Thread: So I am building a budget Gaming rig...

My POS Compaq is showing its age and desperately needed upgrading, BUT as usual its an absolute POS to try and work with for upgrading...so I decided to spend some tax return money and build a budget gaming rig.

Here is what I have:
CASE
ThermalTake V9 Black Edition Gaming Case:

Welcome to Thermaltake

POWER SUPPLY

Antec - TruePower Trio 650

MOTHERBOARD
EVGA 680i LT SLI

EVGA 680i LT SLI Motherboard Review :: NVIDIA 680i LT SLI Features :: Motherboards.org

PROCESSOR
Intel Q6600 (Core2Quad)

Amazon.com: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor, 2.40 GHz, 8M L2 Cache, LGA 775: Electronics

CPU COOLER/FAN
ThermalTake Big Typhoon VX

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Produc...5&ID=1552#Tab0

RAM
4GB of DDR2 Fatal1Ty 1 RAM

OCZ Technology | Products | Memory | OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Fatal1ty Edition Dual Channel

GRAPHICS CARD
BFG Tech 9600 GT OC

BFG Tech - BFG NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB PCIe 2.0 (B)

KEYBOARD
Razer Lycosa

http://www.razerzone.com/p-87-razer-...-keyboard.aspx

CD/DVD DRIVE
Pioneer DVR 2910A

http://www.amazon.com/Internal-DVD-c...outThisProduct

OTHER ITEMS:
SATA 250GB Hard Drive
Microsoft 3000 series mouse
...all in all I think its going to be a wicked setup for around a grand or less.

I will post more info and pics once I get all the parts in (still waiting on USPS's Failure to deliver my processor)

haha what do you plan on gaming with this bad boy?

Hmm well vista or XP.... A toughy lol, I always use my xp or on my laptop I am testing out Windows 7 which is going pretty good. Crysis is over-rated IMO I have a few friends who play and I tried it's not that good for me. Comcrap usually doesn't last to long for gaming :P

On a side not why would you use vista business?

Honestly Jeff, I would say up the Video Card to a 9800 series card. They are not going to be much than what you are gonna pay for that 9600GT, and you be thanking me later :P

Trust me!!

Long story me and ComCrap have never gotten along every comcrap I have owned crapped out on me, thus the name :P Lol, it can't be to hard to find a licensed copy of xp for free

Hmm *checks* yep my XP is recognizing all 4 gigs, vista may take all 4 gigs but it won't utilize them all, is it a 64 or 32? I skipped vista after having it for 3 months and put all PC's back to XP and plan to upgrade to windows 7 as I did with my laptop it is pretty nice.

Yeah but are you going to need 8 gigs? haha And a 32 bit can only recognize up to 4 gigs I thought.

Yeah I am pretty sure the 32 bit OS can only recognize up to 4 gigs, and the 4 for vista is really only 2.9 being used because the other 1 is for the "running backup programs" etc

You will want a 64-bit OS to utilize what you have there...I would go with Vista.

I just built a similar rig, it ran me about $600-$650 without keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

Q9300
Asus P5Q-Pro motherboard
4Gb ram
640Gb WD Black
Antec Sonata III case
500W Earthwatts power supply, 80+ certified
MSI 4850
Sata DVD R/W
Freeze 7 CPU cooler

I would do most things a little different then you are. The ATI cards are a better "value" by far. The CPU cooler could be better, for less, by going with something like the Freeze 7. I would step up to a bigger hard drive, unless you already have one. For only a few buck more you can go with the hard drive I picked up, and it is wicked-fast compared to a lot of others out there that are not a Raptor drive, for $70.

Originally Posted by JEFFSGTP

yeah, I didn't discover the Freeze 7 until after I had already purchased the one I have, but it will be fine for now...(The Freeze 7 is however a VERY NICE UNIT)...I have no intentions of OC'ing it until i find it necessary even though I know its quite OC'able. the Sata HDD I already had, as is the case for the Monitor, Keyboard and power supply....I also have an externa 250GB HDD that I use for routine backups of my OS. My plan is to eventually move to a RAID array, but that will be down the road a bit.

RAID is a dangerous game for most folks to play. Just make sure you do a ton of homework to determine if it is really the route you want to take. I would take a look at the ATI 4850 cards and this motherboard over what you have listed now:
Newegg.com - ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

You will probably save a few bucks and get more out of it.

How about a decent sized case, too?
Micro Center - Nine Hundred ATX Gaming Case

If you are not planning on overclocking (and even if you are), then this Q9300 is a great deal:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0299998

Stock, it is a smidge stronger then the Q6600, while consuming less power, thus creating less heat. I have mine easily overclocked to 3.2GHz right now without doing anything other then bumping up the clock in the BIOS and leaving everything else on "Auto" on my motherboard.

I was planning on a RAID 0 or Raid 0+1 setup down the road. as far as the motherboard I already have all of the items above bought and either installed or waiting for the processor so they can be installed....I got the MB for $100 NIB...just couldn't pass that price up for what I was getting.

Oh and the Q9300 is a Yorkfield core which is NOT SUPPORTED by my motherboard..otherwise you are right and I actually would have went that route....no telling if EVGA is coming out with a BIOS update for it but at the moment its not supported.