$500 gaming build

L

LateraLex

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 14, 2008
Messages
391
Hey guys, would appreciate any help....

1) What's your budget and what is included in that budget (tax/shipping, keyboard, monitor, OS, etc; if you're not in the US, please specify country)?
Don't need OS, DVD, monitor, keyboard, or mouse...
$500 shipped would be ideal.

2) What will you be doing with this system besides gaming (eg: video editing, photochopping, media ripping/encoding, watching hd videos, CAD, etc)?
Web

3) If you are gaming, what games will you be playing and at what resolution/settings (eg: cs:s @ 1680x1050 w/ no AA/AF)?
Unreal Tournament

4) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to get?
Already have... 19" LCD

5) What old parts do you plan on re-using, if any?
2 IDE drives, 1 DVD-RW drive

6) What features do you need/want in a motherboard and briefly, why do you need/want them? (3 pci slots, raid, firewire, µATX, etc)
USB slots on the front, ideally support for IDE to connect old HDD's..

7) How long do you plan on keeping this system and/or how often do you upgrade?
3 years

8) Do you plan on OC'ing?
No...
 
$80 - Antec NSK4480 with Earthwatts 380W PSU ($20 3-day shipping)
$90 - Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L ($8 3-day shipping)
$80 - Intel E2200 (free shipping)
$45 - G.Skill 2x1GB DDR2 800 kit (free shipping)
$140 - XFX 9600GT ($8 3-day shipping)
Optional:
$11 - SYBA IDE controller PCI card ($6 3-day shipping)
=====
$435 - Subtotal (not including the optional item, shipping, or rebates)
+$11 - Optional PCI card
+$36 - Estimated 3 business day shipping costs
=====
$482 - Estimated total (without taxes or rebates)

The IDE port on the GA-EP35-DS3L can support up to two devices (modern boards nowadays have only one IDE port), so I included a PCI controller card as an optional component. The PCI card has two IDE/ATA ports, which support up to four devices.

Is the DVD burner an IDE or a SATA drive?
 
tiraides build looks good. ;)

My build came out higher, but I think its cuz I included a SATA HDD. :p
 
Very cool... the DVD drive is IDE... so would I need a board that supports more IDE channels onboard?
 
Tirades is a good build, but I'd go with an 8800 GT basically the same price as the 9600 GT and yes it is somewhat faster, I'd go with the XFX one (Aftermarket cooler and DBL LT warranty FTW!).

If you buy the IDE Controller card then that will give you enough IDE connections to hook up all your stuff.
 
Oh nice, I need all those megabits. Are you aware of any good deals on a HHD under $60? Thanks...
 
LateraLex said:
Oh nice, I need all those megabits. Are you aware of any good deals on a HHD under $60? Thanks...
Click to expand...

Trust me you need all the megabits you can get! By HHD I assume u mean harddrive, this is an ok deal but I've seen better come along, just not aware of any right now.
 
Uh, Danny...

LateraLex said:
1) What's your budget and what is included in that budget (tax/shipping, keyboard, monitor, OS, etc; if you're not in the US, please specify country)?
Don't need OS, DVD, monitor, keyboard, or mouse...
$500 shipped would be ideal.
Click to expand...

... that's why I included shipping costs in my build. ;)
 
psh... danny's replying to like 100 threads at once... he doesnt have time to read every single line of every single OP. :p well, i know thats my excuse whenever i do that, haha.
 
enginurd said:
psh... danny's replying to like 100 threads at once... he doesnt have time to read every single line of every single OP. :p well, i know thats my excuse whenever i do that, haha.
Click to expand...

LOL!

My excuse is because I'm an insomniac.:)
 
tiraides said:
If you want the 8800GT instead of the 9600GT, swap out the NSK3480 for the Sonata III (with 500W Earthwatts PSU) and the 9600GT for this EVGA 8800GT.

Making those two changes will burst your budget... to around $504 shipped. But you'll have a more powerful machine in the long run, for only $20 more.
Click to expand...

I agree with the change in case + PSU. Honestly you probably would be fine with the 380w PSU, would be cutting it a bit close tho (and this one is only $10 bucks more expensive, or less if you use GC for first time). I think the XFX 8800 GT that I linked would be better, it's around $20 cheaper. Both are very good tho and have good coolers which imho is the most important thing in getting a good 8800 GT. That's a killer gaming rig for not very much at all. One last thing you should look at is getting the e2180 instead of the e2200, both will OC to around the same level (~3.2 iirc) and the e2200 is now $95 + $5 S&H, the e2180 is only $70 shipped :D
 
I agree with Mastaflash on the E2180 if the guy is gonna OC, but you stated in the OP that he wouldn't be OC'ing, so the E2220 would be best if no OCing, since its now cheaper than the E2200.

$90 - Intel Pentium E2220 Allendale 2.4GHz 1MB L2 Cache

If he's really strapped for cash, I'd highly suggest he do a moderate OC on the E2180 and save the extra $20. Its easy and should be rock solid stable.

I'd stick with eVGA, though, for the vidcard, cuz the new cards are coming out soon, so he can step up if the price is right.
 
MaStaFLaSH said:
I think the XFX 8800 GT that I linked would be better, it's around $20 cheaper. Both are very good tho and have good coolers which imho is the most important thing in getting a good 8800 GT.
Click to expand...

Nothing against you, but I have a couple of problems with that logic.

The first reason I went with the EVGA model 8800GT is, as enginurd mentioned...

enginurd said:
I'd stick with eVGA, though, for the vidcard, cuz the new cards are coming out soon, so he can step up if the price is right.
Click to expand...

... that, plus the lifetime warranty -- though XFX's "double lifetime" warranty extends to a second owner, assuming the OP will eventually sell that card -- makes it a good choice.

My main issue is with the price: The XFX 8800GT, before rebates are factored in, actually costs $10 more than the EVGA 8800GT. I am well aware that the XFX 8800GT has a $30 mail-in rebate, but that rebate does nothing to offset the final cost of the OP's rig when he pays for everything. Plus, the EVGA 8800GT has free shipping... which means that the OP has a choice between saving $18 right now or getting $30 back after he builds his rig. Personally, I rather save the cash up front.
 
tiraides said:
Nothing against you, but I have a couple of problems with that logic.

The first reason I went with the EVGA model 8800GT is, as enginurd mentioned...



... that, plus the lifetime warranty -- though XFX's "double lifetime" warranty extends to a second owner, assuming the OP will eventually sell that card -- makes it a good choice.

My main issue is with the price: The XFX 8800GT, before rebates are factored in, actually costs $10 more than the EVGA 8800GT. I am well aware that the XFX 8800GT has a $30 mail-in rebate, but that rebate does nothing to offset the final cost of the OP's rig when he pays for everything. Plus, the EVGA 8800GT has free shipping... which means that the OP has a choice between saving $18 right now or getting $30 back after he builds his rig. Personally, I rather save the cash up front.
Click to expand...

That's a good reason for the EVGA, I would recommend the EVGA only step-up doesn't work with this card as it's "limited edition" or some bull like that lol. Either card is good, I just don't see the point on spending more for the EVGA since XFX has a better warranty and step-up doesn't work with this card.
 
Step up works with this card, just in one direction. If you buy the card, you can step up to a newer model, which is the whole point of step up. You simply cannot have an older card and step up to this particular card.

MaStaFLaSH said:
That's a good reason for the EVGA, I would recommend the EVGA only step-up doesn't work with this card as it's "limited edition" or some bull like that lol. Either card is good, I just don't see the point on spending more for the EVGA since XFX has a better warranty and step-up doesn't work with this card.
Click to expand...

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=367195

EVGATech_ShaneD said:
Axelerate said:
I'm pretty sure you are mistaken, I just purchased that [512-P3-N800-AR] (from a retail store), and it says "90 days step-up program" on the top right corner of the box on the front.
Click to expand...
You can step up from any card, you cannot step up to any card.

The 90 days you have listed there are the 90 days you have to step up to a card eligible.
Click to expand...

So, in other words, you cannot step up to the 512-P3-N800-AR, but you can step up from it -- which is what the OP's friend will want to do if a new card comes out and the price is right. Keep in mind, you will not be able to step up to limited edition cards.
 
enginurd said:
Step up works with this card, just in one direction. If you buy the card, you can step up to a newer model, which is the whole point of step up. You simply cannot have an older card and step up to this particular card.



http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=367195



So, in other words, you cannot step up to the 512-P3-N800-AR, but you can step up from it -- which is what the OP's friend will want to do if a new card comes out and the price is right. Keep in mind, you will not be able to step up to limited edition cards.
Click to expand...

Ahhh, that clears that up for me :D
 
hard to do , but dont get a crap processor and a good gfx card, ur games will still lag if ur processor cant handle it..
 
enginurd said:
The E2200/E2220 are far from crap processors.
Click to expand...

+1, if overclocked to 3.2 they shouldn't hold you back at all. I'd much rather get a slower proc and a good video card than something like say an e7200 and only be able to get an 8600 series card.
 
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