Looking for a barebones box for gaming, on a budget :)

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

shaft9ii

Distinguished
Dec 8, 2009
4
0
18,510
Hey all,

Looking for my best bang for your buck barebones system from your usual sources...
Tigerdirect, newegg, or any others you might be familiar with.

This will be mainly for gaming, currently playing Dragon Age: Origins, and I'm usually into the RPG/MMO genre.

I used to build them from scratch, but I just don't have the time, I've been out of the game for a while, so I am looking for find the best performance:price ratio for a barebones system I can find. I've already got all peripherals, so I just basically need the box with CPU, graphics card, mobo, ram, HDD, etc...

Anyone have an Idea? I've been researching on the sites, but the problem is, the last time I built something I was working with single core athlons and cd burners! :)

Some preferences:

I'm generally partial to AMD for it's performance on a budget aspects
Generally partial to ATI for graphics
Just looking for the best balance of reliability, performance, price, and quietness :)

Thanks much in advance for any advice!


Ryan
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
M

MothMusic

Distinguished
Nov 7, 2009
539
0
19,010


If use this here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice I can configure a build for you or find you a bare bones system.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
tarquinbiscuitbarrel

tarquinbiscuitbarrel

Distinguished
Nov 17, 2009
136
0
18,690
not the cheapest build, but great value:

i5 + asus or gigabyte p55 (socket 1156) ddr3 mobo
hd 4870 or gtx260 or hd 5770
2x2gb ddr3 ram kit (corsair or g.skill or ocz or patriot)
500gb caviar black or spinpoint f3
antec 300 case
corsair 550w psu
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MothMusic

Distinguished
Nov 7, 2009
539
0
19,010


He hasn't said what his budget is, and he was hinting at not spending a lot of money. Plus your avatar pic is creepy...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
tarquinbiscuitbarrel

tarquinbiscuitbarrel

Distinguished
Nov 17, 2009
136
0
18,690


he wanted a balance of price and performance.

granted, my suggestion is overkill for the big MMO's - if the OP just wants a PC to handle world of warcraft and dragon age and not worried about the future then of course you can do a lot better price-wise.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MothMusic

Distinguished
Nov 7, 2009
539
0
19,010


A balance of price, and performance. :p

You even admitted yourself that it was overpriced! But yea, if he doesn't mind spending the money a build based on what you suggested would be solid. But he still needs to use the sticky for us to do something specific.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

shaft9ii

Distinguished
Dec 8, 2009
4
0
18,510
Well I wasn't looking for a specific build, merely if anyone had seen a pre-built Barebones system on Tigerdirect or newegg etc...that caught their eye and wasn't too crazy expensive. That's why I didn't use the sticky format, since I wasn't building anything from scratch.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

shaft9ii

Distinguished
Dec 8, 2009
4
0
18,510
Alrighty, here's the format: Sorry, I figured since I had been looking for a pre-built, the format would be unneccesary.

Here you go :)


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within two weeks

BUDGET RANGE: approximately 500-600 dollars

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: GAMING, movies, internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, keyboard, mouse, sound system, don't need major burning abilities either.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I have worked with Newegg and TIgerdirect in the past, but am open to other sites

PARTS PREFERENCES: Generally partial to AMD for it's pricepoint, and ATI vid cards, but I'm not stuck on either.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: not sure if I'd want this or not?

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: looking for it to be fairly quiet, no real special requirements, just a basic setup for the price, with as much power as I can have for around 500-600 bucks. The possibility to upgrade in the future is also a nice feature if possible
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MothMusic

Distinguished
Nov 7, 2009
539
0
19,010


EDIT: I thought he said $700, sorry dont know how I missed that.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
wsupduck

wsupduck

Distinguished
Aug 21, 2009
224
0
18,690


More money then he wanted to spend, try dropping the 5770 to a 4870 or 4850, dropping the phenom quad to an athlon quad or a phenom 3 720 and try to unlock, maybe drop the psu to a lower wattage saving ~$100 closer to price point, also no OS unless you have a copy or that is not included in the budget
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MothMusic

Distinguished
Nov 7, 2009
539
0
19,010


Here you go:

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706
$99 -Freeshipping

Antec Two Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129070
$40

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392
$70 -After rebate

A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333G (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model AX3U1333GB2G8-AG - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211410
$89

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181
$55 -Freeshipping

SAPPHIRE 100283-2L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102864&cm_re=5770-_-14-102-864-_-Product
$165

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022
$45 -After rebates

LITE-ON Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDS118-04 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276
$20 -Freeshipping

Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004&cm_re=Core_Contact_Freezer-_-35-207-004-_-Product
$25 -After rebates, freeshipping


Total = $604
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MothMusic

Distinguished
Nov 7, 2009
539
0
19,010


The problem with bare bones systems is that there usually mediocre and overpriced, but thats not to say you can't find a good one for cheap, just that its unlikely.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MothMusic

Distinguished
Nov 7, 2009
539
0
19,010


Is it just a box and mobo? And how would you fit anything in there? And what about cooling?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MothMusic

Distinguished
Nov 7, 2009
539
0
19,010


I know, I know, its fixed now.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
deadlockedworld

deadlockedworld

Distinguished
Aug 13, 2009
2,357
1
20,160
I think some people here have different interpretations of the term "barebone"...

You might consider designing a custom build at http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ Its not as cheap as if you built it yourself--but you can customize parts--and even order the build OEM for $100 cheaper. They are known for crappy support, but for someone with high technical competency and no time its worth it to select exact parts and have them build it.
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/AMD_Quad_Core_Configurator/

There are also some decent low-end systems for sale on newegg that you could get for ~500 then swap out PSU and Graphics.

With a real graphic card this $560 could be a beast:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883241017&cm_re=zt_systems-_-83-241-017-_-Product
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MothMusic

Distinguished
Nov 7, 2009
539
0
19,010


Getting a good gpu will cost at least $100, and psu $50, that would push the the cost of the machine you linked to, to over $600!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom