Fall 2007 System Build Guide September 18, 2007 Jacob Vandy

Introduction

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For some, there is no greater joy in life than to build a computer from scratch. To feel the circuitry in your hands… To smell it… To taste, er…test it and bask in its glory, as if you had just created fire! Unfortunately, technology can be intimidating and some of you won’t know where to begin. Luckily, the only thing easier than choosing parts for a gaming rig is putting it together; I’m here to show you how affordable it can be.

Hard drive space has never been cheaper. Dual-core CPUs can be had for under $100, as can 2GB of DDR2 memory. You just have to know what to buy and where to look for it. These days, the latter is definitely on the internet, where shelf space is unlimited and all transactions are electronic. Plus, you can shop in your underwear without getting dirty looks from annoying sales representatives. The future is now, my friend. Embrace it.


In this guide, you will find complete gaming rig setups for varying budgets, starting at $500. I do not own each and every component listed, so I cannot personally verify their performance and/or perfect compatibility. What I can do is promise you that I have meticulously devised and revised this list to the best of my ability as a gaming enthusiast. At the end of the day, I cannot be held responsible for anything you do of your own accord.

Technology grows and changes quickly, so guides like this need to grow and change, as well. Heck, by Christmas, this whole thing will be out of date. Have no fear, as this will be a regular feature here at FiringSquad. The prices in this first set of builds come from Newegg.com, but tax and shipping are not included, nor is an operating system. If you would prefer future editions to incorporate them, or if you have any other suggestions, please let your voice be heard.

Consider the Following…

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Many of you will opt to stray from the builds listed later in the article. In fact, I encourage you to. After all, the research is half the fun of building a computer. However, there are some guidelines you need to follow. You can't just run off and pick any old combination of parts; you need to be sure they're compatible with each other. Here are some things for you to keep in mind.


Socket Type and FSB Speed
A motherboard's socket type determines which CPUs it can support. Newer socket types include LGA 775 for Core 2 processors and AM2 for Athlon 64 processors. If you don't choose socket-compatible parts, chances are you won't even be able to insert the CPU without damaging it and/or the mobo.


Every bit of data that travels from the CPU to the motherboard goes through the front-side bus. Different CPUs have different FSB speeds, so you need to be sure your mobo supports that of the CPU you choose. Most likely, if the mobo has the correct socket, it will support all FSB speeds pertinent to CPUs of that type. However, there are certain cases where a newer processor with a higher FSB speed will use a socket type present on older motherboards. It's better to be safe than sorry, so always make sure.

Memory Speed and Type
Motherboards will only support certain speeds of memory, usually proportional to the FSB speeds of compatible CPUs. These speed requirements will be listed in the motherboard description and must be adhered to, lest your computer fail to boot up (which can be so incredibly anti-climactic the first time you hit that switch). Also listed in the mobo description will be the type of RAM supported. The current standard is DDR2 SDRAM, the successor to DDR, or dual-data-rate, memory. DDR3 is just rounding the bend, but for now, you'll likely be looking for DDR2. Lastly, motherboards are made to support RAM at a specific voltage level. If the RAM module is rated for a voltage that isn’t supported by the mobo, it simply will not work.

RAM specifications can be confusing, as there are basically two different naming conventions. "DDR2 800" is easy and literal; it means DDR2 memory running at 800MHz. But the other, meaning exactly the same thing, is "PC2 6400." Luckily, most product descriptions on computer shopping sites tell you both. Another term you're likely to encounter is "dual-channel." This basically refers to using two identical RAM modules in designated slots on the motherboard to increase performance. For this reason, it is advisable to use two 1GB RAM sticks instead of one 2GB stick, for example. Not to mention, higher density modules are usually more expensive and can sometimes have slower RAM timings, which is a topic for another day.

Video Card Slot
As of now, there are a multitude of different types of video cards available. Not only do they vary in application, speed, noise, and power consumption, but also in the way they interface with the motherboard. If your mobo doesn't have the correct slot in which to insert that brand new GPU, you’re out of luck. PCI is the slowest of the expansion slots. It's usually used for sound cards, TV tuners, and other things that don't require the bandwidth a speedy video card does. That isn't to say there aren't video cards that use this interface; several compatible and usually low-end GPUs are still available today. AGP was the first expansion slot to be made exclusively for GPUs; hence the name "accelerated graphics port." Representing a sizable portion of the PC market, AGP video cards are still widely available, though new ones are seldom manufactured. The new standard in GPU slots is called PCI Express. Promising more bandwidth than AGP, all of the top-shelf graphics cards are created for this bus type.


Power Supply Wattage and Amperage
The PSU may very well be the most underrated PC component of all time. Every builder knows you need one, but some do not know or care how important a quality power supply is to the well-being of your system. With insufficient power, the best case scenario will be a complete system failure. If the PSU is damaged in such an event, you'd be lucky not to have other components fried and rendered useless. As a general rule, follow the recommendation of your graphics card manufacturer as to how much wattage your PSU needs.

New GPUs push the envelope of power requirements and it becomes important to note the amperage the PSU provides, particularly on the +12V rail. A detailed explanation of power supply specifications would be longer than this entire article, so all that needs to be said here is to be wary of how many amps your system requires, paying close attention to the video card.

Hard Drive Interface
It is important to note which type of hard drive you purchase and be sure that your motherboard supports it. Older hard drives use the IDE interface, the latest iteration of this was called ATA-133, meaning the hard drive could transfer data at 133 MB per second. Serial ATA came along a few years back and was sometimes called ATA-150, due to its increased transfer speed. Now we have SATAII, which can theoretically transfer up to 3 gigabits (375 megabytes) per second and introduced new features such as Native Command Queuing. That said, the real-world performance difference between SATA and SATAII isn't much. If you buy a SATAII hard drive and your mobo supports only SATA, the drive will still work.

With the new Serial ATA standard, large ribbon cables are a thing of the past. SATA cables are much thinner and are available in greater lengths than IDE cables. Of course, this also means you need to be sure your mobo has enough SATA ports to accommodate the number of devices you are looking to include. As with expansion slots, old standards die hard, so you're likely to find at least one IDE slot on even the newest of motherboards.

$500 Build

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This system can play older games on high settings and should support new games on moderate settings.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.3GHz (Brisbane) Socket AM2 CPU - $85
- out-performs similarly priced dual-core Intel CPUs

Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3 Socket AM2 motherboard - $80
- good feature set on a budget: gigabit ethernet, 8-channel audio, firewire
- on-board GeForce 6100 graphics make for a nice backup

G.SKILL 1GB DDR2 800 (F2-6400CL5S-1GBNQ) RAM - $40
- flexible voltage range, 1.8-2.0V

Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB (WD1600JS) OEM hard drive - $50
- 7200RPM, 8MB cache, SATAII

XFX GeForce 8600GT 256MB PCI-E video card - $120
- DirectX 10 support

Fortron AX400-PN 400W ATX power supply - $40
- reliable brand
- top quality for cheap

Lite-On 16x DVD-ROM (SHD-16S1S-05) OEM optical drive - $18
- black, SATA

Cooler Master Centurion 5 (CAC-T05-UW) ATX mid-tower case - $50
- black, very basic
- includes 120mm and 80mm fans


GRAND TOTAL = $473

Wiggle Room

If you don’t need the case and/or optical drive, I'd recommend another gig of RAM; you can get a dual-channel pair of the G.Skill DDR2 800 RAM for $75 (F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ). Or you can double the hard drive space for an additional $30 with something like a Seagate Barracuda (ST3320620AS). If you insist on exchanging DX10 support for more graphics performance, a Radeon X1950 Pro card would do very nicely for around $150.

$1000 Build

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This system should have no trouble with playing new games on high settings.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 2.13GHz (Conroe) LGA 775 CPU - $200
- high overclockability
- 4MB cache


Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 motherboard - $110
- all solid-state capacitors, meaning high durability
- gigabit ethernet, SATAII, 8-channel audio, lots of USB and firewire
- nice layout, passive cooling on chipsets

G.Skill 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 (F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ) RAM - $75
- flexible voltage range, 1.8-2.0V

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB (ST3320620AS) OEM hard drive - $80
- 7200RPM, 16MB cache, SATAII
- 25 cents per gigabyte

EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB PCI-E video card - $370

Fortron AX500-A 500W ATX power supply - $87

Lite-On 20x DVD±R/RW (LH-20A1L-05) OEM optical drive - $33
- black, SATA

Cooler Master Centurion 5 (CAC-T05-UW) ATX mid-tower case - $50
- black, very basic
- includes 120mm and 80mm fans

GRAND TOTAL = $1005

Wiggle Room

A 500GB hard drive can be had for the ridiculously low price of $120; that'd be my choice if I were to omit the case and/or DVD burner.

$1500 Build

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This system will dominate new games, even on the highest possible settings.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz (Kentsfield) LGA 775 CPU - $280
- high overclockability
- quad-core goodness

ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 motherboard - $155
- integrated wireless network adapter
- SLI-ready, DDR2-1066 and 1333MHz FSB support

2GB OCZ Platinum DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Micron D7 Chip Dual Channel Kit RAM - $156
-1066MHz with 5-5-5-15 timings

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB (ST3500630AS) OEM hard drive - $120
- 7200RPM, 16MB cache, SATAII


EVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E video card - $530

Fortron FX600-GLN 600W ATX power supply - $116

Lite-On 20x DVD±R/RW (LH-20A1L-05) OEM optical drive - $37
- black, SATA

Cooler Master Centurion 5 (CAC-T05-UW) ATX mid-tower case - $50
- black, very basic
- includes 120mm and 80mm fans

GRAND TOTAL = $1444

Wiggle Room

If you were to ditch the case, you could put the money toward an EVGA GeForce 8800Ultra (768-P2-N881-AR) for $630.

Dream Build

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A system like this is lusted after by many, yet enjoyed by few. It will remain a gaming powerhouse for years.


Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX6850 3.0GHz (Kentsfield) LGA 775 CPU - $1200
- 1333MHz FSB
- absolute top-of-the-line
- highly overclockable, if it’s even necessary

ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 motherboard - $300
- 1333MHz FSB support
- SLI-ready, dual gigabit ethernet, software bundle

4GB OCZ Technology FlexXLC Edition 2GB PC2-9200 DDR2 - $524
- hybrid copper/aluminum heatsink design supports liquid cooling
- 8-layer PCB
- 1150MHz DDR2 speeds with timings of 5-5-5-18

2 Western Digital Raptor X 150GB (WD1500AHFD) OEM hard drives - $380
- 10000RPM, 16MB cache, SATAII
- very fast storage for OS and games
- a RAID 0 array would be even faster

Seagate Barracuda ES.2 1TB (STT31000340NS) OEM hard drive - $380
- highest capacity hard drive available

2 BFG Tech GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB PCI-E liquid cooled video cards - $1600
- low-profile waterblock, doesn’t occupy two expansion slots

Enermax Galaxy EGX1000EWL 1000W ATX power supply - $330
- crème de la crème of power supplies

2 Plextor 18x DVD±R/RW (PX-810SA/BPS-BL) OEM optical drives - $140
- black, SATA

Thermaltake Tai Chi Aluminum (VB5001SNA) ATX full-tower case - $430
- includes liquid cooling system
- aluminum fins on chassis exterior act as a giant heatsink
- heavy-duty door w/ hydraulic hinge, removable motherboard tray

GRAND TOTAL = $5284

Wiggle Room

If you can afford this, I doubt you need to cut corners to improve upon it. That is, if it can be improved upon. OCZ actually makes faster, 1200MHz FlexXLC modules, but we couldn’t find these memory modules available for sale online at any retailer.