![]() | Antec P160W Anodized Aluminum Super Mid Tower ATX Case
The Antec 900 case is cheaper, has larger fans, and looks better, but is not sold on Amazon it seems.
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![]() | XFX PVT88PYDF4 GeForce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Ready Video Card (Dual DVI/S-Video)
This is one of the fastest cards on the market right now, and due to its lower fab, actually performs better than the 8800 GTS. It is only trumped by the 8800 GTX, which costs almost twice as much. This card can be clocked to be faster than the GTX as well. Best price/performance for a video card in years.
Buy 2 to run in SLI (scaleable link interface).
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![]() | Corsair XMS2 2 GB (2 X 1 GB 240-pin DDR2 800Mhz Dual Channel Memory Kit
Buy new: $51.90 / Used from: $29.95 Good RAM, low latency, decent price. Hunt around on Newegg for RAM of the right specs. DDR2 has lower cas latencies than DDR3, don't be fooled by the price.
Get at least 2 GB, 4 is preferable.
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![]() | eVGA nForce 680i SLI SE Motherboard Optimized for Core2Duo (122-CK-NF63-TR)
Again, the exact specs aren't visible to me on this thing. The 680i chipset is the best on the market right now, and supports SLI. Check Newegg for better prices and specs. Supports socket 775 CPUs, FSB speeds of 1066 mhz or higher are preferable.
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![]() | Seagate ST3500641AS-RK Barracuda 7200.9 500GB SATA NCQ Internal Hard Drive
Buy new: $84.99 / Used from: $105.38 Good internal HDD. Seagate tends to be quite reliable. Stay away from Maxtor. If you can, get 2 of these. 1 TB is more than enough disk space for anything.
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![]() | Western Digital WD1500AHFDRTL Raptor X 150GB SATA/150 Hard Drive
This HDD spins at 10k RPM, which translates to lower seek times. Running games of of this drive can make them play faster.
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![]() | Physx Card 128 Mb
This is a toss-up. Since it uses the PCI interface instead of PCI-e, it is usually a performance bottleneck. However, if you value pretty explosions over higher FPS, this is for you. It is also sort of redundant, because the 8 series nVidia cards have integrated physics processing.
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![]() | SE-S184M Dual Layer DVD+RW Writer (18x/6x/16x DVD+RW, 18x/6x/16x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+RW DL, 48x/32x/48x CD-RW)
Buy new: $80.99 Does what is says. Necessary for installation of anything.
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![]() | Zalman CPU Fan With 70mm Fan LED (CNPS9500 LED-CU)
Buy new: $138.99 Very nice cooler. I tend toward air cooling, because if water cooling leaks, you are f**ked. If you want to overclock, the stock CPU fan won't be sufficient. Zalman is a very reliable brand.
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![]() | PC Power and Cooling S75QB Silencer 750W Quad (Black) power supply, SLI and 80+ Certified
Buy new: $134.99 Probably enough power. Check on the internets for compatible specs. There is no need under any circumstances for a 1000 watt psu, don't be fooled.
A note: don't skimp on the PSU- buy the best. If your PSU blows, your entire system is gone.
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![]() | Logitech MX 518 High Performance Optical Gaming Mouse (Metal)
Buy new: $39.95 / Used from: $34.99 Don't be fooled by the "laser" hype. This optical mouse remains the best gaming mouse on the market, unless you want to pay almost 100 dollars for a g9. This mouse has extremely high "perfect control," and will never skip. The 1600 DPI is more than enough for any gamer- I don't think anyone can move their mouse fast enough for >1600 DPI to be useful.
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![]() | Belkin Nostromo Speedpad n52
Buy used from: $34.99 Essential for FPS, MMOS, and RPGS. I can't live without it. The "tournament edition" looks a bit better, but offers no real advantages afaik.
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![]() | DELL UltraSharp 2005FPW 20.1-inch Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor with Height Adjustable Stand
Buy new: $538.99 / Used from: $165.00 This monitor is beautiful. Monitors are the one thing that Dell does well. I prefer widescreen, but that is up to you.
Be warned- nVidia SLI does not support dual monitors. You will have to switch to single video mode to use 2 monitors in Windoze.
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![]() | Razer Tarantula Gaming Keyboard
Buy new: $99.18 / Used from: $52.99 Quite expensive, but possibly the best gaming keyboard on the market, aside from the Wolfking and the G11. If you can, test all of them out before you buy.
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![]() | Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound, 3.5 Grams
Buy new: $6.97 Best thermal compound available. Settle for nothing less.
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![]() | Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Sound Card (70SB073A00000)
Buy new: $93.24 / Used from: $78.03 Expensive, but quite a good sound card. You are paying for the name, though.
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![]() | Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 505-Watt 5.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System
Buy new: $192.05 / Used from: $224.95 If you can afford them....
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![]() | Belkin 6 Outlet Home/Office Surge Protector
Buy new: $8.74 / Used from: $5.37 Protect from surge. Don't want your nice machine fried.
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Listmania!


















