# New to building high-end gaming rig...



## marshallorama (Jan 15, 2011)

Hello all,

I am really new to custom building gaming pcs and I am in need of desperate help. For most of my life I have been purchasing pre-built pcs and after a major disappointment of performance and cost with my current Alienware pc, I am looking to attempt building my own. The downside, I am not very well informed on the ins-and-outs of all the modern hardware and the compatability of everything. I was hoping those of you who have far more knowledge of this than I do could help me put together a nice high-end gaming rig. I am open to suggestions, changes, being pointed in the right direction to do my own research, and since I am saving up a significant portion of my paychecks for this price isn't too big of an issue. In short; all help is greatly appreciated.

This is about as far as I got before I realized I should really ask for help:

[URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.584411"][url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.584411[/URL][/URL] - Processor and GPU

[URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112261"][url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112261[/URL][/URL] - Case

[URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145318&cm_re=dominator_ddr3_2000-_-20-145-318-_-Product"][url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145318&cm_re=dominator_ddr3_2000-_-20-145-318-_-Product[/URL][/URL] - RAM

After finding these I realized I didn't know nearly enough about motherboards, hadrdrives, power supplies, cooling systems (I have heard good things about water cooling systems though I have no idea what brands are good or what to look for in a good system)...and I'm sure there are a bunch of other things I'm overlooking.

In short - I bit off more than I could chew and I am in need of professional assistance. I am just so tired of getting ripped off buying pre-built machines. Thank you very much to any and all help you might be able to offer!


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

WAY overpriced case! You can do as well for much less.
Corsair RAM is good but the cooler included with the Dominator series has a history of not fitting properly and a RAM cooler is not needed. Again, you can do as well for less.
The GPU is overkill. There is no need to spend that much on a GPU.
I would advise looking over out suggested builds.
http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...evised-2010-and-updated-regularly-448272.html


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

You may want to browse this post also. Your answers to those questions will tell us your specific requirements and help us to tailor a system to meet them.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f255/please-read-this-before-posting-169294.html


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## marshallorama (Jan 15, 2011)

*Tyree* - Thank you for your suggestions/link. I've already considered your suggestions and plan on making those adjustments. I need to keep reading some more about the parts for the $2000 Intel Build, but that's what I'm leaning towards right now. I don't have all of my questions for that particular build figured out yet, though there is one that I've already thought of. As far as the motherboard (Asus P6 X58D) goes there were a few reviews on NewEgg from people saying that it wasn't very compatable with Corsair Dominator RAM, which is fine since you had already said that Dominator has a history of not fitting right. My question(s) is: Are their reviews off-base a little bit in that it's more of an issue with the RAM than the motherboard? And will this mobo last a while and not pose any major issues if I want to upgrade RAM, GPU, etc. down the road?




*gcavan* - Sorry for not including the q&a with my original post. Here they are:
*Budget**: How much money are you willing to spend on the new build?*
I am expecting to pay around $2000-$2500. If the parts are worth it, I would consider going up to $3000. Obviously, I would like to save money if possible, but I want to have a machine that can go about 3 years without needing any major upgrades to play upcoming games, and when it comes time to upgrade hardware to have parts that are modern enough to be compatable with the newest hardware. I'd rather pay a lot of money now for a high-end machine, than spend a couple of hundred dollars every year to stay current.
*Brands: Are there any brands of components you want or don't want?*
I prefer Intel to AMD, but other than that - no, not really.
*Multitasking: Will you be multitasking with this **computer** and if so, how much?*
Nothing extreme. The extent of it would really be to look up info on the internet while playing games. I don't do any media editing, so that's not an issue, and I don't listen to music while playing games either.
*Gaming: Will you be gaming and if so, how much and how new are the games?*
Yes, that is the primary purpose of my build. The games I would be playing would be: WoW, Call of Duty series, Dawn of War 2, Starcraft 2, and Diablo 3 (when it's released). I've never had a high-end machine, so I'm sure I would play a lot more games if I had a machine that was capable of playing them. At the moment, I can barely play SC2 
*Calculations: Will you be doing any intense calculations or media encoding?*
Negative.
*Overclocking: Do you plan on overclocking and if so, how much?*
Unlikely. I don't know how to do it, and most likely I will end up getting somebody to help me put all of this together so I don't break anything. If my friend knows how to, then overclocking is a possibility.
*Storage**: How much storage will you need and what will you be storing?*
I don't know a whole lot about this. I have read a lot of people talking about using multiple drives to do various things (boot, media storage, load games/OS faster), but the truth is that I don't understand the technical aspects of what they're talking about. I just want to load games fast, and have plenty of room to install games and have some music/movies stored.
*Legacy Support: Will you need support for older **hardware** like parallel, serial, or PS/2 devices?*
Um, don't think so.
*Operating System**: Do you want Windows XP or Vista, or Linux compatibility?*
Was going to use Win7.
*Case: Do you want help selecting a case and if so, how big do you want it?*
Unless there's a better suggestion for my particular rig, no. At the moment I was going with the Coolmaster HAF 932 from the $2,000 Intel Build on these forums. I just want a case with a lot of room and good cooling capabilities.
*Accessories: Do you want a **keyboard**, mouse, or other items included?*
No, not at the moment.
*Recycled Components: Will you be reusing any components you already have?*
Mouse, Keyboard, and Speakers.
*Monitor**: If you want a monitor, what size do you want and should it be widescreen?*
I would like it to be at least 24" and widescreen. I would love to have an awesome monitor, but I would love to keep my monitor cost between $300-$400 at the most (excluding shipping and handling).
*Stores: Do you have any **online stores** that you prefer to purchase from?*
Nope, just whomever has the best prices/deals.
*Location: What country do you live in?* USA
Thank you both for your time and help, I really appreciate it!


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Reviews are OK for general assessment but don't take them too seriously. If you read a lot of Newegg reviews it will become obvious that many of the reviewers "Tech" knowledge is nowhere near what they claim.
All the hardware in our suggested builds list is known to be top quality and reliable.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

The HAF932 is a great case, though with a fairly largeish budget, might want to consider the updated version, the HAF-X. Wee bit pricier, but they certainly did a good job.
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case 

The $2000. build in the sticky is an excellent starting point, then fine tune it for your particular needs. If you don't want an ATI card, then go with a top nVidia single gpu card. Currently, the GTX580 is the king of the heap in graphics world. That'll run anything that you want it to run, as will the HD 6970 from ATI. Go with the flavour that you like best. If you do go that route, EVGA is the flagship partner for nVidia cards.
GTX580 - Newegg.com - EVGA 015-P3-1583-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) Black Ops Edition 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card 

For monitors, I've been going with Samsung and Asus, there are many other good brands too, those are just the ones that I've had a lot of good luck with, so I stick to them. Very good deal at Newegg for a 27 inch Samsung right now. With free shipping.
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG P2770HD Rose Black 27" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 50,000:1(1000:1) Built-in HDTV Tuner & Speakers


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