I often get asked to look over a set of components that someone is considering for their new gaming rig or am asked to come up a set for the best gaming rig within a certain budget. Occasionally - when I'm very lucky - that limit is really, really high. Unfortunately, that type of budget is almost never for my own system. Still, I find it fun to spec out and build all types of systems. The system specs herein will be just the main box; the monitor(s), keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc. are not included here. The operating system will be.
Back in August, the title of this section was "There's a Storm a Brewin'." I predicted that when the new Core i5 and Core i7 processors where released, there was bound to be a big shakeup. That didn't happen. Then with the new Core i3 processors in January, I thought at least the budge system will get a makeover. That didn't happen either. It seems the more things change, .. well, you know how that saying goes. One thing that did changes was a price change in the AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (BE). The price went so low - $162 - that it takes over as the budget build CPU. We have a budget CPU that can compete with the Core i5 750 and even the Core i7 920. That's the good news. The bad news: the prices on many of the components are going up. So while the new "low-cost" i5 750 CPU is too expensive for the budget machine (although I did an alternative build with a Core i5 750 even though it blows the budget).
The CPU I've recommended for the enthusiast (unlimited) build is still the same as in August: the Intel Core i7 920. Why? It's unlocked and overclockable beyond the 860, 870 and even the stock 975. The 860 and 870 are significantly more expensive and at least somewhat less overclockable because of the direct tie to the onboard PCI-e controller. Also, that controller is only using 16 lanes as opposed to the X58 chipset's 36 lanes. The means that SLI configurations with the P55 chipset can do no better than 8x8. The motherboards with the Core i7 920 can do 16x16 and has lanes left over. Having the PCI-e onboard (P55) as opposed to in an external chip (X58) does help out the P55 chipset a little, but the overclocking just isn't as flexible.
By request, I've written a breakdown of the heat I'm currently packing. That is, the gaming rig I'm using today. If you're interested in what I've chosen for myself, I invite you to check out my current rig page.
A couple caveats/disclaimers before we get into the specifics. First, except where noted, I haven't actually built the systems given in the specifications. I fully believe I could if someone wants to kindly send me the parts so I can test that theory, but I haven't. If you discover something that just doesn't work, I'd love to hear about it. (Email me) The systems will be put together using prices from Newegg. I don't work for Newegg or receive anything for using their prices as the example (with the exception of a hat and trackpad for giving them a good review on some web site). Newegg has earned this themselves. Newegg's prices in general are very low - often the very lowest, but not always. Their service is a rare phenomenon. If they say they have it in stock, it's in stock. The shipping on most items is reasonable. Newegg sends emails tracking everything all along the way. On the 2-3 occasions that I had to return an item, I've had no problem with doing so whether I ordered something wrong or just couldn't make the component work. I'll happily ignore emails stating you could get this from <insert some other e-tailer here> for $5 less. That said, I'm also going to bypass Newegg's "combo" deals as those are usually for a limited time, but the time is not specified. I may mention I saw one, but I won't include it in the price. Now, on with the show.