PvP Lives Here

Sup. These are three computer builds labeled by price range. I didn't put an expensive/enthusiast build in here because fuck those people. These builds are based off price vs. performance and ignore sales and shit from newegg and other places. If you have suggestions or whatever for parts post them, but these builds are fucking perfection. Im the goddamn Hawkman.

Also, green and red. Shits seasonal.

~500

Graphics Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130395
Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819116072
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128396
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231098
Hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136218
Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139004
CD/DVD Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827249054

Total (w/ Antec 300 case): $511.39

~800

Graphics Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814161296
Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103471
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128398
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231122
Hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136218
Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139006
CD/DVD Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827249054

Total (W/ Antec 900 case): $812.92

~1000

Graphics Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102841
Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103471
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131392
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231122
Hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136218
Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139006
CD/DVD Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827249054

Total (w/ Antec 900 case): $977.92

Cases

Cases are largely preference. If you want awesome airflow, and a ton of room get the Antec 900:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129021
Note that if its your first build, having more room to work with in the case might make it easier for you. Also, if you happen to have a small family of midgets in need of a home, you can charge them rent and let them live in your computer.

If you just want an excellent case with good airflow and enough room, get the Antec 300:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129042

You cant go wrong with either of these cases for any of the three builds, but if you are going for the $500 you are wasting your money on a 900, and if you go for the $1000 build I strongly suggest a 900. Too often do I see people pump all their money into videocards and processors while leaving the other parts to rot. The videocard and processor are certainly the two most important parts in a gaming computer, but they are not the only ones.

I cannot stress this enough: A quality computer needs the money spread out appropriately. Every part should get some attention, and motherboards, cases, power supplies and hard drives CAN be the bottleneck in a system. Its just that with these parts, its not such a dramatic or immediately apparent effect as, say, a processor or videocard. I dont mean to downplay the processor and videocard, because they are the most important parts. Their importance just tends to be blown out of proportion.

If you want to decrease or increase the price to make a build fit to a budget better, feel free to swap around parts between builds or use the other shit - just don't swap around between Intel and AMD. A Intel processor requires an Intel motherboard, and a AMD processor requires an AMD motherboard.

For example, in a gaming PC, a better graphics card never hurts, so if you want you can swap out the 4850 in the $800 build for a 4890 from the $1000 build or a 4870 from the links below. All three are fucking awesome graphics cards.

Other Shit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814129113
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6829271001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835100007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835186134

thanks for the time

imma guess bored

You, sir, are 100% correct.

I don't see the point in the $800 build, the case is way overpriced, and the wattage of the PSU is ridiculously high. The GPU is also pretty underpowered for such a build.

You might as well switch the 4850 for a 4870 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product )
for $50 more.

The Antec 900 is kinda high end for the system, an Antec 300 is more suitablly priced imo
( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129042 ).
That saves $45.

For the PSU, you could go down to 650W
( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139005 ) or probably even 550
( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139004 ) which is another $10-20 saving.

You could probably also get an i5 processor and motherboard for around the same price as the AMD combo, or at least change the $1000 build to include one.

Just some comments on the $1000 build:

Why not go with:

A cheaper case: saves $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119152

750W power supply (more than enough): saves $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139006

A P55 motherboard: saves $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128412

A i5-750 CPU: $44 extra
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115215

An ATI HD 5850: $100 extra
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102857

price difference: $1 cheaper

What you get:
- better CPU
- better GPU
- quality PSU able to support an extra HD 5850 in crossfireX (future upgrade)
- quality mobo with good OC performance and all bells and whistles you'll ever need (aftermarket CPU cooler should be considered when OCing)
- clean case with lots of cooling options

These builds are for general use. 750w is well enough to power the system while offering lots of room for expansion. I don't know about you, but if I spend $800 + the effort of building a system, im going to upgrade it as I see fit. Replacing parts, adding additional cards, hard drives, fans, etc all take up power and 750w gives plenty of headroom. This is why I want to stress that these are general purpose builds - if you don't have any plan on upgrading, Crossfire/SLI etc. than you could get away with 550-650W

Have you even looked at the specs on that 4850? I originally intended to go with a 4870 with that build. It was in fact going to be the exact 4870 you linked (that same 4870 is in the other shit section), but then I happened across that 4850 as I remember them being really cheap at newegg now (which they aren't anymore, guess it was a sale) and shat my pants. That card is fucking amazing, and for $50 less cant be beat.

About cases. I debated even linking a case in the guide as really they are preference. I chose the 900 mainly for the cooling and the space. The 900 is a really easy case to build a computer in. Its fucking gigantic and you dont need to bother with cable management. I figure if its your first build that would be very handy. More importantly than that however is the cooling and airflow. I got a 900 last year at a Christmas sale for $60 and goddamn this thing is like an air conditioner. The airflow is awesome, if you leave it on like you should with desktops/workstations, it rarely needs to be cleaned because of all the airflow keeping dust and shit from settling. The highest temp in my computer as I type is 32C, and im running tf2 and guild wars. Lower temperatures = longer part lifespan. You have no idea how much 5C can make in a components lifespan.

But that is my preference, just like having a smaller case is yours. So its really up to whoever is making it to decide. Im going to take out the case section and throw one down bottom explaining the pros and cons of each.



-Mentioned the case above. Just gonna shitcan the case section and let them decide themselves

-As with the 750W PSU, I threw an extra 100W on there. The more someones willing to spend on a custom built computer the more they're going to want to upgrade, replace, and tinker with it - and we dont want to hold their hand when they do so. For the price, the extra headroom is well worth it. But once again, if someone knows for sure they are never going to change the build, then they can get away with the 750W.

-Take a look at the specs on the 4890 I posted. That thing is fucking beautiful, especially for $200. The 5850 is a good card, but nowhere near worth the extra $100. Maybe $30, if that. Even so, Its basically a matter of what the other parts are. Cheaper other parts = more money for GPU = 5850. But the difference between the two dont justify the MoBo (which is the majority of the cost) and the extra PSU wattage.

-People drastically underestimate motherboards. Ive seen builds with $500 videocards and a $60 mobo. Makes me sadpanda. A kickass motherboard is just as important, if not more important, than a kickass video card and processor, hence why I jacked up the price of the Mobo along with the video card for the $1000 build.

-I was bouncing around the thought of an i5. i5 Does require a specific mobo correct? Because the i5 and i7 specific MoBo's are flat out crap, but Its a tradeoff for the better CPU I suppose which I can stomach. Does it require DDR3 though? Because DDR3 can fuck right off.

And what I forgot to mention above: the wonderful thing about PSU's and cases are that they are timeless. Unless connectors and case form factor change dramatically, cases and PSU's can be re-used perfectly. This again goes to the reasoning for the extra wattage headroom.

A word the the i5. There are some very good motherboards available for them, and they do require DDR3.

For example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131407
With
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231189

will offer far greater performance than the combination on the $1000 build, for only about $50 more.

Ty <3

The timings on those ram sticks are pretty terrible. And its hardly a performance increase. The mobo is worse, the ram is worse, and the CPU is better I suppose - but you wont even be using all the processing potential on a 3.0ghz DUAL core most of the time, nonetheless a Quad core or i5. Its not worth it IMO. But once again these are general purpose builds.

Also sorry if I sound like a dick, too lazy to edit shit and sound nicer

I don't "drastically underestimate" motherboards: if you'd take a good look at the Gigabyte P55-UD3, and read some reviews, you'd notice that it's a very good board. Entry-level, yes, but with all the features a gamer needs, and excellent OC potential. Sure, it's and entry-level board, at an entry-level price, but a $1000 PC is not an enthusiast rig either.

The i5 flat-out outperforms the high Phenom II X4's at everything, so especially for general purpose rigs, i5 > Phenom II X4. DDR3 has matured enough imo, and a DDR3-1333 with decent CAS-latency will perform flawlessly on an i5-rig.

as for the 4890 vs 5850: it's a subjective thing. For me, the main "pro" for the 5850 is it is "futureproof" and you can just slide in another one down the road to improve graphics performance. But i agree, the 4890 Vapor-X is a very good card as well.

Right now, the main thing that really boosts day-to-day performance by noticeable margins, is a SSD. But it's an expensive boost as well ...

I agree on the mobo, I wasnt trying to lecture you or anything - it was more pointed at the people looking at the builds (I edited in a similiar point in the OP) but its basically tied to the i5. No i5? Then then its the $190 mobo. i5? well then its obvious. I said this in response to matthew; Very few people even make full use of dual core CPU's regularly, and I just dont think an i5's potential would be used unless someone has special purposes for the computer, and as such it would be a bit of waste of money that could go to the mobo or case.

To wrap it up: The perfect situation would be if you could get the $190 MoBo (or the Intel equivalent, rather) + DDR2 RAM + i5. At the moment id be willing to give up either the better mobo or the RAM for i5, but Its not worth giving up both IMO

This lacks lots of caps lock yelling and seasonal slaughter of humans by hawks,

Your suggested processor is by intel, however the motherboard has an AM3 socket, which are made for AMD Processors.

I would suggest this Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
you save about ~100$

The processor is quite outdated but thats to be expected with a 500$ system, however with the 100$ saved you could invest in a more high end cpu like
Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product



The other systems seem pretty solid.
Infact the 1000$ system kind of resembles my current setup;

Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115214
Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product (same card other version)
Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
Powersupply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371012
Powersupply is key
Harddrives
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product (for windows)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product x2
Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129021

1359,91$ = 916.073 EUR

I've got some extra stuff such as http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6829132008 but thats not needed unless you have a highend headset/sound system.

Also if you plan on buying an Antec 900, keep in mind that the powersupply is placed in the bottom of the case.
Make sure to check if the cables are long enough (24" for the ATX 12v one should do it (been there done that ;D)).

Oh wow. Thats the $1000 system mobo that I somehow managed to put in the $500 system. Dont drink and copy/paste kids. Fixing. Also that price was calculated with the $60 Mobo that's in there now, so there was no extra $100 to spend on a better processor

sticky this or some shit you jewish goblin