Re: Design me a Computer (Please :) )
Ok, pretty much new everything then. We'll have to cut some corners to keep it under $1k and still game well, but let's see what we can do here.
Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW - $50. On a budget build, case must also be budget. This one looks like it will get the job done and still look pretty. Different colors available in the same model if you search.
Monitor: ASUS VW224U Black 22" 2ms(GTG) Widescreen LCD - $170 ($150 after rebate). Monitor is a pricey part, but probably the thing most likely to last the longest out of all of this stuff. You also spend every second staring at it, so it's better to spend a bit more on it. This one looks decent at an acceptable price. If there's money left over after this is all done, this would be the first thing I would spend more cash on.
VPU: XFX GS250XZDFU GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 - $150. On a gaming machine, VPU has to be good. I am kind of amazed at the price on this one. Expected $200+ for a decent VPU, but this is very good and should handle almost anything you throw at it now and will continue to do so for a few years.
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX - $120. I love Gigabyte boards and I actually use this one myself. Can handle i5 and i7 for future upgrades to keep the machine decent in the long-term. Only downside is lack of IDE, which requires converter cards for any old IDE devices you have to hook up.
CPU: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 - $200. This is a little pricier than I expected for a the lowest tier i5 quad core. Might have to go back and revise the mobo/cpu choice later if this goes over budget.
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $110. It's RAM. It's 4gb. It's GSkill. 'Nuff said.
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb - $70. It's a 1TB SATA drive for $70. I bought one yesterday. WD Caviar drives are great.
PSU: Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W ATX12V - $55. 600w is plenty.
Total Price: $925 w/o Keyboard, Mouse, new CPU heatsink/fan (Intel stock coolers are not good). $905 if you send in the rebate noted above. $100 is plenty to spend on Keyboard and Mouse. I'm unsure how well the stock heatsink/fan will perform, so I'm leaving that out of the equation. If the stock stuff works fine, then no need to replace it. If it runs too hot, that's another $50 for a decent cooler.
There are ways to cut corners on this, most notably by dropping the quality of the CPU/Mobo/RAM, but that will majorly impact the long-term usefulness of the machine. A 775 socket machine will be much cheaper, but won't be upgradable and won't keep up with software over the next few years. That's why I recommend the socket 1156 with the lowest tier i5... you can upgrade to a much faster quad core i7 in a couple years and keep the machine running very well. Note that I'm an Intel-only guy and I pretty much ignore AMD when searching for parts. You could perhaps save some money by going AMD, but you'll have to get advice on the corresponding CPU/Mobo from someone else.
You could also go with a much cheaper VPU, but that will directly and immediately impact gaming. I do not recommend it, especially with that excellent price on the VPU. Another cost-saving area would be to go with 2gbs of RAM instead of 4gbs. That will save you $45 right there, which brings the total down to $880 ($860 w/ rebate) which provides a lot of wiggle room for mouse/keyboard and perhaps a nicer monitor. It will also help offset the shipping costs. Then again, 4gbs is nice. You could probably save another $20-$30 on the case as well if you went for a super-budget case.
You could also go with a budget mobo which is i3/i5/i7 capable, such as this one and then opt for a much cheaper dual core i3 CPU. Together that would save you about $100, and would still let you upgrade to an i7 quad core in the future without a new mobo/RAM. (Note: that board is a bit light on the SATA ports, so it may be problematic if you run lots of HDDs/DVD drives. That said, I've never personally needed more than 4 in a non-server box.)
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