garHar im looking forwared to that i want a cheap dx9.

Sorry to barge in, I don't mean to and I know I am a Noob to this site, but, I would like to add some comments...

I would have to agree with GaRHaR here, I currently run an ASUS built N7800GT and, had I known what I would get out of the SLI package, I would NOT have dropped 800 bones (US Dollars) on this card...My prior card was a Radeon 9600 XT Pro and the responsiveness of that card was not that far away from what I get out of this one...Punctuate that with the difference in power drain (Again backing up GaRHaR's statements)...AND cost...The 7800 GT demands a HUGE current draw from the PSU (It even came with it's own EXTERNAL power supply line cord, if that suggests enough)...My original PSU was an ASPIRE (SUK'D) 520 watt unit that BARELY met the demand once I installed this card and eventually gave up trying...I now run an Antec 650 Watt unit (Only because I live in a small town and when something fails, I gotta go get what is on hand in the local shops if I dont want to wait through ordering online)

My rig specs are posted here:

http://www.pchelpforum.com/show-off-...pics-soon.html

That being said, some additional comments for the post originator:

You should also take into consideration the "type" of gaming venue you are interested in pursuing...

If you intend to compete ONLINE, most of the gamers out there are ALSO trying to run the latest and greatest...

Things I try to keep in mind, bearing the budget in there...


1st - PSU...Strong and capable

2nd - Air flow - not just where you mount your components, take the time to be diligent in how and where you run your cabling for everything (Neat, tidy, and bundled to maximize flow "SPACE")..If you can go further with your budget, check out how your cables "FIT"...if you are stretching thme across open space to get to the connectors, consider purchasing aftermarket models that are longer and allow you to run them more cleanly along the perimeter of your case and up behind frame parts and so forth...LOOKS GOOD TOO!!!

3rd - Memory - Sans Overclocking ( I don't push my gear, buy up to the capability you seek), nothing helps BASIC speed like plenty of RAM...1 Gig should be fine for general gaming, but, if you want to compete on a fairly even scale with others doing the same, consider whether your budget will allow you to up that as far as you reasonably can

Other thoughts...

If you have the GRIP ($$$), look into RAID...The speed gain over running classic IDE is INCREDIBLE and EXPONENTIAL...

Should a lack of funds limit that capability, IDE systems CAN get there...

A good HDD is the Raptor (10,000 RPM spindle - )...However, if you DO have the bones to go with RAID, try moving down to smaller Raptors than the 320 Gig and build the SATA RAID across more of them...WICKED FAST PERFORMANCE!!!

I limited my fans to the factory arrrangement, although my ThermalTake Armor series casee has 4 and thePSU one more...Plus I run a Big Typhoon CPU cooler, its loud...I want to switch to liquid cooling (Should take GOBS of noise away)

4th - CPU - If you can manage to wait, save the cash for the strongest, fastest CPU you can afford...As the "COMMAND CENTER" of your entire system, I spared as little expense as I could afford here...If you are bulding for gaming (I know, proponents of both sides will chime in on this comment, I only speak from my own experience and preferences)...Go AMD...Forget Pentium and run with the big dogs with as high end of an FX 64 as you can afford...Ouch, ouch, ooh, whoa, stop throwing stuff...Just my humble opinion...

5th - For what its worth, some use classic mice, some (Like me) Prefer one of the higher end models that aredeliberately built for gamers, like the Logitech MX 5000...I used to run with a Razer Copperhead, but, for people with bigger than a doll's fingers, it can be a cumbersome unit to reach the buttons...Anyway, a good quality gamnig mouse can, for relatively little out of your budget (Less than $100 US) you cna increase the responsiveness of what you are controlling much more accurately and quickly...Could be the difference between which opponent gets the drop on the other first...

Lastly, (I only make this comment as a LONG TIME regular member of online gaming clans)...regardless of the platform you build, there are little things
that some tend to ignore once their dream rigs are built that gradually bog them down further by the day...I concentrate ALOT of effort here, regardless of your hardware capability, to squeeze out every ounce of performance with what I have in PC, including:

- Religiously keep your drivers updated, check regularly and frequently...
- I run a free program called RegSeeker, which is EXCELLENT for registry "Housekeeping" and will give you LOADS of performance return for what it does (I run it DAILY)
- Run Ad Aware, Spybot, Spy Sweeper (I use all of the above, nothing wrong if a few are redundant)

Defrag regularly
run Disk CLeanup regularly
Clean out your trashcan regularly
Clean out your cookies and "TRACKS" regularly

Amazing performance gains (..or RETENTION) for taking the time to run some utilities regularly...

Thanks for your time, I hope I have not exhausted it...I am on my third Home build and with each one, I come away with a little something extra to consider for the next one...It's a blast to do it for yourself...You should enjoy...When you feel frustrated, get away from it for a while and come back clear-headed, rushing into it out of exaspiration can kill the whole experience and easily fry something you could have avoided

Good luck, good hunting...

Regards,

Quik

very good post Quik although it seems to have doubled. I have deleted the other one.

Thanks...hadn't noticed...appreciate the assist...I shan't (?) digress from the topic any further...LOL

Ok, well at the risk of sounding a fool I’ve kind of got confused with all this and realise how little i no about hardware and building a pc. All I’m looking for is a gaming pc capable of running the latest games on full graphic settings. maby if some one could post a suitble list of hardware components for me to hunt down or somthing that would be such a grate help.

Ok... uhm, here's my opinion.

For your CPU, get a Core 2 Duo. You can get a 6300 or 6400, or a 6600 if you want more performance. However, if you're going to be overclocking, ditch the 6600 for the cheaper ones (63/64).
As for gfx, you can get a 7900 GT. Once again, if you are going to overclock, get the cheapest one and bring the clock speeds up again.
As for the motherboard, the Asus P5B series are good. But, if you are going to get a 63/6400 AND overclock it, the Gigabyte DS3 is the board for you.
For hard drives, from personal experience, stay away from Maxtor DiamonMax series. Seagate Barracudas are good. Just look around for a rebate- most hard drives with the same capacities have near-identical pricing.
As for memory, you sohuld consider getting something that's NOT value RAM. Memory is often over-looked, and it's a BIG thing that affects your computer. Try to find something that is at least DDR2 PC5400/667 MHz. For a gaming PC, it's recommended you get 2 GB these days. Although 1 GB is still OK, you might begin to notice lag later on.

Those are my opinions... thing is, I may have limited you, because I do things in CAD, not pounds
But generally, stick with Core 2 Duos, get a 7900 GT, or a 7900 GTO (like a GTX but much cheaper and slightly lower clocks on the memory).
Get good RAM, and do not get a cheap PSU. Something at least 500 W, and around 28 A on the +12 V rail.