Budget Gaming Machine: Comments on final build

[zalick]

After much help from users on this site, I've come up with this for a budget gaming machine. I'm using this for playing occasional WoW and no other games. I won't be playing any other games in the future either. I'll use this machine for watching TV/movies mostly and then some WoW. My budget for the machine was between $500-$600. This machine came out to $560 w/ Windows 7.

What are you thoughts? I'm ready to make the purchase tonight or tomorrow depending on if any of you have some last minute suggestions that sway me!

Thanks in advance.

 

[banthracis]

You're using a TV as a monitor that's the price of the system?

How does that make sense? A 1080p 28" monitor is $320, much less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254043

Is your actual budget including monitor $1,000 then?

You could come up with a much better build if that were so.

 

[yo_yo2400]

Mega overkill on ram 1gb is reccomended 1x1 would be more suited and what banth said is it 1k with monitor?

 

[zalick]

You're using a TV as a monitor that's the price of the system?

How does that make sense? A 1080p 28" monitor is $320, much less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254043

Is your actual budget including monitor $1,000 then?

You could come up with a much better build if that were so.

Thank you for the quick reply. My budget is approximately 500 w/o monitor. This machine is mostly for watching Downloaded shows and hulu with WoW a few hours a week. I went with the TV as monitor because I thought it would be better for this purpose & I can use it as a straight up TV.

My "budget" is pretty flexible. Money isn't the issue but rather value for what I need the machine to do. I'm not worried about upgrading or playing other games at all.

Is 4gb really overkill? All the other suggestions Ive read/recieved said 4gb is what I need.

 

[mosox]

I would go for this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16889005064

http://alatest.com/reviews/tv-reviews/lg-lh40-series-lcd-hdtv-32-37-42/po3-73030199,33/#partner:50472

 

[coldsleep]

4 GB is the standard RAM recommendation these days.

Win 7 requires 2 GB, suggests 4 GB. So 1 GB is definitely not the way to go.

If you plan on using the computer mostly as an HTPC, then the tv makes sense. If you were planning on using it to game with, then it would make more sense to get a monitor. Keep in mind that text may look a little blurry on the TV, as they're not optimized for displaying text.

If you have a decent stereo setup, then you might consider getting an ATI 5nnn series card (possibly 5670 or 5770), as they can bitstream HD audio. If that's not a concern, then the 4850 is a pretty decent bargain.

 

[banthracis]

Well in that case I'd recommend getting a 1080p LCD TV.

32" HannsG for $400.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6322015&CatId=3647

Upgrade the GPU to a 5770 $160 w/ Promo Code
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447

 

[banthracis]

Oh use Bing cashback for the LCD TV and it's $360 shipped free.

 

[zalick]

4 GB is the standard RAM recommendation these days.

Win 7 requires 2 GB, suggests 4 GB. So 1 GB is definitely not the way to go.

If you plan on using the computer mostly as an HTPC, then the tv makes sense. If you were planning on using it to game with, then it would make more sense to get a monitor. Keep in mind that text may look a little blurry on the TV, as they're not optimized for displaying text.

If you have a decent stereo setup, then you might consider getting an ATI 5nnn series card (possibly 5670 or 5770), as they can bitstream HD audio. If that's not a concern, then the 4850 is a pretty decent bargain.

Thanks for the info. This setup is to replace my laptop (I don't currently play WoW and haven't for a few years but thought I would start again). Its just a TV setup for my room w/comp. I'll be using the TV speakers. I'm building a seperate true HTPC for my TV room. If I decide I want to game more, I'll just buy a seperate monitor at that time.

 

[zalick]

Best answer selected by zalick.