So what does everyone think about this budget gaming PC.

[Copilot]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming and watching movies. Light gaming like TF2,WoW when the expansion comes out, SC2 and D3 when they come out. Maybe COD4 but probably not. maybe age of conan but I hear the requirements are pretty steep and probably out of my price range.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Really depends, if I need to spend more than $700ish I can buy it will just require me to wait a bit longer.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Canada, NCIX specifically.

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
Nvidia fanboy is about it. Don't really care about intel vs amd and I have no clue about HDs so I don't care.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Monitor, keyboard and mouse, speakers.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
No

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Default speeds

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Prebuilt


So here are the specs. I just went onto NCIX and clicked one of their prebuilt computers then removed the monitor and other stuff I didn't need and then customized it a bit. The main reason I am buying it like that is because they put it together and test that it works. I can build a computer myself but I would rather have it built by a professional. The custom computer thing is the same as buying all the parts, the prices are I mean. They just put it together, so if any of these parts are bad just suggest something thats basically the same price.

- Intel Pentium Dual Core E2220 Dual Core Processor LGA775 2.4GHZ 800FSB 1MB $99.99

- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775 2500RPM 45CFM $27.29

- EVGA Nforce E-7150/630I LGA775 mATX 1PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 HDMI Video Sound GBLAN Motherboard $100.79

- Crucial Rendition 1GB 1X1GB PC2-5300 DDR2-667 240PIN DIMM Memory 2 of these $39.98

- Palit GeForce 8600GT Super 540MHZ 512MB 700MHZ DDR2 PCI-E DVI-I HDCP HDTV Out Video Card $74.99 (i really don't know about this video card, it was just the one that was listed, I don't really need HDTV)

- Compucase 6C28B ATX Case Black 4X5.25 2X3.5 4X.3.5INT $37.78 (not sure about this case, may choose a different one thats a bit more expensive.

- Sparkle Power SPI ATX-400PN 400W ATX12V 20/24PIN Power Supply W/ 120MM Fan P4 AMD Ready OEM $38.57 (not too sure about this PSU, probably want to go with a better company)

- Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive $89.00

- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition OEM $87.55

- Samsung SH-S203B Black SATA DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 18X/12X INT DVD Writer OEM W/ Vista SW $34.12

Total $630 but after taxes and shipping ends up to be like $720.

 

[dajini92]

1GB of RAM?... with RAM as cheap as it is, I would definitely go with 2GB, and there's a huge performance increase between the two. A single one stick gig of DDR2-667 shouldn't be 39.98, but maybe prices are different in Canada. For 40 bucks, you should be around the 2 gig range, as far as DDR2 667 goes.

 

[Copilot]

Sorry thats 2 gigs, 2 sticks of 1gig.

 

[Modelworks]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardwa...ding-a-400-gaming-pc/1

Above system is the best I have seen for low budgets.

 

[Chosonman]

Don't get the 8600GT. Now a days you can find 8800GT 256MB for about the same price. If you're not lucky enough to find one of those I would still suggest spending a little more on a 3850 or even an 8800GT 512. The performance gains will be well worth it. Also I never heard of Palit.. I would go with a more reputable company.

I would get a Western Digital Hard drive instead of the Seagate. The 2 Seagate drives I own are loud and I hate them. I have 10 WD 500 and 640GB hard drives and none have given me problems and all are quiet.

Go with the Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W for $40 (new is charging $10 for shipping which is a rip off. You can find it at MicroCenter or maybe Frys for the same price without shipping)

You could probably get better quality RAM for the same price. Crucial Ballistics, Corsair XMS, Gskill etc...

$100 is a lot for a motherboard especially if you're on a budge, you could save $50-100 going with a comparable AMD based system or about $40 going with a cheaper motherboard. Is there any reason you want a Mobo with HDMI since you're already buying a graphics card? Most ATI based graphics cards no a days come with native HDMI, nividia supports some High Definition output as well.

Also, please read my sig about cases... The best case I know if for the money is the CoolerMaster Centurion ($50). I own 2 of these and I consider them better than other cases I owned that were $100 and more

It looks like you tried to go cheap by sacrificing quality. You can have both. I would take another look and ask around some more.. You're almost there.

 

[DSF]

Sparkle's not a bad choice as a budget PSU manufacturer from everything I've heard. How much do they charge for the assembly service. On a budget, that's going to really cut into the quality of the computer. Without overclocking that chip is a little underpowered by current standards, although I wouldn't call it slow. Your video card is going to struggle to play new games if you care about eye candy at all.

How long would it take you to save up about $200 more? By spending a bit more wisely and having a couple hundred extra to play with, you could build a MUCH better computer. If you can't wait for that much money, even $100 would help. I would also consider overclocking as a way to increase your bang for the buck.

 

[Copilot]

Yeah I could save up an extra $200, would only take another week. I am not going to be buying this computer until september.

@Chosonman I live in canada so I can't just go to frys and buy one. Prices in stores here are very inflated compared to online and shipping is free. I don't care about amd or intel, I have an amd system right now so I will gladly do an amd system if the Mobo is cheaper. I don't want that mobo at all it was just what was default on the prebuilt system. I have no need for hdmi or hdtv or any of that stuff. I will gladly spend the bit extra for a coolermaster centurion, I have one right now and its pretty good.

 

[DCGMoo]

By September, your list is going to look VERY different.

Intel E7200 is only $30-50 more than E2220. By September, it wouldn't be shocking to see the E7200 close to $100, especially with Nehalem on the horizon.

With 1TB drives being the next big thing... maybe HDD prices fall a bit too.

And video card prices will DEFINITELY look different in 3-4 months.

If you're TRULY not building this computer til September... then you should probably price out the parts a little closer to September and not get TOO attached to anything now. You may find a better component then for the same price you'd pay for a lesser component now.

If you're building soon though...
- DVD: Pioneer over Samsung if you can find. Samsung is quality... but Pioneer are the gods of DVD drives and have been for years. And prices will be almost identical.
- CASE: Definitely a better case. Never spend $700 on CPU parts then only spend $40 for a case to hold those parts. If you must go cheap... the CM Centurion also gets my vote.
- O/S: You might consider the extra $50 to go to XP Pro. XP Home has some drawbacks you should research before deciding completely. If you want a cheaper O/S... go Vista.

Otherwise a very solid selection of parts!

Moo.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Copilot
So what does everyone think about this budget gaming PC.


6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
No

I think it's a clutter of parts slapped together in a hurry.
It would rate much better with me had you done your homework first. :laugh:

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: DCGMoo
- O/S: You might consider the extra $50 to go to XP Pro. XP Home has some drawbacks you should research before deciding completely. If you want a cheaper O/S... go Vista.

What does XP Pro have over XP Home, other than the Remote Desktop feature, which is useless to gamers?

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: DCGMoo
- O/S: You might consider the extra $50 to go to XP Pro. XP Home has some drawbacks you should research before deciding completely. If you want a cheaper O/S... go Vista.

What does XP Pro have over XP Home, other than the Remote Desktop feature, which is useless to gamers?

group policy editor

 

[Ruger22C]

If you're going to get XP, get an XP Retail key. Vista is the future, and with retail you can LEGALLY move your installation from one PC to another PC, when it comes time to upgrade again.. as per my understanding.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: DCGMoo
- O/S: You might consider the extra $50 to go to XP Pro. XP Home has some drawbacks you should research before deciding completely. If you want a cheaper O/S... go Vista.

What does XP Pro have over XP Home, other than the Remote Desktop feature, which is useless to gamers?

How is remote desktop useless? Unless you only own one computer, it's a great tool.


Though, personally I wouldn't pay money for XP at this point. Vista is perfectly stable and a Vista license will still be useful 5 years from now when you want to run 4+GB of RAM.

 

[Ruger22C]

@Chirop

Vista is incompatible with older games, such as Port Royale 2 (2003?) and works very poorly with Infantry Online and NavyField.
It's also slower, it needs more resources to operate.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: Ruger22C
@Chirop

Vista is incompatible with older games, such as Port Royale 2 (2003?) and works very poorly with Infantry Online and NavyField.
It's also slower, it needs more resources to operate.

It's only slower if you have less than 1GB of RAM, it'd be fine for the OP. It uses a little more RAM, but RAM is cheap. And a few years from now 4GB+ will be common, anyone running XP is going to be forever limited to less than 4GB, while Vista users can upgrade to 6GB, 8GB with Basic, 16GB with Premium, and basically whatever the motherboard limit is for Business or Ultimate, the OS can handle up to 128GB.


Not sure about those games you mentioned, none of the games I play have had any issues but I suppose certain old games might have problems. Did you try windows xp compatibility mode? The OP said:

Light gaming like TF2,WoW when the expansion comes out, SC2 and D3 when they come out. Maybe COD4 but probably not. maybe age of conan but I hear the requirements are pretty steep and probably out of my price range.

All of those games work fine with Vista, and there is a fair chance Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 will support DirectX 10.1- which is a point in favor of Vista.