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 About This Page: This is a discussion on The First Annual "Build My Next Gaming Rig" Contest within the Contests and Events Forum forums, part of the Joystick Required Community Center category, at Joystick Required Forums. *NOTE* This is not an "official" JSR contest, meaning it is not being administered in conjunction with, or in spite of, any other contest here at JSR.
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12-03-2007, 12:44 PM
#1 (permalink)
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Member
Pilot Name: Injustice
Faction: Pirate
Joystick: Some POS Logitech because my FF2 broke
Join Date: May 2007
Location: 29 Palms, CA
Posts: 629
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The First Annual "Build My Next Gaming Rig" Contest
*NOTE* This is not an "official" JSR contest, meaning it is not being administered in conjunction with, or in spite of, any other contest here at JSR.
CONTEST RULES Before I lay out the specifics, let me specify some ground rules. The official contest reply thread is to be used only to post individual submissions. I will delete any trolling and/or spam posts and the offender will be disqualified from the contest. The contest is open to all registered users, but only one submission per member. Trying to use an alternate account to increase your chances will also result in disqualification (we know who you are). Also, the eventual winner of the contest will need to provide me with their mailing address in order to receive their prize. CONTEST GUIDELINES the contest guidelines are very simple. Build me a cutting edge gaming rig that is reliable, upgradeable, and above all, looks awesome. There is no limit on expense, but be warned that I am very picky about what I put in my gaming rigs. Each submission needs to include links to the purchase page for every item listed. CompUSA and NewEgg are fine, no eBay listings, use some common sense. I'm partial to ASUS, nVidia, and AMD, I'm not a big fan of overclocking or exotic coolant systems, and I intend to use Windows XP at first (Vista just doesn't cut it for me yet). Obviously, all the components need to be compatible, and I'm looking for a complete system here. That means everything, not just what goes inside the mid-tower case (i.e. mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers). CONTEST TIMELINE Submitted proposals will be accepted until December 20th. At that time, I will select the top five submissions and leave it to the community to decide the winner via forum polling. The winning proposal will be the one with the most votes by January 15th. The winner will have his choice of the following items to be delivered via mailing address: CompUSA.com - BFG Technologies GeForce 8800 GT OC Video Card, PCIe 2.0, 512MB GDDR3 - BFGR88512GTOCE - BFG Technologies » Computer Upgrades » Video Cards CompUSA.com - ViewSonic VA2226w 22-inch LCD Monitor - ViewSonic » Monitors » Flat Panel (LCD) Amazon.com: Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 Joystick: Electronics (*DISCLAIMER* Since the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 Joystick is no longer sold via license from Microsoft and thus, not under warranty, the contest winner is warned that selecting this option does not entitle them to any refund or reembursement, should the product prove faulty.) Post your submitted proposals for my next gaming rig here. If you have any questions about the contest, feel free to send me a PM. |
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12-03-2007, 02:45 PM
#2 (permalink)
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Member
Pilot Name: SpiritOne
Faction: Quantar
Joystick: Saitek X52 Pro
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Texas
Posts: 111
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Re: The First Annual "Build My Next Gaming Rig" Contest
Motherboard: Asus M2N SLI Deluxe This board uses the nForce 570 chipset, and supports all current AM2 socket processors, and "should" with bios upgrades in the future support AMD's new quad core processors. DDR2 800 Memory, lots of USB ports. This board should last a while. $124.99
Processor: AMD Agena Quad Core. Quad core goodness, it continues the 65 nanometer construction of the Barcelona core. Good god, for that price I think I might be sticking one in my computer. $239.99 Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 610. Power supplies are the single most overlooked piece of equipment in a computer. Bad power can be attributed to more problems that I have seen in more equipment than just about anything else. I refuse, flat out REFUSE to skimp on a power supply. PC Power & Cooling make quite simply the highest quality supplies in the business. $119.99 Case: Lian Li PC-7B. Its not the newest case, its not flashy at all. In fact, I hate flashy. Its black anodized aluminum. But internally, it has incredible airflow helped out by 2 12cm fans that are actually VERY quiet, tons of space for 3.5" Hard drives and front panel mic/headphone jacks, usb ports and firewire. $89.00 Memory: Corsair XMS2 2GB (2) 1GB sticks, the latency vs cost difference just isn't worth it here. You can buy 2 of these, 4GB of total memory for $174 before the $40 mail in rebate on both making the 4GB of memory just $94, or go with the 2GB lower latency for $264. 4GB of Memory here I come. $174.00** 94.00 after mail in rebate CPU Cooler Thermaltake Big Typhoon. Don't let the name scare you, its big, and I do mean gaudy big, but with a 12cm fan on it, it is whisper quiet at full operation and its moving more air than its 80cm cousins. It fits inside the case, trust me, I have 2 of them in the house and I love them both. They are hard to install requiring a plate on the back of some older motherboards like my wife 939 socketed board, but the AM2 boards can handle the weight without the plate. Great airflow cooler. You will of course also need some of this Artic Silver never use the bargain bin crap. $62.00 total Hard Drive: Western Digital 500GBX2. Yes, I know WD has a full 1TB drive out now and you can buy it at new egg for $260. But for my money, Id rather have 2 drives. Just in case. $200 DVD Burner: Lite On Black 20x Sata DVD mulitburner. not a whole lot to say here other than, hooray for sata. $34.99 Video Card: Asus GeForce 8800GTX Your going to need the power down the road a bit. $549.99 Sound Card: Sound Blaster Xfi the PCI xpress version. Yes, a sound card, because on board sound just doesn't cut it sometimes. $49.99 OS: Windows XP Media Center edition. What I like about MCE is you don't have to use that part of it. You can just use it as windows, and then if you want to, you can also stream pictures and music and video to your xbox 360 a little easier than with other windows versions. $114.99 Mouse: Logitech G5 The corded mouse that feels like a weighted mouse. More precision no batteries to change. $54.99 Keyboard: Microsoft Natural Its not popular, but I always like the ergo keyboards. $46.99 Speakers: Logitech 5300 5.1 speakers sound great in a small office area. I got asked, why a 7.1 channel sound card and no 7.1 channel speakers, well, practicality. I have a dedicated office for my computer and unless I had a speaker mounted on a post sitting in the middle of the room, 7.1 channel speakers just wouldn't work in here. I don't think I am the only one. I have these speakers, and can attest to the fact that, they rock. $124.99 Monitors: yes, thats plural thats why there is only one video card. With current technology, SLI does not work with 2 monitors. Dell 20.1" I love these, Im looking at 2 of them now. Only problem is Im looking at a lower price than I paid for both of them $349 each or $698 Summary: This computer is a sleeper. Sleek and all black few lights and very quiet. The loudest components in it are the dvd drive and the video card. Meaning it can be at idle and you can carry on a conversation with it in the room. Plenty of power, plenty of room to upgrade. My first recommendation, dual boot vista on the second drive so you get used to it, or say screw it and dual boot Ubuntu instead. Motherboard 124.99 Processor 129.99 Power supply 119.99 Case 89.00 Memory 94.00** CPU Cooler 62.00 Hard Drive 200.00 DVD Burner 34.99 Video Card 549.99 Sound Card 49.99 OS 114.99 Mouse 54.99 Keyboard 46.99 Speakers 124.99 Monitors 698.00 Total $2586.90* *Price does not include shipping. Price is also subjective, the system can function without 1 monitor, 1 hard drive and 1 memory pack, a total difference of $496. I do not include 3.5" floppy disc drives in my computers, and I haven't for about 6 years. |
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Last edited by Injustice; 12-26-2007 at 12:19 PM. Reason: fixed a link |
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12-03-2007, 03:26 PM
#3 (permalink)
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12-20-2007, 12:31 PM
#4 (permalink)
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Member
Pilot Name: Hornet
Faction: Solrain
Joystick: Saitek x52 & Saitek rudder pedals
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Michigan
Posts: 326
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Re: The First Annual "Build My Next Gaming Rig" Contest
Case - $82.99
APEVIA X-TELSTAR-JR Newegg.com - APEVIA X-TELSTAR-JR G-Type X-TSJGT-AL Silver SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail I like slick but not overly-pimped cases. This one struck me as just that...fashionable but not gawdy. 2 120mm fans for good airflow(can add one to front for 3 total). Screwless design which I love. Front LCD shows current output power supply voltages, sound volume, fan speed and CPU temperature Power supply - $299.99 Kingwin ABT-1000MA1s 1000w Newegg.com - KINGWIN ABT-1000MA1S ATX / BTX 1000W Power Supply 115 - 240V CB, CE, FCC, TUV, cUL, RoHS - Retail Modular power supplies are my must haves now. I have one similar and love it. Only attach the power cables that you need, less clutter! MotherBoard - $169.99 ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard Newegg.com - ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 3x winner customer choice award This board is highly popular and has gotten excellent customer reviews. Plenty of slots available for drives and expansion cards. CPU - $159.99 AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor - Retail Cant go wrong with AMD. This is one of the fastest AMDs on the market and its still under $200. Thermal Grease - $5.99 Arctic Silver Newegg.com - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM Keep it cool! CPU fan - $37.99 ZEROTherm BTF90 Newegg.com - ZEROtherm BTF90 92mm Silent UFO CPU Cooler - Retail Very popular heatsink, with great reviews. Video card - $509.99 EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB PCIEx16 Newegg.com - EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail All the beef you need for at least a couple years. Nvidia at its finest. RAM - $194 CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail Corsair is THE place to get your high performance ram. Enough said. Sound card - $164.99 Creative 7.1 PCI with front control/expansion panel & remote Newegg.com - Creative 70SB046A00003 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card - Retail I picked this card as opposed to regular alternatives, because it can be very nice and handy to have the controls and audio plugs for headphones or whatever else in the front. Plus, the addition of the remote is always a nice touch. Maybe overboard, maybe not? And noone doubts the quality of Creative sound products. Speakers - $292.99 Logitech Z-5500 505 watts 5.1 Newegg.com - Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail No game is as good as it can be with crapy speakers. Get the best, and you'll have the best time. I have had these speakers for just over a year. They vibrate the whole basement if I want them to. I absolutley love them! CD-ROM - 2x $39.99 2x ASUS 20x DVD+=R Burner SATA DRW-2014L1T Newegg.com - ASUS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 14X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - Retail Standard dvd burners. 2 of them so you can copy CD to CD. ASUS quality and an award winner. Harddrive - 2x $104.99 2x WD Caviar SE16 SATA Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM 1TB of storage goodness. I've always liked Western Digitals drives, very reliable. An alternative might be 2 or 3 smaller drives, RAIDed together for recovery reasons. Mouse - $54.99 Logitech G5 laser Newegg.com - Logitech G5 2-Tone 7 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Laser 2000 dpi Mouse - Retail I've been loyal to Logitech for keyboards and mice for years. I love the feel of them better than any other, including Microsoft. I have a similar mouse to this one, same shape. It is very ergonomic and comfortable. Plus, I picked wired mice and keyboards because its simply a pain to be gaming with dead batteries. Microphone - $18.49 Logitech 980186-0403 Newegg.com - Logitech 980186-0403 Silver USB Connector USB Desktop Microphone What good is online gaming if you cant talk to anyone?? Joystick - $115.99 Saitek X52 Newegg.com - Saitek X52 Flight Control USB Joystick - Retail I just got this joystick this week. It is the uber. And now that the price has started going down, its a reasonable purchase. Keyboard - $89.99 Logitech G15 Gaming Newegg.com - Logitech G15 2-Tone 104 Normal Keys 29 Function Keys USB Wired Standard Gaming Keyboard - Retail I dont have this one, but want it. Have heard excellent things about it and its functionality. Again, I love logitech. Monitors - 2x $469 2x Dell Ultrasharp 2007FP 20in LCD Dell : DELL UltraSharp 2007FP 20-inch Flat Panel LCD Monitor with Height Adjustable Stand and 3-Year Advanced Exchange Warranty : Displays : Home & Home Office I've read that the Dell monitors use the same LCD technology that Apple uses. And Apple has the best screens out there as far as color accuracy and other things. I have 2 of this monitor (the 19" version) here at work and love them. Totally adjustable height,tilt,angle,everything. OS - $286.99 Win XP Pro Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows XP Professional with SP2 - Retail Surge protector - $74.99 Cyberpower 10 outlet 6000 Joules protection Newegg.com - CyberPower 1030HT 8 Feet 10 Outlets 6000 Joules Power Surge Protector - Retail Protect that investment!! Power Backup - $89.99 Newegg.com - APC BE750BB 750 VA 450 Watts 10 Outlets UPS - Retail UPS are never a bad thing to have. TOTAL: ~$3878 *Note that I've selected everything from newegg. They simply have the best selection, usually the best prices, fast shipping and absolutely the best return policies around. You might find cheaper prices, but I doubt you'll find better service. |
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12-20-2007, 02:52 PM
#5 (permalink)
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Member
Pilot Name: SpiritOne
Faction: Quantar
Joystick: Saitek X52 Pro
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Texas
Posts: 111
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Re: The First Annual "Build My Next Gaming Rig" Contest
It has been too long, so I can no longer edit my post, however...
The Phenom processor is now available from Newegg. The AMD Agena Quad Core and its fully compatible with my above rig. I would like to substitute this part for the above processor. Quad core goodness, it continues the 65 nanometer construction the Barcelona core. Good god, for that price I think I might be sticking one in my computer. $239.99 That raises the total cost of my Computer by only $110. Total $2586.90 |
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12-25-2007, 06:48 PM
#7 (permalink)
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Highest Order Hypocrite
Faction: non-aligned
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland
Posts: 2,621
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Re: The First Annual "Build My Next Gaming Rig" Contest
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