buidling a gaming computer on a budget

i have about $1500 for a computer, and i was wondering whether to go for AMD or intel for cpu (looking at amd fx 8150), nvidia or amd for graphics(amd radeon hd 7850), and whether i need an after-market cooler (i might overclock). the rest of the components i feel i am getting a good deal for. thanks for the insight.

I personally prefer Intel processors, since they tend to perform better. The choice between Nvidia and ATI is pretty much a matter of preference, I prefer ATI. If you’re looking to overclock, that implies you want a fast processor, in which case I would definitely suggest Intel over AMD. And I would definitely look into cooling if you’re overclocking much.

Good luck with that Gaming computers are some of the most expensive computers ever.

$1500 can get you a pretty decent gaming computer, especially if you’re building it yourself.

I would get this Graphics card btw http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127696

here’s what i have chosen.
@arbitor – amd fx 8150 (top of the line) – $189 on newegg. intel i7’s start at $300.
@shadowleach thanks, but that’s too much.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116716
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103960
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235027
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009316
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157266
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999217
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201048
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200049
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826995022
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812120314
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121014
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823100093
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152036
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166047
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209054
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131464
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=22-148-834
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226293
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104618

AMD processors are definitely good on a budget, I was just saying Intel is better performance-wise.

Also, for your mouse pad, if you’re going to be spending extra money on one, I’d suggest a plastic one. I have a Razer Vespula that performs beautifully compared to any cloth material pad.

Also, I must recommend you think about running a RAID 0 array. If you can’t afford an extra hard drive now, you can always buy one later and set it up then.

Anyways, it looks like a pretty good build. Good luck with it.

Just a few comments, if you haven’t already ordered:

I agree 100% with the plastic mousepad comment. I bought one of the Steelseries hard pads (exact model is discontinued, but there’s comparable) a few months ago and suffered buyer’s remorse from the moment I ordered until the moment I put my mouse on it. It’s more precise than anything else I’ve ever used, and they work great with a good gaming mouse. Plus it’s sturdy and should last me forever.

I am a huge fan of G.SKILL for RAM. They make a quality product, but the main reason I like them is I’ve never gotten better customer service from any other hardware manufacturer. I’ve never used Mushkin, so I dunno, maybe they’re just as good, but my two cents.

I just skimmed the links so I might have missed it, but I do like aftermarket CPU fans and recommend getting one.

Again, may have missed it, but if you have the extra money for it, get a solid state drive and put your OS on it. Use the big one for everything else, fine, but SSDs are much faster and make an enormous difference in your boot speed and any access of your OS. I always, always recommend using a separate drive for your OS anyway (saves you a lot of headache if something goes terribly wrong and you need to reinstall), and a SSD can be a nice performance boost.

Seeing the price on that Wacom makes me want one. Hmm.

Lastly:

Originally posted by Rpoman2009:

Good luck with that Gaming computers are some of the most expensive computers ever.

lol

wow! look at all these replies!

thanks for the advice on the plastic mousepad; i’ll look into it. i considered the ssd boot disk, but ~$100 (for a good one) didn’t seem worth faster speed. (who knows. at least i could just do a file transfer at some point.)

Originally posted by roflplatypus:

@arbitor – amd fx 8150 (top of the line) – $189 on newegg. intel i7’s start at $300.

You don’t need an i-7 though. Or 16GB of RAM, for that matter (with 8GB I’ve never seen my system exceed 30% usage). Unless you plan to render videos or something, you can hold out on the RAM until you know you need it.

The same applies to your whole rig… You can get something that is awesome on paper, but you probably won’t notice a difference between it and machines using hardware one or two tiers below. It’s your dime, though.