$700 Budge Gaming Rig? - April 2007

[apsd]

Hello,

Unfortunately I am not up to date in the latest trends of video cards, CPUs, mobos, etc.
I was wondering if anybody knows of a decent gaming rig of $700. This includes all parts for the system (mobo, cpu, memory, vid card, case, psu). It does not include the external peripherals, i.e. mouse, keyboard, speakers, monitor, or the operating system. Those are all covered.

If anybody could point me in the right direction for some of these parts, or recommend an entire stable rig, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for reading and have a good day

 

[jkresh]

what games do you play? What OS do you plan on using? What resolution would you like to play at?

 

[apsd]

OS: Windows XP
Games: Older gen stuff: HL2, CSS, maybe Doom3 etc. Then there's Oblivion, GRAW, Rainbow Six Vegas, STALKER (don't think it's as intensive though)...
Resolution: For the games, probably at like 1152x864 and 1280x1024 at high/decent (maybe not extreme) graphics. For the desktop and productive stuff prolly 1680x1050.

Thanks for getting back quick jkresh.

 

[BladeVenom]

Do you need it right now or can it wait a month? AMD just cut prices, and Intel will on the 22nd. Midrange DX10 video cards should start coming out soon, either this month or next month.

 

[apsd]

A month wait is ok. Should I ask again around then?

 

[CurseTheSky]

So, you need EVERYTHING that goes inside the tower, or just the ones that you listed? I.E. do you need a hard drive?

Just to give a generalized idea for now, in less than a month, a decent build would be:

Core 2 Duo E4300 ($115ish)
Gigabyte P965 DS3 ($125ish)
2x1GB any flavor DDR2 ($150-250ish)
7600GT, 7900GS, or X1950Pro (somewhere in the $120-200 range)
Seagate 7200.10 320GB ($85ish)
Onboard Sound (at least for now)
Decently cheap case ($50-90ish)
Decent Power Supply ($90-150ish)

That very very VERY rough estimate brings you to the $730 - $900 range. For the better quality components, you will go quite a bit over your budget. However, if there's anything at all you can reuse, you'll be able to save a bunch and upgrade later. For example, if you have a decent 400-500w PSU sitting around that you can shove in it until you get more cash, you're ahead of the game.

 

[bamacre]

Coolermaster CAC-T05-UW Centurion 5 Mid Tower Case
$57.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=141760

ENERMAX Whisper II 2.0 EG565P-VE FMA 535W
$79.00
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=PS-E56...abb3f0b46bdcfda9e5ed9e700b1cdbff4297a7

Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 690V Socket AM2
$78.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=242717

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 3800+ Socket AM2
$85.90
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-8

Patriot Signature DDR2 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz
$100.00
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4565617

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JS 200GB Serial ATA II
$62.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101213-11

LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
$36.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106046

SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3
$200.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102067

Total Price $697.90

 

[apsd]

Thanks a lot for the help guys, I'll look into the possible options.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: bamacre
Coolermaster CAC-T05-UW Centurion 5 Mid Tower Case
$57.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=141760

ENERMAX Whisper II 2.0 EG565P-VE FMA 535W
$79.00
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=PS-E56...abb3f0b46bdcfda9e5ed9e700b1cdbff4297a7

Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 690V Socket AM2
$78.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=242717

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 3800+ Socket AM2
$85.90
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-8

Patriot Signature DDR2 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz
$100.00
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4565617

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JS 200GB Serial ATA II
$62.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101213-11

LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
$36.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106046

SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3
$200.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102067

Total Price $697.90

A great list. I would have suggested most of those things too but I'd have gone for an X1950Pro instead of an XT; I didn't realise the XT 256 had come down in price.

OP: For as low as $700 you're pretty much looking at an AMD X2 system as they're cheaper, otherwise you'll skimp on other components trying to crowbar a Core 2 Duo into your budget. However as mentioned before, wait until the end of April and see how the mid-range DX10 market is doing, and how much of the Intel price cuts filter down to the consumers.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
OP: For as low as $700 you're pretty much looking at an AMD X2 system as they're cheaper, otherwise you'll skimp on other components trying to crowbar a Core 2 Duo into your budget.

That was my thought too. So many people ride the C2D bandwagon that I've seen recommendations to do stuff like skimp on a video card in order to get a C2D. Well, if by "skimp" they mean getting an 8800GTS instead of GTX, that's fine. But I've seen "skimps" that mean getting a low-mid range card instead of higher end. That's a difference that probably isn't good for most gamers.

What I would do to hit a price point is to spec out all the non-essential parts (to gaming performance) first, and then video card, and last motherboard/CPU. This is because there isn't as much of a dollar variable with these items. So, kinda goes like this:

case $57
power supply $79
2GB DDR2 $100
HDD $62
DVDRW $36

Subtotal $334, leaving $366 in budget.

decent video card $200

Subtotal $534, leaving $166 in budget for CPU/mobo. Whoops, can't do a C2D CPU/mobo even post-price drop.

 

[Roguestar]

Exactly. Let's not forget that the CPU isn't nearly as important for games as the GPU is. With the excitement over Core 2 Duo being a great leap for intel and the new "best processor", it's easy to overlook that the X2 family is still very, very good.

 

[razor2025]

If you want to go for 8800 GTS 320MB, you can go for 3600+ Brisbane ($20-$30 cheaper than 3800+), and Tforce550 ($80 board). That should allow just enough to get a 8800 GTS 320MB instead of last gen's high end. With 8600GTS marked for $200-$230 price point and much lower performance, 8800GTS 320MB won't come down much in price anytime soon.

 

[BladeVenom]

I like the idea of waiting for more DX10 cards, or getting something cheap like the X1950GT $109.99 after rebate, and then upgrading later on when you need DirectX 10.

 

[f4phantom2500]

wait until the Pentium E's show up and grab one of those. The E2160 is supposed to be $85 and is basically a C2D E4300 with 1MB instead of 2MB of cache (but really it usually makes like <3% difference in games), so it should overclock very well. plus yeah, then you'd have more vid card options.