Good cheap custom build?

[arctik]

Hey, I'm new to the forums but I have been watching them for a bit after I stumbled over them searching for other computer things. I like the community and think you guys know what your talking about. Im young and don't really know much about PC's in general but I am a big time gamer. I am currently using a sony Vaio system from about 2-3 years ago and it cant handle my games and I can't upgrade it properly so I want to make my own.

Being as clueless and poor as I am I was wondering what a good gaming computer build would be without the price exeeding $1500k not including moniter etc. Any help or ideas are welcome.

I mainly play Counter-Strike and I want to move to high standard games such as PlanetSide and Unreal Tournament 2003.

Thanks.

-Arctik

[Omardeth]

you could build a good gaming pc with the monitor for 1500 easy ,.

[jmebonner]

It could very easily be built for that price...I'll be right back...

[arctik]

Yes but I was wondering if any of you have an ideas on things to use. I saw one build here but I cant find it again, he listed the components that would be usefull. Thanks

-Arctik

/EDIT::: I'm sorry if my question was unclear but what I'm asking is what would be a good build computer costing under 1500k and what would you put in it for gaming use because I have no clue.

[sam]

try here http://www.techimo.com/forum/t73607.html
but i would get 2 of the 256 ram and a faster cpu just check the prices on the amd xp's at newegg.com for what you wanna spend

[Omardeth]

ya sam gave ya a good link but i would change the board out to the to the one i posted in that tread if you want to keep the price down and maybe got to the xp 2500 instead of the xp 2000 . unless you wanted to go with a higher borad , then the abit nf7-s or asus a7n8x deluxe . if ya want a list i can do that also if you like .

[jmebonner]

Chenming Model# AX-01 (Black) w/ Side Panel Window 420W Power Supply - Retail
Specifications:
Material: 1.0mm SECC
Form Factor: ATX
Driver Bays: External 4 x 5.25", 2 x 3.5" Internal 4 x 3.5"
Expansion Slots: 7
USB/IO: 2 x USB + Audio
Case Fans: 1 x 80mm (front), 2 x 80mm (rear), 1 x 80mm (side panel see pics)
Power Supply: Turbolink 420W more info->
***********
Asus Motherboard for AMD Athlon XP/Duron Processors, Model# A7N8X Deluxe Retail
Socket A AMD Athlon XP/Duron (support AMD XP 3200+ "Barton")
Chipset: NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra SPP, nForce2 MCP-T
FSB: 400/333/266MHz
IDE: 2 x ATA133
RAM: Dual Channel DDR 400 3x 184-pin DIMM Sockets (PC3200/PC2700/PC2100 non-ECC DDR)
Slots: 1x AGP (Pro/8X), 5x PCI
Ports: 6x USB2.0
Onboard Silicon Image Sil 3112A Controller w/ 2 ports
NVIDIA SoundStorm Audio Processor Unit with Dolby
MCP integrated 3Com MAC + Broadcom AC101L PHY LAN
Firewire 1394: 2 Ports MCP-T integrated IEEE 1394a
$129.99
****************************
ATI OEM SAPPHIRE RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB DVI/TV 8X AGP OEM
Specifications:
Chipset:ATI RADEON 9800 PRO
Memory:256MB DDR RAM
Bus:AGP 8X
256-bit memory interface
First to fully support DirectX® 9.0 and the latest OpenGL® functionality
New SMARTSHADER 2.1 technology allows users to experience complex, movie-quality effects in next-generation 3D games and applications
128-bit floating-point color precision allows for a greater range of colors and brightness
Ports: VGA + DVI + S-Video more info->
$340.50
***************************
AMD ATHLON XP 2500 "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- OEM
Specifications:
CPU: 1.83 GHz
Type: XP 2500 Barton Core
Cache: 512K L2, 128K L1, Total 640KB
BUS: 333MHz
Socket A
$90.00
****************************
Mushkin DDR 256MB PC3200 222 - Black Hi Perf Level II.
AMD, VIA, ALI Approved, PC3200 =400MHz FSB, Rated CAS2-2-2, DD400, Jet Black 6-Layer PCB, 64x64 module, 32x8 chips, Unbuffered. LifeTime Warranty. OEM. more info->
$89.00
*****************************
MAXTOR 80GB 7200RPM SATA HARD DRIVE MODEL # 6Y080MO - OEM
Specifications:
Size: 80 Gigabytes
Interface: Serial ATA 150
Seek time: 9ms
RPM:7200
Cache 8MB more info->
$103.00
******************************
Viewsonic VE175B 17" LCD Monitor - Retail
Compact design. SuperClearMVA technology
Wide viewing angles and superior clarity for moving images
Optimum (true or native) resolution of 1280x1024
Brightness of 250 nits and contrast ratio of 550:1
$459.00
*******************************
Lite On 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246S OEM Buffer underrun error free & automatically adjust writing strategy plus running OPC to meet various burning condition.
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Speed : Recording 52Xmax CAV Re-writing 24X High-Speed CLV Reading 52Xmax CAV
Interface : ATAPI-E/IDE, support up to Ultra-DMA Mode2 33.3MB/sec
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$43.99
********************************
Arctic Silver's NEW Premium Silver Polysynthetic Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 3. 6-gram( 2 cc. ) tube. Artic Silver more info->
$12.99
*********************************
Thermaltake VOLCANO 9, Copper base inserted, SMART & SILENT. Retail. For AMD Athlon XP up to 2600+ and Intel Socket 370 & AMD Socket 462.
Specifications
Supported Socket type: 370 and Socket A/462 80x80x25 mm fan. Heat sink 80x80mm & 77.3mm tall. Air Flow: 20.55 CFM at 1300rpm & 75.7 CFM at 4800rpm. Mfr's P/N: A1365 more info->
$21.99



Subtotal »
$1,380.46

[sam]

you forgot the OS , maybe a good sound card for surround sound while playin and case fans oh and i would doubled up on that ddr to take advantage of the dual ddr supported mobo
and a good modem or nic card

[CraigK]

JME put together a nice system but you don't need the AS3 thermal compund and the Volcano 9 if your not going to overclock. CRT monitors are also better than LCDs for visual intensive programs. but the chenming case is definitely a good case. I got it in red and it's actually aluminum, and comes with 2 front fans(tri-color LED), 2 back fans(tri-color LED), and one fan on the window.

--edit sam is right about the sound card even though the board has a good integrated sound card.

[jmebonner]

He may already have the OS, you're right on the ram, I thought I put two in there, you're right, it should be DOUBLED to take advantage of the DUAL DDR capability. The Nvidia NForce2 boards really don't need a soundcard, they support 6 channel digital surround already. The soundstorm is every bit as good as my previous card, the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.
Craig's correct on the ASIII and the Volcano, but that's a good chip for overclocking! Might as well give it a shot/ I also failed to included rounded cables and other accessories like that, but I was just putting a quick one together.
I question the LCD statement, however. I had a Dell 18.1 FP that smoked any CRT I've ever had, especially for intense gaming.