[DerekFantin]

I am planning on building a computer that can play games like Modern Warfare 2 and World of Warcraft and also keep up with video editing and all that kinda stuff. I am just starting out with computer building so i am not really sure what to look for. i was hoping to keep it around $600 - $700 Canadian. i have spent some time looking around www.newegg.ca but am lost on what to look for. If i could get some recommendations on some parts that would be wonderful.

Thanks in advance, Derek

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Hi Derek and welcome to Geekstogo!

I'd say you would probably get the best bang for your buck going with AMD on this build. It offers some pretty nice hardware for a much lower cost than Intel.

I think a processor like an Athlon II x2 240 Regor by AMD would be a good starting point for your budget. An Athlon II x4 or Phenom II might fit in your budget as well. Combine that with a motherboard that supports the processor somewhere in the $70-$100 range. Good ones to look at are ASUS or Gigabyte boards. The most expensive part of your build will probably be the graphics card since you are wanting to game with this unit. Again, AMD offers a pretty nice product for the money. I would look at the 4870 or 48XX series or 57XX series by ATI Radeon. XX = just fill in the blank with different models offered.

Another thing I can offer you is that the PSU (Power Supply Unit) is considered by some as one of the most important parts of a computer. It is what supplies each component with power, so having clean stable reliable power is nothing you should spend lightly on. Good power supplies are "80 Plus Certified" and rarely do I recommend anything less. Names that are good are Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, and OCZ. OCZ and Corsair being my two favorite as of late.

The case you pick can cost $20 all the way up to hundreds of dollars. All you need to really look at is does it support the motherboard form factor ATX or mATX (Micro ATX) and be sure to see if it comes with a fan or two to help keep the components cooler. Cooler components equals longer life from them. Also, most cases come with front USB and AUDIO, but be sure to pick one that does because I think that is always something a geek should have.

Anyway, that is some advice and options for you. I don't want to ruin your experience, so you can choose some components and then link me to all of them in your next post so I can make recommendations and check compatibility. OR, if this is something you'd rather me just pick them out for you, I can do that too. It's all up to you.

Guides that I think are helpful and you should bookmark:

How to Build Your Own Computer created by Trusted Staff, Troy and Artellos
Are My Parts Compatible? by Ferrari (Currently Pending Approval)
CPU HIERARCHY CHART by Tomshardware.com
Best Graphics Cards for the Money by Tomshardware.com

Let me know.

Edited by Ferrari, 04 April 2010 - 09:59 PM.

[Ferrari]

Hi Derek and welcome to Geekstogo!

I'd say you would probably get the best bang for your buck going with AMD on this build. It offers some pretty nice hardware for a much lower cost than Intel.

I think a processor like an Athlon II x2 240 Regor by AMD would be a good starting point for your budget. An Athlon II x4 or Phenom II might fit in your budget as well. Combine that with a motherboard that supports the processor somewhere in the $70-$100 range. Good ones to look at are ASUS or Gigabyte boards. The most expensive part of your build will probably be the graphics card since you are wanting to game with this unit. Again, AMD offers a pretty nice product for the money. I would look at the 4870 or 48XX series or 57XX series by ATI Radeon. XX = just fill in the blank with different models offered.

Another thing I can offer you is that the PSU (Power Supply Unit) is considered by some as one of the most important parts of a computer. It is what supplies each component with power, so having clean stable reliable power is nothing you should spend lightly on. Good power supplies are "80 Plus Certified" and rarely do I recommend anything less. Names that are good are Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, and OCZ. OCZ and Corsair being my two favorite as of late.

The case you pick can cost $20 all the way up to hundreds of dollars. All you need to really look at is does it support the motherboard form factor ATX or mATX (Micro ATX) and be sure to see if it comes with a fan or two to help keep the components cooler. Cooler components equals longer life from them. Also, most cases come with front USB and AUDIO, but be sure to pick one that does because I think that is always something a geek should have.

Anyway, that is some advice and options for you. I don't want to ruin your experience, so you can choose some components and then link me to all of them in your next post so I can make recommendations and check compatibility. OR, if this is something you'd rather me just pick them out for you, I can do that too. It's all up to you.

Guides that I think are helpful and you should bookmark:

How to Build Your Own Computer created by Trusted Staff, Troy and Artellos
Are My Parts Compatible? by Ferrari (Currently Pending Approval)
CPU HIERARCHY CHART by Tomshardware.com
Best Graphics Cards for the Money by Tomshardware.com

Let me know.

Edited by Ferrari, 04 April 2010 - 09:59 PM.

[DerekFantin]

Thanks for the starting advice. So i went on Newegg searching for parts you said would be a good starting point and this is what i came up with.

Processor - http://www.newegg.ca...3-706-_-Product

Motherboard - http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16813138179 (Not to sure about this one it came recommended with the processor, some help here would be awesome)

Graphics Card - having some real trouble here, everything looks the same also looking for some recommendations here

PSU - http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16817139005

Case - http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16811147144 (Read the reviews on this one and seemed to be quite popular and worth the money)

Memory - http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16820145184

These are just parts that i think all work together. any recommendations on either better parts or the same thing for cheaper is greatly appreciated. i need some help with the graphics card but after that i think i am ready to go.

Thanks for the great starting help! ill check back here tomorrow to see what has come up.

Thanks again, Derek

[Ferrari]

Those are some pretty darn good choices.

One thing that stands out to me is the BIOSTAR motherboard, that is generally a lower end board. I made an edit to my first post, but you had already began to read the topic. I recommended ASUS or Gigabyte motherboards. Here is one... http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16813128397 More expensive, but better quality and offers DDR3 memory support.

So for the memory I would go with G. Skill (but Corsair Memory is very good too) to help save costs as Corsair is more expensive. http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16820231189

The 620 Athlon II x4 is a nice processor, but for only about $5 more you can get the 630 which passes about 5 other groups of processors on the AMD side on Tomshardware's CPU Chart I linked to. http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16819103704

For the graphics card Tomshardware rates the 5770 1GB version as best GPU for $165 range. http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16814102868 It is a nice card and the new 5k series offers the newest DirectX 11 support.

Everything else looks awesome!

I believe that brings the total to about $662. Will you be getting your OS through your school? Or, do you need to purchase an Operating System?

Let me know what you think.

[DerekFantin]

This looks great! I am getting the OS off of a friend so i don't really need to worry about that in the cost. thanks sooooooo much for the help! can't wait for the parts to get here.

[Ferrari]

thanks sooooooo much for the help!

You are very welcome

If you have trouble with the build, post back and we'll see what we can get done.

Here are some useful tips when building your computer:

• Always use standoffs between the motherboard and computer case. CLICK HERE to see what they look like. Your case will come with them. These ARE ONLY NEEDED WHERE YOU SCREW THE MOTHERBOARD TO THE CASE, NO WHERE ELSE.
• Be sure to consult your motherboards manual on which RAM slots to use for the two sticks of RAM, and how to Enter The BIOS. <--should be the DELETE KEY
• Your Motherboard may have more than one PCI-Express x16 slots, you want to use the one closest to the CPU when only using 1 video card
• Remember to plug the power connectors into the video card before first booting the computer (if your video card requires it)
• You want to change the AHCI Mode in the BIOS to SATA mode if it isn't already configured to do so. This is for SATA hard drives only! Please note: If for any reason you plan to install Windows XP, you must use IDE mode as XP does not have the supported drivers for SATA mode. If you only plan to have Windows 7, then don't worry about, just use SATA Mode.
• In the BIOS, configure your boot priority to CD ROM first, then Hard Drive second. This is needed in order to boot from your Windows 7 Install Disk.
• See how to install Windows 7 HERE
• After you install the OS, you may need to install drivers. Go to Windows Orb(start), Right Click Computer, Select Properties, in the window that opens, Click Device Manager in the top left hand corner. If there are Yellow Exclamation or Question marks, you need to install a driver for that particular item. The most common are, Ethernet, Video, and Audio. These are all located on the disk that comes with your motherboard.
• If you are a Gamer, I recommended downloading and installing your video cards latest driver from their website for the best possible performance, usually the drivers that come on the CD are outdated. Nvidia.com and ATI.com
• Install an Anti-Virus and other security software. Here is the recommended Free Security Software by Geekstogo. I use Avira for my AV.

After all the drivers are installed and you protect your computer with an Anti-Virus, you can start enjoying your computer. There may be Windows Updates very frequently for a while until everything is finally up to date, they will settle down. If you'd like to get them out of the way quicker, go to Windows Orb (start), Click "All Programs", Click "Windows Update".

Edited by Ferrari, 05 April 2010 - 02:37 PM.

[Ferrari]

Did we forget to pick a hard drive out? Or do you have one? What about a CD/DVD player?

Cheapest CD/DVD player... HERE
320GB SATA hard drive... HERE

It was late last night, I should have mentioned this.

[DerekFantin]

yah i completely forgot about those. i think ill go with those 2 because i dont need to much space (barely able to fill up 100gigs on my laptop now) and ill go with that disk drive because its cheap and the reviews are good. thanks again!

[Ferrari]

I should have caught onto that, that's what I get for helping when I should be sleeping in my bed.

Yeah, 320gb will do you just fine then. You can always add a second larger drive in the future if you ever need it. Your case can hold 3 hard drives and your motherboard has 5 SATA ports, so you are good to go there.

Optical drives are cheap, and all of them seem to be about the same... so I just linked you to the cheapest one. Sony is good, a lot of people like LG, and I use a Samsung. I never here complaints about any of them, and I recommend all three all the time.

Keep us posted, and share pictures if you want.