Building a gaming rig, advice needed

[Uriel]

Just got done with basic training and my friend needed some info on building a computer.
He has 2200 to spend on a system, he already has a case, monitor and preferials. What should he get?

 

[Vegeta897]

Woah, haven't seen you in a while.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Hah I still remember making a post in your last build thread about you making a build thread the day before.

 

[Top Secret]

What should he do? Take that 2200 dollars and put it into three groups of 700. Now, build a gaming computer for 700, then two years later, do it again. Then, two years later, do it again.

Take the remaining 100 and buy the biggest bag of carrots you can find.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

What should he do? Take that 2200 dollars and put it into three groups of 700. Now, build a gaming computer for 700, then two years later, do it again. Then, two years later, do it again.

Take the remaining 100 and buy the biggest bag of carrots you can find.

Best advice, right here.

 

[ray_MAN]

Best advice, right here.

Seriously. Gaming rigs don't cost $2200 anymore unless you want something like "SUPERCHARGED! SUPERCOOLED!"

 

[McGooTheWise]

Unless you want it to come with air conditioning...

 

[Krynn72]

2200? Just go on newegg and buy the most expensive shit there.

 

[Dinnesch]

This PC is not very cost-efficient, you can get a rig which isn't very much slower for around $1000, like Top Secret said you don't need to spend $2200 anymore.

I've included 2 GTX 275's which will make it outperform a GTX 295 at a lower price. Also, those GTX 295's seem to get very hot.

There isn't a DVD burner yet, because I coudln't find any decent ones on Newegg.
You may also want to consider buying a CPU+GPU aftermarket cooler, because they get very hot.

 

[Asus]

Generally, a gaming rig at any budget level has it's GPU a step up on the performance ladder compared to the rest of the components. If you got the best GPU and a fast enough CPU to feed it (a couple steps down from the top) the price would be well under $2k. If you really want to spend $2k then get SLI, Crossfire or a dual GPU chip setup (2 chips on 1 card).

But really the best way to stay on top is what these guys suggest. Budget for a couple PCs or major upgrades over a few years.
Buy 1 (semi) top end GPU now and upgrade it to the future card in 6mo-2yrs rather than getting 2 cards in SLI hoping to last. The 1st option will give you equal or better performance you want down the road and it will not be power hunger or give off as much heat. Plus it works in all games while SLI is hit and miss depending on how the game renders it's GFX (it might not mesh with SLI/crossfire techniques and therefore in that game be the same performance as if you had a single GPU).
Plus if you don't go SLI then you don't have to buy a beefy PSU, really expensive CPU to feed it or motherboard which cuts cost and lowers power and heat again.

What Dinnesch has listed is along the lines of what we mean.

 

[Rico]

Don't buy i7, unless you want to pay "early adopter" rape me in the butt tax. Don't buy the new shiny top of the line video card. Instead, buy the one a few steps down for that that gives you slightly less performance but costs like 100 bucks less.

Don't buy 12 gigs of ram, as you don't need it. Buy 8 GB tops right now. You aren't "future-proofing" by buying more expensive stuff right now that you don't need, you're "future-wasting your retirement money".

Technology generally follows a predictable pattern when it comes to performance/cost improvements. See Moore's Law: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law

Buy more as you need it.

As a rule of thumb, I'd never spend over 1000 dollars when upgrading your PC, unless you're buying monitors, OSes, and peripherals with that money as well. 800 bucks is generally the sweet spot for me.

 

[Escaep]

Ehh, what the heck, quick put together of a $2200 rig, didn't do much research.

 

[arch5]

Here is what I recommend:
Case- Antec Nine Hundred
CPU: Core i7 920
Memory: DDR3, you choose the speed, 6GB
GPU: You choose.
Heatsink (you will need one for a i7): Coolermaster V8
Optical Drive: I don't know. Just find something. LG, maybe.
PSU: Corsair 750W

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I really have nothing valuable to add, but I just can't take it anymore. I've always hated that people call it a "rig" and every time I see that word used in this context, I just want to FREAKOUT.

 

[Vegeta897]

Farrow you're just jealous because your rig is weak.

 

[Asus]

I really have nothing valuable to add, but I just can't take it anymore. I've always hated that people call it a "rig" and every time I see that word used in this context, I just want to FREAKOUT.

I don't usually say rig but that's how it was addressed above.

"rig" does seem too physical in nature for PC which has no moving parts (to do the computing). Seems like a word to glorify or embellish what it is or the effort in putting it together. You snap it together...less parts than a Lego kit but with electricity.

 

[Musk]

Your prices make me sick.