I would check this site: http://www.bestgaminglaptop.net/

Before I bought my latest laptop, I spent a while reading the various articles on that site. I ended up buying a HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition. From that site I got a coupon code for $450 off the price and HP was offering free shipping along with a few other upgrades (8 GB RAM, Blu-Ray/DVD drive) at no extra cost. With tax included, it cost me just a little over $1000, it was like $1057. I've played a little bit of The Witcher on there with no problems at all (I wish I had more time, that game is awesome!). I've also been playing Fallout 1, Titan's Quest, and Planescape: Torment. I plan to buy Witcher 2 soon, so I can provide an update on that game once I do.

MB: ASRock 970 EXTREME3 - 89.99$
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz - 119.99$
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) - 39.99$
VGA: MSI R5770 Hawk Radeon HD 5770 1GB - 114.99$
HDD:Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB - 119.99$
SSD:OCZ Agility 3 60GB - 78.99$
Case: LIAN LI Lancool PC-K63 Black Steel - 89.99$
PSU: PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W - 99.99$

Total price: 753.92$

I think this will get the job done very well not only with Witcher 1 & 2 :)

My personnal advice :
- Alienware : As spinefarm said, they're the kings of markup. Check their PC only if you have golden minerals growing in your backyard (and/or if you like the design).
- DELL: last time i checked, their LCD are overpriced and you have little information about the MoBo (IMHO that's the worse thing about DELL)

I mounted my bro's pc last week from scratch, for less 1000€ (french prices) he got
ATI_sapphire_7870 graphics
AMD_6100 cpu with noctua rad
8 GB gskill ddr3
great mobo, great Power supply, great casing
no display, no hard drive, no keyboard, no mouse(he already got that)

My point is : for 1000€ you can have a solid gaming config (screen included) => for a gaming pc I would recommend to target ATI stuff (better ratio quality/price i think)

EDIT: i just saw spinefarm (aka bulga-ninja) new post and I agree with what he said.

You could try ncixus.com. They have a configurator tool where you can choose the parts for your own custom rig. They'll put it together for you and ship to you. I believe the price for the build is $50. Not sure on shipping. Sometimes with their sales they offer free or $5 shipping when you buy a specific item.

I've used them (the Canadian side) for almost all my computer parts for over 5 years, and have had no issues with them at all.

That a great config, however that 5770 will struggle quite a bit with TW2 on high settings, it is really a demanding game, plus that cpu is a beast (I've got one since it came out) but it's EOL and a bit long in the tooth, plus the case is a little expensive, and ssd is a luxury right now, give it a year or two before they become essential, cost effective and matured in technology. Right now the wear rate is too much.


Right, let's get TheH2s a great config ;)



There IS a combo deal, but the PSU brand I haven't heard of, and feel as if it might be a weakness:http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.864860 However that's a pretty good deal and you save a ton of money.

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 This is a great, cheap, roomy case with upgrade in mind for fans and almost anything else you wish to use, HOWEVER it has NO cable management, so that might irk you in the long run, let me know if you want one with this feature. This is an EXCELLENT first time builder case though.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073 I didn't bother including the K version, since this is your first self built build and overclocking is something first time builders are unlikely to do till their next one. Also, TW2 makes usage of a quad core cpu, so having one will help out the game a lot. It'll run smoother at higher settings since it won't be cpu starved.

MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131711 Agian, nothing too special in the way of OC'ing, but a solid, brand recognized mobo with a good rating, good features, good look and of course, supports the CPU perfectly.

RAM: [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 ]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 [/url] 8GB is amazingly cheap these days, so why not opt for it. Again good brand, and will work with both mobo/cpu with any problem.

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521 This baby should easily handle TW2 at high/ultra settings with any trouble at all, however it's successor is already out, and the nvidia option, the 560Ti is better but a bit more expensive. If you wait a little while better cards will come out soon. This will knock down the price of the 6870 a little bit and make the NVIDIA 5000 series cards cheaper better to think this option over.

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 An excellent HDD, big on size, quality company, good performance and price. The flooding in Thailand is affecting the prices though, so I'm going to leave SSD and a storage drive out of this build. Rest assured, this drive is excellent.

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095 Some might say modular is unessary, but I took into consideration your perfectionist streak, and no other type of PSU Matched up. In order to have a clean, good looking inside of your computer then a modular power supply is a must. You basically can add in whatever wires you wish to use for your parts, and the extra cables you don't need to use you can just put back in the box. It simplifies the building process as well as you don't have lots of cable clutter you have to deal with, and just knowing what cable goes where enables you to store the extras you don't need. It's a bit expensive, but well worth it as a perfectionist. I too have a modular power supply and it has been excellent for my computer cleaning habits.

DVD drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276 A simple DVD drive for disk usage, it's wont come with a sata cable, but your MOBO will come with a few spare.



Total price is $851.99. This is below budget by a fair amount so you have $150 to save on future parts, OR we can recommend you better parts. Hope you find the info useful.

For the VGA you are right... it is not the best... but you can easily change that.
The case - 20$ diff... is not that much.
SSD is not cheap but yet it gives better overall performance.

And btw you put in your config a 1TB HDD for 110$ and the Baracuda is better in transfer and 2TB for 10$ more ;)

Ok remove the VGA add the 250$ left in my config and buy:
PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DH Radeon HD 7950 3GB - $379.99

Yeah the SSD gives more performance but again, it ain't exactly cheap. Plus it's his first build, better to make it simple for him so future upgrades like an SSD is easily achievable. Let him walk before he can run. I'd love an ssd to go with my two HDD's, but the price, immature tech and wear issue is holding me back. SSD needs another year or two before it becomes de facto for new and old builders alike.

Again, with the HDD, it's 10$ less, but I don't like anything below 7200RPM. TW2 and valve games acess the HDD A LOT so the extra spin rate will make the games run/load up better, theoretically. The HDD you linked is tasty though, the OP can cast the final vote. ;)
The problem is, that 7950 will be limited by the phenom 2 quite a bit. You'll need sandy bridge for it to perform to it's fullest extent or at least Bulldozer. A 7850 will perform much better with a phenom 2. Good choice of GPU but pairing it with a phenom 2 isn't advisable.

Yes RPM is good but the transfer rate is making a diff too ;)
About SSD it is good for OS and it's getting cheaper with every newer model... 60GB for a OS drive is perfect

The transfer rate will make a difference, but dealing with drives below a standard 7200RPM always point to seek time being important. 5900RPM is good, but I'd like a standard 7200RPM drive when dealing with demanding games. We need someone clued up about this to teach us more, I only have had limited experience with HDD workings and benchmarks.

Again with the SSD, it's a first time build and a SSD is just a luxury, which costs money. That $70 can go towards much better components, 8GB ram for example.

16GB of ram, I think, is going to be very cheap soon, If I wasn't saving for a new GPU I'd have it by now. I expect a lot more people having it soon, though it's not really necessary. unless you have a workstation. Oh but I advise the OP to stick to 8gb since only games use around 4gb right now. The next gen of consoles will allow us to have games that need more ram. 3gb GPU is beast as well, but the OP will most likely need 1GB for the future, hence the 6870 recommendation.
That is true, but TW2 takes up like 20-25GB, and a WIN7 OS install can take 15+, Valve games are 10+GB. TF2, L4D1 and 2, Portal 2 are above this size. a cheap SSD has around 60gb. It does not allow much else to be installed after what I said above. You'll keep delting and reinstalling games, and that's when the wear issue comes in. Sure TRIM makes up for this, but heavy usage after 1.5 years will take it's toll on the SSD. The transfer rates go down and you'll feel the impact. You CAN buy a 128 or a 256GB SSD, but the prices are properly high and it goes into the luxury bracket.

Give SSD a year or two to sort itself out. Then you'll have no need for standard drive.

Sure, but HDD had years and years before hand to get the tech right, they've been around since the 50's. SSD's have been around less then a decade. However, the wear issue isn't MASSIVELY off putting, and will be sorted out soon.

Definitely dude, SSD is a revolution is storage design. Uses a heck of a lot less power, and is super fast in every usage situation. It's also quieter to boot. After my CPU/MOBO upgrade next year, my next purchase will be a 256GB SSD. Just wish they sorted out it's kinks already. ;)

Guys I can't tell you how appreciative I am of your responses. This is exactly what I needed. If I did go the route of building myself is there a site that can walk you through putting this all together or what you need to know or remember before doing this? Or will the instructions for each piece kind of walk you through it?

Again thank you to everyone that is chiming in on this thread. All this information helps a lot!

You don't need a specific site... just come here and people here will help you build a good pc