US$600-800 gaming PC

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - US$600-800 gaming PC

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within a month

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, blu-ray, internet, flash, photoshop

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, speakers (for now but will take suggestions for later), monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I guess newegg. Also have Amazon prime

PARTS PREFERENCES: really looking for parts that are cost effective. ATI guy.

OVERCLOCKING: maybe, future

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200. 24' LCD.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: my current computer is a relic. building this rig with future upgrades in mind. Already have a nice monitor. Will I need Vista?


I'm a complete newbie when it comes to building a computer from scratch.


Message edited by Claudius on 09-14-2009 at 04:29:29 PM
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Answer these questions for me.

What is your budget?

What games do you intend to play?

Reply to build

Is you're budget inclusive or exclusive of taxes and shipping cost? Search around the forum a bit, I think Why_me recently posted a couple of i5 configurations that'd be around $800 before tax and SH. It might be a bit cheaper (~$15 or $20 depending on vendor & rebates) if you decide to use MBs that doesn't support crossfire, like MSI P55-CD-53.

For regular gaming, a 4870 would be sufficient for most games.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by dragoon190 on 09-14-2009 at 05:30:53 PM
Reply to dragoon190

I would get Vista only because it's the cheapest way to get windows 7 right now. For a $600 budget, I would lean more towards an AMD build, $800 would be a core i5 build.

Reply to wathman

build wrote :

Answer these questions for me.

What is your budget?

What games do you intend to play?




800ish.

I don't need to run Crysis on high. Just a relatively cheap gaming rig with a good enough graphics card that can handle 1920x1200. Considering I'm using a 5 year old AGP Pentium 4 anything I get will be a major step up. Right now I just play older TBS/RTS/CPRGs

Games I intend to play: Fallout 3, Dragon Age, Stalker, Divinity 2, the Witcher. And Blu-ray.


Message edited by Claudius on 09-14-2009 at 06:47:30 PM
Reply to Claudius

dragoon190 wrote :

Is you're budget inclusive or exclusive of taxes and shipping cost? Search around the forum a bit, I think Why_me recently posted a couple of i5 configurations that'd be around $800 before tax and SH. It might be a bit cheaper (~$15 or $20 depending on vendor & rebates) if you decide to use MBs that doesn't support crossfire, like MSI P55-CD-53.



Well go ahead and post those configurations. I'd like to keep the budget around a 800 cap, maybe slightly above. But if there is a cheaper configuration like 600-700 I'd prefer that if it would allow me to do some specific upgrades a year or so down the line. No idea where the technology is headed right now.

I get free shipping through Amazon.com. Not sure if should use them over a place like Newegg though.


Message edited by Claudius on 09-14-2009 at 06:53:39 PM
Reply to Claudius

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] build-1000

Here, the second to last reply.

Or the entirety of this thread

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ing-system


Message edited by dragoon190 on 09-14-2009 at 07:06:54 PM
Reply to dragoon190

Why_Me wrote :


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.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

 

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 [...] 6827106289 $28.99
LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

 

Total: $728.84

 

The build above looks solid and within your budget.

 

Or alternatively, you can swap the CPU and mobo for a Phenom II X3 + Gigabyte GA-MA770T combo, which would bring the total cost to under $600. It's not as powerful as the I5, but it should make for a decent gaming rig nonetheless.


Message edited by build on 09-14-2009 at 07:36:23 PM
Reply to build
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