~$500 Gaming PC

PsychoKoala

Junior Member
Jan 26, 2011
1
0
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Hi all, so the time has come for me to replace my (apparently) ancient Athlon XP system. My current game of choice, EVE Online, just updated and now requires a CPU capable of SSE2 so my current desktop is no longer an option.

Here is what I'm looking for:

1. What YOUR PC will be used for--Primarily gaming, specifically EVE Online

2. What YOUR budget is--$500

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from--USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference--No Preference

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are--Yes, my case, my DVDRW drive, and my IDE hard drive

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads--Been reading up on everything that's out there, haven't done an upgrade since '03 or '04 with the exception of my video card, feels like I've read the entire Anandtech site at this point :biggrin:

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds--It's not super important, but if it happens to support overclocking I'll certainly take advantage of it

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with--1280*1024

9. WHEN do you plan to build it--Within the next month


I've been tinkering around with different options, I'd love to have an SSD but I don't think that's in the budget. Here's what I have so far:

CPU/Mobo Combo: AMD Phenom II X2 565 3.4Ghz & Gigabyte GA-770T Mobo--$176.98 after rebate @ Newegg
GPU: MSI N460GTX Hawk GTX460 1GB--$169.99 after rebate @ Newegg
RAM: OCZ Platinum 4GB DDR3 1600, 6-8-6-24---$64.99 @ Newegg
SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 Series 40 GB--$105.96 @ Amazon

Total: $517.92

This of course doesn't include a PSU so I am thinking I'll have to drop the SSD and use my old HDD for now. Gaming is priority # 1 for this setup, I really won't be using the system for anything else.
 

mlc

Senior member
Jan 22, 2005
445
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agree with MustISO.. on the PSU .... You can get a decent quality psu from corsair for around $80 i think

also.. OCZ, I thought was getting out of the RAM business.. so I'd go with something like G.SKill instead.....
 

dac7nco

Senior member
Jun 7, 2009
756
0
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You don't need a GTX460 to play Eve Online @ 1280x1024 - a GT240 would be fine.
 

BladeVenom

Lifer
Jun 2, 2005
13,365
16
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Newegg has the Antec Earthwatts power supplies on sale right now.

If you are anywhere near a Micro Center, check out their AMD + Motherboard deals.

No way would I put an SSD in a budget build. Games and mods can take up a lot of space.
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
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