What parts are good for building a gaming PC?

best gaming desktop 1500 image

8th Wonder

Can someone please recommend or list down the PC parts (brands and models) for building a gaming desktop for a budget of 1500 to 2000 Australian Dollars?

Motherboard
CPU
RAM
Graphics Card
Hard Drive
DVD Writer Drive
PSU
Casing

Also whats the power/speed differences between a Dual-Core and Quad-Core?

Thank you.

Answer
Since I'm feeling a little generous right now, I've researched some parts for you:

- Motherboard - Gigabyte EP45-UD3P: $209
- CPU - Intel Core2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83 GHz: $330
- RAM - Corsair 4 (2x2) GB DDR2-1066: $108.94
- GFX card - Palit GeForce GTX275 @ 896 MB VRAM: $324.90
- HDD - Seagate Barracuda 750 GB (7200 RPM): $123.14
- DVD Writer - LG 22x DVD-RAM (IDE): $47.91
- PSU - Antec 650W: $143.95
- Casing - Antec 900: $175

-Total: $1461.90

I got the prices from Tech4U.com.au (except CPU - from CCPU); I haven't done business with them, but they seem to have decent prices overall and look reputable. If you don't mind getting the best prices from various providers, that is obvously preferred - use Shopbot.com.au.

You have a nice budget, so you have a wide range of options available - you might want to shell out an extra $100-200 for a GTX285, invest in the newer Core i7 CPUs and mobos, use the faster solid state drives (instead of HDD), etc..
Despite that, the system I've worked out would play any game smoothly at high settings.

For my PC (see my profile), I bought most of my parts from CCPU, and I'm very happy with what they provided me with, except the PSU, which broke down 6 months later.
If you want to do business strictly with a store front like I did, and you live around Sydney, they have great prices as well, and I'd recommend them (except PSU ;P).

For your 2nd Q, dual-core CPUs obviously use less power than quad-cores, but in terms of speed, it sorta depends - for general multi-tasking and certain programs, quad-cores will do great, but not many games fully take advantage of quad-core CPUs. - I only know GTA IV does. Quad-core is like "the way of the future" - wait a couple of years and most games will be optimized for them.

@ primalclaws1974
When you interpret multi-core CPUs, you don't automatically multiply the clock speed for the total speed - the processes are "paralleled" across the cores (i.e. one calculation is calculated by the 2/4 cores simultaneously) - clock speeds remain the same for all cores, but workload and time in receiving the output is decreased.

Really hope this helps!

I need to build a gaming desktop between 1000 - 1500$s?

I'm looking to build a gaming desktop in the price range of $1000 - $1500. I have been out of desktop gaming for a while so I'm not up to date on the current hardware. What would be a good system in this range that does not include: monitor, speakers. Any suggestions on decently cheap mice or keyboards would be welcome as well. Thanks in advance!

Answer
Ok, John, I think I can give you a heads up. You know that Intel just came out with their i7 core processors, and of course there is the i7 920 everyone is buying, but here is a very interesting bit of information, that Intel also released a turbo charge i7 core called the 860 and it only costs $10 more than the equivalent i7 920. It can go from a standard 2.80 Ghz to a turbocharged mode of 3.46 Ghz. If you compare the 920 ($279.99) to the 860, the 860 ($289.99) has everything, same L1 cache, etc, but you can turbocharge it. I am leaning heavily in favor of this CPU as a result for gaming. It's almost a brand new release of the i7 core and I think it is very worth while considering it as the CPU for your computer.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214

You need a cooler with this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103064


There are two different ASUS motherboards I want you to look at which are: RAMPAGE II Gene ($219.99), P6T ($289.99). Of course you don't want a cheap motherboard for gaming if you have the money to invest in the best, right and I think you do. The P6T has gotten more attention than the other one, but I did a comparison of these two boards, the Rampage and the P6T have X58 chipsets and the only difference is that the P6T has 3 X PCIe 16 slots while the RAMPAGE has 2 X PCIe 16 slots. The only other difference is the audio, which on the P6T is Realteck and the Rampage is Supreme FX. Big deal! That is what I figure, and you can save yourself about 60 bucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131371

This is a microATX but the holes are drilled in the ANTEC case to fit.

If you want a FULL ATX motherboard, go with the P6T for $60 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

For Video, you probably can do it on one card, the ATI HD 4890, dual card in one. nVidia's answer has been in the GTX 285/GTX 295.
One example, the GTX 285 1 Gig, you can get for around $369.99 at Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143201

Or you can look at an ATI HD 4890 card ($199.99), which I think is a steal!:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150438

Both are one gig cards and they are both top of the line. I think the ATI card makes more sense and you save quite a bit of money on it compared to the GTX 285.

For memory, both motherboards take:

6 x DIMM, Max. 24 GB, DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory Triple Channel

I think stability in gaming is more important than superfast memory and I would recommend the DDR3 1066 memory and populate that motherboard! This has to come in TRIPLE sticks per set, or Tri-Channel. The older DDR2 was dual channel and this is triple channel to get the turbospeed. DDR3 1333 is probably your best solution for stability and speed. Here is some really low CAS latency memory, CAS 6 - compatible with i7 processors:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144291

A Hitachi 1 Teribyte HD SATA 3.0

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145233

A 750 Watt PSU, Corsair, SLI Ready:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=750%20Watt%20PSU%20%2b%20Corsair

A DVD writer drive, Pioneer is my favorite:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129049

An ANTEC 1200 supercooled case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043

I come up with $1295.91 on new egg.

Finally, you need a copy of the operating system. I suggest you get the OEM copy of Windows Vista ultimate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116493

This is the 64 bit version and allows you to upgrade to Ultimate Windows 7. That brings you up to:

$1465.90

I think you will have a kickass computer John if you build this one!

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