Cheapest gaming computer build for $700-850?

i know questions like this are asked a lot but i couldn't find one like this.

i am gonna build a new gaming system from scratch from newegg. my price range is anywhere from $700 to anywhere around $850.

all i really want to know is if there are any current builds already build from newegg that gets as good as its gonna get for my price range. A build thats as up-to-date as possible. this is just going to be a gaming computer that can play pretty much any game out there (not crysis on highest setting of course, but can still play crysis) and future games. And do other things like messenger, movies, etc.

i have build a lot of computers on newegg but im never sure if the parts will work as well as other parts could work together. so i am just wondering if there is a system around that price range that is as good as it's going to get. it would also be nice if it was upgradable.

i have a moniter, keyboard, and mouse but that doesnt matter for now because i can get that all later if i want. dont bother about the moniter resolution for now, i can always get the right moniter for whatever the case. it would be nice to know good moniter for w/e computer it is anyone recommends.

i also heard that new cpu's are going to be coming out pretty soon so i don't know when to build a computer, but i dont want to keep on waiting for ever.

im pretty sure there are already answers for this question in different threads but i couldn't find one so it would be great if a link or something could just be replied. and i know some people can build very nice computer build on newegg really fast so it would be sweet if you could just post the parts that all work together and everything.

Message edited by redjokr on 09-10-2009 at 06:53:52 AM

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i actually do have enough money to go to around $900 even $1000 but i really don't want to hit $1000 and hopefully that extra money wont make the computer completely different lol...

Reply to redjokr

The place to start putting a gaming build together is with the monitor resolution .

You have to know that before picking the appropriate gfx card and/or cpu

Reply to Outlander_04

i was thinking about buying this moniter:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824009145
Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor

im just going to have a regular moniter. im not going to have like 5 moniters or anything, just 1. im pretty sure it's not going to be over 22' inch

Reply to redjokr

This i5 build includes o/s and monitor not to mention other than the monitor everything on here is free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.245596 Combo Discount: -$20.00 Combo Price: $124.90 Free Shipping*
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-P55M-D2 Combo Price: $299.98 | $284.98 - $15 off with P55 combo purchase w/ code OMGi5COMBO Free Shipping
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 Socket 1156/ Intel P55/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ MATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5 Processor i5-750 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1156 CPU, Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.256275 Combo Discount: -$15.00 Combo Price: $219.98 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail
SAPPHIRE 100279-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152181 $49.99 Free Shipping*
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827118030 $29.99 Free Shipping*
Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116677 $109.99 Free Shipping*
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM | Includes free Windows 7 upgrade coupon

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824009145 $159.99
Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2500:1 - Retail

Total: $979.82

*Same mobo/cpu combo as above, but @ newegg (this combo cost more at newegg).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.246589 Combo Discount: -$15.00 Combo Price: $304.98 Free Shipping*
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core i5 750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail

*You might find this handy when putting together your build.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6899261005 $3.49
Rosewill RTK-002 Anti-Static Wrist Strap - Retail

Message edited by Why_Me on 09-10-2009 at 01:32:59 PM

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

slightly more than $850

Intels new i5 is sensational for the money , but how far can your budget stretch?

An AMD build can be cheaper and perform well too , but AMD has to cut prices in the next few days to be competitive in the bang for buck stakes again

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Outlander_04 on 09-10-2009 at 08:14:22 AM

Reply to Outlander_04

Outlander_04 wrote :

slightly more than $850

The OP said he could as high as $1,000. If you can put post an i5 build with monitor, o/s and gaming card... be my guest This is about as cheap as it gets without posting pure rubbish for hardware.

Message edited by Why_Me on 09-10-2009 at 08:16:56 AM

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

1860x1050 is a good resolution for a bargain gaming machine. You will be able to get good frame rates without spending gobs on graphics cards.

Follow this link and look at the "budget" build or the second "gamer" build One of those is basically what you want.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] e#t1968923

why_me's build is basically the same as the second "gamer" build If you feel that is to much money the net step cheaper is an PhenomII x3 720 build like the budget build. There isnt really any in-between that makes sense right now.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by dndhatcher on 09-10-2009 at 08:22:50 AM

Reply to dndhatcher

dndhatcher wrote :

1860x1050 is a good resolution for a bargain gaming machine. You will be able to get good frame rates without spending gobs on graphics cards.

Follow this link and look at the "budget" build or the second "gamer" build One of those is basically what you want.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] e#t1968923
* edit why_me's build is basically the same as the second "gamer" build If you feel that is to much the net step cheaper is an PhenomII x3 720 build like the budget build. There isnt really any in-between that makes sense right now.

Not bad except those builds in that link don't take into account for monitor and o/s....also they are geared for SLI/Crossfire by the looks of the cases and psu's posted on all but one of those builds. As "Out Lander" pointed out, the only way the OP can go cheaper is by going with an AMD build (720), and he would be screwing himself if he did that. Better to spend the $1,000 on the i5 build and get his money's worth...imo.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Why_Me on 09-10-2009 at 08:26:55 AM

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152181 $49.99 Free Shipping*
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827118030 $29.99 Free Shipping*
Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116677 $109.99 Free Shipping*
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM | Includes free Windows 7 upgrade coupon

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824009145 $159.99
Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2500:1 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.245596 Combo Discount: -$20.00 Combo Price: $124.90 Free Shipping*
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE - Retail

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz $119
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103649

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128392

Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220286

POWERCOLOR AX4870 1GBD5 Radeon HD 4870 $125
special edition, S.T.A.L.K.E.R game included
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814131148

$874

BUT prices are about to drop so do not order today .
And despite why_mes assertions the 720 is as good a gaming cpu today as it was yesterday . It will easily achieve your goals

And if you subbed out the 4870 for a 4890 you'd probably game at better fps than the i5 build hes suggesting thanks to the more powerful gfx card . That would push up the cost of my build by about $60
Again dont buy today because AMD is about to announce new gfx cards so 4870 prices may drop and theres an option to get a newer gen card

Message edited by Outlander_04 on 09-10-2009 at 08:44:01 AM

Reply to Outlander_04

Why_Me wrote :

the only way the OP can go cheaper is by going with an AMD build (720), and he would be screwing himself if he did that. Better to spend the $1,000 on the i5 build and get his money's worth...imo.

I think "screwing himself" is a total misrepresentation. The AMD 720 build would leave enough budget to upgrade the graphics card a HD 4890, which should outperform the i5 with a 4870 in most current games. The title says $750-800 and the AMD 720 build will be a strong performing gaming system within that budget. He will run almost any game out there at 1680x1050 very high with no problems.

lol - higlander edited his post to say exactly what mine did while I was typing it.

Message quoted 2 times
Message edited by dndhatcher on 09-10-2009 at 08:50:02 AM

Reply to dndhatcher

dndhatcher wrote :

I think "screwing himself" is a total misrepresentation. The AMD 720 build would leave enough budget to upgrade the graphics card a HD 4890, which should outperform the i5 with a 4870 in most current games. The title says $750-800 and the AMD 720 build will be a strong performing gaming system within that budget. He will run almost any game out there at 1680x1050 very high with no problems.

lol - higlander edited his post to say exactly what mine did while I was typing it.

I understand what you are saying, but think about this. When games get more demanding in the next few years the OP can always upgrade his video card (DX11 maybe?). I think I would much rather have a superior cpu/technology/build and upgrade the graphics card at a later date then to be stuck with an AMD 720 and miss out on an i5 rig. But to each his own.

And no matter how much AMD drops their prices...inferior architecture is just that...inferior.

Message edited by Why_Me on 09-10-2009 at 08:58:04 AM

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

dndhatcher wrote :

lol - higlander edited his post to say exactly what mine did while I was typing it.

Im tricky like that

..and why_me is still hoping intel will send him commission for selling their processors

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to Outlander_04

Outlander_04 wrote :

..and why_me is still hoping intel will send him commission for selling their processors

He's really good at finding those combo deals and I think is awed by the i5s great price/performance (as am I).

Sometimes the smart money decision is to just spend less and get a good system instead of spending more on a better value that doesnt give you much immediate benefit over the cheap system. Thats up to redjokr to decide. We've probably totally confused him, which I think is the honest thing to do as its a hard decision at the pricepoint he set.. :pt1cable:

Message edited by dndhatcher on 09-10-2009 at 09:07:03 AM

Reply to dndhatcher

Outlander_04 wrote :

Im tricky like that

..and why_me is still hoping intel will send him commission for selling their processors

Let's hope for competition sake that the DX11 cards save AMD's arse. I would hate to see how far their stocks dropped when the i5 came out.

And how low can AMD drop the prices on their cpu's and still make a profit ?

Message quoted 2 times

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

Why_Me wrote :

And how low can AMD drop the prices on their cpu's and still make a profit ?

I totally agree that as of this week there is no point in buying a PhenomIIx4 anymore. Its only the below $850 price range where AMD makes any sense right now.

Did I read that later this year a couple new cheap Core2 CPUs may come out to take that market away from AMD also?

Message edited by dndhatcher on 09-10-2009 at 09:15:06 AM

Reply to dndhatcher

Someone posted the stock change in a different post, +17%.

"inferior architecture"? The x3 might be weaker then the i5, but it still does what the OP wants. By the times games get harder on CPUs, he can either upgrade to a quad, or rip everything out and start over which might make more sense anyways.

I'm not saying the x3 is the way to go, but I would at least mention it so it can be considered. If I had the money, I personally would go i5. Not however if my safe budget was $850, and i5 would cost $1000. Both have merits. Less money spent now while getting the job done, or spend more now with an easier upgrade path later on. Its up to the OP now.

Edited for spelling.

Message edited by 4745454b on 09-10-2009 at 07:11:02 PM

------------------------------ The voice of REASON
Do NOT feed the TROLLS!
Always a DEMON!
Reply to 4745454b

Why_Me wrote :

Let's hope for competition sake that the DX11 cards save AMD's arse. I would hate to see how far their stocks dropped when the i5 came out.

And how low can AMD drop the prices on their cpu's and still make a profit ?

I thought someone reported that AMD's stock went UP yesterday...? Their acquisition of ATI looks better all the time; they may not even need to care if their CPUs are especially profitable.

Skip i5. It offers nothing today that cheaper builds using Intel S775 or AMD AM3 don't offer. If you need more, i7 on LGA1366 (NOT LGA1156) is your only choice. Of course, in 2-3 weeks there could be dramatic price changes which might make some difference, although I somehow doubt it will be i5 getting much cheaper.

The way I read the OP, his budget is $700 with some wiggle room, not $1000; but the monitor is an optional component. You can do a very competent build for even less, so why spend more?

Message edited by jtt283 on 09-10-2009 at 04:22:23 PM

Reply to jtt283

so....basically everyone is agreeing that why_me build is pretty much as good as its going to get for that price range even though its a little higher than what i said (idc). i was looking at that i5 build and i really like it. but is it worth buying now or waiting a couple weeks?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to redjokr

No, we are not agreeing on that. No one is saying the i5 build is a bad performer, but I think some of us have tried to point out that a less-expensive system can be built that will meet your requirements, or you can put more money into the GPU and spend less on the CPU. If your applications were CPU-bound, perhaps an i5 (or i7) would be the way to go, but for GPU-bound gaming, the CPU matters less.
If you aren't going to build this for another couple of weeks, there could be some interesting price adjustments forthcoming as the new ATI cards are released.

Reply to jtt283

redjokr wrote :

so....basically everyone is agreeing that why_me build is pretty much as good as its going to get for that price range even though its a little higher than what i said (idc). i was looking at that i5 build and i really like it. but is it worth buying now or waiting a couple weeks?

why_mes's build is good for the price , and if you WANT to spend that ammount of money by all means go along that path .

BUT
the phenom X3 rig I listed will do everything you want , at the resolution you want to game at . It can be a better gamer than why_mes build if you spend another $60 upgrading the gfx card to a 4890 [ or new 5870 due very soon ] . And you are still under why_mes build by about $75
Games at high resolution and quality settings are more dependent on gfx card than cpu .
The AMD build will not be as fast at encoding vids or similar but is that an issue? You havent mentioned it .

Message edited by Outlander_04 on 09-10-2009 at 10:25:45 PM

Reply to Outlander_04

Graphics card prices may go down in the next few weeks. The AMDx3 CPU price might possibly (less likely than graphics cards) go down in the next couple weeks.

Reply to dndhatcher

well which one can be upgraded better in the future? because when this computer starts to get old i would like to upgrade it...or if its really old ill just rebuild a computer.

Would it be smarter to wait until all this new line of stuff comes out to buy the i5 build or would it even matter? but if i do wait a couple weeks then that AMD build would be a lot cheaper but would the i5 get cheaper as well?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to redjokr

^+1, ^^+1; there are more specifics.

Reply to jtt283

As the newest, i5 likely won't get cheaper any time soon. Seems to me I just read in another thread today that LGA1156 isn't going to last past next year, but AM3 will be around for somewhat longer. I would not bet that AMD will leapfrog Intel in performance, but at least they will offer upgrades for AM3.

Reply to jtt283

redjokr wrote :

well which one can be upgraded better in the future? because when this computer starts to get old i would like to upgrade it...or if its really old ill just rebuild a computer.

Would it be smarter to wait until all this new line of stuff comes out to buy the i5 build or would it even matter? but if i do wait a couple weeks then that AMD build would be a lot cheaper but would the i5 get cheaper as well?

The i5 is the "new line stuff". It just came out a few days ago. The i5 is Intels replacement for the LGA 775...core2duo's/quad cores. But as others have pointed out, the AMD builds should get cheaper in the next few weeks. It's a tough call...it all depends on your budget.

------------------------------ "God invented Google so you would stop asking stupid questions."
Reply to Why_Me

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