Suggestions for a good budget gaming machine?

[p5mmr9a]

I am gathering research on building a good budget gaming machine and I'd appreciate any recommendations. What constitutes a "budget" machine? Honestly - I'm not quite sure where this should price out... I can give you a wide swath of $800 - $1500(?).

This system is being built completely from scratch - I will need basic components plus a monitor and speakers...I'd also like the monitor to be fairly large (20"?) and HD compatible with the ability to hook up an XBOX2. I was originally considering a Dell with their offer of the UltraWide 20" for an extra $200 - but I think I'd be short changing myself going this route.

I am also concerned about timing. I understand substantial price cuts are on the horizon. Should I wait? How long should I wait?

Any and all information is appreciated. Thanks for your help!

 

[chewbenator]

Wait till the 24th/tommarrow for an AMD system - Official Price Cut Date

Wait till the 27th/thursday for an Intel sytem - Official Release of Core 2 Duo

As for the rest of the components, I'm too lazy to put one together right now... maybe later. :roll:

 

[The_Prophecy]

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (~ $200)

Mobo: Abit AB9 Pro

RAM: OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800

Video Card: eVGA Geforce 7600GT

Power Supply: Antec Truepower 480W

Monitor: Acer AL1917ABMD

Optical Drive: NEC ND-3550A

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2

Keyboard: Logitech G15

Mouse: Logitech G5

Case: I'll leave that up to you and your tastes...

Total before taxes and shipping: $1237.91

If this is too high, let me know and i'll adjust my suggestions accordingly.

 

[p5mmr9a]

thanks prophecy...is it worth the $80 upgrade to install a X-Fi card? Also - can you recommend some speakers and a few good case options - or are all cases created equal?

 

[The_Prophecy]

If you're crazy about good sound quality, then yes, go for an X-Fi card. If it's not a big problem, don't waste your money. Not all cases are created equal. Look for something that looks good, has holes to mount at least 2 120mm fans (one at the back, and one at the front), but also one that's light enough to carry around (unless you are in good physical condition). For instance, of you have a bad back, don't get an Antec P180. It weighs 40lbs by itself, then throw in all of the components of the computer itself, it can get up to 60lbs. Don't get a case with a power supply included. It's a waste of money because:

1. The power supplies that come included with cases are no-name brand pieces of crap.

2. The Antec Truepower 480W supply I suggested is better than any of the supplies that come with cases anyway.

Some good case brands are: Coolermaster, Lian-Li, and Aspire.

For speakers, I would go for the Altec Lansing VS4121. This is the speaker system I have and I love it. If you want more than a 2.1 system, you can find something you like better from this page