- Sep 25, 2009
- 22
- 0
- 18,510
Hi, I'm looking to build a gaming computer for my brother for as close to $400 as possible, taking into consideration that there comes a point where you go so low in price that it's just not worth it. I'll try and provide as much detail as I can, below:
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This weekend
BUDGET RANGE: $400, including instant rebates but not including any mail-in rebates (I have had little luck in collecting them)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming primarily, although he is a drummer in a band and would like to do some stuff on his computer with that. Recording maybe, or modifying some of his music? I have no clue what that would entail as I am ignorant regarding all things musical. He is the artistic one - me, I listen to Elvis Presley sometimes but I almost never listen to music even on long trips.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: I have a keyboard, mouse, DVD burner, hard drive, and an OS (Windows 7 courtesy of the family pack)
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I have always used NewEgg, but I'm open to another site if there's one better
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: Doesn't matter
OVERCLOCKING: No
MONITOR RESOLUTION: He has a 17 inch 1440x900 monitor (it's the eMachines E17T6W model which has an analog VGA input - will that be a problem?)
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: He's in his mid 40s, but we're both long-time gamers. We used to play Doom on my computers at work after hours. He's into FPS for the most part, and has a ton of older games he's loves (like Quake, Doom, some old crappy Star Trek games, old Star Wars games, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, etc.). I'd really like for him to be able to play some newer games, like Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 even if the settings aren't that high, and I'd like for him to be able to play Flight Simulator 2004 or X.
I have a 320gb HD, a DVD burner, keyboard and mouse. He has the crappy 17" E17T6W VGA eMachines monitor (1440x900). Here's what I was looking at for other parts but I am sure there are combo deals and whatnot that I haven't found that could make things cheaper without sinking to the lowest of quality:
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $54.95
GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - $79.99
Antec earthwatts EA500 500W Continuous Power - $69.99
AMD Athlon II X3 425 Rana 2.7GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor - $76.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) - $89.99
Video card: I was looking at a 4850, but NewEgg is sold out. I saw this for $144.99
XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0
but I was really hoping to save some money here. Maybe if I spent $150 bucks here it would make up for the shortcomings in the other areas? Or should I be looking at an nvidia card in the $115 price range instead of the 4850?
(I get the feeling I'm missing a component - it's that feeling one gets when one leaves the house and has to check that pants are being worn)
What I came up with costs $522 so I'm not too good at this. We're not rich, but he's fallen on worse times than me and so doesn't have the cash for the fun stuff. if I can swing it I'd like to hook him up. I need to buy him a couple of games, too. You guys helped me out with a build for my son awhile back, and I was new to the forums. I didn't understand the "pick the best answer" concept until I was reading through this time around, so I apologize for that. I won't miss that this time.
Thanks for your help.
-Dacker
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This weekend
BUDGET RANGE: $400, including instant rebates but not including any mail-in rebates (I have had little luck in collecting them)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming primarily, although he is a drummer in a band and would like to do some stuff on his computer with that. Recording maybe, or modifying some of his music? I have no clue what that would entail as I am ignorant regarding all things musical. He is the artistic one - me, I listen to Elvis Presley sometimes but I almost never listen to music even on long trips.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: I have a keyboard, mouse, DVD burner, hard drive, and an OS (Windows 7 courtesy of the family pack)
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I have always used NewEgg, but I'm open to another site if there's one better
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: Doesn't matter
OVERCLOCKING: No
MONITOR RESOLUTION: He has a 17 inch 1440x900 monitor (it's the eMachines E17T6W model which has an analog VGA input - will that be a problem?)
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: He's in his mid 40s, but we're both long-time gamers. We used to play Doom on my computers at work after hours. He's into FPS for the most part, and has a ton of older games he's loves (like Quake, Doom, some old crappy Star Trek games, old Star Wars games, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, etc.). I'd really like for him to be able to play some newer games, like Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 even if the settings aren't that high, and I'd like for him to be able to play Flight Simulator 2004 or X.
I have a 320gb HD, a DVD burner, keyboard and mouse. He has the crappy 17" E17T6W VGA eMachines monitor (1440x900). Here's what I was looking at for other parts but I am sure there are combo deals and whatnot that I haven't found that could make things cheaper without sinking to the lowest of quality:
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $54.95
GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - $79.99
Antec earthwatts EA500 500W Continuous Power - $69.99
AMD Athlon II X3 425 Rana 2.7GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor - $76.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) - $89.99
Video card: I was looking at a 4850, but NewEgg is sold out. I saw this for $144.99
XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0
but I was really hoping to save some money here. Maybe if I spent $150 bucks here it would make up for the shortcomings in the other areas? Or should I be looking at an nvidia card in the $115 price range instead of the 4850?
(I get the feeling I'm missing a component - it's that feeling one gets when one leaves the house and has to check that pants are being worn)
What I came up with costs $522 so I'm not too good at this. We're not rich, but he's fallen on worse times than me and so doesn't have the cash for the fun stuff. if I can swing it I'd like to hook him up. I need to buy him a couple of games, too. You guys helped me out with a build for my son awhile back, and I was new to the forums. I didn't understand the "pick the best answer" concept until I was reading through this time around, so I apologize for that. I won't miss that this time.
Thanks for your help.
-Dacker
He said $400, you can always get more powerful stuff by saying: "Its only a few more dollars..." 
Weird huh?
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