I build rigs all of the time. Really, what you want depends largely on how much you can afford. There's usually a sweet spot of price vs. performance where you get the best bang for your buck, but it probably doesn't cover the latest and greatest hardware.
Every gaming computer needs, at a minimum, these components:
- Case
- Power supply
- Motherboard
- CPU
- CPU heatsink (if the CPU doesn't come with one -- retail models do, but OEM don't, and the stock heatsink isn't always that great)
- RAM
- Video card
- Hard drive
- DVD ROM/RW
- Sound, ethernet controller (these are probably built into the motherboard, but listed here for completeness)
- Keyboard & mouse
- Display
- Speakers and/or headphones
There are a lot of opinions on various components. Brands tend to be a matter of fanaticism, but in general, you get what you pay for.
Cases vary wildly in price. You want something that will be sturdy, won't be an eyesore, has room for all of your components, and has good cooling. A couple of 120mm fans is sufficient for almost any system (though the nVidia GTX 260/280 need a ridiculous amount of cooling). Coolermaster makes some cheap cases (like the Centurion series) that do well for the price. If you don't mind spending some extra cash, Antec has some beautiful cases, but they usually aren't worth the extra cost.
The power supply is much more important. Depending on your choice of CPU and video card(s) (the two largest energy consumers), your power requirements may vary greatly. Using most Core 2 Duos and a mid-level nVidia or ATI card (nVidia 8800 GTX or ATI HD4750), 500W is usually sufficient. Note that this is real power -- many cheap power supplies claim to be 500W, but only actually supply enough current to handle 300W or so. To tell for sure, check the maximum usable current on the 12V line (it should be in the manual or on the power supply itself) and multiply by 12 -- that's the real power it can provide for your video card and CPU. If you decide to use two video cards, expect to go with 600-700W, as each video card can use 100-150W (again, you can usually find this listed in the specs). You'll also want to consider the noise that comes out of them. Cheap power supplies have noticeable fans that will drive you nuts, whereas the more expensive silent models are exactly what they claim to be. Coolermaster makes some okay power supplies, but I usually go with Thermaltake or Antec. Avoid cheap OEM or no-name models, as they are likely to make more noise and break down earlier. Also keep in mind that a power supply failure doesn't just mean the power goes out -- it can sometimes result in damaging other components, so consider an extra $50 for a power supply as an insurance policy.
There are many motherboards to choose from and their quality tends to vary between brands of manufacturers and the chipsets they use. Asus has long been a reliable brand of motherboards. eVGA is cheaper, but not always as reliable. I find MSI to be hit or miss. Avoid the really cheap models, like things by PC Chips, as these are likely to experience strange incompatibilities (not working with certain brand names of RAM, for example). I usually choose a motherboard based on features. It needs to support the type of CPU and RAM that you want to use. It should also provide enough PCI-E, PCI, IDE, SATA, USB, and other ports for everything you plan to use now and in the foreseeable future. Almost all of them come with an ethernet controller (NIC) for connecting to the Internet and a sound card. Generally, these are all comparable. Some also offer onboard video, but these video cards are never even close to the performance needed for gaming -- they work for an office computer, but a gaming machine requires a dedicated video card.
When it comes to CPUs, Intel has a definite lead with their Core 2 Duo architecture. AMD was the leader for a few years, but they still don't have anything that consistently competes with the C2D at the same price. For most games, I would recommend a fast dual core as opposed to a quad core. Many games can't take advantage of multiple cores and few can utilize more than 2 cores. For the same price, the individual cores in a dual core are faster than those in the quad core, with the sum of them being of equal performance, so if you're stuck not being able to use 4 cores (as most games are), then the dual core will do better. At the same time, choosing a dual core isn't going to limit your ability to upgrade later (almost all motherboards will support quad cores), nor will it prevent you from running any software. Myself, I tend to utilize the Intel E6550 on lower end systems and the E8550 for those who can afford it. If in doubt, there are several websites (such as Tom's Hardware [www.tomshardware.com] that provide benchmarks of actual games, showing how different models of CPU affect the performance of various software. In general, a mid-level processor is plenty for any current games and will be sufficient for those coming up in the next couple of years. Except Crysis, because nothing is sufficient to run that game well.
Many people overlook the CPU heatsink, but it's one of the louder components in your computer. The stock heatsink that comes with your Intel or AMD CPU is usually sufficient to cool it, but it will make a noticeable noise. If you want something quieter, there are many different heatsinks available. They often vary in price, size, cooling ability, and volume level, and almost all are better than the stock heatsink provided with your CPU. If noise is an issue for you, or you plan on overclocking your CPU (which will make it significantly hotter), purchase a decent heatsink for it. To choose one, you'll definitely want to check benchmarks, as it's almost impossible to tell the performance of a heatsink just by looking at it. If noise and overclocking aren't a concern, you're safe sticking with the stock heatsink.
RAM is usually more straight forward. Most games are starting to recommend 2GB of RAM and I find that's usually enough. XP users can sometimes get away with 1GB, but if you're starting a new system, the price difference is almost non-existant, so you might as well get 2GB. A lot of people make a big deal about RAM speeds, but I have run several benchmarks and RAM speed makes almost no difference in actual processing times and frame rates. DDR2-800 (PC3200) is the de facto standard at this point -- anything faster tends to be significantly faster and doesn't result in a noticeable improvement.
There are some new architectures coming out that you should be aware of. Intel is introducing the i7, which is an amazing performer, but also terribly expensive. For all but the most expensive setups, this is completely unnecessary -- avoid it unless you want to pay an extra $1000 to say you have the fastest rig on the block. Likewise, Intel is trying to encourage a move to DDR3. While this is necessary to take advantage of the speeds of the i7, it offers little advantage on more typical hardware, and it costs significantly more. I'd stick with LGA775 (Intel's currently-established architecture) and DDR2 RAM.
Probably the single largest influence on your gaming experience is the video card. This is also one of the more expensive components. The sweet spot right now is typically the nVidia 8800 GTX or the ATI HD4750. There are more expensive models (see the nVidia GTX280 for ridiculous performance), but the price goes up faster than the performance does. For most modern games, these two cards will do just fine. If you want to keep up with the latest and greatest games, you're best to buy one of these now and plan to switch to another similarly-priced card a couple of years from now. You'll spend less overall than buying the really expensive cards now and you'll have better performance down the road when you need it.
As for who to choose -- nVidia or ATI -- it's largely a toss up. Both have similar reputations for quality, including several good models and a few duds. The prices are typically comparable for the same performance. Certain models have bad incompatibilities with certain games, so you may want to do some searching around once you decide on a specific model. Lately I've noticed ATI having more incompatibility problems than nVidia, and nVidia provides PhysX acceleration which many new games are supporting, so I'm sticking with them, but some people still swear by ATI who also makes great hardware.
Hard drives are typically a dime a dozen. Pick something with enough room for everything you want to store: Windows, games, downloaded music and movies, and everything else. Price-wise, 500GB is nearly as cheap as something half its size while still being plenty for most people. Seagate and Western Digital are good brands; avoid Maxtor as they've had repeated quality issues. If you want really fast boot and load times, you may consider buying a Western Digital Velociraptor drive as your system drive and keeping all of your downloads and such on a regular 500GB drive. As compared to other drives, the Velociraptor really does make a difference in speeds, but the only thing it will affect is booting up Windows and loading screens in games -- it won't do anything to affect ping times or frame rates.
Every computer needs at least a DVD-ROM for installing your software. You'll probably want to burn something at some point too, so you might as well go for a DVD-RW instead of just a plain DVD-ROM. The price difference is almost nonexistant. There are several manufacturers, but the products vary wildly for all of them. Keep in mind that the labelled speed is rarely the speed it will work at -- actual reading and writing speeds depend largely on the quality of the media that's used. The more expensive models generally don't make a difference, unless you plan on ripping a lot of audio, in which case the better Pioneer and Plextor models are often faster and more accurate. For most purposes, I just grab the cheapest LG or Lite-on that's in stock.
As I said earlier, the sound card and ethernet controller are usually built into the motherboard. The brands and chips are almost entirely the same -- relatively reliable, but not of the best quality. I you plan on using microphone at all (highly recommended for multiplayer games), you won't want to use the onboard sound card's microphone input, as they are always noisy. I like to use a USB sound card, either one built into my headphones (like the Plantronics 350 headset that I use) or a separate one that I plug a regular headset into. Even the cheap $15 models will have much less noise than the onboard sound card when it comes to recording. Playback on any sound card is typically good enough for all but the most discerning audiophiles.
Your keyboard and mouse is typically a matter of personal preference. Some people like soft, short-moving keys, whereas many (like myself) prefer the older-style clicky keys (they tend to make errors less often and the clicking gives you better feedback when you hit a key). For mice, optical is a requirement (ball mice suck) and a scroll wheel is highly recommended for web browsing. Aside from that, find one that comfortably fits your hand -- they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. For price, I usually get the Logitech 350 Desktop, which includes both keyboard and mouse.
If you currently have a CRT display, now may be the time to consider getting an LCD. Most video cards have DVI outputs on them and LCDs almost all provide DVI inputs. This makes for a much sharper picture than VGA can provide, because DVI outputs the actual pixels digitally, whereas VGA uses an analog signal where the pixels being produced by the video card usually don't line up perfectly with the dots in the screen itself, causing a blurring of the picture.
When choosing an LCD display, your budget typically determines what size to get. I wouldn't recommend anything less than 19". After a few years at 19", I moved to 22" and it is noticably bigger. Ideally, while looking at the middle of the screen while seated comfortably, you shouldn't be able to see anything around the screen, just the screen itself.
Choosing a model is much more difficult. LG makes nice displays, though Samsung seems to have a consistently better product. Acer is usually cheaper, but noticeably inferior. Things to look for are how black the black is (it shouldn't show up dark gray or lighter), whether the colors change as you look at it from an angle (most pass this test now, but even some expensive ones fail), and how accurate the color reproduction is (smooth, natural colors; not too vibrant or too dull). One thing to watch out for is a monitor whose brightness varies across the screen -- I find LG monitors tend to suffer from this and I find it quite distracting.
Lastly, speakers and/or a headset. Logitech seems to be the household name in speakers and their $80 models often give great sound. As with all audio products, you have to listen to them to know what's really worth buying. If you plan to test some out, bring your favorite music that you know well so that you have something to judge against -- the in-store test CDs don't help because you don't know how they are supposed to sound.
If you plan on playing anything online, a headset with a drop-down microphone is highly recommended. Logitech makes some great headsets with clear, powerful sound, and for the purposes of chatting, Plantronics headsets are often best (they emphasize speaking, which makes them clearer for chatting, but less attractive for listening to music). There are many different shapes and sizes, so try one out and see what feels comfortable. You should also take a listen, because they often have different sounds to them.
That should cover everything you'll need. With the suggestions I've made, my computers typically end up at around $1100-1300 Canadian (about $900-$1100 US, I think). While it may be tempting to cut corners, keep in mind that the computer is only as fast as its slowest part -- investing a lot of money in a CPU won't help if you have a crappy video card; and both a good CPU and video card won't help if you only have 512 MB of RAM. Shop around, look up benchmarks, decide on what you can afford, and try to find the components that result in the best performance for the price. If it costs 50% more for only a 5% increase in performance, it's not going to be worth it.
If you have any further questions, feel free to send me a message. I probably can't piece out an entire system for you (since you don't be buying from the same stores that I do), but I can certainly point you in the right direction.
