Help me build a gaming comp w/ $400

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
C

cbrsmurf

Member
Mar 12, 2004
40
0
0
Building a computer for my gf. She's pretty much sucks with computers in general, so I don't expect the parts will ever be cleaned or drivers updated unless necessary. She already has Win XP and a wireless mouse and a GeForce4 MX420.

Need:
Case, mobo, cpu, power supply, ram, cd burner, HD... pretty much everything.

I think she'll be happy with the GeForce4 MX for a lil bit (a few months) as I bought it for her to replace her Voodoo3.
$400, overclocking bad idea as she wont really take care of it.

For the mobo and cpu, I'm thinking one of those Fry's combos that happens all the time... but should I go w/ P4, athlon, athlon64????

Thanks!
 
S

sharq

Senior member
Mar 11, 2003
507
0
0
Powersupply - Antec/Enermax. The Antec True330 or an enermax 350 should do fine for those specs me thinks.
Case - doesn't really matter, if she doesn't care, then just get whatever is in the budget.
I would say go for one of the Fry's combos instead of buying seperate components, I don't have one here but sure wish I did :) Incase you don't want to:
CPU - AMD 2500+ (faster fsb, better core)
mobo - Asus/Abit (check reviews to see which one is better for your needs and what onboard features you want)
Ram - Kingston/Crucial 512mb. The faster the better since it would be useful if you were to upgrade. Anything faster than 2700 (3200 maybe?) should cover you for the fastest socket A cpu's right now. Or just get 2700 if cost becomes an issue
DVD rom - liteon/sony (same thing) I've had good luck with Aopen.
Burner - liteon/sony, or you could spend 20-30 more and get a plextor (atleast that was the case on newegg a few days back)
HD - check hot deals and try to find the most space for the least price.

Since she doesn't care, and just wants something that works well, I say go with AMD athlon's (not the 64bit ones), they're cheaper than your other 2 options, and they're supposed to be better for gaming. Plus for anything else they will fly as a desktop computer used for office/email/internet. Hope this helped.
 
B

Bonesdad

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 2002
2,213
0
76
Definately AMD for that budget. The Shuttle AN35N is a good, stable NF2 board for not much $$ ($63 the last I checked). Nothing fancy, just a good board. Not sure what games she plays, nothing heavy duty I assume, by the MX-420. Would you consider a Duron 1.6 or 1.8? The Fry combo's are pretty good, just make sure that you can cover everything with your budget. And above all, get a good case/PSU. Antec SLK3700BQE is nice looking, roomy, quiet and has a good PSU rated to 350 W.

Also consider going with a burner/DVD combo drive to save a few $$$. Liteon and Samsung have quality drives.
 
C

Cheetah8799

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2001
4,508
0
76
Here's what I would go with for a "budget" gaming system. This can handle most games up through BF942, Q3, UT2k3, Neverwinter Nights, Max Payne 2, etc. May not perform as well with the latest greatest like Far Cry and UT2k4.

Biostar M7NCG 400 nForce2 matx mobo around $65 at Newegg
AMD XP2000 - Barton XP2500. Used CPU $40 - $60
512mb ram at least, preferably 1gb. $50 for used 512mb PC2100.
ATI 8500 or better video card.
40gb hard drive, maybe bigger pending budget. $40 for a good used one.
cheap case < $40. Plenty of cases for this money.
LiteOn CDRW and DVD reader combo drives are about $45 at Newegg.

What that you should be good to go. Will play lots of games well, newer games may need better video card and 1gb ram. I don't agree 100% with Bonesdad, I think you can get by just fine with a cheap case. Just be aware that you may have powersupply issues if it is poor quality. Also, if you go with a nForce2 mobo, you may have onboard video problems if you don't use dual-channel ram.
 
P

paladiin

Member
Oct 23, 2001
181
0
0
There's a neat little feature that Anandtech does called the Weekly Buyer's Guide. Here is the last Budget one with some good ideas. Using that and some other stuff, here are a few other recommendations:

Asus A7N8X-X mobo (nForce2 400) ~ $65

AMD AthlonXP 2500+ Retail version - $80 at newegg.com - best bang for your buck if you're not overclocking. Includes a decent HSF (which you would need to buy if you purchased an OEM CPU).

Corsair Value Select 256MB DDR400 RAM x2 - $44 x 2 = $88 at newegg. Dual Channel, CAS 2.5, and room to grow at DDR400. Same price as most DDR333 at that latency.

Lite-on 48xCDRW/16xDVD-ROM combo drive - $49 retail box at newegg. All your average budget CD/DVD/CDRW needs met.

WD40GB Hard Drive (2mb buffer 7200RPM) - $79.99 minus $40 MIR = $39.99 at Circuit City this week. Hard to beat for the price for a budget system.
or
WD120GB Hard Drive (w/ 8mb buffer) - $114.99 minus $50 MIR = $64.99 at Outpost.com. I own this hard drive and it is indeed a very nice drive.

Case/PSU - I've always just gone budget with an approved AMD PSU. I'd suggest at least 350W, but a generic case with a 400W PSU should run you $40-$50. Certainly worth shopping locally for these if possible, as shipping can be pricey on cases.

That should put you around $400 and give you a very nice system.

 
B

Bonesdad

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 2002
2,213
0
76
I'll stick w/ my recommendation for a good case. A good case with a good PSU will last you forever. I have had my Antec Case for 5 years, in that time it has seen 3 seperate motherboard/CPU configurations. A cheap $20 case and a decent $40 PSU will be nearly as much as buying an Antec case with PSU included. If you don't like the BQE, consider the SLK2600AMB for $52 instead. Antec isn't the only good case mfg...look for others.
 
C

cbrsmurf

Member
Mar 12, 2004
40
0
0
Thank you all, very, very helpful. Man, I'm gonna be so jealous... she'll be having a better computer than me! and a notebook!

Oh yea, and she wants to have a "pretty" case.
 
O

optimistic

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2001
3,006
0
0
If you live by a fry's, you can get Abit VA-10 with XP 2200+ for $69 together.

Then all you need...

Inwin l545 case $42 newegg *a 'pretty' case. Small too. I've built two comps with them.
Western Digital SE 80GB hdd $65 mwave
512MB PC3200 $85 mwave
Floppy $7 mwave
Liteon CDRW/DVD Combo $49 mwave
Heatsink $5 svc

Total of $322
 
C

Cheetah8799

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2001
4,508
0
76
Originally posted by: cbrsmurf
Thank you all, very, very helpful. Man, I'm gonna be so jealous... she'll be having a better computer than me! and a notebook!

Oh yea, and she wants to have a "pretty" case.
Click to expand...

uh oh. I built a rig for my cousin (female) and she said the same damn thing. You will be spending as much time figuring out which case she wants as you will building the thing...
 
C

cbrsmurf

Member
Mar 12, 2004
40
0
0
lol, we went to fry's and they had like 20 cases, but none of em were pretty enough so we didn't get one :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom