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I've been working for the summer, and I will probably keep working. If I do, I'll have roughly $3000 (CDN) to build a straight gaming computer with. I just need the box part, I've got the stick, pedals, headphones, etc. and I was wondering if some of you with more knowledge could design me a computer. This wont have pictures, or music, or any other pointless stuff my brother likes to nuke motherboards with. Just a couple of games like:

Il-2: 1946
BF2/BF2142
Company of Heros
FSX
CoD4

I want to be able to play these games with relativly high amounts of quality settings, so spend accordingly!

-S-

2 X 10,000 rpm raptor hard drives in RAID O Config. 74 gig with 300 gig external, or internal for files
Intel Core 2 6700 CPU
Best ASUS motherboard you can afford that can be upgraded to Quad 4 CPU
2 X Nvidea 8800 750 meg Video cards in SLI Config.
At least a 650 Watt power Supply
2 X gigs of the best DDR2 Ram you can afford
Creative Soundblaster X-Fi pro sound card..I have one and it is GREAT..!!
Logitech Z5500 5.1 speakers..have that too and love them, sound is wonderful
Best water cooling for CPU and Video cards you can find..for over clocking
Logitech G5 mouse
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Best flatscreen you can afford...min 20 " and refresh 8ms min, high contrast ratio eg 1000 to 1
40 0z Vodka
Blowup doll..if you have a girlfrind, you will lose her with this rig...

Hammer

lol

Hammer's choice does answer your request and would be a fast system but, if it were me, I wouldn't spend so much (even a pauper like me had it to spend).

You don't need to spend all your hard-earned cash; There is quite a difference in prices between a good system and an extreme for not much real return in quality or performance.
The core components are the most important so I'll give you two options on those. You can decide on your own priorities and peripherals. These are both expensive rigs - You will get good performance from BOTH. But you will have money left over from the "Realistic" option.

Riders:-
Bear in mind that (unless otherwise stated on the linked pages) these are retail and you can save more by getting OEM, which you may favour if you're going to be overclocking.
You'll need 3rd party cooling if you get OEM processors.
Not sure you'd get 2 x 8800's in SLi as they need an extra slot for cooling. You wouldn't be able to power the two of those in a system with just a 650w psu though.
Raptors are fast, but noisy because of it - the 150Gb versions are less noisy, but still noisy. I've suggested 2 Samsung's which are 7200 rpm but everyone I know, who's using them, raves about them.
Calculate how much power you will need from your final components (include fans, hard-drives, lights, etc) so you know which psu to buy.


Realistic ($1654.83):-
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775
ASUS P5K WS LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
XFX PVT80GTHD9 GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit (4-4-4-12 timing)
(this is the stuff I'm using)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI
SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD403LJ 400GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 ATX12V 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB
*Check this is powerful enough.
BenQ FP222WH Black 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen HDMI LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1
Thermaltake SHARK VA7000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Personal choice, but this is a good case and it's aluminium. I prefer Coolermasters.

Extreme ($2561.93):-
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775
ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX The Ultimate Gaming Motherboard
PNY VCG8800UXPB-OC GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 OVERCLOCKED HDCP
CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit (3-4-3-9 timing) (x2 ?)
Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional
SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb
Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 ATX12V 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB
*check this is powerful enough.
SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1(DC 3000:1)
Thermaltake SHARK VA7000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Personal choice but this is a good case and it's aluminium. I prefer Coolermasters myself.

Don't forget to allow for keyboard / mouse / Operating System (don't go for Vista yet), etc.
The performance you could gain from the difference of $900.00 doesn't warrant spending it.

Thanks for the speedy responce! I have found a guy whos shop is sponsered by Alienware (apparently) and I'm going to check that out before I go crazy with my money. Good call there Shades, I wasnt intending to spend all of my money, but that should be the limit that I can spend if nessesary. Although I may have some more wiggle room because theres a rumour that my boss may be giving a round of raises to keep us all around. Expieienced labour is scarce around here!

Can you build lego and re-wire a plug?
If so, you have all the necessary skills to build your own p.c.

Don't let Alienware, Dell, Gateway, Hewlet Packard and all the others get away with it. They want you to think it's a difficult thing to do. IT AIN'T.
The tricky bit is choosing parts that go together, and we already done did that bit for ya.

Give it a try; Don't forget there's loads of experts in C-C to help you.
If I can do it, any other bozo can too.
We get 9 and 12 yr olds building their own systems in another forum I belong to (www.BuildYourOwn.org.uk).

Plus, you get to save even more cash and show off to all your m8's.

Like Shades said.....Build it yourself!!!! I did for probably 50% of what a shop woulda done it for and this machine ROCKS!!!! . It was a little nerve racking but the pleasure of knowing I did it, is a lot better than just laying out the money and plugg'n it in! Remember there is always help here at CC if you need it.....lol I got plenty of it on my first build and it paid off greatly!!

I am in fact a huge fan of lego, and I can figure out how to wire a plug, so I'll give it a try. I just need to find out if the place I'm getting the parts from will sell me all the stuff without insisting on building it for me

- RAF92_BattleHawk

I just need to find out if the place I'm getting the parts from will sell me all the stuff without insisting on building it for me

If they'll do it cheap enough, it could actually be worthwhile getting them to do it.
If they only want $50.00 for the build I'd do it because you'll get a warranty from them which will cover you for faulty parts and is worth having.
Otherwise do it yourself.
[:D]

If your gonna go with the dual core I'd stick with the 2.4 (e6600). It's a $100 dollars cheaper than the 2.6 and can easily be overclocked to 2.7 with the asus "booster" software in windows.

Just a suggestion.

Yeah, there's a couple of guys on BYO who've clocked them up to nearly 3.0 and they're not exactly experienced overclockers.
You'll probably need 3rd party cooling if you were planning to do that.
I'm only using the stock fan, but then I don't overclock at all.

- JG300-fr8ycat

If your gonna go with the dual core I'd stick with the 2.4 (e6600). It's a $100 dollars cheaper than the 2.6 and can easily be overclocked to 2.7 with the asus "booster" software in windows.

Just a suggestion.

I'm not a fan of overclocking so I paid the extra and went for the 6700.

Hey, thanks for the suggestions, I'm going by the shop tomarrow and I'll get my price range set, just wondering if I should get XP or Vista

XP

(I got Vista running now on my new system and will soon be upgrading back to XP)

I think I just read on Toms Hardware an article Bios for Beginners that said with todays rigs overclocking just doesnt give you a leap in performance like it used to.

I have an Asus A8N SLI Deluxe MoBo and use ASUS NOS and really do not notice any difference in performance...

Your new CPU should make you very happy without kicking it in the pants.

Just my 2-cents worth LOL

- Shades

XP

(I got Vista running now on my new system and will soon be upgrading back to XP)

ROFL... (Um, I mean *snickering*...lol )