Updated 02-27-2010
$1800 Computer Parts List
This is very close to the system we built in the 2009 videos. We went the Intel route because of the Core i7's superior performance over AMD's Phenom II CPU.
There are a few upgrades available since we built the system in the videos. This is the RAM speed, hard drive capacity and the video card listed below is faster than the video cards shown in the lessons. The installation procedure for each is the same.
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Intel Socket 1366 |
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|
Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz |
$288.99 |
This is Intel's newest Quad or 4 core CPU. We recommend a 4 core CPU with an eye to the future. Current games don't use more than 2 cores, so with this processor, the other 2 cores will be dormant in your games. In the next year games will begin appearing that can use the extra cores. There are lots of current programs that can use all 4 cores. If you do video editing, video conversion or mp3 conversion, the program you currently use, would probably love having 4 cores to operate on. There are two faster CPUs in this line for $700 and $1000, but keep in mind this CPU has a lot of overclocking potential. You should be able to overclock this much cheaper model to be just as fast as the other models. | |
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| Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler |
Newegg.com |
$42.99 |
This is the latest favorite CPU cooler of noise conscious overclockers. It's only 20db. Inside a good case, you can't hear it. |
|
ZALMAN 9900 120mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler for Intel CPU's. |
$47.41 |
This is an updated design that has been a favorite CPU cooler for a few years now. It's made to fit onto a Socket 1366 CPU. It cools very well and the fan doesn't make much noise. It's a great combination. It doesn't hurt, that it looks really cool. | |
|
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound |
$9.99 |
If you are going to use one of the 3rd party CPU coolers above you should include this thermal compound in your purchase. This provides the best possible seal between the CPU and the cooler. This will greatly improve the heat transfer, keeping the CPU as cool as possible. | |
CPU Coolers - These are optional. Both of the Intel CPU above comes with a cooler. The coolers below will improve on the cooling of the CPU extending it life. These coolers are a must if you want to overclock the CPU.
AMD Socket AM3
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Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz |
$179.99 |
If you are an AMD fan and want a 4 Core CPU, this is it. The Phenom II X4 965 is AMD's top of the line 4 Core CPU. It's clock speed is faster than the Intel's, but the performance lags behind. Intel is still making the most efficient CPU. | |
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| Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler |
Newegg.com |
$42.99 |
This is the latest favorite CPU cooler of noise conscious overclockers. It's only 20db. Inside a good case, you can't hear it. |
|
ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler |
$59.99 |
This has been a favorite CPU cooler for a few years now. The reasons for this are that it cools very well and the fast doesn't make much noise. It's a great combination. It doesn't hurt that it looks really cool. | |
|
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound |
$9.99 |
If you are going to use one of the 3rd party CPU coolers above you should include this thermal compound in your purchase. This provides the best possible seal between the CPU and the cooler. This will greatly improve the heat transfer, keeping the CPU as cool as possible. | |
CPU Coolers - These are optional. The AMD CPU above comes with a cooler. The coolers below will improve on the cooling of the CPU.
The Motherboard
Choose your motherboard depending on if you want an Intel or AMD CPU.
Intel Socket 1366
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Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
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ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 |
$289.99 |
This motherboard is near the top range of the Asus P6T series. It has all passive cooling (no fans) to keep the noise level down. These motherboards have an excellent reputation for being stable at default speeds, as well as being excellent overclockers. This means with the right RAM and CPU, you can push the system even faster than Intel intended. Check out the comments on Newegg. People are getting the CPU to 3.7Ghz and above. It supports CrossfireX, or SLI which lets you put in 2 ATI or Nvidia video cards, to double your gaming performance. It of course supports Triple Channel DDR3. On-board networking and sound. You can get a separate sound card to make your games sound even better. |
AMD Socket AM3
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Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
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GIGABYTE GA-790FXTA-UD5 |
$184.99 |
This motherboard has passive cooling on the motherboard to keep things quiet. It supports 2-way Crossfire so you can put in up to 2 ATI video cards to double your gaming performance. See the case and power supply section on power supply requirements for Crossfire. From the comments at Newegg and the reviews we've read, this is a solid stable motherboard. On-board networking and sound. It also has an on-board video adapter which you will need to disable. DDR3 1866 RAM is supported. |
RAM (Memory)
|
Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DDR3 for AMD system | DDR3 for AMD system | ||
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G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 |
Newegg.com |
$104.99 |
This is 2 sticks of RAM, 2GB each for a total of 4GB. For more information see the RAM memory types, speeds, bandwidths component video lesson. |
| DDR3 for Intel system | DDR3 for Intel system | ||
| G.SKILL 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 |
Newegg.com |
$94.99 |
This is 3, 1GB sticks for Triple channel mode. |
| OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 |
Newegg.com |
$139.99 |
This is 3, 2GB for a total of 6GB of Triple channel memory. You would still have 3 more slots to add memory if you need it in the future. The CAS is only 8ns but you probably wouldn't notice a difference. |
Video card
|
Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
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HIS Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 |
Newegg.com |
$319.99 |
This video card has ATI's best chip on it and uses GDDR5 memory to quadruple the bandwidth. It has 1GB of the DDR5. The Asus P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard above can take 2 of these in CrossfireX mode to double your 3D gaming performance. The AMD motherboard can take 2 of these to double the performance in games. |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 275 CO-OP PhysX Edition 1280MB | Newegg.com |
$329.99 |
This EVGA is Nvidia's best at $250. It has 1280MB of GDDR3 memory. You can put 2 of these video cards in ASUS P6T DELUXE V2 motherboard above to double your 3D gaming performance. The power supplies we recommend on this page can handle 2 video cards.. See the video card component lesson for what a video card is with definitions of features. |
Hard Drive
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Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Western Digital Caviar Green 1.5TB |
Newegg.com |
$109.99 |
We've all had good and bad experiences with hard drives failing and we might individually prefer one maker over another. Regardless, if you have important data, get two of these so you can set up an automatic backup of your most important files. That way if a drive files you still have your data on the other. See the hard drive component video lesson for features and specification to look for in a hard drive. |
| Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB | Newegg.com |
$109.99 |
It's fast, quiet and runs cool. You might consider getting 2 of these. One for your operating system and regular programs and one just for your games and as a backup drive for your important data. |
DVD Burner (Writer)
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Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
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Sony AD-7240S-0B 24X |
$23.99 |
DVD burners are extremely cheap these days. There really isn't any reason to pay more for a DVD writer. We recommend this model for all of our customers computers. |
Case and Power Supply
|
Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
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COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW |
$49.99 |
This is the case we used for the Home PC Builder 2007 videos. It is a favorite on Newegg as well. It was released in 2004 so it's not a new case, but Cooler Master made it right to begin with. This thing is very quiet and runs cool. It has one 120mm fan at the rear and one 80mm fan in the front. No need to buy more cooling fans. Power Supply Not Included. | |
|
Antec Nine Hundred
Nine Hundred Two- This is the latest version of the Nine Hundred |
|
$99.99
$109.99 |
This thing looks like a space ship. It has 3 120mm fans that are speed adjustable so you can balance cooling with noise. There is a warning in the comment at Newegg about room for graphics cards. If you're getting one of the larger video cards make sure the power connections are on the side of the card. Also the power supply goes at the bottom of this case which is a little unusual. Some people say their power supply cables aren't long enough. If yours comes up short you can get an extension cable. Power Supply Not Included. |
|
Antec EA750 750W Power Supply |
$95.99 |
This PSU rates at the top of the Newegg end user recommendations. Its a 750W power supply and is certified for both SLI and Crossfire. It will do 2 way SLI but using 3 video cards would be pushing it. If you want to go 3-way SLI you'll need to get one of the 1000+ watt power supplies from the High-end Gaming computer parts list. It is also an +80% efficient design which will cut your electricity bills and means it will run cooler than a less efficient PSU. | |
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CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V |
$119.99 |
This PSU has about the same features and specs of the PC Power and Cooling PSU above. See the case and power supply video lesson for features and specifications to look for in a power supply. | |
|
Thermaltake Toughpower XT 850W ATX 12V v.2.3 Modular |
$216.99 |
This PSU has 850W of power. It also is a modular design. This means all of the cables can be removed from the PSU. The advantage of this is that you wont have a bunch of unused cables to tuck away inside your case. You only attach the cables you need for your hardware. |
Cooling Fans
If you need extra cooling fans for your case these are the ones we recommend
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Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Scythe SY1225SL12M 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fan |
$8.99 |
This Scythe 120mm cooler is very quiet which will help keep down the noise level of your computer. Noise Level 24dBa | |
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MASSCOOL FD08025S1M4 80mm Case Fan
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|
$1.99 |
Cheap, quiet, good air flow. Noise Level 28dBa |
Sound and Network - The Network adapter is on the motherboard
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Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium 7.1 Channels |
$99.99 |
This is a must if you want to game with the fastest frame rates possible. You wouldn't think a sound card could improve game performance, but this one does. Here's how. The audio processing in a games takes between 5% to 10% of the CPU's processing time. The X-FI is able to process the sound itself, off loading the processing from the CPU, allowing the CPU to concentrate on other things, like making the game run faster! It makes things sound better too. It supports the latest EAX HD 5.0 for better sound in your games. Hardware DTS-ES and Dolby Digital EX Decoding for your movies. For a PCI computer sound card comparison see the computer sound card component video lesson. For more on the Network card component see the Modem and Network card component video lesson. |
The motherboard includes a network adapter so you don't need to buy a separate add on card.
Monitor
|
Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hanns G Hi-221DPB Black 22" 5ms Widescreen |
$159.99 |
This is the same monitor we recommend for the $1200 Gaming and $2300 Gaming Computers. It is a steal at this price. | |
|
SAMSUNG ToC T220HD Rose-Black 22" 5ms GTG Widescreen |
$209.99 |
This is the same size monitor as the cheaper Acer above. The main advantage to this monitor is it's built in HDTV Tuner. Yes, you can watch over the air HDTV on it. | |
| Samsung TOC T260HD Rose Black 25.5" 5ms Widescreen |
Newegg.com | $339.99 |
Speakers
|
Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logitech Z-2300 200 watts RMS 2.1 |
$164.25 |
These speakers get great reviews all over the net. Google the 'z-2300 review' and you'll see. Lots of praise from end users in Newegg as well. I use these on my system. The only thing that comes close for this price range is a set of speaker Altec Lansing stopped making 10 years ago. | |
|
Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 |
$392.49 |
If you have room for surround sound speakers you should consider these. |
Mouse and Keyboard Options
|
Description |
Where to Buy |
Price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logitech G15 Silver & Black USB Standard Gaming Keyboard |
$89.99 |
This is Logitech's gaming keyboard. It gets wonderful reviews online, Google 'Logitech G15 review'. Newegg end users love it as well. | |
| Saitek PZ30AU Black USB Wired Standard Eclipse Keyboard |
$39.99 |
Saitek has been known for their flight sticks for years. Their gaming keyboard is something to consider. | |
|
Logitech MX518 2-Tone Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse |
$42.99 |
Love Logitech. This model was released several years ago and gamers love it. | |
|
Logitech G9x Black Tilt Wheel USB Wired Laser Gaming Mouse |
$94.99 |
The G9x is a laser mouse and you can change it's weight like the G5. With the G9 you can also change it's shape. |
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