Input on this gaming pc build.

[Wanderlai]

My cousin just built himself a gaming pc and he said this would be a very good build for me. He's a computer guy and he is building it for me. I think it may be overkill though. Whats the price point to build a very good gaming pc? I've had my Gateway for 6yrs and I paid $2400 back then. Its now time to build!

2--XFX GX260NADBF GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150330

ASUS P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131346

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Pr.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card with free Creative FATAL1TY 3.5mm gold-plated Circumaural Gaming Headset

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.162234

ZALMAN CNPS9900LED 120mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118046

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit for System Builders

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116493

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

All this is about $2100 shipped from Newegg.

I already have a new Antec 1200 gaming case, keyboard and mouse to use. I'll need a power supply...suggestions? Seems he left that off my item list. I'm also looking for a monitor in the $300 range.

I'm looking at the 24" viewsonic at Costco

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/902195

and this 24" Samsung at Sams.

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/nav...802&pCatg=5902

[Ranucci's Big Butt BBQ]

How much gaming do you do?

That is a lot of over kill if you don't game 24/7 and looking to make money at it. No reason to get 2 Nvidia 260 cards, one will do just fine on max setting for any game right now and the price of those will come down in the next few months with ATI's 4000 series which is better bang for your buck.

3 hard drives? How much porn you saving?

I can't comment on the mobo and processor since I go with AMD.

I built my gaming rig 3 weeks ago for around $800 and the only thing I didn't have to buy was the case, everything else was new and I can run any game, max settings without a hiccup. COD WAW doesn't go under 90fps.

[natty]

I'd say that's an overkill.

None of the links work but from what I can see 1 of those video cards is plenty, quad cores don't help gaming that much right now and I think it's too soon to buy an i7.

[TerriblePizza]

Three terabytes of storage is WAY overkill, unless your storing hours of HD movies.

The core i7 is also overkill for its price, you can save a lot by substituting an Intel Quadcore 2.something ghz and not sacrifice too much preformance.

[Zaximus]

You should scrap those hard drives, and get a Raptor drive..... if you really feel froggy get 2 and run raid.

[phidelt649]

I have my PC set up with two 1TB drives in a RAID1 for storage and I run my OS and programs off a 150GB Raptor drive. If you aren't putting any of those hdds in a RAID array, that is pure overkill.

As for the Power Supply, I would go with at least a 750w if you're going to be putting that much hardware in your system. I would recommend one that is prepared for SLI (I'm assuming you'll be running SLI)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010320058%20113142558&bop=And&Order=REVIEWS

[PowerlessDan]

Maybe two drives in a raid and the other for backup? That's what I have at work except the third drive is external.

[Wanderlai]

Yeah, he was going to have 2 drives in raid and the other for a backup. He was wanting to build me a sick gaming pc and this is but I was thinking that "it" would be more than I really need. He just built "this" system but with more bells and whistles for himself. Now I'm debating building "this" crazy good gaming pc at $2000 or building a good one around $1000.

How long does a $1000 gaming pc last before the games catch up?

How long does the $2000 build above last before the games catch up?

I'm itching to pull the trigger on a build so all of your input really helps. I can't even play a game of Civ 4 on the pc I have now. Granted it's been 6yrs since I bought the "old girl".

[natty]

Well I never upgrade everything I once but I've probably put about $500 into my computer and can run any game out there on high settings. Personally I think spending $1000 is too much. Unless you just want to have the latest and greatest, spending that kind of money just isn't necessary. Lots of people gauge how much they want to spend based on the price of their last computer but forget that computers get cheaper over time.

With gaming computers I wouldn't look for something to last 4-6 years because you have no idea what demands games will have even 2 years from now. I don't spend that much because I don't want to be financially stuck to one machine for that long.

[PowerlessDan]

I'm holding out for Windows 7 before my next major upgrade. I'm not a big PC game player anyway. I finally started playing Bioshock last weekend. It sat on the shelf for a year or more.

[Wanderlai]

I think I'm passing on the 2 GTX 260's and going with a GTX 285 with an eye on buying another 285 when a deal comes along. Whats the best "brand" to go with XTX or EVGA? Also is it better to get a core card or a overclocked card?

[Kevin Greene]

I've had excellent results with EVGA, even with a card I had to warranty.

Power supply. You can't beat PC Power and Cooling power supplies either. (PCP&C now owned by OCZ.)

[Jgigs]

Evga rocks. They also have the 90 day step-up plan. So lets say in 90 days you're itching for the gtx 295 or say they come out with a new one. You send you card back they will credit you your full purchase price of the 285 and you pay the difference for the new card of your choice.

I just bought the 285 last week and went with base model non-overclocked and I'm able to get the same overclocking as the SSC. I can't OC mine to the FTW setting though. I've had some games crash when running it at those speeds.

[Jgigs]

As for power supplies. I have a seasonic S12 + 650 watt. Awesome PSU. I went with them because they are extremely efficient and virtually in audible.

I have a htpc, so the quieter the better for my application.

They aren't cheap, but it is by far the most power and quietest PSU i've ever heard, or never heard for that matter.