New PC, small budget...

[seww]

Ok I'm trying to put together a new gaming desktop for me but my budget is not a whole lot, maybe $500...
and in this price i would love a flatscreen too. or at least a screen.

so what is my best bet? should I just buy a PC from Wal-Mart or alike which is built already, or find cheap, good parts and build it myself?

need some quick feedback.
thanks...

 

[seww]

ok will check that out...
dont know about buying it all by tomorrow, but i see what you mean.
the deals in this country is badass! am from sweden originally...

i just want a decent gaming pc for as little as possible.

but thanks! if anyone else got any ideas, feel free.

 

[seww]

yeah but that is still a bit high for me...
this is just, almost like a challenge, to build a decent machine for a tiny budget... hehe...

i guess it would be a good time to buy some parts now when its holiday season but christmas is coming up too... hmm we'll see...

and yeah sweden is alright. it depends where you're from. im from the far north, 2 hours above the arctic circle. cold as hell... and the chicks up there ain't that hot! haha...

if you could get the price down a tad, say to maximum $500, or less, that'd kick ass... and a screen i can probably find in some second hand store or alike so thats not really the problem...
thanks man!

 

[seww]

ok thats looks a bit better..
is there any way i can find a cheaper memory? i need at least 1 gb, but isn't there a cheaper brand?

there's many cheaper harddrives, http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822152022R
thats 200gb for less than $60..

and the cpu and mobo... i dont know anything about oc'ing so that will probably not happen. any other solution? i mean, do i really need the highest amount of ghz to play some games?

im just trying to press down the price as much as possible, thats why im asking all these questions.
thanks though!

 

[seww]

yeah i bet...
like if i was more into oc, it'd be an option... but i have never done it so...

if i can find someone who knows anything about it then i have to change everything... haha whatta mess...
thanks for your help.

 

[seww]

yeah im more of a newbie when it comes to building computers... this would be my third computer to put together... and it was about 3-4 years since i put my old one together...

anyways, lets skip the oc and keep this simple. simple and cheap. hehe...

if you have a good list, you can email it to me if you want, seww6@yahoo.com. just email it and we'll see...
or post it here and we'll talk about it...
thanks man!

 

[seww]

yeah thas not bad at all... its right under $500 which is possible...

 

[seww]

yeah i bet that'd be the cheapest way....
ok this is getting stupid, do you have msn or anything we could chat on?
my inbox's going nuts about all new emails every 2 minutes.... hehe...

 

[cuddlywill]

Two questions:

Which games do you play or plan to play with the machine?

Do you live near a frys?

 

[seww]

Two questions:

Which games do you play or plan to play with the machine?

Do you live near a frys?

right now im into UT2004, Q3 Arena, and alikes... Want something that can handle something more demanding, Q4, Doom 3 maybe and so on...
but mostly FPS and some RPG's...

a frys? sorry, i dont even know what that means.

 

[cuddlywill]

Ah okay well Tacos does have some good suggestions with the A64 and nvidia 7600. One way to save money (sometimes) is to purchase a bare bones system that would include the motherboard, case, and power supply in one package. Since it seems unlikely you'd overclock, you coud purchase a moderate to budget end product from a high quality maker like ASUS.

This one or something similar may be suitable:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16856110055

I used to play City of Villains, World of Warcraft, and Eve Online on an A64 3200+ based system with an ATI x800 video card. Those games were somewhat disappointing on that system. But I was running it before I really knew what I was doing. In hindsight I could have overclocked the system, or turned down the graphics settings in the games, and things would have been alright.

Fry's is a computer store chain with locations mostly in California (where I live) but also in other parts of the U.S. They have weekly motherboard/CPU combo sales. I was going to suggest you be alert for those if there's a Fry's location near you. But really, online sellers like newegg, chumbo, zipzoomfly, and mwave all have just as good deals, and much better service than Fry's, which is legendary in Silicon Valley for its surly employees.

 

[seww]

yeah i looked at that bare bone system and its not a bad idea...
but what does it contain? like i dont understand what you'll get with it? the case, mobo, or what?

but thanks thats something to think about!

i dont think we have a Fry's in the state of Utah, maybe we do. i can look it up for sure.

but yeah thanks for that input. gave me some new ideas. anything is appreciated.
thanks!

 

[seww]

got an input to this thread.

it would be nice if the system i put together was easy to upgrade. like i dont have to buy an entire new system next year just cause some part got too old.
maybe thats too much to ask, i dont know. just wanted to put it out there...
thanks.

 

[cuddlywill]

Ahh well with a barebones system you get:

Case
Power Supply
Motherboard

Major components you'd still have to budget for are:

Memory
Processor
Windows XP

That barebones system I linked to is very modern, with the current AMD Socket AM2 and supports the newer DDR2 memory. You wouldn't be trapped in an older specification you should avoid, like socket 939. Yet you'd still get a good value.

Whichever motherboard you buy, whether it's in a barebone system or on its own, be sure to purchase the right memory. The two best motherboard makers, ASUS and Abit (DFI is also good) post a partial list of compatible memory.

 

[seww]

so socket 939 is outdated already?
is the processors for AM2 way expensive? like how big is the difference between an AM2 processor and socket 939 or alike?

otherwise thats not a bad idea at all...

 

[cuddlywill]

Socket 939 might as well be end-of-life. AMD is developing product for AM2 right now. But even that platform will be superceeded in less than a year by a new socket made for its quad core processors. AM2 is currently their most advanced platform. You can get a decent AM2 processor, the A64 3500+ for under $100. There are even Sempron models that go as low as $40. But to play games I'd get that 3500+ minimum. Whatever you do, get the retail box, not the OEM. The retail box comes with a CPU cooler/fan. That will be the best deal for you at the price you're looking for.

 

[seww]

ok damn technology is moving on fast...
yeah i've heard alot about all different packages of cpu's... one you get a fan and another you dont...

 

[seww]

ok so i newegg'ed a wishlist with some stuff but im not sure they'll fit good together... share some inputs and suggestions... if you could make it even cheaper, that'd be awesome!

ASUS Vintage V2-AH2 AMD Socket AM2 AMD Athlon X2/Athlon 64 FX/Athlon 64 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Barebone - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16856110055

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Orleans 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA3500CWBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103033

WINTEC AMPX 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 400 (PC2 3200) Desktop Memory Model 3AXD2400-1G2S-R - Retail (out of stock, i know...)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820161652

eVGA 256-P2-N420-TX GeForce 6600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130064

Open Box: SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP2004C 200GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822152022R

i realize thats not all of it, i still need a dvd-rom and soundcard i guess...
but what do you think?? can i make it cheaper somehow but keep about the same standard?