• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Need comments/advice on Budget Gaming Rig

J

jraddatz

Member
The video forum helped me out so much with picking out the video card, here is my situation:

I'm looking at around $300 ($320 max) for building a budget gaming rig. I have a hard drive, power supply, mouse, keyboard, speakers, and monitor. This is what I picked out and what the people from the video form helped with.

Any advice on getting more power from the same cost, or getting a better deal on some of my current pieces would be greatly appreciated. Right now this is sitting at:

LOL, as I was writing this, the MB went out of stock... so now I need a cheap MB... I'm at $300.21 w/ shipping but $30 of a MIR. So I need a MB for about $50. I was advised to stay away from ECS and PC-CHIPS. Any advice would be great!

Setup:

BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 550 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138026R
-----now Out of Stock -------

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103036

ARCTIC COOLING ALPINE64 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186010

BUFFALO Select 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820150048

SAPPHIRE 100199L Radeon X1950GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail (Thanks to the Video forum guys!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102034

Rosewill R6422-P BK Black SGCC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail (i know its cheap material, but its really cheap in price as well)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147064
 
Retail version of 3600+ would be cheaper than OEM + separate fan/hs by a couple of bucks AND you get a better warranty on CPU.
You should probably go with 2x512 memory sticks instead of 1x1GB, if you want dual-channel mode.
And, btw, newegg is not the only online store. Check pricegrabber.com, you should be able to save some money on certain components at other stores.
 
Thanks for letting me know that about the retail Processor. I changed the OEM+Fan for the retail one in my shopping cart.

I checked pricegrabber.com and Newegg is the cheapest so I just need to find a MB.

I didn't really want to get an ECS or PC-CHIPS one because of what people say about them, and because the cheap ones only have 2 memory slots (which why i'm going with a 1GB stick - so when I upgrade I just need to buy 1 more stick, instead of 2 to replace the 512mb modules.)

I wish that biostar OEM one was still in stock
 
I think you will eventually want more ram so 1 g module is good.
I have an old Barton with 2x512, but that Brisbane is much more processor to keep up with.
 
Woot! the BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 550 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - OEM is back in stock. Will be ordering this all saturday 4/14/2007. Unless I get any better suggestions =)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top