Build a $1500 Powerful Gaming PC Today that’s Ready to be Upgraded Tomorrow
The Cooler Master HAF 932, the case featured in this build.
When I started working on this new version of the $1500 Gaming PC, I had two goals in mind:
1. Offer you a Gaming PC Build that’s highly powerful today: Capable of running pretty much any game, maxed out at a 1080p Full HD resolution.
2. Equip it with the proper parts, for easy upgrades in the future: So that it can run the latest games in a few years.
Good news:
I’ve achieved both of my goals with this build.
Here’s how:
Upgraded CPU/Motherboard/Chipset Platform:
The previous version of the $1500 Gaming PC:
Based on Intel’s LGA1156 socket/P55 chipset platform.
The great thing with that platform is that those LGA1156 CPUs and P55 motherboards are more affordable, enabling you to save money or spend more on other parts.
However, that platform also has two drawbacks:
- The maximum bandwidth for two PCI-Express slots, which are used by video cards, is 8x/8x. While this isn’t a problem yet with the current generation of video cards, it will become a bottleneck starting in 2011, if you want to upgrade to the next generation of AMD’s Radeon or Nvidia’s Geforce video card(s).
- The RAM runs on dual-channel, per set of 2 sticks, so two or four sticks. Compared to Triple-Channel featured on the other Core i7 platform, this gives you less bandwidth. While this does not affect performance in a perceptible way in most applications right now, some argues that it will become a limiting factor in the future.
The new version of the $1500 Gaming PC:
Based on Intel’s LGA1366 socket/X58 chipset platform.
In order to have the $1500 Gaming PC ready for easy upgrades in the future, I had to make sure that it would support such upgrades and that the current parts wouldn’t bottleneck future parts performance.
To ensure this, I upgraded the CPU, Motherboard (Chipset) and RAM, moving up from Intel’s LGA1156 socket/P55 chipset/Dual-Channel RAM platform to Intel’s LGA1366/X58 chipset/Triple-Channel RAM platform.
What do you gain from upgrading from the LGA1156/P55 platform to the LGA1366/X58 platform?
1. Full PCI-Express 16x/16x bandwidth
- Unlike Intel’s LGA1156 socket/P55 chipset platform, Intel’s LGA1366 socket/X58 chipset platform has full bandwidth on PCI-Express slots (16x,16x), making this Gaming PC ready for upgrades to the next-generation of video cards from AMD Radeon and Nvidia Geforce series, without bottlenecking their performance.
2. Triple-Channel RAM: More bandwidth and more RAM
- The RAM runs on Triple-Channel, so you now have RAM per set of three sticks, so three or six sticks. Triple-Channel gives you more bandwidth, making this PC more capable on handling future, more-demanding, applications.
- More RAM slots and Three sticks vs Two sticks also means that the system supports more RAM and usually includes more RAM to begin with. For example, this $1500 Gaming PC was equipped with 2 x 2GB (4GB) in its previous edition and is now equipped with 3 x 2GB (6GB) in this edition.
3. Higher-performance CPU for the Same Price and Six-Core CPU support
- The LGA1366 features a faster CPU for the same price:
You can get a $300 3.06GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 950 on the LGA1366 socket or you can get a slower, 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 870 on the LGA1156 socket - As as well as more powerful upgrades available:
The 2.93GHz Core i7 870 is the fastest CPU on the LGA1156 socket. On the LGA1366 socket, you can upgrade to either the faster Quad-Core 3.2GHz Core i7 960, the Six-Core 3.2GHz Core i7 970 or the Six-Core 3.33GHz Core i7 980X.
4. Better Overclocking Results
- While I have no hard data nor posts to link to that clearly prove this; based on my experience and various information that I have read since the launch of the LGA1366/X58 platform and LGA1156/P55 platform launch, I can tell you that the trend is that CPUs on the LGA1366 socket/X58 chipset overclock further than CPUs on the LGA1156/P55 platform.
$1500 Gaming computer hardware parts recommendations, short summary:
Required components:
Accessories:
| Accessories | Make, Model and Specifications | Price |
| Headphone | Logitech G330 3.5mm/ USB Circumaural SENNHEISER PC151 3.5mm Binaural Creative Sound Blaster Arena Surround USB SENNHEISER PC161 3.5mm Circumaural Logitech G35 USB 2.0 Surround Sound SENNHEISER PC166 3.5mm/ USB Connector Circumaural |
$50 $60 $80 $90 $97 $140 |
| Speakers | Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 Logitech Z-2300 200 watts RMS 2.1 Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Digital |
$70 $131 $340 |
| Monitor | No 3D Glasses Bundled: Acer 23.6″ 2ms 1080p 120Hz 3D 3D Glasses Bundled: Asus VG236H 23″ 2ms 1080p 120Hz 3D No 3D Glasses Bundled: Three Acer 23.6″ 2ms 1080p 120Hz 3D Buy NVIDIA 3D Glasses |
$370 $500 $1110 $180 |
Build your Gaming PC today!
Why should you?
For the same price, you’ll get more performance out of your custom PC, or you’ll save money while getting the same performance compared to a retail PC. Not to mention that retail PCs come with tons of bloatware and limited warranties. Why settle for less?Stop relying on HP, Dell and other companies:
Build your own custom PC today. It’s easier than you think!This Build includes all the parts/cables that you need and was double-checked to ensure compatibility. Simply order your parts, set aside some time, grab a screwdriver and build your own personal Gaming PC. No worries, I’ll be there to assist you if you have questions or need help.
Then you’ll be able to say, “See that computer over there? Yeah, I built that.” Talk about being proud of a job well done.
Building this System, Got a Question, Need Help?
$1500 Gaming Computer Hardware parts recommendations, detailed version:
Motherboard:
ASRock Extreme 3 X58 LGA1366 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX
This motherboard is filled with great features. On the back, it features two USB 3.0, five USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, E-SATA, S/PDIF Out via Optical, two PS/2, Gigabit LAN and 7.1 Surround audio. Crossfire and SLI are supported, with three PCI-Express 2.0 16x slots running at 16x/16x/4x. This motherboard supports/is compatible with everything in this system, including the two Geforce GTX 460 in SLI of course.
Ports:
On the board itself, you have three PCI-Express 2.0 16X (16x, 16x in Blue, 4x in White), one PCI-Express 1X and two PCI slots, along with two SATA 6.0Gb/s and six SATA 3.0Gb/s ports.
Note that it comes with four SATA cables, so no need to buy any for the DVD Burner, SSD nor the two hard drives. The SLI Bridge cable is also included. Note that motherboard upgrades also include SATA cables and the appropriate SLI bridge(s).
AnandTech reviewed it if you’d like to see an in-depth review of it.
In short, the AsRock Extreme 3 supports SLI, with a great layout that lets the two cards breath, comes with SATA 6.0Gb/s as well as USB 3.0. Its weak point would be that it’s not the best overclock, but hey, for $190 for a more than decent X58 motherboard, I wouldn’t complain.
Recommended upgrades:
- If you want the same great PCI-Express layout for SLI, but with top-notch overclocking, the ASUS P6TD Deluxe LGA1366 X58 ATX
- For a Three-Way SLI setup with three full speed 16X PCI-Express slots, I recommend the ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution 3xPCIe@x16 LGA1366 X58 ATX
CPU:
Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz LGA1366 130W Quad-Core
The Intel Core i7 line on the LGA1366 socket have been the high-end CPU to get for an high-end Gaming PC for nearly two years now. At first we had the 2.66GHz Core i7 920, which was eventually replaced by the slightly faster 2.8GHz Core i7 930, which is now getting replaced by the quite faster 3.06GHz Core i7 950, starting today with its price cut from ~$600 to ~$300. This is one of the reason that I waited until today to publish this new $1500 Gaming PC 
The one and only Intel Core i7 950, the successor of the highly popular Intel Core i7 920 and 930, offering an additional 266MHz over its predecessor.
What about the AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz or the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 3.2GHz?
Whether if it’s vs the Phenom II X6 1090T, or vs the Phenom II X4 965, the Intel Core i7 950 comes on top in the vast majority of cases. Not to mention that the i7 950 has more overclocking headroom.
Recommended upgrades (Compared to the Intel Core i7 950 main recommendation):
While there are faster options such as the:
- Core i7 960 (Quad-Core at 3.20GHz – $570)
- Core i7 970 (Six-Core at 3.20GHz – $900)
- Core i7 980X (Six-Core at 3.33GHz, Unlocked Multiplier – $1000)
I do not recommend them, because in my opinion, they just aren’t worth the much higher cost for the little performance improvement that they bring when it comes to gaming performance. You’d be much better off spending your money on something else, such as the video card(s) or an SSD. Besides, you can just overclock your CPU if you want that extra edge.
Video Card:
Two EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB in SLI
Overtaking my previous recommendation for this build, the two Radeon HD 5850 in Crossfire, the two Geforce GTX 460 in SLI setup is the logical choice here.
Performance wise, they perform pretty much on par with the two Radeon HD 5850 in Crossfire that they replace. I know, a single Radeon HD 5850 is a tad faster than a Geforce GTX 460 1GB, but Nvidia SLI performance scales better than ATI Crossfire does, hence why two Geforce GTX 460 in SLI perform on par, if not even better in some games, than two Radeon HD 5850 in Crossfire.
Best of all? Two GTX460 1GB in SLI will set you back $460, while two Radeon HD 5850 would cost you $580. Needless to say, for about the same performance, two GTX 460 1GB in SLI offer better value.
For more information on the performance of two Radeon HD 5850 Crossfire vs two Geforce GTX 460 SLI:
Take a look at the following benchmarks, from Maximum PC, for a comparison of two Geforce GTX 460 in SLI and two Radeon HD 5850 1GB in Crossfire:
If you look only at actual games performance, which is what you should care about, since you’ll be playing games, not benchmarks, here’s what you get:
Radeon HD 5850 1GB Crossfire: 2
Geforce GTX 460 1GB SLI: 3
Tie (Within 5 FPS of each other): 4
So, as you can tell, the GTX 460 1GB in SLI setup is just an hair faster, on average, than two Radeon HD 5850 in Crossfire. Besides, at its price point, just a mere performance match would have been enough for me.
What games can the $1500 Gaming PC handle:
This setup is capable of handling the majority of games at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and most games at 2560 x 1600.
Finally, this setup is DirectX 11 compliant, HDCP Ready and will handle Blu-Ray and other 1080p content playback, with audio over HDMI as well.
Recommended upgrades:
If you want to play the most demanding games (Crysis, Metro: 2033 and the like) at 1920 x 1080, 2560 or 1600 or with three 1080p monitors side by side, for 5760 x 1080 gameplay, with 3D and/or with maxed out visual quality, you’ll need more graphic power.
Here are my recommendations:
Two EVGA GeForce GTX 470 1280MB in SLI – lol
Three EVGA GeForce GTX 470 1280MB in 3-Way SLI – lol
Three EVGA GeForce GTX 480 1536MB in 3-Way SLI – lol
Performance scaling in Metro: 2033 from two Geforce GTX 460 in SLI all the way up to three Geforce GTX 480 in Three-Way SLI:
Metro: 2033 is one of the most demanding game on the market. In these reviews, you can see what kind of performance to expect with the game completely maxed out:
- Two Geforce GTX 460 in SLI (I realize that the GTX 460 in that article are the 768MB edition, so add a few FPS to get a more or less accurate idea)
- Two and Three Geforce GTX 470 in SLI/Three-Way SLI
- Two and Three Geforce GTX 480 in SLI/Three-Way SLI
Important note regarding upgrades to the video cards:
Upgrading the video cards requires a power supply upgrade. This is not optional, it is mandatory, see the power supply section for more details.
While not necessary for two GTX 470 in SLI, for a Three-Way SLI setup, I highly recommend upgrading the case to the Thermaltake Nvidia edition, with the Three-Way SLI GPU duct, for optimal temperatures.
RAM:
G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 CAS 7 1.5v
While you could get by with 3GB ( 3x1GB) of RAM, you’re better off with 6GB (3 x 2GB), especially considering the small price difference.
6GB of RAM will easily handle the latest video games, considering that most of them won’t use more than 2GB, along with Windows and background background such as your anti-virus, web browser, music/video player, etc.
I went with G.Skill for their high reliability and compatibility with the majority of motherboards. I chose these particular sticks due to their good price considering their 1.5V requirement for CAS 7 and a 1600MHz frequency.
Important note:
To avoid damaging your Core i7 processor, do not use any RAM that requires over 1.65V, nor should set your RAM voltage over 1.65V. Doing so will damage your processor, since the memory controller is integrated in it and cannot handle that much voltage.
Also, you will most likely have to set your RAM frequency and timings manually in the BIOS, or with a XMP profile, so don’t be worried if your RAM boots with different settings at first.
Recommended upgrades
- If you intend to overclock your CPU, you’ll want to make sure that your RAM doesn’t limit you by being unable to keep up. Running at a frequency of 2000MHz, while still being relatively affordable, upgrading to the CORSAIR XMS 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 2000MHz CAS9 1.65v
- You want to be future-proof or you have highly demanding programs that need more than 6GB of RAM, but you have no intention of overclocking? Get this: G.SKILL Ripjaws 12GB (3 x 4GB) DDR3 1333MHz CAS9 1.5v
- If you want 12GB of RAM at 1600MHz, for light overclocking, go with this kit: Mushkin Blackline 12GB (3 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 CAS9 1.65v
- If you want 12GB of RAM AND want to heavily overclock, go with this 12GB 2000MHZ kit of DDR3: G.SKILL Trident+ 12GB (3 x 4GB) DDR3 2000MHz CAS9 1.65v
Hard Drive:
Two Samsung F3 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s
in RAID 0, Total Capacity: 1TB
In this Tom’s Hardware hard drive article, the SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ (The 1TB version) finishes on top of all transfer rates benchmarks, even ahead of what used to be my recommendation for high-end builds, the Western Digital Caviar Black. Now, guess what happens if you take two of the 500GB version of this drive and put them in RAID 0 (Easily done via the BIOS)? You get a setup that’s nearly twice as fast compared to the F3 HD103SJ 1TB edition, for only $32 more, with also a 1TB capacity.
Considering that the hard drive is often the bottleneck in a system and that no ones likes waiting for their game to load, this is a simple and relatively inexpensive upgrade compared to a single drive, like the Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB featured in the previous version of this build.
Recommended upgrades:
- Two Samsung F3 1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s
in RAID 0, Total Capacity: 2TB – Same as above, 300+MB/s transfer rates, except that you get a 2TB storage capacity this time.
- Four Samsung F3 1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s
- Intel X25-V 2.5″ 40GB SATA II Intel w/ TRIM SSD
- Corsair Force 2.5″ 60GB SATA II SandForce w/ TRIM SSD
- G.SKILL Phoenix Pro 2.5″ 120GB Sandforce w/ TRIM SSD
- OCZ Vertex 2 180GB 3.5″ SATA II SandForce w/ TRIM SSD
- Keep in mind that you need to correctly setup your PC with two hard drives in RAID and a SSD. You simply need to set SATA as RAID in the BIOS and configure your RAID controller utility so that the SSD is a non-RAID disk, while the hard drives are RAID disks. Check your motherboard manual for details on how to do this.
- Want a different combination of SSD(s) and Hard Drives? I invite you to take a look to our guide to the Best Hard Drives & Best SSDs For Your Money.
Optical Drive:
LITE-ON Black 24X SATA CD/DVD Burner
This drive is able to read and burn CDs and DVDs. Silent, compatible with all major formats including DVD-RAM.
Also, seeing as DVD Burners are often go out of stock lately, here are a two alternatives that you can use to replace it. All are SATA based.
Upgrades:
If you’d like to watch BluRay movies or TV shows, this LITE-ON 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA will do the job. However, note that it can only READ CDs, DVDs and Bluray disks, not burn any of them.
If you want the ability to burn disks and read them as well, the LG 10X Blu-ray Burner SATA is what you want.
Regarding Blu-Ray playback:
As far as I know, you still require a specific software to playback Blu-Ray disks on a PC. Based on various reviews and feedback on various forums, PowerDVD 9 Ultra is the software that I recommend to you. It is fully compatible with Windows 7 and shouldn’t give you any problems.
Case:
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 ATX Full Tower
For $130, this is an outstanding case from Cooler Master:
- Cooling wise, this case includes three 230mm and one 140mm case fans, insuring proper cooling for your powerful Gaming PC.
Features wise, you get:
- A unique look with Red LEDs, not the common blue LEDs equipped on so many cases. Best of all, if LEDs annoy you, you have the option to turn them off.
- Support for up to five hard drives
- Enough space for the longest video cards .
- 4x USB, FireWire, E-SATA, Audio out and MIC in at the top
Recommended upgrades:
- Here are a few alternatives that are worth taking a look at:
- Antec DF-85
- Antec Twelve Hundred
- COOLER MASTER HAF X w/ Duct for SLI
- Thermaltake NVIDIA Edition w/ Duct for 3-Way SLI
- Corsair Obsidian 800D
- Antec DF-85
- If you want a different case, take a look at the following article: Find Out the 88 Best Computer Cases For Your Money.
Power Supply:
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W SLI/CrossFire/80 PLUS Certified
This power supply is capable of delivering up to 750W, not that should rely on this information only as I often point in posts such as Warning: 6 Surefire Ways of Blowing Up Your Computer Due to an Inadequate Power Supply, but more importantly 60A on the 12V line, the most important factor when it comes to choosing a power supply for a gaming computer.
Best of all, it is 80 PLUS certified, meaning that it’s always at least 80% efficient, resulting in less heat, more silence and a lower electricity bill for you, compared to a less efficient power supply.
Power Consumption:
According to the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator, it is estimated that this system will consume at load (peak usage):
- 567W with the Intel Core i7 950 130W stock, the two Geforce GTX 460 in SLI, the two hard drives in RAID 0 and rest of this build without upgrades.
- 708W with the Intel Core i7 950 130W stock, the two Geforce GTX 470 in SLI, the two hard drives in RAID 0 and rest of this build without upgrades.
- 885W with the Intel Core i7 950 130W stock, three Geforce GTX 470 in Three-Way SLI, the two hard drives in RAID 0 and rest of this build without upgrades.
- 1066W with the Intel Core i7 950 130W stock, three Geforce GTX 480 in Three-Way SLI, the two hard drives in RAID 0 and rest of this build without upgrades.
- 1145W with the Intel Core i7 950 130W overclocked to 4.0GHz at 1.45v, three Geforce GTX 480 in Three-Way SLI, four hard drives in RAID 0+1 and rest of this build without upgrades. This is the worse case scenario and doesn’t even include overclocking the GTX 480′s (Although you will most likely be limited by high temperatures.)
The recommend power supply is only recommended for the recommended setup, without video cards upgrades. If you upgrade the video cards, it is crucial that you upgrade the power supply, following my recommendations below.
- Let me be clear here: The Geforce GTX 470 and 480 pull boatloads of power, especially when you put two or three of them together.
- If you decide to go against my recommendations and get your own power supply, I hope that you know what you’re doing here.
- I’m not responsible for defective/unstable PCs if you get your own power supply.
What I’m trying to say here is that this is an high-end Gaming PC, with very power-hungry video cards. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT cut corners on the power supply.
Recommended upgrades:
- Core i7 950 + Two GTX 470, no or light overclocking: SeaSonic S12D 850W 80PLUS SILVER Certified
- Core i7 950 + Two GTX 470, full overclocking OR Core i7 950 + Three GTX 470, light or no overclocking: Silverstone 1000W 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular
- Core i7 950 + Two or Three GTX 470, full overclocking OR i7 950 + Three GTX 480, light or no overclocking: Corsair 1200W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular
- Core i7 950 + Three GTX 480, full overclocking: Silverstone 1500W 80 PLUS SILVER Certified
Guidelines:
No overclocking: Clear enough, no?
Light overclocking: Raising frequencies, within reason, is ok. Absolutely no raising voltage.
Full overclocking: Have fun, do as you wish.
All power supplies were double-checked to ensure that they are reliable, efficient (At least 85% efficient) and high-quality units, capable of delivering their rated power, as well as having enough 6 and 6+2 pins PCI-Express power cables for their setups. Follow my recommendations and guidelines and you’ll be fine.
Cooling:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
This is an high-end Gaming PC, with a 130W CPU at stock, as well as a minimum of two videos cards. With all the heat from those parts, the stock cooler won’t cut it.
The Cooler Master Hyper 212 is an affordable CPU Cooler with excellent performance for the price. It will have no problem keeping the Core i7 950 cool, while staying relatively silent.
Also included in the budget is some high-performance Thermal Paste, which will help further reduce the temperatures. The ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound is what I recommend to you. For $8, this is a wise investment.
Need help figuring out how to put the Thermal Compound with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus?
Follow this tutorial, where they compare different methods to figure out the best one.
Upgrades
While the Hyper 212+ is a good CPU Cooler for the price, it won’t cut it if you want to heavily overclock your Core i7. For that, you’ll want a better CPU Cooler to push your CPU to its limits. Here are three alternatives, in order of performance and price, from worst/least expensive to best/most expensive, that are all compatible with this build:
- Cooler Master V8
- Corsair H50 All-in-One Water-Cooling CPU Cooler
- Corsair H70 All-in-One Water-Cooling CPU Cooler
Sound Card: 8 channels sound card: Integrated on the motherboard
Integrated with the motherboard, this sound card will handle many different sound setups, including headphones, a microphone, 5.1 speakers and more. While integrated audio on a PC used to be absolutely horrible, it has gotten much better in the last few years, thus why I have no trouble recommending it.
Caution:
If you upgrade to a dedicated sound card, make sure that you’ll have enough free space to use it, depending on your motherboard and video cards.
Guidelines:
- With the AsRock Extreme 3, you’ll want a PCI sound card.
- With the ASUS P6TD Deluxe, you’ll want a PCI-Express card to go in the PCI-Express 4x slot. Yes, you can use a PCI-Express 1x card in a 4x slot, that’s not a problem.
- With the ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution and a Three-Way SLI setup, you cannot install a sound card, due to clearance issues, since the video cards will take all the space.
Recommended upgrade:
For the PCI card, I recommend the: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI
For the PCI-Express card, I recommend the: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium PCI-Express
Network: Ethernet RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN: Integrated on the motherboard
Integrated with the motherboard, this network adapter will allow you to access your local network and Internet.
Accessories:
Headphones – With a Microphone:
Headphones, with a microphones, are a must for many games, especially First Person Shooters (FPS), where a lack of team communication can break a team.
However, I do realize that we all have different tastes when it comes to headphones, as in which size is comfortable, which brand sounds the best, etc.
This is why I found six great pair of headphones, with prices ranging from $50 to $140, for you to choose from.
Here they are, in order from least expensive pair to the most expensive pair:
- Logitech G330 3.5mm/ USB Circumaural
- SENNHEISER PC151 3.5mm Binaural
- Creative Sound Blaster Arena Surround USB
- SENNHEISER PC161 3.5mm Circumaural
- Logitech G35 USB 2.0 Surround Sound
- SENNHEISER PC166 3.5mm/ USB Connector Circumaural
Speakers:
If all you want is a 5.1 setup that won’t ruin you, the Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 make for an excellent and affordable 5.1 setup.
If you don’t care for 5.1 and just want a powerful two speakers + a subwoofer setup (2.1), with 200 Watts, the Logitech Z-2300 200 watts RMS 2.1 is what I recommend to you.
If you are ready to invest in the best speakers for a Gaming PC, the Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Digital are what you want. With 505 Watts, they offer a LOT of power, as well as high sound quality. The best testimonial to the quality of this kit is the fact that it has been on the market for nearly seven years now and that it remains unmatched.
Display:
For a long time, you’ve been asking for recommendations for a good monitor to play on. I’m listening to you and I’ve decided to include at the very least, one recommendation of a good monitor for every Gaming PC.
My recommendations are based on the following criteria:
- Price: I obviously won’t recommend a $1000 monitor if the budget for the PC is $1000.
- Resolution: The resolution of the monitor directly impacts the performance within video games, as higher resolution are more demanding on the system, resulting in lower FPS. If you get three monitors side by side, make you to have powerful video cards.
- Response time: The lower the better, very important with video games.
- Brightness and Contrast Ratio: The higher, the better.
- No 3D Glasses Bundled: Acer 23.6″ 2ms 1080p 120Hz 3D
- 3D Glasses Bundled: Asus VG236H 23″ 2ms 1080p 120Hz 3D
- No 3D Glasses Bundled: Three Acer 23.6″ 2ms 1080p 120Hz 3D
- Buy NVIDIA 3D Glasses
Recommended operating systems:
The operating system cost, if there’s one, is not included in the total cost. The two reason for this are:
- The budget only considers hardware.
- You may be able re-use a previous license, go with an open-source OS such as Linux or, if you’re so inclined and are aware of what you’re doing, use torrents.
If you decide that you need a need OS, here are some recommendations:
Windows 7
Despite Linux gaining more and more support, Windows still is the platform of choice for compatibility at the moment. Considering that you’ll have 4GB of RAM or more, along with a dedicated video that also has memory (512MB or 1GB), you’ll need a 64-bit version, as 32-bit is limited to 4GB of memory for the entire system, which is not enough now, nor in the future if you decide to upgrade.
Windows 7 is by far better than Windows Vista, looks better, more functional, less annoying, consumes less resources and brings DirectX 11 to the table.
Three Available Versions:
- Windows 7 Home Premium: The basic edition, with all the looks, most of the functionality and DirectX 11.
- Windows 7 Professional: If you want the virtual XP mode, you’ll need at least the Professional edition. Also required if you want to backup to a network, using the built-in backup mode in Windows.
- Windows 7 Ultimate: To help protect data on your PC and portable storage devices against loss or theft with BitLocker and to work and switch between 35 languages.
OEM vs Retail:
The OEM version allows you to only install it once on a computer. You cannot transfer the license to another computer in the future and you do not receive support from Microsoft. It’s the same type of license you get when you get Windows on a desktop or laptop that you buy from Dell, HP and such. It’s less expensive, but gives less flexibility. Ideal if you intend on keeping your computer for many years.
The Retail version is the full version, which allows you to transfer the license to another computer in the future and you can call Microsoft if you need any form of support. Ideal if you intend on upgrading/changing your computer down the road.
Other than that, you get the same features on both, only the license differs. The price between the two differs obviously.
OEM Versions:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM
- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit OEM
Retail Versions:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Retail
– $180
- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Retail
– $258
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Retail
– $276
Linux
A lot of people these days boots more than one OS. Linux is a wonderful choice: powerful, cool, and cheap. Take your pick of distributions and have fun! For Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware, and Mandrake, try Distrowatch.com, Cheapbytes.com, LinuxQuestions.org or one of the many others.
While Linux does not offer the wide compatibility of Windows with video games, gaming on Linux is still possible, through projects such as Wine, Cedega and Crossover. For more on the topic of Linux Gaming, I invite you to read this excellent article from AnandTech: Linux Gaming: Are we there yet?
What about Word processing, Excel and other Windows-based programs that you need? Linux being an open platform, there are many free alternatives that will answer your needs. For Word/Excel and such, try OpenOffice.
Cost: Free
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If you want to have your final build double-checked and get my opinion on it before ordering, or for anything else, don’t be shy, just leave a comment.
If you have any question(s) about the build, simply leave a comment below the article and I’ll reply to you within 24-48 hours usually.
I’m a computer enthusiast with 10 years of experience in building, fixing/modifying computers and it will be my pleasure to assist you in building your 1st, 2nd, 3rd or xxth PC.
No worries, there are no stupid questions here on Hardware Revolution. We all started from scratch and learned through our mistakes. I’ll just help you make sure to avoid those mistakes
Just make sure to go through the following articles below, to see if your question hasn’t been answered already, before asking me a question.
Computer Builds FAQs:
I often get questions such as:
- Who are you to tell me which parts to choose?
- Can you suggest me a step by step guide to build a computer?
- Why should I build a PC instead of buying one in a store?
- And many more…
You will find the answers to all of these questions and more in this article: FAQ: How to Build Your Own Computer
Also, if this is your first build, here are 10 Quick Tips for 1st Time Builders to get you started.
Finally, if your newly built computer won’t start, I invite you to read Help me: Why won’t my newly assembled PC start or boot?
What do you think?
Is this new version of the $1500 Gaming PC better than the previous one?
Do you agree with the change from the LGA1156/P55 platform to the LGA1366/X58 platform?
Did you find a typo or error in this article?
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.
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Category: Gaming PC
