I'm building a new computer for my family and me. The budget is around 700$. This will be used for gaming and it needs a decently sized HDD. Honestly, I don't really know much about building computers, so please tell me where I can find to build one without just telling me to Google it (already tried). <3 you ex. just to let you know.

It's easy, two solutions:
1) You enter a computer store and ask for a computer that costs around 700 bucks and that has HDD and game specs.
2) You enter the store, ask for the the computer that costs the most, take it... and run away.

Newegg. For everything.

If you are capable of assembling a Lego set over 100 pieces, you are capable of building a computer.

I'll have a build for you tonight, my usual conditions apply:

No fanboyism.
I do not compete with whatever other idiot you're listening to.
No Antec cases.

Alrightio sounds good ex. And of course newegg I've ordered things like hdmi cables off there before. and my 1tb western digital xhdd <3 it.

Build complete.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
-The RC 690. God of all mid towers, comes with a lot of fans stock, and you can add a bunch more. Same one I use.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846
-AMD Phenom II X2 555, can possibly unlock to being an X4 with the right settings. Even if you aren't going to try and unlock it, its a great CPU and OCs well.

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130250
-A standard MSI 770 board with the 710 southbridge for unlocking your CPU. It has everything you need, nothing you don't.

GFX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462
-The wonderful 5770 from the even more wonderful XFX. Double lifetime warranty. Great price. Overclocks well.

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220440
-Patriot memory? Always a plus. The Sector series is good and the price is right.

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
-The fastest SATA 3.0 drives around, Western Digital Caviar Black. 640GB right here. Plenty of space.

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171031
-Usually I don't recommend CM PSUs but this one is solid and the price is extremely low. Get it.

DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136167
-Standard SATA DVD drive/burner.


Price: $706.11 after tax and ship to NJ, slightly over, but I think its worth it.

Alright, I've been screwed over several times when trying to purchase a new computer, and I've finally come to a conclusion.
I will have to build one.
It will be mostly for gaming purposes, just for me, and like Bioatk, I do not know much about computers. My budget is $600, slightly less than Bio's, and the only thing I do NOT require is RAM, which I have two 3gb sticks of one 4gb stick and one 2gb stick. I would like it to be able to run SC2 (duh ) at the very least on minimum specs... although I'm sure that can be accomplished with whatever you guys come up with.

Also, I do not want to make another topic about my needing a new computer, because I feel I have already made enough.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Feb 25 2010, 11:39 am by OlimarandLouie.

RAM does not come in 3GB modules. They come in 1, 2, or 4GB. And unless you have DDR3, which I doubt, odd numbers of RAM (1 or 3 sticks) means no dual channel, which is just plain stupid.

Forgive my extreme lack of knowledge, I assumed them to be 3gb sticks because I had a total of 6gb RAM, when I opened my hard drive earlier I found them to be one 4 and one 2.

I assume your sticks are DDR2. IMO, it is not in your best interest to build a DDR2 setup, and you'd be better off with all new components. I'll design you one and PM it to you when I have some time.

I love you so much you have no idea Ex. THANK YOU.
Btw, what OS would you recommend running on this? We're likely upgrading from XP to Win7 if you agree..

Edit:
Add a monitor. Price doesn't matter for this. Keep it decently sized.
Also, what's the deal with sound? Because we have a pretty good speaker system.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Feb 25 2010, 7:58 pm by BiOAtK.

The onboard sound supports 7.1 channel. It isn't the best quality but it'd add to the price to get a separate soundcard.

I'll pick a monitor shortly.

I have had nothing but compatibility issues with Win7 in my personal experience, I recommend Vista actually, 64bit due to the amount of RAM.

Soundcard (optional of course): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102012

Monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236050

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236079
I like how this seems better, because I lovee HDMI quality. And I like the slightly bigger size. Do you approve?

I don't recommend HDMI/1080 due to the experience I've had with mine. Actual PC tasks are blurry, even if the videos look nice. If you were just going to watch movies, I'd say do it, but since this is for a computer, I'd say stick with 1900x1200 and DVI if you want larger than what I selected.

Alright thanks. Can you recommend a bigger screen then?

For a 5770, if you want to game at max settings, I'd say try not to go over 1680x1050, because although it could do fine at the blurry 1920x1080, it might struggle with 1900x1200 due to memory bandwidth, which is the 5770's limiting factor. Remember I'm talking about max settings in stressful games. It could probably play SC2 at 2560x1600 on max without a problem.

It seems nearly all 1680x1050 come in 22", which I think is quite a good size. My current monitor is 23.6" and I can't imagine having anything over 28" for any sort of resolution or task.

What exactly are you looking for?

Edit: The lowest 1900x1200 I could find is this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236047
300$ and 25.5".

compatibility problems go away in very little time. Get 7. Anything serious can be temporarily solved with a virtual machine. You're unlikely to install a new OS once you've already installed one, so you might as well drop the newest one on there. Otherwise you'll be stuck using vista for 5 years, at which point you'll be using a 10 year old OS.

Sound: unless you're an audiophile, onboard is fine.
Hard drive: Caviar greens are very nice for storage if you need more. Don't you dare install an OS on one. WDC black or Spinpoint f3 are the only good non ssd drives anymore. There's also externals which probably work better for storage.

Because everyone needs 2 ps/2 ports and a serial port nowadays.

I love you so much. You have no idea. ~1150$, ~1100$ after mail-in rebates. I'm gonna lovee this.

Really? When is SCMD's zoom going to get fixed? SC's color issues requiring the explorer.exe to be terminated? D2 not even running? I could go on for an hour.

Virtual XP Mode wouldn't run shit, so you'd have to use an actual VM, much to my dismay as I found this out first hand.

I agree with the first, disagree with the second. 7 has a lot of kinks to be ironed out and I wouldn't touch it for another 6 months at the earliest.

I'm not an audiophile per say, but I notice the difference, and enjoy my Audigy 2 ZS.

Good advice.

You're very welcome. Make sure to take lots of pictures while building and give us lots of updates.

I really need to get a copy of 7 and just install it to find these problems firsthand. My problem is that I have 6 or so copies of XP from my school, but I graduated before I could get keys for 7. Not to mention, the system is stupid, so you only have access to MSDN if you are taking a CSC or ECE, which I only took two.

From what I've heard though is that people were complaining about XP for a year after it came out, then people complained about vista for many years (Apple has a lot to do with that though), and now you're recommending vista.

Compatibility problems are always hard on old games. That's why we have to use workarounds, such as dosbox. Well, why can't we use XP in a virtual machine for those compatibility problems? Sure, it's a bit of a hassle, but legacy support is one of the things which makes windows so difficult (to use and develop).

I'm using 15 W $5 garage sale speakers even though I have a 150W 5.1 system in a box in the basement. I don't really notice the difference, apart from the lack of subwoofer and the occasional phantom sounds.