Best Gaming Desktop for Less than $1K?

[vaalbara]

Originally Posted by Nananine

A couple of other things... You'll need a heat sink and thermal paste:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103065

I know it's stretching the price a bit, but you'll need both.

i don't think either are really a necessity. i'd also prefer a GIGABYTE mobo over a MSI mobo as i've had friends who've had bad experiences with MSI mobos, but YMMV.

 

[Nananine]

Originally Posted by vaalbara

i don't think either are really a necessity. i'd also prefer a GIGABYTE mobo over a MSI mobo as i've had friends who've had bad experiences with MSI mobos, but YMMV.
Since when was a heat sink for your CPU not a necessity?? Unless you mean in the in-box heat sink, which, for a gaming machine, isn't going to be sufficient

 

[Cognacad]

yes it will be sufficient, unless he plans on overclocking it. As a guy who doesn't want to build his own computer I don't see him being 1. worried about overclocking 2. installing a heatsink.

 

[Prada_Ferragamo]

From all the reading I have been doing lately, I would have to agree with the above. OEM heat sink/fan is sufficiently enough to run games. Unless overclocking is planned, aftermarket heat sink/thermal paste is not necessary.

 

[Rambo]

Honestly, if you can wait a bit, I'd say hold off until July 4th and hit up one of the major manu's sales (Dell, HP, etc..). It may not be top of the line but it'll have everything you want and more for well under your price.

 

[furo]

Originally Posted by Rambo

Honestly, if you can wait a bit, I'd say hold off until July 4th and hit up one of the major manu's sales (Dell, HP, etc..). It may not be top of the line but it'll have everything you want and more for well under your price.

Well the good thing about that is it will probably drive the gaming rig maufacturers to do the same, as was the case with Father's Day

 

[furo]

I'm assuming that if I go the Newegg route, they're going to send me all the parts to be assembled. So is there an easy to follow guide anyone recommends for assembly and OS loading, etc? I don't want to brick the damn thing right outta the box.

 

[Nananine]

Originally Posted by furo

I'm assuming that if I go the Newegg route, they're going to send me all the parts to be assembled. So is there an easy to follow guide anyone recommends for assembly and OS loading, etc? I don't want to brick the damn thing right outta the box.

Each section of newegg includes a "how-to" to install for individual parts. There's lots of good guides all around, too:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/13671

 

[magogian12345]

Originally Posted by furo

I'm assuming that if I go the Newegg route, they're going to send me all the parts to be assembled. So is there an easy to follow guide anyone recommends for assembly and OS loading, etc? I don't want to brick the damn thing right outta the box.

A few things you should check:

(1) Make sure the RAM you buy is compatible with your motherboard. Motherboard manufacturers will list compatible RAM on their websites.

(2) Get an antistatic wrist strap because computer components are pretty vulnerable to static.

(3) Make sure you have some small screwdrivers (many computer cases are toolless, but usually the motherboard and maybe some other components use small screws).

 

[vaalbara]

Originally Posted by Nananine

Since when was a heat sink for your CPU not a necessity?? Unless you mean in the in-box heat sink, which, for a gaming machine, isn't going to be sufficient
a stock cooler is more than sufficient for stock speeds & light-medium OCing. the guy is reluctant to even build his own computer, do you really think he's going to be doing that much OCing?

(2) Get an antistatic wrist strap because computer components are pretty vulnerable to static.

or just touch the computer case to ground yourself before you touch any parts

 

[Nananine]

Yeah, sorry, I keep forgetting that there IS a stock heat sink in CPU boxes, because I always just OC. I'm just being dumb.

 

[BBSLM]

I figured I would butt in here since there appears to be a lot of people who know what theyre talking about. I'm in the process of gathering parts for my first build. No games; just things like watching blu-ray rips, photoshop, and 200 open firefox tabs. I'm going for value. I don't want to spend more than I have to. How does this look? CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE MOBO: ASROCK 870 Extreme3 RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 5570 SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 40GB HDD: WD 1TB Caviar Green PSU: Antec VP450

 

[Cognacad]

Value with a SSD? Haha.

 

[magogian12345]

Originally Posted by BBSLM

I figured I would butt in here since there appears to be a lot of people who know what theyre talking about. I'm in the process of gathering parts for my first build. No games; just things like watching blu-ray rips, photoshop, and 200 open firefox tabs. I'm going for value. I don't want to spend more than I have to. How does this look? CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE MOBO: ASROCK 870 Extreme3 RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 5570 SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 40GB HDD: WD 1TB Caviar Green PSU: Antec VP450
I'm not sure what you can fit on a 40 GB SSD. Generally, people put the operating system ("OS") on the SSD, but I don't think 40 GBs is enough. I have only my OS on my SSD and it takes up 55 GBs. Also, I'd get the Caviar black. It is supposed to be much faster than the Green.

 

[magogian12345]

Originally Posted by vaalbara

or just touch the computer case to ground yourself before you touch any parts
That can be OK as long as he isn't assembling the computer on carpet or walking on carpet.