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gaming comp, <$700

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DEATHmatchSOLDIER

n00b
Joined
Oct 30, 2005
Messages
16
hello gents. I am not very savvy with computers, and my friend who is, well, has a headache...

anyway, im trying to build a gaming computer for under $700 ASAP, before i leave to MMA for a month, and i need it quick! My computer friends are leaving for vacation soon and im definitely going to need their help to put it together. So heres the layout for now:

THINGS I ALREADY HAVE:
Hard drive
Monitor
Mouse/Keyboard
Case

THINGS I NEED:
Motherboard
RAM
CPU (dual core*)
PSU
Video Card
OS (Vista*)

KEY:
*=im assuming works best for gaming system.

As of now, as far as my research has gone, i got:
Abit IB9 C2D Socket 775 Motherboard
$70
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4
$140
Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Allendale 2.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E4400
$140
Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC ATX 430W Power Supply
$40
BFG 7950 GT 512MB PCI-E
$210
Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM
$120

all that equals about $720, w/o shipping or tax. So i extend my greatest gratitude to anyone who can fix this little plan up for me or point me in the right direction or sumfink. Thanks.
 
First stay away from that psu, it total crap.

G.Skill 2 GB DDR2 800 kit is $110 on newegg

I would go with C2D e6320 for $165

As for the video card a EVGA 7900GS will do the job. Which is about $150

Good choice in motherboards and great price too.

And XCLIO GOODPOWER 500W psu and you are set for your new rig at cost of $50

Total $665 with the Vista Home Premium
 
If you want to play DX10 games, you should get the 8800GTS. Then again, since DX10 isn't really mainstream yet (not many DX10 games out at all; 1 only I think?), you could always upgrade this later. In which case, I'd suggest the X1950GT 256MB for $135 - $20MIR. This should allow you to get a much better CPU. Do you have a license of XP you could upgrade from?

$115 - E4300
$285 - 8800GTS 320MB
$120 - MS Vista 64-bit Home Premium OEM
$95 - Abit IB9
$60 - 2GB DDR2-667
$50 - XClio 500W
=========
$725 + tax and shipping - $50 MIRs

E4300 settings:
9 * 200 = 1.8Ghz, 2 * 200 = DDR2-400 << STOCK settings
9 * 333 = 3.0Ghz, 2 * 333 = DDR2-667 << Typical OC on stock cooling

I'll let someone else post the E6420 + X1950/7900GS route instead... this site is too slow right now, lol.
 
Right, there's only one full DX10 game out right now and that's Company of Heroes. The Call of Juarez and Lost Planet demos were just DX10 demos. And from what I've hear, both were disappointing.

If you're the kind of person that doesn't upgrade his PC once in a while, then definitely go with enginurd's first build.

Now one question I have for you is what are you planning to do with this PC? What is your monitor's size? Oh and what does MMA stand for?
 
i tink my monitor is about 17", and im planning to use this system almost exclusively for gaming. I am trying to make a compromise in my head between CPU power and video card power. Not exactly sure which one is going to be essential for playing the new games.


MMA stands for Marine Military Academy.

Man! This stuff is so confusing! I'm trying to figure out what i need most in a CPU, FSB? Ghz? Cache? And the same for the video card, all trying to stay within a very strict budget!
 
enginurd's build looks good (i think that mobo can o/c right?)

if you shop around you can get better deals on the 8800 320 gts and 2gigs of ddr2 ram

check the hot deals section twice a day
 
If you only have a 17" monitor, you're severely limited by resolution. A standard LCD has 1280x1024 pixels on a 17", and you'd likely run the same resolution on an old CRT.

even a 19" LCD is confined to 1280x1024.
A 8800GTS is a good choice, but you are definitely not realizing the full performance of the card when restricted to 1280x1024. You will want to upgrade your monitor soon. I'd recommend a 22" or 24" widescreen for gaming and overall use.

Given the limitation of your monitor, a previous generation card will run everything just great. I'd highly recommend a cheaper video card, either the Radeon X1950GT, or the Geforce 7950 series. Either one of those would be around $150, and will run everything just great at 1280x1024, even fairly decent at 1680x1050 (a 22" widescreen)

Company of Heroes looks great on DX 9. Don't fret about DX10 support just yet. Even the newest games will have DX9 paths for another year. Of course, a DX10 card would be good, in which case the 8600GT series may be a good choice for you if you're not planning on a new monitor.
 
DEATHmatchSOLDIER said:
i tink my monitor is about 17", and im planning to use this system almost exclusively for gaming. I am trying to make a compromise in my head between CPU power and video card power. Not exactly sure which one is going to be essential for playing the new games.
Click to expand...

Depends on which games you're going to play. RTS games generally rely more on CPU power than GPU (Video card) power while FPS games are generally more GPU dependent than CPU dependent. There are exceptions though to that general thought.

I'm gonna take wild guess and say you're an FPS fan considering what your name is.

So get a better video card if you don't plan to upgrade your video card once in a while. If you're planning to upgrade once in a while your video card, then get a more powerful CPU like the E6420.

Go with Enginurd's build if you want to be ready for games like Crysis.
 
actually, i dip a lot in every game genre, which is why im having trouble making a compromise between graphics and processor. I intend to play strategy games (RTS and turn-based like CMSF, CoH, maybe Starcraft 2) but also fps (half-life 2, maybe UT, i think a Crysis-running computer is a bit of a stretch, considering my budget) and then stuff like racing games like GTR and some others.

and then some 'specials' that are graphics and physics demanding, like prevoiusly mentoined Company of Heros, Garry's mod, and misc stuff like that, so im hoping i can make a system that can play the full spectrum of video games well.

btw, im not Deathmatchsoldier, im just using his account because the website won't let me make an account w/ gmail :(
 
I would say that you should be ready to overclock. You can usually overclock the E4300 to E6600 speeds or past pretty easily I believe. In that way you should be able to have your cake and eat it too :cool:

For the best graphics right now, for ~$250-300, the 8800GTS 320mb can't be beat, especially at the resolution you're playing. And don't be so cynical :p haha, with this computer maybe you won't be able to play at Ultra settings, but at 1280x1024, (obviously this is all speculation), but I would think you would at LEAST be able to set medium settings, if not high. These Dx10 cards were pretty large leaps ahead of last-gen, so they may last a bit longer than everyone usually expects out of their video cards.
 
I concur with Citizen86's statements. But since you do have a limited budget, I will throw in my build list:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 CPU - $185
GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 Intel P965 Express Motherboard - $95
Corsair ValueSelect 2 x 1GB DDR2 667 RAM - $68
Sapphire 100176L Radeon X1950PRO 256MB PCI-E Video Card - $146
XCLIO Goodpower 500W PSU - $50
Windows Vista Home Premium OEM - $112
-----
Total: $656 plus tax and shipping.

In my build list, you get a better CPU than the E4300 because the CPU is the least often upgraded component in a PC. So right away you get a great CPU capable of handling Company of Heroes or Supreme Commander. The X1950Pro should last you a year or so until the newer DX10 games comes and price drops on DX10 video cards have happened. So get my build if you're willing to pay for a better video card next year for cheaper than get a better video card this year and pay more.
 
Danny Bui said:
I concur with Citizen86's statements. But since you do have a limited budget, I will throw in my build list:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 CPU - $185
GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 Intel P965 Express Motherboard - $95
Corsair ValueSelect 2 x 1GB DDR2 667 RAM - $68
Sapphire 100176L Radeon X1950PRO 256MB PCI-E Video Card - $146
XCLIO Goodpower 500W PSU - $50
Windows Vista Home Premium OEM - $112
-----
Total: $656 plus tax and shipping.

In my build list, you get a better CPU than the E4300 because the CPU is the least often upgraded component in a PC. So right away you get a great CPU capable of handling Company of Heroes or Supreme Commander. The X1950Pro should last you a year or so until the newer DX10 games comes and price drops on DX10 video cards have happened. So get my build if you're willing to pay for a better video card next year for cheaper than get a better video card this year and pay more.
Click to expand...

I think that build would be fine, but hopefully you would be willing to upgrade your video card within a year, because I think the X1950Pro is starting to show its age a bit ;) At least compared to the 8800's...
 
J Macker said:
If you only have a 17" monitor, you're resolution is severely limited. A standard LCD has 1280x1024 pixels on a 17", and you'd likely run the same resolution on an old CRT.

even a 19" LCD is confined to 1280x1024.
A 8800GTS is a good choice, but you are definitely not realizing the full performance of the card when restricted to 1280x1024. You will want to upgrade your monitor soon. I'd recommend a 22" or 24" widescreen for gaming and overall use.

Given the limitation of your monitor, a previous generation card will run everything just great. I'd highly recommend a cheaper video card, either the Radeon X1950GT, or the Geforce 7950 series. Either one of those would be around $150, and will run everything just great at 1280x1024, even fairly decent at 1680x1050 (a 22" widescreen)

Company of Heroes looks great on DX 9. Don't fret about DX10 support just yet. Even the newest games will have DX9 paths for another year. Of course, a DX10 card would be good, in which case the 8600GT series may be a good choice for you if you're not planning on a new monitor.
Click to expand...

I agree. Don't worry about DX10 for another year or so, when you have some cash to upgrade your monitor. By then, there should be some better choices for your money. Go with Danny's build for now, and when you upgrade your monitor, pickup a new vidcard as well. LCD prices continue to drop, so just be patient.

BTW, an E4300 OC'd to 3.0Ghz is fkn fast, lol. Don't think that its a lot slower than the conroes because its only got half the cache. The double cache doesnt matter much right now, and probably won't for another year or so. The performance increase is only 5%, according to Anandtech.
 
this is only going to be a summer/fall/ maybe next spring rig. After i leave to boot camp, this thing will be rotting downstairs being used as nothing more than a word processor by my sister. I just need something that will play todays and yesterdays games great, and tomorrows games decently.
 
E4300 is the best budget CP, IMO. So I would definately go for that, pu tthe money you save into a better GPU. For the GPU, I like the 8800gts. Howver, make sure you get a deal on it (-$15 coupon, 10% off, rebates, etc..). I would aim for $250 or less after rebates for an 8800GTS 320mb (which would be a perfect gpu for you resolution). For your budget you need to squeeze out the most you can with the lowest possible prices.
 
Hit Fry's electronics for a C2D motherboard combo. Some of the motherboards are ECS, others are Abit...just read the ad. Look in the deals section and you'll find a deal on a 7900 for $99 right now. Building one for under $700 should be cake.
 
Do not, do /not/ get any 8xxx series card other than the 8800's. The 8500's and 8600's are dreadfully slow compared to much lower priced previous generation hardware, and their comparatively pathetic specs mean that the "DX10 support" they claim is pretty much hollow. They're also /far/ overpriced at the moment due to lack of competition in that range of hardware from ATI.

An 8800GTS is (in my opinion) the only way to go if you want to game right now and have some chance of running the new stuff in 6-8 months. The price difference now isn't that great, and it should last you longer than a X1950 or similar Nvidia card.
 
DEATHmatchSOLDIER said:
this is only going to be a summer/fall/ maybe next spring rig. After i leave to boot camp, this thing will be rotting downstairs being used as nothing more than a word processor by my sister. I just need something that will play todays and yesterdays games great, and tomorrows games decently.
Click to expand...

Then theres no point in buying a 8800 series card, or any other DX10 card for that matter. Stick to Danny's build. When you get back and have more time to play games, there will actually be some more DX10 games out (theres only 1 right now), and you can upgrade the vidcard then. Vidcards are the fastest depreciating computer component, so theres no point in buying an uber expensive one right now, especially when you only plan to use it for the next few months.

Jeez... I remember when $150 was an uber expensive vidcard. :eek:
 
well, i was pretty much set for a 7950GT for a sec, but now im questioning whether i should be getting Vista, this is the way i see it:

WITH VISTA:
New updated OS
Best support for dual core

W/O VISTA (XP)
Don't have to pay for Vista which means i can snag the 8800GTS
i've *heard* that they are terribly slow for games, compared to XP or 2000.
 
enginurd said:
Then theres no point in buying a 8800 series card, or any other DX10 card for that matter. Stick to Danny's build. When you get back and have more time to play games, there will actually be some more DX10 games out (theres only 1 right now), and you can upgrade the vidcard then. Vidcards are the fastest depreciating computer component, so theres no point in buying an uber expensive one right now, especially when you only plan to use it for the next few months.

Jeez... I remember when $150 was an uber expensive vidcard. :eek:
Click to expand...


upgrading later will be no problem, considering ill actually be bringing in some bucks then. I just need something to keep the massive boredom away for now.
 
DEATHmatchSOLDIER said:
well, i was pretty much set for a 7950GT for a sec, but now im questioning whether i should be getting Vista, this is the way i see it:

WITH VISTA:
New updated OS
Best support for dual core

W/O VISTA (XP)
Don't have to pay for Vista which means i can snag the 8800GTS
i've *heard* that they are terribly slow for games, compared to XP or 2000.
Click to expand...

If you're talking about Vista being slow for games, thats pretty much true. Dunno whether it's because of Vista being a resource hog, bad video card drivers or the fact that the games weren't optimized for Vista or a combination of all three but games do perform slower on Vista, around 10 to 25% if I'm not mistaken, than on XP.

If you already have a legit copy of XP,I say just use that. Personally, I'm not upgrading to Vista till Vista Service Pack 1 is released, which should help alleviate any performance problems with Vista. If you do stick with XP, definitely get the 8800GTS.
 
ok guys, i've pretty much decided.

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
$350 (including rebate)

ABIT IB9 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
$73 (including rebate)

COOLER MASTER eXtreme RP-500-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 500W Power Supply 90-132V/180-260V Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSMI, FCC, CC
$30 (inlcuding rebate)

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
$84

Customer Reviews for Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Allendale 2.0GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
$140

=$745.85 (including all rebates, sales tax, and shipping)


according to all my sources, this seems like a reasonable setup for my budget and circumstances, still not totally confident about that power supply though, any last thoughts guys? In any case, thanks a lot to everyone for posting and helping out.
 
That would be a pretty nice setup. Most games right now would run great on it! My question is how much is the rebate on the power supply? I really think the Xclio GOODPOWER 500W might be a better supply, and it's $50.

And you only have a 17" monitor? What is that? 1280x1024? Or less? (That was a lot of question marks, my bad :p ) I think you could save $70 and just get the 320mb version, good chance you won't need ALL that Vram, especially since you're only using this rig for less than a year and by the time you get back and are making MAD money you could buy a very high-end rig if you wanted :D

With the extra money I would maybe get an E6320, a better mobo (seriously, I'm pretty sure I haven't heard good things about that one, I looked at it when I was building a computer, and ran away in horror), and that Xclio power supply.

Edit: Found a Hard Forum Post about it, guess it's not as bad as I remember, and looks good to boot! Take a read over it though and see what others thought.
 
DEATHmatchSOLDIER said:
well, i was pretty much set for a 7950GT for a sec, but now im questioning whether i should be getting Vista, this is the way i see it:

WITH VISTA:
New updated OS
Best support for dual core

W/O VISTA (XP)
Don't have to pay for Vista which means i can snag the 8800GTS
i've *heard* that they are terribly slow for games, compared to XP or 2000.
Click to expand...

On the machine in my sig starting Firefox takes somewhere between 2 and 3 times as long under Vista as it does under XP Pro SP2. Take that for what you will. Framerates tend to lag around 10 behind, too. Over all I've found Vista to be a huge disappointment.
 
DEATHmatchSOLDIER said:
ok guys, i've pretty much decided.

...

COOLER MASTER eXtreme RP-500-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 500W Power Supply 90-132V/180-260V Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSMI, FCC, CC
$30 (inlcuding rebate)

...

according to all my sources, this seems like a reasonable setup for my budget and circumstances, still not totally confident about that power supply though, any last thoughts guys? In any case, thanks a lot to everyone for posting and helping out.
Click to expand...

The XClio is likely a better choice.
 
Heh, honestly, with a 17" monitor, you're better off getting a better CPU instead of an overpriced vidcard that you'll use for only 3 months. There is no point to an 8800 series card with a 17" monitor. DX10? what games are DX10 that you plan on playing? DX10 isn't mainstream yet, so I wouldn't bother buying a top end card now, esp. if you won't be using it for the most part of the upcoming year. Also, as someone mentioned earlier, the newer games will still support DX9 for at least another year, lol. As mentioned earlier, vidcards are the fastest DEpreciating component in a gaming system. There are refreshes almost every 6 months. In fact, the 8900 refresh is comin in a couple months.

Here's a bit of history for you... the 7800GTX debuted at around ~$600?? I believe. 8 months later, the 7900GT (not even the GTX) debuted at $325, and outperformed the 7800GTX.

Since DX10 won't be commonplace for a bit longer, I'd suggest sticking with DX9 for now, especially with your monitor size.
 
I agree with enginurd, the video card is overkill, and I'd scale it down to an X1950 Pro or a 7950GT, and spend at least $100 on a higher end power supply. The power supply is something you should NEVER cheap out on, trust me on this.
 
bbruzzes said:
I agree with enginurd, the video card is overkill, and I'd scale it down to an X1950 Pro or a 7950GT, and spend at least $100 on a higher end power supply. The power supply is something you should NEVER cheap out on, trust me on this.
Click to expand...

It's true... I don't know, I made a huge jump from an X1600Pro to the 8800GTS, and I'm still very impressed. I was originally going to just upgrade to an X1950Pro, but wasn't sure if it would be worth it. I think the OP is in a strange situation, normally everyone would say go with the 8800, but it might just not be worth it for him... although I'm sure he would enjoy it a lot more for the short time he had it :p

As for the power supply, whether he gets the X1950Pro or the GTS, I don't think he'll be overly stressing a decent 500W Power Supply like the Xclio, so I don't think he needs to spend anymore than necessary on it. meh....
 
hmmm, i see what you mean. So i suppose i should stick with that 7950GT i was planning on getting earlier, grab up that 500w XCLIO psu, but that means i have quite a few bucks to upgrade something else. Now, im guessing that it should be my CPU, so what would you guys suggest?

btw, the power supply i had posted up there was also $50, $20 rebate.
 
DEATHmatchSOLDIER said:
hmmm, i see what you mean. So i suppose i should stick with that 7950GT i was planning on getting earlier, grab up that 500w XCLIO psu, but that means i have quite a few bucks to upgrade something else. Now, im guessing that it should be my CPU, so what would you guys suggest?

btw, the power supply i had posted up there was also $50, $20 rebate.
Click to expand...

I would stick with the 7950GT, get the XCLIO PSU (or even something from Corsair, Enermax, etc) and get an E6320 conroe instead.

Just imo, though :)
 
You don't even need the 7950GT with a 17" monitor, lol. Go with Danny's build, and if you can, bump the RAM to some DDR2-800 (egghunt for you).


Danny Bui said:
I concur with Citizen86's statements. But since you do have a limited budget, I will throw in my build list:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 CPU - $185
GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 Intel P965 Express Motherboard - $95
Corsair ValueSelect 2 x 1GB DDR2 667 RAM - $68
Sapphire 100176L Radeon X1950PRO 256MB PCI-E Video Card - $146
XCLIO Goodpower 500W PSU - $50
Windows Vista Home Premium OEM - $112
-----
Total: $656 plus tax and shipping.

In my build list, you get a better CPU than the E4300 because the CPU is the least often upgraded component in a PC. So right away you get a great CPU capable of handling Company of Heroes or Supreme Commander. The X1950Pro should last you a year or so until the newer DX10 games comes and price drops on DX10 video cards have happened. So get my build if you're willing to pay for a better video card next year for cheaper than get a better video card this year and pay more.
Click to expand...
 
Yes go with my build list :)

Another bit of info: I have the 7900GS and it plays most of my games, Supreme Commander, BF2, Company of Heroes and C&C 3, at mostly high settings on a 19" Widescreen monitor.

The x1950Pro is a much better faster and better card than the 7900GS. So therefore, the x1950Pro should be more than enough to play all of your games at high settings on a 17" monitor.
 
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