Dual Monitor Gaming Build (~$1,500) - Hardware & Software

I was wondering on a build for $1,500 and I haven't been updated with computers recently... I was looking around on [url]www.msy.com.au:8888[/url] and I came up with a build for $1,550 It wasn't a great build, but I just wanted something I can play all games at 1920x1600 medium quality with no lag. And to not update my build for a few years. Here is what I came up with; i was hoping there was a bit of possible price trimming [code]Item: ASUS Rampage III GENE LGA1366 DDR3 Motherboard Unit Price: $289.00 Order Qty: 1 Subtotal: $289.00 Item: Patriot Viper2 6GB Kit(2Gx3) PV736G1600ELK DDR3 1600 (Intel 1366pin Only) Unit Price: $143.00 Order Qty: 1 Subtotal: $143.00 Item: Intel Core i7-950 3.06Ghz LGA1366 CPU Unit Price: $316.00 Order Qty: 1 Subtotal: $316.00 Item: Seagate SATA 2TB HDD Unit Price: $99.00 Order Qty: 1 Subtotal: $99.00 Item: LG SATA Black DVD RW - 1 Year Warranty Unit Price: $25.00 Order Qty: 1 Subtotal: $25.00 Item: Thermaltake V9 case without PSU Unit Price: $97.00 Order Qty: 1 Subtotal: $97.00 Item: HIS 1GB 6850 PCI-E VGA Card Unit Price: $215.00 Order Qty: 1 Subtotal: $215.00 Item: AeroCool V12-800 800Watt. PSU Unit Price: $195.00 Order Qty: 1 Subtotal: $195.00 Item: Acer 23" G235H BMD 5ms DVI SPK Unit Price: $171.00 Order Qty: 2 Subtotal: $342.00[/code] Can anyone come up with any good possible build they can have for me to buy at a shop for a good price please. Thank you

imo I would either have 1 or 3 monitors, because with dual-monitor gaming you're going to get a border right down the middle [editline]30th November 2010[/editline] and I would also suggest maybe get a socket 1156/i5 and beef up the GPU if you're gaming also I don't know much about HDDs but I heard Seagates were bad I would get a cheaper PSU, just get a decent 650/750w PSU and you'll be fine

Go 1156 instead of 1366. You'll save a good deal of money. You can get an 8GB dual channel kit for the same as that 6GB triple channel as well.

[QUOTE=Jaehead;26416208]imo I would either have 1 or 3 monitors, because with dual-monitor gaming you're going to get a border right down the middle [editline]30th November 2010[/editline] and I would also suggest maybe get a socket 1156/i5 and beef up the GPU if you're gaming also I don't know much about HDDs but I heard Seagates were bad I would get a cheaper PSU, just get a decent 650/750w PSU and you'll be fine[/QUOTE] I was thinking about that, but I would probably just game on one of the screens, and do work on the other. I don't plan on playing a game on multiple screens really... What 1156 do you guys recommend? and is my choice in video card worth the money and good for the job?

well considering your budget you can do a [i]lot[/i] better [editline]30th November 2010[/editline] unless you do rendering work this is on par with the i7 in terms of performance in games i5 760 [url]http://www.msy.com.au:8888/msyonline/product.jsp?productId=1515[/url] and for the motherboard just grab a p55 board also for the PSU this should serve you fine [url]http://www.msy.com.au:8888/msyonline/product.jsp?productId=4948[/url] this should give you at least an extra $250 to spend towards a better GPU

Thanks heaps guys The 6850 would be sufficient for gaming and supporting 2 monitors? And should I go for LED or LCD screens?

I mean a 6850 would be good enough but as I said you can get a whole lot better of a GPU and for the monitor just get whatever's cheaper

The 6850 can do up to 4 monitors with just one card :D

I don't think anything is wrong with Seagate HDD's, but if you don't need 2TB of storage a Samsung Spinoint F3 would be your best option.

[QUOTE=Jaehead;26416208]imo I would either have 1 or 3 monitors, because with dual-monitor gaming you're going to get a border right down the middle[/QUOTE] And that's just plain fucking stupid. I'm sort of looking into this, but the borders really tick me off. What's the thinest borderd monitor? Preferably 24". [editline]1st December 2010[/editline] [QUOTE=adamjon858;26419261]The 6850 can do up to 4 monitors with just one card :D[/QUOTE] Wait.. my 5870, Eyeinfinity, 6 monitors. It's more than 4, I'm sure. [editline]1st December 2010[/editline] Google Zenview, they seem to be good trio monitors.

I took into account all things being said and came up with: [code]Mobo: ASUS P7P55-LX P55 1156pin DDR3= $113 CPU: Core i5-760 = $211 Graphics: MSI 1GB 6850 = $217 RAM: G.Skill-NT 4GB Kit(2Gx2) DDR3 1333 RAM (Intel 775pin,1156pin, AM3) = $65 HDD: WD SATA 2TB = $104 Optical: ASUS SATA DVD RW = $26 Display: 2* 23” LG E2340V-PN = $194*2 = $288 PSU: Coolermaster Extreme Power+ 700 = $99 Case: Coolermaster SGC2000 Storm Scout = $118 =$1241 [/code] I like to save money where I can, would this be a great build though?

you don't need to spend half as much as you did on the RAM get this instead [url]http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=5217[/url] there are cheaper alternatives to the motherboard, such as this [url]http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=3305[/url] no need to spend $35 on a DVD drive, just get the cheapest one [url]http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=5526[/url] and I still really suggest that you invest in a more powerful GPU if you want to game on it for a few years, since the 6850 is a mid-range card even today

What size is your monitor? I know you said 1920x1600, but that seriously makes no sense as I've never heard a monitor like that. Do you mean 1920 x 1080?

that website is such a pain to navigate [editline]wef[/editline] no merge

[QUOTE=itsDivine;26421246]What size is your monitor? I know you said 1920x1600, but that seriously makes no sense as I've never heard a monitor like that. Do you mean 1920 x 1080?[/QUOTE] Yea, I'm a bit horrible with widescreen sizes... I mean 1920x1080 woopsie I just edited the list, thanks guys for the help. There's not many better graphics cards around on that site that would be worth the price. I can always just buy a better one later as well [editline]1st December 2010[/editline] and yes, i hate the website too; but it's the cheapest in Australia and they basically just launched the online shopping part of it. I wish NewEgg shipped to Australia :(

That's a solid build and I can't really see any ways to cut corners. Your PC is really only costing you around $850 as the rest of the cost is in the monitors. I'm building a similar machine and it looks like I'll be spending $950 on the PC and around $900 on monitors. Here's what I've got for mine. Granted these are prices from Newegg and I'm too lazy to look up exact models/prices so these are off the top of my head: Asus P7P55 Deluxe (or something like that): $120 2 x 4GB Gskill RipJaw 1333 DDR3: $70 4 x 1TB Seagate 7200RPM: $180 Case+PSU Budget (not picked): $175 Core i7: $275 ATI 6850: $200 3 x 23" 1080P IPS Panels: $900 I'd say the prices are pretty comparable.