Inexpensive gaming desktop recommendation

[SoulAssassin]

It's embarrassing how far out of the loop I am these days on PC hardware. Used to be the overclock this, overclock that, crazy cooling on this guy. Posting this requires the ingestion of some pride.

Anyways...looking to replace my Dell E521 w an 8600GT. Definitely want pre-built but willing to upgrade the video card. Refurb is fine and maybe even desired, I've been happy w Dell outlet in the past. Running a 19" monitor and not really planning on upgrading that soon unless it dies. I definitely plan to use it for gaming but don't care about running at the highest resolutions. I started going through the Dell outlet but I have no frame of reference for the processor speeds anymore. I dunno whether this or that is better, etc.

I'd like to keep it under $500-600 with the video card but can go higher if it's worth it. Looked back and obviously saw similar threads but nothing very recently. Recommendations?

 

[CurseTheSky]

What are the specs on your Dell E521? If it's Core 2 Duo based and has a non-proprietary motherboard / power supply, you may just be able to upgrade the power supply and graphics card decently cheap and have a good gaming machine on your hands.

 

[SoulAssassin]

It's AMD, I don't recall the speed off the top of my head.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Couple things I saw on Dell Outlet listed below, tell me if they suck. I know by posting this I'm asking for someone to steal it, no big deal...I don't have to order today.

The power supply in the 545/6's is 300W, maybe one of those plus a low power vid card? How much of an upgrade is that vs what I have now? Is that ATI 4350 any good? Hard drive space isn't a big deal, I have a 3TB NAS...RAM I would prefer no less than 3GB.

$689.00
Inspiron 545
Piano Black
Intel Core 2 Quad - 2500
Genuine Windows 7 Professional
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
3000
DVD/RW
512MB ATI Radeon HD 4350

$589.00
Inspiron 545
Piano Black
Intel Core 2 Quad - 2660
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
4000
DVD/RW

$469.00
Inspiron 545
Piano Black
Intel Pentium Dual Core - 2700
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
640 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
6000

$569.00
Inspiron 546
Piano Black
AMD Phenom - 3000
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
1 TB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)
4000
DVD/RW;DVD-ROM
Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio

 

[CurseTheSky]

Either of the Core 2 Quads looks pretty good. The Phenom might be good too, but I'm not sure what model it would be (hopefully a Phenom II X4, then you're all set; if it's an original Phenom, I wouldn't touch it with a 10ft pole).

Anyway, the HD 4350 is NOT a gaming card - more of a low-end workstation or marginal HTPC card. It'd be worth keeping for a spare, but you'd want to upgrade to something like an HD 4850, 5750, 5770, 5830 (when released), or GTS 250 as soon as possible. A 300w power supply should be able to handle most of those cards, possibly with the exception of the HD 4850, 5830, or GTS 250. 400w would give you more headroom, though.

 

[hans030390]

Just out of curiosity, why not build your own? I just built my first computer a few months back, and it was pretty easy! Saved me a lot of money, too.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Just out of curiosity, why not build your own? I just built my first computer a few months back, and it was pretty easy! Saved me a lot of money, too.

Been there, done that for years. I'm 32 and the first PC I built was a 486/33 in '93 or 94. These days, I'd rather just have it work and spend my time on other things. I do enterprise backup/SAN engineering and while it's obviously still IT, it's very distant from the latest and greatest PC hardware. I'm in the 8Gb fiber channel and 10Gbe world.

 

[mrbig1225]

I kind of understand where he is coming from…I’m not all that technical when it comes to building computers and I’ve looked through enough forums like these to decide that I wouldn’t be up all night trying to figure out what caused my system to BSOD..So I bought my computer from a boutique pc company. It may not have been cheapest but I’m willing to pay the premium to be able to call someone for help and its good that you don’t have to worry about stuff in the future. Bought my system from ACS Gaming computers and haven’t regret the purchase…but that my opinion.

 

[Throckmorton]

Been there, done that for years. I'm 32 and the first PC I built was a 486/33 in '93 or 94. These days, I'd rather just have it work and spend my time on other things. I do enterprise backup/SAN engineering and while it's obviously still IT, it's very distant from the latest and greatest PC hardware. I'm in the 8Gb fiber channel and 10Gbe world.

That's how I feel. I've built every computer I've had for the past 10 years. But I don't really want to do it anymore. Using a laptop now but the next desktop I have will be a prebuilt.

 

[JWade]

I picked up a 546 desktop with a x2 215 processor, 4gb ram and a 640gb hard drive, all for under $240 shipped, even after upgradring it to a phenom II and a decent video card for games i am still under $450. that doesnt even take into account reselling the x2 215