Thread: Building a PC
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Stallion
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Milwaukee
 
2007-03-31, 02:47

Sell Mac Tower.

Build 1100 or less PC.

Anything else is throwing money away because the jump in performance is very little. Seriously. It won't hold its value any longer and you can save a couple hundred bucks (or in your case more) to upgrade again in the future.

Check Pricewatch for best prices, then do a google search on the store name to make sure its a good, respectable place.

Get a mid-range core 2 duo. Check Tom's Hardware for the best price/performance ratio. There in no need to get the best of the best because unless you have super human eyes for fps and insane encoding/rendering needs, it is a waste of money. Your wallet will thank you, big time.

Don't waste your money on a DX10 card now. Nothing takes advantage of it, and even in a year its not like the games will look like crap. Save the money now, and the difference in cost will ultimately get you a damn nice card in 2 years when you are due for an upgrade.

I have a rule of thumb to always buy graphics hardware a generation behind. Otherwise you pay far too much for an extra 5fps (which are already faster than the eye can see).

The GeForce 7 series is really nice right now. SLI is a waste of money. I didn't read what components you want, but you can get a nice system with a good Asus mobo, a core 2 duo, a geforce mid-range 7 series card, 2 gigs of ram, and 500gb for like 1000 or less.

Buy a cheap case online off pricewatch. Most will come with powerful power supplies. Enermax whisper are very nice power supplies. Antec makes good stuff as well.

Don't worry about brand-names on ram. Same rule applies with a mac. Generic ram works just as well. Get 2gb dual-channel and you'll be flying.

Don't worry about heatsink. It'll come with the processor. Intel actually has decent stock heatsinks.

If I missed anything let me know, I only read the first line or two or your post.
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