Good budget gaming rig?

[Shadowfury957]

Hey I'm putting a computer together for a friend that is on a really tight budget. Theres no actual budget, but the lowest possible price is much preferred. Suggestions, comments, questions, concerns, etc all welcome and very appreciated

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Public Wish List - http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=8223072&WishListTitle=Logan's

Proccesor - $48 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Brisbane 2.2GHz - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103214

Motherboard - $48 MSI K9VGM-V AM2 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130542

Video Card - $100 GIGABYTE GV-NX88T256HV1 GeForce 8800 GT 256MB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125089

Memory - $37 OCZ Value Series 2GB DDR2 667 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227060

Hard Drive - $44 Western Digital 160GB 7200 RPM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

CPU Cooler - $22 ARCTIC COOLING ACF64LP - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186019

Power Supply - $40 APEVIA ATX-CW500WP4 500W - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148027

DVD Drive - $18 LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM SATA Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106261

Case - $50 COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119047

Keyboard - $7 LITE-ON SK-1788/BS - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823107120

Mouse - $7 Sunbeam FireLine MS-2011-BK-BL - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826178003

Total - $420.89

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Is this a good build for the price? any different parts you recommend?

EDIT:
Here is the updated build - http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=7974451&WishListTitle=Logan's

 

[Heather Taylor]

I'll be really honest...I haven't had great success with Gigabyte video cards in the last six months, the failure rate on retail grade cards has been really high.

Also, people on these forums hate Apevia power supplies. I don't have any personal experiences with them, but I've learned that the people that hang out on [H] are usually right.

 

[Toaster Oven]

I'd suggest the following changes:

CPU: Intel E2180 $70
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L $84 + $9 shipping
RAM: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $45
CPU Cooler: Don't need, use the stock one
PSU: Antec Earthwatts EA500 500W $55
Case: Antec Three Hundred $60 (reference Newegg Link)


Adds around $75 to the cost after you figure shipping. Athlon X2 will bottleneck 8800GTs somewhat even overclocked, so go Intel. That CPU+Mobo combo will do 3.0-3.2Ghz easy and won't hold back your vid card. Plus it leaves a lot of nice upgrade options open down the road. G.Skill DDR2 800 costs $2 more and is much more overclock friendly. Cheap PSUs can bring down your whole system and the Apevia falls into that category. Antec EA500W is just about the the most cheapest reliable PSU you can get that will leave you some headroom for future upgrades. Centurion 5 case design is ~4 years old and airflow isn't the greatest. Gaming cases like the Antec Three Hundred with the open front, bottom mounted PSU, and big top+rear mounted fan have excellent cooling and this one is even cheaper than the Centurion 5. Also, it might be a good idea to let your friend check out some KB+Mice at a B&M store and see what he likes.

 

[Dangman]

Heather is right about the Apevia PSU: unless you want a dead system for a paperweight, don't buy an Apevia PSU.

Drop the HSF, case and Apevia PSU and go with this quality case/PSU combo:
Antec NSK4480 ATX Case with Antec Earthwatts 380W PSU - $71

Spend the extra $9 to get a faster CPU and a HSF:
AMD Athlon64 X2 4600+ CPU - $57

Can't comment on the video card just yet. Trying to figure out just how well the 8800GT 256MB stacks up against the similarly priced 9600GSO 384MB or HD3850 512MB video cards. Though I think the HD3850 would edge out a bit.

 

[Shadowfury957]

Ok, here is the updated build.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=7974451&WishListTitle=Logan's

I went with most of the parts that Toaster Oven recommended but I picked a cheaper motherboard because I really want to try to keep the price low. Is there anyway I can make the price lower anymore while maintaining the quality of gaming that I'm looking for in this build. All recommendations are appreciated

 

[Dangman]

Is there anyway I can make the price lower anymore while maintaining the quality of gaming that I'm looking for in this build.

You could go with NSK4480 case and PSU combo I recommended earlier. However once you factor in shipping, it'll come out to about the same as the Antec 300 case (Buy it from Amazon.com) and Antec EA500 combo.

So in other words, not really. You're pretty much at the point where if you go any cheaper, you sacrifice major quality and power.

 

[Shadowfury957]

Since I'm giving the list to a friend to buy (I'm building it though), I want all the parts from one site.

 

[Shadowfury957]

bump... anything else before I give him the list?

 

[onedestinazn2]

i would get a 9600gso/8800gs or 512mb 3850 over a 256 8800gt and go for a cheaper case like the cooler master elite rc-330 for 45 theres even over for the same price with a 350w power supply (after shipping is calculated) though i would not keep that psu but hell, its free and $20 cheaper than a antec 300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119118

 

[Dangman]

bump... anything else before I give him the list?

Well if you're gonna stick to one site, get this Rosewill case instead since it has free shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147042

 

[engiNURD]

Heh, thats either an Antec OEM or knockoff case. Still, a good case nonetheless.

 

[wildfire99]

That video card keeps bugging me, esp. at 256MB. I keep thinking, gosh, isn't there some way to just find $50 or sell some blood or something and weasel into a $150 Radeon 4850? In the FS/T forum someone wanted an 8800GT (G92/512MB?) for $100 shipped, I almost bit considering that it would make an upgrade from it to the 4850 pretty inexpensive after rebate, though I need a 4870. Maybe you could find a used one.

If you don't have an OS, then you're at the point where you should (I think) consider looking for deals from the big manufacturers like Dell and sell off say, the monitor and get a better vid card.

Oh, and for all that's holy, don't buy a PS/2 keyboard.

 

[tiraides]

If your friend considers himself a gamer, then I recommend getting a better video card like the 9600GT or the 512MB 8800GT. You can find a decent card for around $150-$170 new, or you could look in the FS/FT thread for a dela similar to what wildfire99 found earlier.

 

[silent-circuit]

If you can swing another ~$50 you can get a 4850 that'd beat the living hell out of the 8800 GT 256MB, 9600 GT, etc. Money well spent in my opinion as it should allow you to hang on to the system for a bit longer.