Custom-Built Desktops; Best Bang for Bucks.

[Eskiimo]

Hi all,

Recently I've been looking on buying a gaming desktop, but after seeing that the Dell XPS costs quite I decided on to building one myself.

However, I had a budget of $1000 - $2000 and asked a few mates of mine to list me a build that give the best bang for bucks. Fortunately, he took some time into making this list.

Please don't post here saying things like "Oh this is crap", I'm just here to share the builds to anyone that is interested in building a desktop and get the best bang for bucks.

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Mainstream Performance Desktop
Overall Build Strategy: Buy components that provide the best bang for bucks

MOTHERBOARD - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R LGA775
-Great over-clocking and stability potential for the price
-Inexpensive

PROCESSOR - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
-Penryn 45nm technology!
-9x CPU multiplier means excellent over-clock-ability
-Native dual core stock speed of 3.0 GHz is very fast
-New 1333 MHz FSB technology, provides great bang for buck over clock potential

GRAPHICS CARD - Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS (G92)
-One of the best bang for buck video cards in existence
-512 MB GDDR3 video memory and DX10 compliance means great potential in future games
-Plays anything on the market at higher settings at lower resolutions (WSXGA+ or less)

POWER SUPPLY - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX (550W)
-Corsair manufactures high-quality power supplies
-12V rails provide 41 amps total, enough to power the 8800GTS and all your components and planned expansions
-Plenty of connectors and cables for long-term expansion

MEMORY - A-DATA 4 GB PC6400 (DDR2-800) RAM
-4 GB for around $80 ... as 2 GB becomes the standard; 4 GB becomes a comfortable amount of RAM, especially for Vista

HARD DRIVE - Western Digital Caviar 320 GB 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache
-Western Digital makes very dependable drives
-Relatively cheap
-Very stable hard drive in any RAID setup


-CPU HEATSINK - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
-One of the best bang-for-buck CPU heat-sinks - performs very well for the money

OPTICAL DRIVE - Lite-On DVD/CD/DVD-RAM Combo Burner/Reader
-It's a Lite-On, so it's dependable
-All-in-one drive read CDs, writes CDs, reads DVDs, and writes DVDs
-Light-scribe technology for pretty CD/DVD covers

CASE - Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP Tower
-Several 120mm fans provide good airflow
-Looks cool
-Plenty of interior room for expansion, won't cramp the 8800GT

MONITOR – N/A
-Anything will do fine at the moment

Total Estimated Price: $1050
An extra $60-$100 gets you one of the following:
-Another 250 GB hard drive to setup a RAID array


Mainstream Gamers’ Desktop
Overall Build Strategy: Diversify and upgrade to more powerful components for necessary parts - power supplies, monitors, video cards, cases, heat-sinks, etc.
MOTHERBOARD - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R LGA775
-Great over-clocking and stability potential for the price

PROCESSOR - Intel Core 2 Duo Q6600
-Quad-core!
-9x CPU multiplier means excellent over-clock-ability
-Native quad core stock speed of 2.4 Ghz is smoking

GRAPHICS CARD - Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS (G92)
-One of the best bang for buck video cards in existence
-512 MB GDDR3 video memory and DX10 compliance means great potential in future games
-Plays anything on the market at higher settings

POWER SUPPLY - OCZ GameXStream 600W
-Enough power and amps to support the 8800GTS, multiple hard drives/optical drives, and over-clocked components
-OCZ is well-known for its fantastic PSU customer service
-Very long connectors, so you can get to hard-to-reach places at the corners of your case
-Many cables, means lots of room to expand in the long-term

MEMORY - G.Skill 4GB PC6400 (DDR2-800) RAM
-EXCELLENT memory clocks: 4-4-4-12
-Very stable over-clocker - go to 1066 MHz with ease
-Very cheap for CL4, 4 GB RAM
-G.Skill provides a lifetime warranty and is very, very dependable

HARD DRIVE - Western Digital Caviar 320 GB 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache
-Western Digital makes very dependable drives
-Very stable hard drive in any RAID setup

CPU COOLER - Tuniq Tower 120
-One of the very best CPU coolers on the market
-Over-clock with no worries. The Q6600 will reach 3.0 GHz easily. It's theoretically possible to push it to 3.6 GHz on this cooler. Over-clock at your own risk; don't forget Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound.

CASE - Antec P180
-One of the best cooling solutions on the market
-Comes with three high-speed 120mm fans, with mounting holes for 2 more

OPTICAL DRIVE - Lite-On DVD/CD/DVD-RAM Combo Burner/Reader
- It's a Lite-On, so it's dependable
-All-in-one drive read CDs, writes CDs, reads DVDs, and writes DVDs
-Light-scribe technology for pretty CD/DVD covers

LCD MONITOR - Samsung 20" 206BW (WSXGA+)
-Response time of 2ms means no ghosting during gaming!
-WSXGA+ (1680x1050) resolution is the best you can get on a 20" screen
-DVI gives better picture quality than VGA

Total Estimated Price: $1480
An extra $60-$100 gets you one of the following:
-Another 320 GB hard drive to setup a RAID array
-A 22" Samsung 2253BW monitor instead of a 20" 206BW


Enthusiast’s Desktop
Overall Build Strategy: Upgrade to the highest-end products without spending an ungodly amount of money.

MOTHERBOARD - eVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 nForce 780i SLI
-Great over-clocking and stability abilities
-High-end board with many features like Firewire, dual Ethernet, and passive cooled heat-sink system
-Supports SLI if you plan on buying another video card in the future

PROCESSOR - Intel Core 2 Duo Q6600
-Quad-core!
-9x CPU multiplier means excellent over-clock-ability
-Native quad core stock speed of 2.4 Ghz is smoking

VIDEO CARD - Gigabyte Geforce 9800GX2
-The badass video card in the entire valley
-DX10 compliance means survivability in the long term
-Plays anything on the market at maximum settings

POWER SUPPLY - OCZ GameXStream 600W
-Enough power and amps to support the 8800GTX, multiple hard drives/optical drives, and over-clocked components
-OCZ is well-known for its fantastic PSU customer service
-Very long connectors, so you can get to hard-to-reach places at the corners of your case
-Many cables, means lots of room to expand in the long-term

MEMORY - G.Skill 4GB PC6400 (DDR2-800) RAM
-EXCELLENT memory clocks: 4-4-4-12
-Very stable over-clocker - go to 1066 MHz with ease
-G.Skill provides a lifetime warranty and is very, very dependable

HARD DRIVE - 2x Western Digital Caviar 500 GB 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache
-Western Digital makes very dependable drives
-Large capacity hard drive
-Very stable hard drive in any RAID setup

CPU COOLER - Tuniq Tower 120
-One of the very best CPU coolers on the market
-Over-clock with no worries. The Q6600 will reach 3.0 GHz easily. It's theoretically possible to push it to 3.6 GHz on this cooler. Over-clock at your own risk; don't forget Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound.

CASE - Antec P180
-One of the best cooling solutions on the market
-Comes with three high-speed 120mm fans, with mounting holes for 2 more

OPTICAL DRIVE - Lite-On DVD/CD/DVD-RAM Combo Burner/Reader
-It's a Lite-On, so it's dependable
-All-in-one drive read CDs, writes CDs, reads DVDs, and writes DVDs
-Light-scribe technology for pretty CD/DVD covers

LCD MONITOR - Samsung 22" 2253BW (WSXGA+)
-Response time of 2ms means no ghosting during gaming!
-WSXGA+ (1680x1050) resolution is the best you can get on a 20" screen
-DVI gives better picture quality than VGA

Total Estimate Price: $2000
An extra $60-$100 gets you one of the following:
-Upgrade that monitor to a 24" WUXGA (1920x1200)

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Enjoy! :biggthumpup:

[aflacattack]

should look into this Hard Drive for the enthusiast... its one of, if not the fastest hard drive on the market right now...
and compared to the scream of the new 2.5 inch raptor, i must say, i much perfer the spinpoint f1....

[Sublimepwns_]

TigerDirect.com - Computers, Computer Parts, Computer Accessories, PC Components, & Electronics is cheaper and better imo

[aflacattack]

q9300 from TD
q9300 from newegg
well one item and i'm already paying 10 bucks more at tiger direct.. =/
i know its only one item, but i thought they were cheaper!
edit: just checked on Asus striker II motherboards.. newegg is 40$ cheaper!!!