[LancePro]

A friend of mine is planning a full upgrade from his old PC and asked me to help him with a budget gaming rig. The budget is around $400. This is what I have in mind (prices are from newegg and don't include shipping):


Motherboard:* ASUS P5L-VM 1394 LGA 775 Intel 945G Micro ATX Intel ($74.99)
CPU:* Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor ($169.99)
Video Card:* MSI NX8600GT-T2D256E OC GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI ($74.99)
RAM:* Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel ($43.99)
Tower:* Rosewill TU-155 Black Steel ATX Black 0.8mm SGCC Steel Mid Tower Computer Case 400W(20+4 pin) Power Supply ($50)
Altogether with shipping it's about $450. What are you thoughts about it? Would you change anything?

[Arther]

I would 1st ask my self what kind of games does he like to play and that should give you a good idea of what kind of system you need to build.



Plus don't forget to get a good P/S

[Evildave]

At this budget level, you WILL be disappointed with PC hardware compatibility versus new game requirements. Even if it runs a game you have right now 'fine', something new will ship by this spring that needs more computer than you have, and you'll be spending more cash on upgrading the PC instead of buying games.

The video card is the killer. It will be over half the price of your PC to be reasonably compatible with the games out right now. Buy more 'slow' RAM rather than the fastest, most expensive RAM. More RAM, not the kind (or brand) of RAM makes the biggest difference in performance.

If you're going to buy a gaming rig, just get one pre-built online. DO NOT BUY VISTA. At this budget level, the PC you get won't run anything well with Vista installed. Also, generally speaking, don't fall for adding just a few 'extras' on the web site configurator. You can always buy some additional hardware of your own later on to upgrade it to your liking. The prices are usually pretty great for a base machine, but are terrible for the 'upgrades'.
www.pricewatch.com/range/computer[usystems[/u]windows/43-13.htm]

All in all, I'd just go get a console. XBOX 360, PS3 or, Wii all fit inside this budget. Whatever floats your boat. You can even boot Linux on the PS3 or Wii if you want to use it for a computer. Whatever game you buy for it will just work. Today, tomorrow, two years from now. No hardware caveats. You'll even have money left over to buy an extra controller and a couple of games.

[LancePro]

OK. First of all, if this is a gaming rig, it doesn't necesseraly means that it will be used only for games. Not at all. There's much more to a PC than just gaming. That means that console is not an option here.

Also it doesn't really matter what games they want to play since I, as a PC builder, should be able incorporate as vast a scope of games as I can. That's why I went with GeForce 8600GT. It's good 3D renderer ans supports DX10, should they want to upgrade to Vista somewhere along the way.

Also a 400 W PSU is already included with the tower. I figured it should be enough for such a PC, since I'm on a severe budget.

[jbking]

I think it may be worth thinking about what hardware can limit gameplay depending on the game: A graphic-intensive game like Crysis may well require the video card be of a high end while a real-time strategy game may throttle the CPU more where a user may want a quad-core processor to provide extra horse power. Another question is whether one would overclock the system to try to get more performance from the components which while dangerous is a way to try to get more bang for the buck. Just a couple thoughts.

JB

[smax013]

LancePro said:

A friend of mine is planning a full upgrade from his old PC and asked me to help him with a budget gaming rig. The budget is around $400. This is what I have in mind (prices are from newegg and don't include shipping): Motherboard: ASUS P5L-VM 1394 LGA 775 Intel 945G Micro ATX Intel ($74.99) CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor ($169.99) Video Card: MSI NX8600GT-T2D256E OC GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI ($74.99) RAM: Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel ($43.99) Tower:* Rosewill TU-155 Black Steel ATX Black 0.8mm SGCC Steel Mid Tower Computer Case 400W(20+4 pin) Power Supply ($50) Altogether with shipping it's about $450. What are you thoughts about it? Would you change anything?

I am assuming that since it is an "upgrade" that you plan on using the hard drive, optical drive, OS, mouse, keyboard, monitor, etc from the old computer. If not, then your list is missing a few items! :)

[kcihtred2]

heres a better one for $500 after $90 mail in and $35 combo savings and then theres shipping, but its much better

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811156090

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813135069

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130291

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817152033

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103194

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820141300

[piyushsingh]

I fyou want to go with that setup to limit it to 400$ then its fine .One thing i wud suggest , you are getting a 8600gt then no need for a mobo with onboard graphics , leave the 945G chipset and get one with 965P for the same price. You can easily search that on newegg using the filters.

[VladTheImpaler1990]

Hey well firstly your power supply is not enough for the current computer, it is recommended you have atleast a 500 watt power supply, as if you do have a 400 i beleive it will be using more power so it will damage the computer, please read this document that my friend MPH made:

Power Supply

Vlad

[Evildave]

True, a 'Gaming PC' is also a PC. A game console is also a movie service, DVD/Blueray player and web browser (according to which console you buy).

The thing is, if you make a clean break between GAMING and PC, your gaming console will keep you hip deep in gore for several years and your non-gaming PC will last five to ten years without any change, instead of needing upgrades/replacement every one or two years, because you only have 'Open the Document' expectations, rather than 'Open the pod bay door, Hal' expectations. This is why half of all businesses in the U.S. are still running WIndows 2000! XP and Vista offer NOTHING to someone who only does WORK with a PC. A PC can actually do a JOB for ten years, but it won't even take one year before you buy a game for a brand new PC that won't run without adding something.

In the long-run, you save quite a bit of scratch. That translates into being able to routinely 'upgrade' your game console and buy more kinds of games for it.

So if you're going to buy something to play games, buy a console. If you're going to buy something to do 'work', buy a PC. You'll find a PC that isn't designed to play games can be had for about the same as a game console, so you could literally buy a new PC AND a game console for $400, or you could buy a barely tolerable 'Game PC' that will piss you off by not running something within a few months, possibly as soon as you finish putting it together.