How is this for a budget gaming machine?

[vonbose]

AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3000+ Socket AM2 - $65

Gigabyte GA-M61PM-S2 NVIDIA® GeForce 6100 Socket AM2 800MHz DDR2 - $84

Corsair TWIN2X1024-5400C4 1GB Kit DDR2-675 XMS2-5400 Xtreme Performance Memory w/Black Heat Spreader - $77

eVGA e-Geforce 7600GT PCI Express 256MB GDDR3 Video Card - $97 after $20 rebate

Western Digital WD Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB - $48

Ultra ULT33114 MicroFly Aluminum Micro ATX Case/w 400W PSU - $75

Comes to about $426 before shipping. I'm trying to build a machine for my GF to play games with me and she is weary of me spending too much money. Looking for input, am I making any noob mistakes?

 

[PC_Side_Line]

80 gigs on thee hdd is a bit low, but if u have less than 3 games assuming, no video or music downloads and all mmorgs, then ur system will be fine for at least 2 yrs.

With 80 gigs it can fill up to 50% to 75% within a 1 to 2 years with lots of mmorg expansions.

I would start out with a 160 gig for about 50 dollas

u can find it at www.pricewatch.com

or here: http://www.pricewatch.com/hard_drives/eide_160gb.htm

 

[drummerdude]

get a better psu. ones that come with cases are normally junk
psu
bigger hd for only a few buck more

 

[vonbose]

It is an Orleans core. I know it is kinda weak but I'm on a tight budget and will swap it out in the future.

 

[Colt]

alot of people say that the evga graphics cards are really noisy

unless that doesn,t bother you, theres an xfx that has a better memory clock, slightly higher core clock, and is much quiter. but youll have to shell out another 30 bucks. its all about finding a balance

 

[vonbose]

Yeah I like XFX. I actually have the AGP 6800GT for my athlon 3200XP machine. The XFX 6800gt XXX version had a rebate recently but it just expired. The eVGA was the best price on 6800gt. I found it on Zip Zoom Fly. Another problem I have is I live in Alaska so Zip has the best shipping rates for me.

 

[Featherstone]

I would seriously consider a better video card if this is to be used in gaming. You could get about twice the performance for about 10% more system cost.

Example:

your system now = $426

Your system with an x1950pro instead of 7600GT = $480

Example benchmarks from THG (I know these won't be exactly like your new system benchies, but are a good indicator)

HL2 1280x1024:
x1950pro: 78 fps
7600GT: 42 fps

Prey 1280x1024:
x1950pro: 55 fps
7600GT: 32 fps


It seems well worth the small price increase to me.

 

[qwertycopter]

What games will she be playing?

 

[vonbose]

haha well I had hoped to play vanguard, which may seem like a stretch. I am playing it now and it seems that it relies more on the graphics card and memory more than the CPU. I am running the game now with a 3200XP just fine. The truth is she will probably stick with WoW becauuse it's prettier. But my hopes are to tag team some RPGs during rainy days.