need serious help for low budget gaming pc

[Bubba82]

hello all i was referred to this place by a friend of mine. he told me that this was a great place for any tech questions so here i am lol... please help me out with a low budget gaming pc build... give me a list of what i need to build it... ie. type,brand,quality,price...... i am a poor man so i want the best quality stuff i can get for the lowest price.. i want the pc to very durable in all aspects.... the ps i have now is follows:
amd sempron 3400+ 2ghz
bout 1 gb ram
8400gs 256mb 64bit vid card
250 gb hdd
SB audigy live sound card
win xp home
lol dont laugh.. like i said im poor... but with that pc i can play Americas army and even COD4 so...... i know a budget pc can play some good games.. please help me out... budget is $600

 

[shadowduck]

Nothing to laugh about at all.

The Budget Build: ~ $652 before $15 video card rebate.
CPU: Intel Core2Duo E2180 2.0GHz
Motherboard: ASUS P5KPL-VM (Intel G31 chipset)
RAM: G.Skill 2GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-12
Hard Drive: 250GB WD Sata2
Optical Drive: Lite-On SATA 20X burner w/ Nero
Case: Antec NSK4480B case w/ 380W PSU
OS: Windows XP Home (I don't much care for Vista- but you can sub Vista here if you want for $30 more because Home Basic is ripoff in every possible way)
Input Devices: MS keyboard and Mouse
Video: Sapphire 3870 512MB

I know this is $52 over your budget, but the 3870 is an amazing video card (the one I have right now) at $149 thats a steal! It will play any current game at max settings (except maybe Crysis) at 1680x1050.

This post has links to everything parts wise except the video card.

Video Card link:Sapphire 3780 512MB

 

[Bubba82]

tyvm shadowduck for spending yer time helping me decide for a build

 

[shadowduck]

What do you think? Something you can go with?

 

[dagger]

A 8800gs will match 3870, but at $105 after MIR.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130333
For more performance at similar price to the 3870, get 8800gt.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143118
Or go for still higher performance with g92 8800gts at higher price, $169.99 after MIR.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134037

Benchmark for reference:
http://www.guru3d.com/category/vga_2/

 

[Bubba82]

seems good to me.... will the 380w ps be enough for all that? do think its a sturdy build?

 

[dagger]

seems good to me.... will the 380w ps be enough for all that? do think its a sturdy build?

It's cutting close, but should work.

 

[snajper69]

Decent setup for the price you should be fine with it. You can cut corners here and there or switch to ADM. ADM even though is not as good at the time in the high build market is most likely best for tight budget PC. Let me check around and I give you optional build based around AMD.

 

[snajper69]

ASUS M3A AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 89.99 (supports quads AM2+ is a new socket so its future proof)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Processor ADO4800DDBOX - 2.50GHz, 1MB Cache, 1000MHz (2000 MT/s) FSB, Brisbane, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket AM2, Processor with Fan 80.99
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
(44.99)
Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail 129.95
EVGA 512-P2-N773-AR GeForce 8600GTS 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail 119.99
or
Sapphire 3870 512MB
Hard Drive: 250GB WD Sata2
Optical Drive: Lite-On SATA 20X burner w/ Nero

That will run you about 600 with better case and better PSU

 

[snajper69]

and if you would go with Amd 5000BE you can easily overclock it to over 3GZ for 90.00 CPU

 

[nvalhalla]

reuse your current HDD and OS and spring for the GTS 512, or wait a month and get the 4850. Looks like a good build.

 

[Bubba82]

ty snajper69 for the alternate build.... i always liked amd but my friends kept telling me to go intel and nvidia......i for one havent had a prob with amd or anything and i thought they had good produscts and from what i have checked they are cheaper as well......the build u gave me, do u think that will last a while? and also is it a sturdy system? i want my system to withstand punishment even though i will try to keep it easy on it lol.... will the 500 watt psu be good enough if i went with the 5000 BE? would i have to get bigger psu if later i went with 8800gtx?

 

[wrazor]

Contrary to all the posts, build a system with this:
mobo-Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H.......90$
cpu-amd 4850e........90$
ram- transcend ddr2 667 mhz 2gb...........40$
gpu-ati 3450....60$......this is optional but this card can be crossfired(sli) with the onboard graphics. Getting incredible reviews
You wont need a graphic card for the next 9-10 months for casual gaming, you can play all games smooth on low settings. After that, you can have todays high end gpu for cheap sub-125$ cost or you can check your options then which should expand considerably. Also this is a good system tbh. And it runs cool too. Watcha think guys??
Another note......this mobo will support future quad core cpus from amd, but only the ones under 95w tdp. So do check this out before u upgrade ur cpu.

 

[dirtmountain]

Well i'll jump in with an alternative for you. This is a reconditioned HP computer with a 90 day warranty. http://app.infopia.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/vpid/4797766/vpcsid/0/SFV/31197 (EDIT) DANG out of stock within minutes.................
It has a E6550 2.33 GHz processor and a NON integrated GeForce 7350 GPU PCI-E X16(very low end) Comes with 2 GB of RAM and Vista home premium for $299.00 not including shipping. Add a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003 Corsair PSU $70 after rebate. Add a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329 8800 GT with a great cooling solution for the low flow case for $170 after rebate. Move a couple of SATA plugs up, move or remove the TV tuner to fit the card. Good to go for $550 before shipping and taxes. Save the old power supply and video card if you ever decide to sell the system later, or use them in a cheap build. You can't over clock the CPU, but you can OC the GPU. The mobo also supports the 6600 or 6700 quad cores if in 2 years or so you want to play a specific game that demands them.

 

[lambofgode3x]

how about this...

cpu: $135, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052
ram: $56, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144119
mobo: $110, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130098
video: $150, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102719
case: $55, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068
power supply: $80, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010
heatsink: $27, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

That comes to about $603 before shipping and rebates. i actually built a system similar to this recently for a friend, only he went with crossfire HD3870's.

The E7200 actually has a very high multiplier, and is 45nm. Overclocks well. Chance the FSB to 333mhz and you basically have an E8500 with half the cache for half the price. The mobo and ram also overclock very well. Whichever way you go, good luck.

 

[ryanthesav]

Please don't go cheap on the power supply.

 

[snajper69]

ty snajper69 for the alternate build.... i always liked amd but my friends kept telling me to go intel and nvidia......i for one havent had a prob with amd or anything and i thought they had good produscts and from what i have checked they are cheaper as well......the build u gave me, do u think that will last a while? and also is it a sturdy system? i want my system to withstand punishment even though i will try to keep it easy on it lol.... will the 500 watt psu be good enough if i went with the 5000 BE? would i have to get bigger psu if later i went with 8800gtx?

Yeah it will do fine. Is the best combo deal out there with decent PSU comparing to the rest. 5000BE is a great chip and even Intel fun boys will tell you that. I choose AMD because its the beset $ value for budget PCS (note: I don't like to overclock unless I ubsolutely need to)

 

[jaibot18]

SILVERSTONE ST400 400W ATX 12V 2.2 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256032
50 dollars
2 gig crucial ram 30 after rebate
gigabyte p35ds3l 90
e7200 140
hd old one is fine if not about 60 for a new
cd old one fine also if not 30 dollars

so far 400 not adding shipping and tax

case 60-90 depending on what you want

9600gt 140 dollars or maybe less

 

[Bubba82]

ty very much everyone for giving me many different options on a good budget gaming build! this place is a really helpful place to come to for answers to any tech questions and i really appreciate u all.