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$500 Gaming PC: Component Selection

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  • Gaming
  • Components
  • Performance
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Anonymous
a b 4 Gaming
April 16, 2008 5:50:03 AM

How much performance can $500 buy? We set out to find the answer. Today we show you our choice of components. Tomorrow we present test results.

$500 Gaming PC: Component Selection : Read more

More about : 500 gaming component selection

April 16, 2008 10:41:19 AM

Somehow I think this is a better PC than the 1000$ one.
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a b 4 Gaming
April 16, 2008 10:54:29 AM

Is it me or was their first price list have the Phenom 9500 and when I looked at the next page they were mentioning the e2160 w/DS3L? I'd much prefer this setup over the $1k that they listed last month. I mean, I could build a $1k rig that would compete with their $1.5k or better system.
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April 16, 2008 12:05:41 PM

Looks cool, still better then my 3 year old $300 one but that will be changing by the summer: Armor Case, Antec 650w, Maximus Formula, E8400, BFG 8800GTS OC, 2 GB Dominator RAM, 500gb 7200.11 (Seagate Barracuda), 2 Lightscribes. Gonna run XP Home (32-bit) and no overclocking for a little bit until its needed or I feel more confident. I CAN'T WAIT!!! :D 
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April 16, 2008 12:16:41 PM

I asked for another 500 dollar build after the last sbm. This overclocked might throw up some really interesting results. Just make sure we have some real gaming benchmarks this time please. Also I really like what you guys picked.
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April 16, 2008 12:28:13 PM

Excellent Shopping.
Truly Impressive build.

Gotta love those falling GPU prices.
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April 16, 2008 12:47:29 PM

I like the article, but I'm consused by the price list on the first page, what does it reference!?!? I'd love to see the price list of the $500 build on the first page.
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April 16, 2008 12:48:34 PM

Nice roundup.
Very nice configuration for 500 bucks.

Curious about the review,and overclocking results :) .

The price on the first page is from previous "System builder marathon - Low cost system", so don't worry about the first page, it's there just for the reference!
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April 16, 2008 12:51:18 PM

Quote:
a few swore by “Absurdly Cheap” components that our experience has proven are likely to fail within the first few months of use


Yeah, I was one of those "absurdly cheap" bastards. :)  But this $500 build has indeed got my interest. I eagarly await testing results.
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April 16, 2008 1:03:37 PM

there seems to be come inconsistencies in the component list on first page and the rest of the article.. the obvious ones are the CPU (AMD vs Intel?) and the Graphics card (AMD vs nVidia). It'd be great if that's fixed. ;) 
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April 16, 2008 1:06:24 PM

o.. wait.. nvm.. I got confused.. the front page is for the low-cost system a month back? a bit confusing there..
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April 16, 2008 1:09:19 PM

A very similar build to my $~650 build, except I ended up buying a 9600GT and an Antec 900 with a 560W PSU which is where my premium in price comes in. Great build and I after the benches I may recommend it to a few friends.
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April 16, 2008 1:10:15 PM

If price is the prime consideration here then I think you could save a few pennies by going AMD. The one thing I hate about these latest systems is having to use DDR II memory, so unlike AMD S939 you can't save money by using existing memory you may have lying around. Aside from that I can't find a bad part..they're all branded and no corners have been cut with the PSU or memory. Historically those things are usually the one's that can cause the most grief.
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Anonymous
a b 4 Gaming
April 16, 2008 1:22:27 PM

Motherboard Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L $66.99

CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 OEM $234.99 or Intel Core 2 Duo E2220 $91.99

RAM: Mushkin DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 1.9v $31.99 after MIR

Case hec 6K28BB8F /w 585W PSU $54.99

HD WD Caviar 320GB $69.99

Optical Drive PHILIPS SPD2513BM/17 (DVD,CD Burner) $24.99

Graphics Card XFX 8800GS $99 after MIR or Sapphire HD3870 $149.99 after MIR

HSF Zerotherm BTF92 $32.99 after MIR $149.99 after MIR

Quad setup: 619.92(88GS) after rebates, $669.92(3870) after rebates
Duo setup: 476.92(88GS) after rebates, $526.92(3870) after rebates

Gota LOVE newegg's low prices.
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April 16, 2008 1:31:00 PM

This is pretty much my setup only I did the 9600gt for $119 after mail in rebate. I moved over an x-fi from my last system and I definitely found my pc better then their $1k build. I even have a 600watt ultra PSU that was 8$ after rebate. My whole system (including vista, excluding monitor) was about $385. GeminII heatsink was free after rebate and vista was free from playing club live games! Great job on part selection! This baby will fly with an oc.

It needs an oc too because I scored 6800 in 3dmark06 until I overclocked the cpu to 3.0 then got 9700 marks, oc'ed video card and cpu @3.16 and got 11050 3dmark06 pts! Beat that tom's!
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April 16, 2008 1:34:15 PM

lunyone said:
Is it me or was their first price list have the Phenom 9500 and when I looked at the next page they were mentioning the e2160 w/DS3L? I'd much prefer this setup over the $1k that they listed last month. I mean, I could build a $1k rig that would compete with their $1.5k or better system.


yeah, the table on first page is not the right one. they have to fix it
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a b 4 Gaming
April 16, 2008 2:07:10 PM

I could see that the table was from a previous article, but I would like to have seen an identical table for the current build, or a column added for direct comparison.
I like this one though, and will look forward to the next piece concerning performance.
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April 16, 2008 2:13:12 PM

^yeap. n i loved this system. it shows a true sub 500$ system
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April 16, 2008 2:26:08 PM

Interesting...ive been doing my own research the last several weeks for a new sub 500$ build...I picked out the same mobo, cpu, and hard drive. I look forward to seeing some good benchmark results.
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a b 4 Gaming
April 16, 2008 2:51:10 PM

This build is much smarter than the one last month. I'm going to see how well they actually test this setup. It'll only be as good as the GPU that they use, so it'll do well, but not as good as the 3870 rig last month.
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April 16, 2008 3:26:12 PM

animehair said:
Interesting...ive been doing my own research the last several weeks for a new sub 500$ build...I picked out the same mobo, cpu, and hard drive. I look forward to seeing some good benchmark results.


And I happen to have that exact case in my office awaiting an upcoming build.
I actually got the combo for an absurd price of $35!

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April 16, 2008 4:20:23 PM

Very nicely done. I am impressed. See, when you actually build a decent system, people don't complain. Please stop complaining when people don't agree, because your site tends to suck it up in choosing components for these builds.

Why this worked:
Ignored SLI and Crossfire in a budget build
Picked up a CPU with easy overclocking and low price. An actual budget CPU!
Got a good low price CPU cooler
Found a great case and PSU combo
Used a known high quality Seasonic made power supply and didn't go overboard on the wattage rating like your site always does.
Used a solid capacitor high quality motherboard and ignored the extra features on boards that nobody really needs like lame heatpipes when a simple extruded heatsink is cheaper and in most cases superior IMHO.
Actually picked a difficult to reach build target of $500 and reached it with excellent results.

I feel like your budgets are 2X what normal people consider reasonable. A budget computer is $500, midrange is $1000, highend is $2000.
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April 16, 2008 4:38:42 PM

almost the same as mine...
i spent a bit more. on some components as i didn't buy new HDD and DVD-RW
for an e2200 + ocz vanquisher
an antec nine hundred and an OCZ 500W silentX PSU
a 8800GS from EVGA ( they're almost all the same except stock clocking )
same board/ but i got a single value 2gb stick(buffalo)... i can run it pass 1000 mhz alone... i guess it won't when i'll use dual channel.

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April 16, 2008 5:37:51 PM

Really? They should've used an X2 5000+ BE. >$100 and easily overclockable to 3.3 GHz. Oh well.
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April 16, 2008 5:51:02 PM

Looks about identical to a build I would do. I'd probably use a AMD 4600+ at 2.4mhz since I don't OC much for the same price. Although, that Intel chip can OC about 90%.
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April 16, 2008 5:55:43 PM

Yes I would for sure use different parts buy meh, I would hope people would disagree with my choices :) 
Congrats for tomshardware looking into this.

I love the up to date analysis on hardware but sometimes looking further than just the simple best and putting into perspective many average users needs that cannot afford the best adds merit to an already brilliant website.
Looking at something as simple as the economy shows that for Europe many tomshardware pricing schemes do not relate to us directly due to different availability and prices.
That said, the multitude of articles published, coupled with the depth and seemingly honest criticism attributed to reviews makes tomshardware truly imperative to hardware analysis.
I am still running a XP2500+ system that I feel tomshardware had a major influence in.

I think you will succeed, and well too! Brownie points for the decision to give it a go.
Just a thought, would it be possible to do follow up articles with improved components? This way it may offer some mid-end users a comparable 6-12month upgrade option.
....or is that giving ammunition for companies to slow price declines...haha
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April 16, 2008 6:41:29 PM

Jakemo136Really? They should've used an X2 5000+ BE. >$100 and easily overclockable to 3.3 GHz. Oh well.


I think the BE would have worked better with something closer to a $425 build. An OC'd E2160 will still outperform an OC'd X2 5000+, which is even slightly more expensive. However, AMD has the best Integrated Graphics at the moment. So if we decided to go ultra-low cost and move to integrated graphics, the AMD solution likely would have been the better choice.
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April 16, 2008 6:48:27 PM

they could have got an amd athlon x2 for that price and had a much faster system...
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Anonymous
a b 4 Gaming
April 16, 2008 6:48:44 PM

i can build a better one for the money
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April 16, 2008 6:52:57 PM

can't disagree with any of the hardware chosen, actually has several of the same parts as my last $500 build
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April 16, 2008 6:58:47 PM

Good choice of components but there isn't any budget left for the OS. Like it or not, a gaming machine must run Windows to play 99% of today's games (please, don't give me your open-source emulation crap).
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April 16, 2008 7:35:02 PM

Much better selection this time around over the SBM. I might change a few things out of personal preference/brand loyalty, but can't make any big complaints really. Looking forward to see how it performs.
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April 16, 2008 9:13:10 PM

What about operating system? For gaming it is not Linux, and it does co$t money
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April 16, 2008 9:24:31 PM

Where's the OS? It's not truly a finished rig without an OS. Unless your gonna use gentoo :p 
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April 16, 2008 9:47:39 PM

all nice but why 8800GS? you can get 8800GTS 320 for the same $$$ or less. Get some Pepsi Max and wake up people!!!
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April 16, 2008 10:14:53 PM

Much better than the $1000 "low cost". Couldn't argue with any of these components. But I hope you show the overclocked benchmarks. The whole point of a 2160 is O/C.
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April 16, 2008 10:34:38 PM

when clocked @ 3.0 or more, this cpu has nothing 2 be ashamed of, specially when u compare the price, with a high end graphic card this would be a killer machine.
About cpu cooler, it's a nice touch, but i think box cooler would be enough, just don't forget 2 put additional fan on norhbridge.
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April 16, 2008 11:12:16 PM

nice picks, my current $500 build for gamers. Which do you think would win?
Intel E4500 $125
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L $88
Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400-2GB $36
ECS N9600GT-512MX-P $125
Seagate Barricuda 7200.10 250GB $53
RAIDMAX Sagitta ATX-912 w/ 450W $40
Samsung SH-S203N $33
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April 16, 2008 11:19:57 PM

not bad at all. Personally I would have stuck with the stock cooler, at least for a stock voltage sub 3Ghz overclock, but with a P35 board, you guys are probably looking to shoot the moon ;)  good luck.
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April 16, 2008 11:21:23 PM

Porksmugglernice picks, my current $500 build for gamers. Which do you think would win?Intel E4500 $125Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L $88Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400-2GB $36ECS N9600GT-512MX-P $125Seagate Barricuda 7200.10 250GB $53RAIDMAX Sagitta ATX-912 w/ 450W $40Samsung SH-S203N $33


Perhaps theirs.
Yours will be held back by the Stock Cooling Fan.
RaidMax PSU not reliable.
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April 17, 2008 12:58:54 AM

I had that case but with the silver front and that PSU is pretty good. 80+ cert and it has 2x2 SATA ports with great reach (problem with my CM) and the amperage on it matches higher wattage PSU's. Actually it's got more Amps than some cheap "600" watts!
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April 17, 2008 1:12:04 AM

Great shopping!
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April 17, 2008 1:15:50 AM

maxinexusall nice but why 8800GS? you can get 8800GTS 320 for the same $$$ or less. Get some Pepsi Max and wake up people!!!


Please show us where you can find the 8800GTS 320 for under $100.
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April 17, 2008 1:19:15 AM

zak_mckrakenGood choice of components but there isn't any budget left for the OS. Like it or not, a gaming machine must run Windows to play 99% of today's games (please, don't give me your open-source emulation crap).


The rules of the article are that they do not consider OS, Monitor, Keyboard or mouse.
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April 17, 2008 1:23:10 AM

joefridaynot bad at all. Personally I would have stuck with the stock cooler, at least for a stock voltage sub 3Ghz overclock, but with a P35 board, you guys are probably looking to shoot the moon good luck.


That would have been a very good option.
It would have allowed for an even better GPU.
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April 17, 2008 1:43:06 AM

You know, I too agree that this is a better system than the $1000 one. Its overclockable like all get out to.

I will say the GS card would be stomped by a GT and the GT can be found at GS prices sometimes, but only sometimes. Hence, the GS was still a good choice for most of the times.
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April 17, 2008 1:48:09 AM

And to the guys complaining about the operating system, OS, keyboard, and mouse:

When I built my first PC (ok, partial assembled) I used a mouse out of a dumpster on an Air Force base, a keyboard from my dads old office, a monitor that wouldn't adjust color (so I had to do it at the graphics card), and an old copy of XP.

Anyone building a real budget PC will scavenge for some of it. I know people who will find an OS someone isn't using anymore and install it, and like I did for my parts, just collect the old keyboard from an old system. Hell I had a guy in my dorm who still was using a BALL MOUSE. Yah.

But for reasonable answers to those questions of "where does the rest of it come from:" 1) mouse, keyboard and monitor from old computers at home, parents place, work, or what you can find. 2) OS is either an old copy or Linux.

Done.
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April 17, 2008 5:28:23 AM

tough it should have the 9600gt or dual kit ram instead, bravo anyway.
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April 17, 2008 8:10:12 AM

Now this is low cost. Heck $1000 is a fortune for a budget rig. Very nice.
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April 17, 2008 9:15:24 AM

It'll beat the 1000$ system in many places, like overclocking, and some benchmarks, like Crysis.
Its the 8800gs! And it plays Crysis better than the 3870! But less futureproof than the 3870...
I think they should have not used their cash to buy a new cooler, just stick with their old cooler, and get the 9600GT. Don't you think it'll be a better buy by then?
I'm glad they use the Core 2 duo 2xxx processor. Can overclock it like hell!
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