Build me a PC!

Wighty · June 2009

I am sure this has been asked before, but I could use some help here in building a new gaming rig.

I am currently using a dinosaur 6 year old DELL XPS computer that is "old reliable" it ran AION like a champ over the preview weekend but I am overdue for something new and anticipating Windows 7 I think it is time I get something new.

I am budgeting myself $2000 for this rig, basically for everything inside the box.

I don't mind using a branded system like Dell or HP or whatever (although I probably won't get the best bang for the buck)... My problem is I have lost touch with all the latest and greatest components of what makes a great gaming rig, I am relying on the gaming community to help me figure this out and keep under budget. I plan on doing this after windows 7 is released so I am not upgrading an OS but installing one from scratch. I am also not sure what components are being released between now and then like processors or the latest graphics cards etc. I do prefer Intel chips though.

So the Challenge is, Build the best system you can for under or around $2000...

As a side note if you live in the NYC/Long Island area, I may be prone to commission you to build a rig for me.

Cleffy · June 2009

Wait until October to build a new machine.

Wighty · June 2009

What's happening in October?

I wasn't planning on doing anything until after Windows 7 is out anyhow.

adrianemery · June 2009

oct 22 is the windows 7 launch date and I would op for the 64 bit version to use more than 4 gig of memory.

Anything we build for you now will be out of date or much cheaper in the autumn.

Although I would recommend you to wait until the new DX 11 cards are out so you are completely up to date.

Also I would recommend a ton of memory (I use 8 gigs of DD2 800 MHz memory)

The i7 processors should be a lot cheaper by October and I would personally go with an ASUS motherboard.

I bought a new Commodore gaming rig in December and the crazy thing was they were cheaper than buying the bits in separately and building it myself and they even threw in a free WAR paint job.

Dell have slipped a long way since your last purchase and I would steer clear of them.

noquarter · June 2009

ATI is suppose to be on track for their DX11 cards to release in October to coincide with Win7. If you are looking to spend $2000 you will probably want to pick up the 5870 in Oct, if you want to wait for nvidia's DX11 part it'll be a while though, sometime next year.

You'll want whatever i7 is around the $280 mark come Oct. The i7 does triple channel with ram meaning you want to buy in 3's instead of pairs - 6GB (3x2GB) is the sweet spot for an i7 but if you are building a $2000 system you could go with 12GB (6x2GB) but it's not worth the money (there is no difference between 6gb and 12gb if you can't find enough programs to load into memory and only CAD and such can approach that). You could always just buy the extra 6gb later if somehow games start using more than 3x the memory they are now.