Want a new gaming PC within 1000$

[madgun]

I have a maximum budget of 1000$ and want an 8800GT to fit into it. Can't go over it, even slightly, as it would effect my reserves that I plan to maintain for the holiday season coming ahead. Please help me out with suggestions about what to get!!

 

[engiNURD]

Here, start with this, adjust accordingly:

$280 - 8800GT 512MB
$120 - E4500
$86 - IP35-E
$58 - 2GB DDR2-800
$60 - 250GB SATA300
$50 - XClio Goodpower 500W
$35 - Elite 330
$35 - DVDRW SATA
=========
$725 + tax and shipping - any MIRs

Now for some questions...

What's included in that $1000 budget? (OS/keyboard/monitor/tax/shipping/etc?)
What else would you use the system for?
What size monitor do you have or plan to get?
What games do you play and at what settings?
Do you plan on OC'ing? If not, you should, since its very easy.
Did you read the sticky in the GenHard forum?

 

[avnos]

<3 enginurd , im looking at building something similar, definately upgrade the processor + psu from the baseline here imo.

 

[madgun]

thats a great spec enginurd, and yea 1000$ doesn't include a monitor. I'll be likely to go with a decent 22" samsung LCD panel.

 

[alexlyc]

$169 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz Retail
$47 - Asus Silent Square Cpu Cooler
$41 - 2x 1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800
$97 - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Mobo
$270 - XFX GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
$70 - Seagate 7200.10 250GB SATA HD
$72 - Corsair 550W PSU
$40 - Cooler Master CM 690
$36 - Samsung SH-S203B DL DVD Burner SATA
$105 - Vista Home Premium 32bit OEM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: $947 before tax and shipping (only ram require shipping) and after MIR
*In my case, 8.75% tax, the true final cost will be roughly about $990 or less even after tax and shipping

My suggestion to you is buy the ballistix immediately becuz it runs out fast, and you might also want to hold on to buying a new hd, you can probably use some of your old one while you wait for the holiday season. And be advise that the cheapest 8800GT right now is at frys.com for $240+shipping, but currently out of stock. Evga / XFX / BFG are all good brand, I just give you an amazon.com link for reference becuz it doesn't charge tax for ca resident and free shipping.

 

[alexlyc]

Oh one more thing, in my experience I maxed out the E6550 to 3.26GHz @ 466 FSB on a cheapo G33 ECS board with the rest of the components I listed (pic), so I think with the gigabyte P35 board, you can probably hit 3.6GHz @ 514 FSB

 

[engiNURD]

Oh one more thing, in my experience I maxed out the E6550 to 3.26GHz @ 466 FSB on a cheapo G33 ECS board with the rest of the components I listed (pic), so I think with the gigabyte P35 board, you can probably hit 3.6GHz @ 514 FSB

For $20 more you can get the E6750 and hit 4Ghz instead. You'll need some better cooling for the NB on that DS3L though, if you want to go that high. The Ultima90 performs slightly better than the Asus Silent Square, and its lighter/smaller; so I'd suggest that over the Asus SS, along with a Panalfo Hydrowave fan for $3.

Otherwise, the E4500 could also reach 3.2Ghz and will perform slightly worse than the E6550 due to its smaller cache... but the difference isn't much, imo -- especially since the E4500 is easier to OC with its higher multiplier (it also costs $50 less!). Check out this link: Influence of L2 Cache Size on Conroe Processors Performance

 

[alexlyc]

thats true, E4500 will be easier to oc, and you can save money

 

[madgun]

And if i make a plan of getting a penryn by Q1 2008, will that motherboard support the processor? I do like the cost plan and really think that things are fitting in my budget especially considering that I am getting a very powerful GPU.

 

[Dangman]

Yes any mobo based off the P35/X38 chipsets will support the new Penryn CPUs.