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budget gamer pc

C

cloud171

Member
I know that might sound like an oxymoron but I only got an 800 dollar budget but here is what I have so far:

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB DDR.........................................................$209
Western Digital WD2000BB 200GB 7200rpm........................................$128
Asus P4S800 Pentium4 DDR with 2.6Ghz 478Pin 800FSB CPU w/Fan...$243
ATX 500W Power Supply Tower ATX Aluminum Case............................$42
Samsung 1GB PC3200 Dual Channel DDR............................................$155 (would this work with my motherboard)?
Total: $777

I am a gamer but never had a pc good enough for gaming which is main reason I am spending more on the video card. This is my fiirst time building a computer so any suggestions on how to improve it are greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
im just going to use 8x dvd rom drive and a 52x24x52 writer from my old computer and i am going to run windows xp
 
I would get a P4 2.8GHz over the 2.6GHz, they are usually only a buck or 2 apart. When picking up the CPU, make sure you stay away from the Prescott core chips. They aren't as fast as the Northwood cores at 2.8GHz and run really hot. Prescotts will be denoted as a P4 2.8E, while the Northwood will be a P4 2.8C. Other than that, your rig looks good, but you will need at least a CDRom drive and an OS.

Edit: Hmmmm... on second thought, what kind of ATX case w/ a 500watt PSU are you getting for that cheap? My 500watt Antec PSU alone was over $100.
 
Be careful about just picking the lowest prices on PriceWatch -- paying an extra $20-30 total for your system to buy from a reputable company like Newegg.com could save you a lot of pain if you need to return a defective part. If you must buy from a cheaper place be sure to read about them at www.ResellerRatings.com

Also, if you can spend a little more for a P4 2.8C - 3.0C you'll get a longer life out of your system, but keeping the 9800 pro is more important.

Windows: Newegg will sell you a cheaper, legal "OEM" version of XP Pro or Home if you buy it at the same as your parts. You can also buy OEM Norton Systemworks Pro 2003 cheap that includes antivirus and Ghost for image backups.
 
You don't need 200gb for gaming... Why not just a 40gb - 80gb drive to get you going?

You also don't need a 500watt power supply.
 
Sorry, but that is not a "budget" computer. You could get nearly indistinguishable performance for $400 with a 2500 Barton, Shuttle NF2400U MB, 512 PC3200, 40GB HD, and 9700 (or something similar).
 
In the past I'd have told people that generic PSUs are fine, but my experience last night tells a different tale, and I'm finally a believer. Don't buy that $40 case, because that's a piece of garbage PSU, just like the one that died on me last night after 3 weeks. Your computer will probably work, like mine did, but it may eventually die, or cause other stability issues. Who knows? I would get a better PSU and shave money off on the mobo/cpu. The recommendation of a barton along with that shuttle board is sound. I bought a 120 gig WD HD two weeks back for $80 after rebates from circuit city, so perhaps you can find something similar.
 
^ good advice, an excellent case + power is an Antec SLK3700AMB ($70), or even the Antec Sonata (Hot Deals has had them as low as $77). The Antec power supplies are "only" 350 and 380, but my 3700AMB is powering a 5-HD music server.

AMD XP 2500+ is a great budget choice, though not as fast as the P4. An AMD A64 3000+ or 3200+ might break the budget but both are faster than the P4 3.2 GHz for gaming.
 
I would go the AMD route which will free up the dollars for a decent case and power supply. Also a 120Gb hard drive should be sufficient and a little cheaper. You'll need to allow some money for a decent heatsink/fan for the cpu.

Super6
 
Originally posted by: Vonkhan
ATX 500W Power Supply Tower ATX Aluminum Case............................$42
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this worries me
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same. trust me man, you DO NOT want a cheap PSU. you'll thank me later. PSUs die and they dont die quietly either. they fry your hardware. Your mobo will be the first to go, and very likely your CPU. RAM next, and if you're very unlucky, even your video card. trust me, its happened, and ive seen it happen more than a handful of times. you dont want to skimp on the PSU.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
^ good advice, an excellent case + power is an Antec SLK3700AMB ($70), or even the Antec Sonata (Hot Deals has had them as low as $77). The Antec power supplies are "only" 350 and 380, but my 3700AMB is powering a 5-HD music server.
Click to expand...

Was about to type something similar, except the SLK3700BQE, which I'm starting to think has some noise-reduction extra over the AMB, instead of what I previously thought which was that AMB = bronze while BQE = black.

The supplied 350w Antec can probably supply almost as much power -- reliably -- as a 500w cheap POS; and anyway a real 350w will be ample for this system.

Not to mention how much quieter I'd expect this to be, compared to a $42 case & psu.


Rest looks nice 🙂 200GB hdd could be reduced to 160 or 120 if you find you need to cut some corners. I have a 40gig drive that is barely half full, with plenty big apps (mostly games) I can uninstall if I run low.

 
I didn't have a clue how to choose out the case so I just chose the highest wattage and the lowest priced :S I didn't think it would matter that much since I don't care much about the looks of the comp :S but anyways I think I am going to get the Sonta case and maybe a athlon xp. If the price of an athlon xp is relatively the same as a pentium 4 would it perform better? and what would be a decent motherboard for an athlon xp around with speeds 2500+?

edit: oh yea the reason for the large hd because I have a tedency to fill up hard drives quick, I manage to fill 180 gigs in due to my downloads off newsgroups :S
 
Originally posted by: cloud171
I didn't have a clue how to choose out the case so I just chose the highest wattage and the lowest priced :S I didn't think it would matter that much since I don't care much about the looks of the comp :S but anyways I think I am going to get the Sonta case and maybe a athlon xp. If the price of an athlon xp is relatively the same as a pentium 4 would it perform better? and what would be a decent motherboard for an athlon xp around with speeds 2500+?

edit: oh yea the reason for the large hd because I have a tedency to fill up hard drives quick, I manage to fill 180 gigs in due to my downloads off newsgroups :S
Click to expand...

I don't think you can find an AthlonXP that is the same price as even the slowest P4. The AMDs are over half as expensive and perform similarly in gaming.

Abit boards seem to have the best rep at this time so they'd probably make the safest bet, though I've never had a problem with Asus or shuttle. In any case, go here choose "Nvidia Nforce2 Ultra 400" from the "System Chipset" dropdown and click search. Choose the right price/feature board for you.

Sonata will be overkill if you aren't concerned about the case quality. It's primarily for quietpc freaks. I'd go with th $30 cheaper SLK3700AMB or something similar. Again, shopping at newegg means getting to read reviews from people who've already bought what you're thinking about getting.
 
i would suggest you buy the case and the psu separately. if it's just a budget gaming pc you can skimp on the case but please take the advice of these guys and don't skimp on the psu. many people don't realize that the psu is one of the most important parts of the computer. going for higher wattage doesn't necessarily mean you get a good quality psu. also do you plan on doing any overclocking?? if so, choose a mobo that has plenty of bios options and has a good reputation for overclocking and being stable. i'd also recommend the amd 2500+ which is a great chip and you'll save some money there too.
 
Originally posted by: Tango57
i would suggest you buy the case and the psu separately. if it's just a budget gaming pc you can skimp on the case but please take the advice of these guys and don't skimp on the psu. many people don't realize that the psu is one of the most important parts of the computer. going for higher wattage doesn't necessarily mean you get a good quality psu. also do you plan on doing any overclocking?? if so, choose a mobo that has plenty of bios options and has a good reputation for overclocking and being stable. i'd also recommend the amd 2500+ which is a great chip and you'll save some money there too.
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true. while higher wattage can mean better stability (at times your computer is using high power consumption), for the most part, a lower wattage that is high quality will be better. 300w is quite adequate for most systems these days, although ive noticed people are pushing higher now, probably due to the more powerful hardware (vid cards/memory/HDs etc.) but yes, as the guys said before, dont just look at wattage.
 
get the athlon 2500 and clock it to 3200 ($80)

get the albatron kx600 mobo, its a tad bit old, but is very comparable to the abit nf7 ($59)

get the radeon 9800 pro 128mb ddr ($209)

get the Corsair Value Select Dual Channel Kit 184 Pin 1G(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 ($164)

get the ANTEC Solution Series Super Mid Tower Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "SLK3700AMB" ($60)

and the harddrive u listed. these prices are from newegg.com. i dont recommend u get things from pricewatch.com, cuz if items are that cheap, then there is likely sumthing wrong wtih it. trust me, i've orderd tons of stuff from there, and all the items i got from it are crap. to clock the cpu to 3200 with the motherboard i listed above, all you have to do is set the fsb to 200, and then when u reboot, the comp is automatically set to 3200+. the price should total up to about $705. it will also be much better then the items you listed, regarding to the p4 and the ram.
 
Get a good PSU, dont get a cheap one. I use Antec True Power myself.

Go with the 2.8C, gaming rocks, and with HT..added bonus you dont get with AMD.
 
Here is a link to TechTv's 'The Screen Savers' Budget Gaming Box for $408. Of course you said you have $800 to spend so of course you can bump up whatever gear you need/want to, but for costs and everyone has their opinion, I would stick to an AMD, and you have already said you want to keep the 9800 pro, and you can get a good SATA 250GB drive from newegg for around $220, add another stick of memory for dual channel and you are around your target price of $800.
 
That does'nt sound very budget to me... Try this.

All prices at newegg the best etailer on the net..

Motherboard- Refurb shuttle an35n $38
Processor- 1.8 Ghz Duron $44 or Tbred athlonxp1800 $47
Memory- 512MB PC3200 Buffalo (2x256) - $ 88
Graphics- 9800pro- $215
HSF-Cooler master "DP5-6I31D-01" $6
 
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