Budget, and I mean Budget Gaming Rig <$650

[jspeicher]

Last rig I built was 4 years ago. A little lost in the hardware area.

Need a machine that will allow me to play games on a budget. AMD preferred if cheaper!

Questions - Sempron a possibility? Otherwise Athlon64?

Thanks for the help and recommendations, will edit this post as the parts get added.

PART LIST:
empty

NO MONITOR, MOUSE, SPEAKERS NEEDED.
Integrated audio is fine.

 

[slpaulson]

Are you going to need a monitor, speakers, or a mouse and keyboard?

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: cRazYdood
Are you going to need a monitor, speakers, or a mouse and keyboard?

Case, os, soundcard, psu?

 

[WT]

Asus A8N-SLI ($105)
A64 3200+ Venice ($75)
1GB G.Skill PC3200 ($105)
Western Digital 250GB/16MB WD2500KS ($75)
NEC 3550a DL DVD/CD Burner OEM ($34)
eVGA 7600GT 256MB PCI-E ($125)
Antec Sonata II Case w/ 450w PSU ($85)
Windows XP Home OEM w/SP2 ($86)

Total: $690 plus shipping

RAM going sky high lately makes that price damn near impossible. That is the best I can do for the $$$

 

[jspeicher]

I DO NOT need a speakers, dvd-drive, or OS.

 

[Howard]

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ AM2 - $90
Biostar TForce 550 - $65 as part of combo deal with CPU
GeIL 1GB DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 1.8V - $100
XFX 7900GS - $200
Western Digital WD2500KS - $78
Shipping from newegg.com - $12-$15 UPS 3 Day

Ultra X-Finity 500W - $60, $40 MIR, $? shipping

Antec SLK3000B - $31 + ~$17 shipping (or, get the Rosewill R6A34 from Newegg)

 

[humanure]

cooler master case $44.99

gigabyte motherboard $84.99

evga 7600 GT $129.99

FSP 400W $41.50

core 2 duo e6300 $180.00

1 GB RAM $109.99

seagate 160 GB $56.99

total=$648.45

 

[lobbyone]

Originally posted by: WT
Asus A8N-SLI ($105)
A64 3200+ Venice ($75)
1GB G.Skill PC3200 ($105)
Western Digital 250GB/16MB WD2500KS ($75)
NEC 3550a DL DVD/CD Burner OEM ($34)
eVGA 7600GT 256MB PCI-E ($125)
Antec Sonata II Case w/ 450w PSU ($85)
Windows XP Home OEM w/SP2 ($86)

Total: $690 plus shipping

RAM going sky high lately makes that price damn near impossible. That is the best I can do for the $$$

how about we minus the SLI mobo and just get a single 16x PCI-E slot, since he is building a budget gaming system anyway. An MSI Neo mobo goes for 64.99 on newegg. Linky

 

[Kromis]

Wow, when did the 7600GT go down in price?

 

[jspeicher]

thanks fellas, you are all in the area i was thinking for parts.

I think the 7600GT is around the right ballpark for video. What about CPU...I was planning on A64, 3200+ to the 3500+...but I'm intrigued by the intel dual core suggestion...would I see a performance boost from this?

 

[akshayt]

Intel Dual Core @ 2.8GHz which is overclockable to 3.4Gz atleast
Decent mobo
2GB value RAM
Geforce 7900GS

 

[sillycheesedude]

A64 3200 Venice or 3700 San Deigo if possible
1 gig PC 3200 ram
250 gig sata HDD
N-Force 4 mobo
DVD burner
7600 gt 7800 or 7900 if finances permit...... ATI has some good deals going on the x1800gto though
Windows xp if nescessary
newegg.com is the only site that I buy from good luck

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: jspeicher
thanks fellas, you are all in the area i was thinking for parts.

I think the 7600GT is around the right ballpark for video. What about CPU...I was planning on A64, 3200+ to the 3500+...but I'm intrigued by the intel dual core suggestion...would I see a performance boost from this?

If you can swing the rebates, my suggestion is probably the best for your needs.

 

[John P]

I built a sub $650 rig for my bro (after MIR's), but you need to find stuff on sale:

Antec Super Lanboy - $46.12 from Outpost
Athlon 64 X2 4200+ and Biostar TForce 550 mb - $256.12 from the Egg
Lite On DVD Writer Retail - $34.99 from the EGG
2GB OCZ Gold PC5400 - $151.98 (after coupon and MIR) from TD
Antec Neopower 480 - $65 from Outpost
Seagate Barracuda 250GB SATA HD - $79.99 from the Egg
ATI X850XT - $95.63 from the Egg

Total - $634.20 after $80 MIR's

 

[Howard]

Did you remove the $650 restriction?

 

[jspeicher]

No, because I believe I can build something for that price range. I'm not looking for the absolute best performance, just bang for the buck, cheaper the better. My friend recommended this:

Thermaltake Mambo VC2000BNS Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail$39.99
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L250S0 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM$69.99
MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail$64.99
TRENDnet TEW-423PI PCI Wireless Adapter - Retail$21.99
SAPPHIRE 100106L Radeon X850XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail$124.99
Rosewill RV350 ATX 1.3 350W Power Supply - Retail$19.99
pqi POWER Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model MD441GUOE-X2 - Retail$103.99
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 2.2GHz Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3500CGBOX - Retail $91.00

TOTAL SHIPPED: $565.15

 

[Howard]

That's a horrible power supply.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: Howard
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ AM2 - $90
Biostar TForce 550 - $65 as part of combo deal with CPU
GeIL 1GB DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 1.8V - $100
XFX 7900GS - $200
Western Digital WD2500KS - $78
Shipping from newegg.com - $12-$15 UPS 3 Day

Ultra X-Finity 500W - $60, $40 MIR, $? shipping

Antec SLK3000B - $31 + ~$17 shipping (or, get the Rosewill R6A34 from Newegg)

i think this is the best deal but i would change a few things:

GPU: Sapphire X1900XT 256mb - $235 (after $15 MIR)

HDD: Western Digital WD2500YD 250GB 16MB buffer - $76 (this one comes with a 5 year warranty, runs cooler and performs a little faster)

PSU: i would try getting another one at the $50 price range

without the PSU, this comes to just under $600 shipped.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: alimoalem

Originally posted by: Howard
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ AM2 - $90
Biostar TForce 550 - $65 as part of combo deal with CPU
GeIL 1GB DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 1.8V - $100
XFX 7900GS - $200
Western Digital WD2500KS - $78
Shipping from newegg.com - $12-$15 UPS 3 Day

Ultra X-Finity 500W - $60, $40 MIR, $? shipping

Antec SLK3000B - $31 + ~$17 shipping (or, get the Rosewill R6A34 from Newegg)

i think this is the best deal but i would change a few things:

GPU: Sapphire X1900XT 256mb - $235 (after $15 MIR)

HDD: Western Digital WD2500YD 250GB 16MB buffer - $76 (this one comes with a 5 year warranty, runs cooler and performs a little faster)

PSU: i would try getting another one at the $50 price range

without the PSU, this comes to just under $600 shipped.

That goes over $650.

 

[jspeicher]

Originally posted by: Howard
That's a horrible power supply.

85.15% give it Excellent Rating?

 

[Nick5324]

Originally posted by: humanure
cooler master case $44.99

gigabyte motherboard $84.99

evga 7600 GT $129.99

FSP 400W $41.50

core 2 duo e6300 $180.00

1 GB RAM $109.99

seagate 160 GB $56.99

total=$648.45

This looks good except this doesn't include shipping. Add about $30 for shipping from the Egg. Still, I like this option.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: alimoalem

Originally posted by: Howard
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ AM2 - $90
Biostar TForce 550 - $65 as part of combo deal with CPU
GeIL 1GB DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 1.8V - $100
XFX 7900GS - $200
Western Digital WD2500KS - $78
Shipping from newegg.com - $12-$15 UPS 3 Day

Ultra X-Finity 500W - $60, $40 MIR, $? shipping

Antec SLK3000B - $31 + ~$17 shipping (or, get the Rosewill R6A34 from Newegg)

i think this is the best deal but i would change a few things:

GPU: Sapphire X1900XT 256mb - $235 (after $15 MIR)

HDD: Western Digital WD2500YD 250GB 16MB buffer - $76 (this one comes with a 5 year warranty, runs cooler and performs a little faster)

PSU: i would try getting another one at the $50 price range

without the PSU, this comes to just under $600 shipped.

That goes over $650.

well most people list prices without shipping...mine gets to $650 shipped (except for psu's shipping costs). if he really needs to stay under, he can get a 160gb hdd or go with a fry's deal and use the saved money on the shipping of a power supply. even with a fortron 450w off of newegg, the total becomes $655 shipped

 

[Googer]

A while ago, I built a "gaming rig for" $300 and I am sure that wiht your budget it can be done.

 

[Googer]

$604 plus rebates should drop this CORE 2 DUO SYSTEM BELOW $574!




Continue Shopping
ATX Computer Cases
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update Sunbeam IC-KNT-SVBK Silver/Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: IC-KNT-SVBK
Remove Remove Move To Cart Move To Wish List
$39.99 -$12.00 Instant
$27.99
Desktop Memory
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update AMPO 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model 3AMD2533-1G1K-R - Retail
Model #: 3AMD2533-1G1K-R
Remove Remove Move To Cart Move To Wish List
$89.99 $89.99
Intel-compatible Motherboards
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update Intel BOXD946GZISSL Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 946GZ Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: BOXD946GZISSL
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$82.99 $82.99
Internal Hard Drives
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JSRTL 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Retail
Model #: WD2500JSRTL
Remove Remove Move To Cart Move To Wish List
$79.99 $79.99
Processors
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail
Model #: BX80557E6300
** This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
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$180.00 $180.00
Video Cards
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: BFGR76256GTOCE

$30.00 Mail-in Rebate
Remove Remove Move To Cart Move To Wish List
$143.99 $143.99 (119 AFTER REBATE)



THIS LEAVES YOU WITH CASH LEFT OVER TO MAKE UPGRADES NOW OR AT A LATER DATE. I DOUBT ANY ONE WILL COME UP WITH A BETTER SYSTEM FOR $604 BEFORE REBATES. ($574 AFTER MAIL IN REBATES)

My upgrade/downgrade sugestoins:

Get a cheaper case, then modifiy it to improve cooling and save costs.
After you downgrade the case, upgreade the power supply to improve stability.
If you still have a few $$ after that consider upgrading from PC4200 to PC6400 DDR2 for about ($40-50).


This list is just to give you an idea of what you can get. Shop around for better bargains and you will save money and get a faster PC too!

Froogle.google.com
pricegrabber.com
nextag.com
604dollar_Conroe_7600GT-gamePC.png



Rebate Link (PDF) Expires 30-SEP-2006