So, a friend of mine is looking to put together a decent computer system and since I managed to piece together mine last year, he's asking for help on this one. He's not looking for a gaming computer, per say, but wants it to be able to run modern games, should he get the urge to pick one up (since his current computer sucks, plays mostly ps3) and to be something easily upgradeable and whatnot in the future. Problem is, I haven't kept up much with computer parts since I built mine and also relied on input from here (mainly Aven, if memory serves) to piece together a decent list. So, I was hoping some of the more tech-knowledgeable of the guild could once again offer some advice. Here's the list of parts he initially put together:

Newegg wishlist link: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15245852

Case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043

This is the same case I'm using. Probably bigger than what he needs, but he's seen mine and likes it.

Hard Drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136514

Not much to say here. I did recommend he buy it at a local store, with the history I've heard of people getting damaged drives from newegg.

Cooling fan:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106102

He didn't have a processor fan listed, but I recall someone saying the fans that come with processors tend to suck.

Motherboard/Processor:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131631

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851

Here's where I start getting into things I really know nothing about. Never used AMD. If I recall correctly, Suppa swears by them...

Vid Card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127490

Again, an area I don't have much knowledge in anymore.

Power Supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087

Looks beefy enough. Not sure what else I should be looking for.

RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145222

Again, looks good to me...matches the number of pins on the motherboard...not sure what else is needed.

Thanks for any input on this. I know he's trying to not go too much more expensive on this, since he's already buying a monitor and will have to pick up a new copy of windows as well.

I'm just about to leave work, but I'll save this spot to comment later.

I have that case and I love it.

How much is he willing to spend on the video card (or anything)? If he's looking for a mid-range card, you might consider a Radeon 6850 instead. It's only about $30 more and it'll be noticeably faster.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125348

Thanks for the input, Suppa

Aven said:

I'm just about to leave work, but I'll save this spot to comment later.

/poke

<3

Sorry... when I'm not working I'm working on the damn guild site. Hopefully I'll have time later today.

Aven said:

Sorry... when I'm not working I'm working on the damn guild site. Hopefully I'll have time later today.

/whip

Okay okay! I remembered this last weekend and then figured it was too late. I'll do it while I eat my breakfast bar.

Case:
Original: Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case $159.99
Recommendation: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $99.99
Note: Unless you think you're going to need room for 9 hard drives and 12 drive bays I think the 1200 is a little overkill. For $60 less you can get the 900 and still have room for 6 hard drives and 3 drive bays. It's what I have and I've never worried about room. But that's more personal preference than anything else.

CPU:
Original: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor $179.99
Recommendation: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor $179.99
Note: I usually check cpubenchmark.net to get an idea for price:performance ratios on CPUs. There is some zealotry around CPUs and Video Cards, so if he prefers AMD that looks like a pretty good chip. That being said, he could get a 30% improvement for $30 more going to a new Intel Sandy Bridge i5-2500.

Power Supply
Original: SeaSonic X750 Gold $159.99
Recommendation: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W $109.99 ($89.99 w/ rebate)
Note: Corsair makes good power supplies. Naiome and I have both been using this particular model for 2+ years with SLI and have had no problems. You also save $50-80.

Video Card
Original: GIGABYTE GV-R685D5-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB $179.99
Recommendation: GIGABYTE GV-R685D5-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB $179.99
Note: Looks like a good card. There's an equivalent to that CPU benchmark on videocardbenchmark.net. You won't get a huge improvement over that card without paying a lot more. I'm not sure about the rebranding companies for AMD(ATi), but Gigabyte is a name.

Motherboard
Original: ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 $149.99
Recommendation: ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 $149.99
Note: You could save about $50 and get ASUS M4A88T-V EVO/USB3, but your second PCI-E 2.0 will be 4x instead of 8x. You only get x16 out of the first slot, and if you have SLI it downgrades the main port to the lower speed (so 2 would only run at x8 on the original one, x4 on the discounted one). If you want full speed on both SLI ports you have to pay an extra $25 and get a ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3. So, $100, $150 or $175 depending on how important SLI is to you.

DVD Burner
It's a DVD Burner, at this point practically come from the same factory.

Hard Drive
Original: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB $99.99 ($79.99 w/ Rebate)
Recommendation: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB $99.99 ($79.99 w/ Rebate)
Note: If you're just looking for size, this is a good price for 2TB. The only issue is that the "Green" WD drives kind of suck for constant use. If you can't drop the cash on a "Black" drive or an SSD for your boot drive, Western Digital AV-GP WD20EURS 2TB is a good alternative and is designed for DVRs. If you can swing it, I'd say get a small SSD like Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB for your boot drive and applications and then get a discount "Green" drive for mass storage of video and such.

Memory
Original: CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $79.99
Recommendation: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) $109.99
Note: Your processor, at default settings, only needs DDR3-1333 and only up to 2 modules (4GB max per module). If you're planning to overclock, your motherboard will support up to DDR3-2000, but I'm not sure how far your processor will go. You'd probably be better off with 8GB of DDR3-1333 at a lower latency. You can shave off $30 by going with higher latency modules like G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666).

Fan
Looks as good as any. If he's not planning to overclock he probably doesn't need something that powerful, but $50 worth of copper is never bad.

DONE

Thanks, Aven!

Aven, any opinion on benefits/lack of benefits of an SSD for gaming?