Building a computer for my little brother for XMAS, need help!

[ShaunyR]

Okay here goes, I'm building a PC for my brother for Christmas, my mom is giving me $700.00 as a budget. I know that he likes to play games such as World of Warcraft (Great Game), Diablo II, Counter-Strike (Great Game), and City of Heroes (His Favorite - Most Important). Using the budget of $700.00 *Including Monitor*, what components should I get?

 

[Azndude51]

http://anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2282&p=2

a bit over the price range, but you can probably get away by not getting the dvd burner and getting cheaper monitor, and possibly case. i'm not sure.

 

[Kishan]

Originally posted by: Azndude51
http://anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2282&p=2

a bit over the price range, but you can probably get away by not getting the dvd burner and getting cheaper monitor, and possibly case. i'm not sure.

yeah and thats an athlon64 as well!

 

[Azndude51]

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316

Originally posted by: Azndude51
http://anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2282&p=2

a bit over the price range, but you can probably get away by not getting the dvd burner and getting cheaper monitor, and possibly case. i'm not sure.

yeah and thats an athlon64 as well!

imo, the amd64 is worth it.

 

[BenSkywalker]

$700 limit including monitor-

Epox 8RDA31 NF2Ultra 400- $60
Sempron 2600+ Retail- $83
POWMAX CP0327PL-4 w/400watt- $38
Lite-On 52x32x52 CDRW- $25
Seagate 200GB HD- $120
Buffalo Technology 512MB PC 3200- $83
MS Natural Keyboard/Mouse- $35
Saphire 9600XT - $139

That's $583 all prices shipped from NewEgg with ~$120 left over for a monitor. Of course the rig people are linking to would be better, but that is just under $700 without a monitor.

Edit-

Forgot to mention, I left the monitor out as getting one shipped will kill you particularly in your price range. Your best bet is to go to a B&M for a monitor.

 

[ShaunyR]

Okay, heres what I'm at so far:

Lite-On 52X32X52 Internal EIDE CD-RW Drive - $19.99
Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive - $55.50
MICROSOFT INTERNET KEYBOARD PS/2 104keys - $13.00
Crucial 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - $86.27
EPoX "EP-8RDA3I" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU - $54.00
Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer Version 4.0 USB/ PS/2 -OEM - $23.50
Allied 400W Power Supply AL-A400ATX w/ Two Fans ***AMD APPROVED*** - $28.99
AMD Sempron 2600+ 1.833GHz, Socket A Processor - $83.00
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600XT Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "ATLANTIS RADEON 9600XT" - $155.00

Total Without Monitor: $519.00


Anything need to be changed or anything missing? Please tell me the truth LOL. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Kishan]

Originally posted by: ShaunyR
Okay, heres what I'm at so far:

Lite-On 52X32X52 Internal EIDE CD-RW Drive - $19.99
Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive - $55.50
MICROSOFT INTERNET KEYBOARD PS/2 104keys - $13.00
Crucial 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - $86.27
EPoX "EP-8RDA3I" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU - $54.00
Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer Version 4.0 USB/ PS/2 -OEM - $23.50
Allied 400W Power Supply AL-A400ATX w/ Two Fans ***AMD APPROVED*** - $28.99
AMD Sempron 2600+ 1.833GHz, Socket A Processor - $83.00
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600XT Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "ATLANTIS RADEON 9600XT" - $155.00

Total Without Monitor: $519.00


Anything need to be changed or anything missing? Please tell me the truth LOL. Thanks for any advice.

yeah change some things. Spring for the A64, get a 2800+, the Epox board, corsair value select, a seagate hard drive of your choice(stick to 80GB or lower-how old is this kid!) get a cheaper mouse, do you have to buy a case? scratch the power supply!!! get a case with power supply, like an antec slk-2600. 9600XT for 155 sucks, spend 3 bucks more and get a 9800Pro, make sure its 256bit though. Then your good!

 

[BenSkywalker]

Anything need to be changed or anything missing? Please tell me the truth LOL. Thanks for any advice.

I don't see a case in your list, just a PSU. Also- the 256MB of RAM on a 9600XT is pretty much a waste. It will not be useful at settings the GPU is fast enough to handle. Save yourself $20 there and go with a 128MB offering or step up a few bucks to a 9800 series board. Also, are you including shipping in your total? I did in the prices I listed, which your list looks like save the shipping from NewEgg.

Edit- Forgot to mention, I'm not sure how many games your brother plans on installing, but a good deal of the newer games are running 4GB-5GB each. I can't come close to installing all my games and apps with 200GB of HD space.

 

[meltdown75]

Also, don't do what I did... whatever vidcard you settle on, make sure if its 256meg, that you're not getting cheaper ram. ie. check the core/memory clock ratings on the manufacturer's site. It might be more efficient to go with a 128meg card so you get faster/better quality memory.