Help me beat Fry's ($580 Gaming Rig)

CTDavis

November 12, 2009 12:24:50 AM

Hello, I am looking to build a machine for my father and would like to get as much bang for my buck as possible.

We visited Fry's today and my Dad was very interested in this PC:

Refurbished - HP m9636f Refurbished Desktop

Operating System - Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium with Windows Media Center 64bit w/ SP1

Processor - AMD® Phenom-9750 X4 Processor
Processor Speed - 2.4 GHz
Bus Speed - 3600 MHz HyperTransport 3.0

Memory - 8 GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM

Video Graphics - ATI Radeon HD4650 w/ 512MB, HDMI, DVI-I

Hard Drive - 750GB (7200RPM) Hard Drive (SATA)

Optical Drive - Blu-Ray Player & SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology
Card Reader - 15-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader (SD, MMC, RS-MMC, MS, MS Pro/Duo, Pro Duo, SM, xD, mini SD, CF I/II, MD, MMC Mobile, MMC

Audio - ALC888S chipset, High Definition Surround Sound Capable, 7.1 channels

Network - 10/100/1000 Ethernet (RJ-45)

Wireless Network - 802.11 a/b/g/n

Being the novice PC builder that I am, I told my father I could build him a better machine for a better price.

I do not need to buy: Hard Drive, DvD-RW drive, OS.

Here is what I have came up with for a rig:

Case: Rosewill R5605-BK 0.8mm Japanese Cold Rolled Steel Front Mesh Design Dual 120mm Fans ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

hec X-Power Pro 600 600W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Retail $44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail $99.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Total $573.94

Please take a look and let me know if anyone has some better ideas. Please note that I am not married to any particular brand or CPU, AMD vs Intel does not matter to me.

More about : beat fry 580 gaming rig

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cory1234

November 12, 2009 12:32:20 AM

I have never heard of that ps company...
here is an OCZ 700w refurb w/ 1 year warranty: $40
http://www.svc.com/ocz700gxssli-b.html

I would get the 4870 instead of the 260(performs slightly better for less $): $155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

With the difference in graphics card price upgrade to a Phenom II...stay away from Athlons.
AMD Phenom II 925 Deneb 2.8GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Your case is kinda ugly...here is a quality cheap case:
Centurion C5 $45:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

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sonic-boom

November 12, 2009 12:38:02 AM

See, the problem with big box companies is that they don't use quality components, and the life spans of the computers are much shorter than one build with quality parts. The problem with your build is, first of all that psu is plain junk and second that case has no better airflow than an emachines. Only psu you should buy: Corsair, OCZ, and Antec (NOT BASIQ). Also, That video card is way overprice, what are you using the computer for? You could save getting this card or even more is you get a lower card, depending on the needs. Right now all ATI cards win in price/preformance. With this card you could get a quality case and psu and be close to budget.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

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