[compnovo]

MaksimilijanSimunic, on 22 June 2010 - 08:14 PM, said:

Thanks for clearing that up.

I'm still looking for some suggestions and always look for something new. I saw that you guys are always on Newegg for your recoomandations and I wanted to look at finished PC desktops.

I came up with this: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16883229192

It looks too good to be true xD or whole industy washed my brain with 'only high price for quality' moto? As I look at that configuration it looks really amazing, but I don't know if there is any trap because I'm unexpirienced. What do you guys think?

Thanks, it means me a lot.

EDIT: this also looks very good to me http://www.newegg.co...N82E16883229183

The first link looks like a better way to spend your money than Alienware, it has very nice specs (I can't see what justifies the extra $1000 on the second link). It would appear from the reviews that Cyberpower's support isn't very good, you might want to google them and see what others are saying.

[coastie65]

MaksimilijanSimunic, on 22 June 2010 - 08:14 PM, said:

Thanks for clearing that up.

I'm still looking for some suggestions and always look for something new. I saw that you guys are always on Newegg for your recoomandations and I wanted to look at finished PC desktops.

I came up with this: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16883229192

It looks too good to be true xD or whole industy washed my brain with 'only high price for quality' moto? As I look at that configuration it looks really amazing, but I don't know if there is any trap because I'm unexpirienced. What do you guys think?

Thanks, it means me a lot.

EDIT: this also looks very good to me http://www.newegg.co...N82E16883229183

They both seem to be good solid builds. It would probably be in your best interest to read the reviews ( I did ). The first one has the the Core i7 975, which is the top Core i7 Quad core in the 9xx series. The second is the 980x which is the new 6 core processor. One thing I have found is that you tend to get more people with a negative experience posting reviews than those who have had a positive experience. The reason being, is that those with a negative experience, will be quick on the trigger to trash a product, whether or not it was something of their own doing ( and I have seen this many times ) or otherwise. This Gateway was in the same boat. If you had read the reviews, you probably would have walked away from it, unless you saw that in a lot of cases it was something the user did and not a bad rig out of the box. I did take the time to post a review to try to offset the negative stuff that was out there. Remember, the Core i7 980X has not been out all that long, so there could well be some hiccups. As for the complaints about support. This is my thought on that, My guess is that these folks do not have enough understanding of the PC to present their issue properly to the Tech which then leads the user to assume the Tech is less than adequate. Trust me, it is hard to get the information you need at times to be able to help someone with a problem. It wouldn't surprise me to find that those answering support calls are doing double duty and working in Q.C. as well, at least it hasn't been offshored. I found the reviews for the 980x to to be rather helpful in dealing with some potential issues. All things said, I guess you could do worse. I do have a CyberPower UPS ( Battery back up ) and it is very good.

[waldojim]

ok, to clarify for us - this $3,000 you are looking to spend; is this on a prebuilt machine or one you assemble yourself?

I will tell you flat out, if you build your own - on that budget, you CANNOT find a faster, or more powerful rig made by someone else.

[MaksimilijanSimunic]

waldojim, on 24 June 2010 - 12:39 AM, said:

is this on a prebuilt machine or one you assemble yourself?

Whatever is better, that's why I ask for recommandations and help in case that myself build will be better otpion.

Thanks.