Specs vol1 - The "Starter Gaming Rig"

[MercenaryForHire]

I'm trying to piece together a "Starter" gaming rig. The idea is to keep price low, have adequate performance at medium detail for slightly aged games, and a little bit of "future-proofing" built in for upgradability. Relative quiet is also a benefit.

AMD Thoroughbred-B 1700
Inexpensive, good performer, with OC ability in the future to scale up a bit in the future.

SLK 800
The 900's a little massive and a touch pricey. Coupled with a relatively quiet 80mm TMD fan, the 800 should be fine for keeping the TBred quiet. Better/louder fan later if OCing.

Epox 8RGA+ or MSI K7N2G-ILSR
Priciest piece in the rig, but still not that bad. Leaning towards the MSI (Soundstorm+extra goodies)

256MB PC2700 - 2x if price is right
Start with a single stick, and drop another in when funds run around. Single-channel may not be top of the line, but it's nothing to laugh at. Okay, so maybe it is. It's a starter rig, come on.

40/60GB HD (brand undecided)
ATA100, 7200rpm. WD/Maxtor if strapped for cash, Seagate 'Cuda V if some "hush money" is leftover.

LiteOn DVD/CDRW combo drive
Reliable and quiet. Play movies, burn CDs.

Case undecided
Doesn't need to be a powerhouse or an aluminum monster - just whatever's best.

nForce2 will provide the sound, video, and NIC abilities. Keyboard, mouse, speakers extra.

This should be able to hold its own for games like C&C Generals, Q3A, and a little UT2K3 with the details trimmed, no?

- M4H

 

[MikeMike]

if your looking cheap, i would check out the FS/FT boards. there are some cases, and HD's on their for cheap right now.

video is onboard??

also go to the HotDeals board, and pic yourself up a 80gb SE for 29.99 ar/ac!!!

 

[DaveSimmons]

Since you care about noise, the Antec SLK3700 is actually better than the Sonata in some opinions on SilentPCReview.com because of better airflow. It has a 380w quiet (but not "silent") PS that has good exhaust -- the case and Celeron 1.3a temps in my server stayed the same with or without the 120mm exhaust case fan running.

Wiith the 120mm running (even at 7V) you could probably get by with using a cheaper fan on the 1700.

 

[Devistater]

You might post some anticipated prices as well.

I would reccomend a 2000+ XP AMD CPU. The retail version is $66 SHIPPED!! from newegg right now. The OEM is probably a couple bucks cheaper.

For the lite on burner, wait until you see a sale for a 52x one for $20 after rebates, they happen fairly often.

Nforce 2 mobo with soundstorm (which I see you already mention heh)

You may even want to think about PC3200 memory instead of PC2700 memory. The 3200 stuff runs around $50 for a 256 meg stick from a decent maker. I picked up two samsung ones for about $45 each for the nforce 2 setup I JUST put together.

For the hard drive, like the other guy said, you can get it down to $30 at the moment with coupon and rebate for an 80 gig. I think the 120 gigs are around $60 at the moment after coupon and rebate. Personally I'd go for the 120 gig since its the Western Digital Special edition (with 8 meg cache) and 3 year warranty, but thats just me.

Case? The BEST value case IMHO is the Evercase line from Newegg. Go there and pick shop by brand and pick ever case. You can get them down to like $35 shipped without a power supply, or around $45 shipped with one. Things I love about ever case: Nearly 100% screwless, even the 5.25" drive bays have a little locking level and no drive rails. Unlike most other cases, including most full server tower cases, a number of models include TWO hard drive cages, so you can stick up to 4 hard drives in this case. This case feels a ton more roomy that most other models. A number of models also come with side fan, and they all have spots for a rear fan (next to CPU) and a front fan. You could get the side fan blowing in, and the rear fan going out.

I've ordered 3 evercase cases so far and I love them all. (One for me, one for the family, one for a computer built for someone else).

If you are in and out of your case all the time its great because of featuers like pulling the hard drive cages out by moving a lever. Oh and the card slots on the back have a snap on cover to keep them secured if you want to use them without screws.

And for easy modding, the front of the case pops off by holding down a couple pieces of plastic, no screws, AND no wires attached to the front plastic piece either, so you can take it off and take it somewhere to mod

My favorite model also has 2 front USB ports. Some models come in black as well. Unfortunately one of the newer evercase models that comes with a side duct (instead of a side fan), only has one hard drive cage, so I'd reccomend the side fan ones.

Two very small nitpicks about the case: No motherboard tray. But I've had cases with one and I never thought they helped much. The second, the reset button is microscopic. But a couple minutes with a dremel tool could widen the reset hole enough to stick a pinky finger in it instead of a pencil.