Need Help Buying a Rig...

[iDiggory]

I know this forum is more about building than buying, but I don't really know of many other forums where I could ask this.

So, after I got a whole spec ready to build my rig, some things came up and my budget is now way less than it was before. However, I now have about 400$ in Best Buy gift cards.

Due to this fact, I am really focusing on buying a rig from BB (I cannot find any parts I like there, so this is my only option).

At max I have about $600 on top of the 400 in BB cash. However, I would really like to keep this to a minimum for various reasons.

The biggest problem? I need a monitor and printer on top of the tower.

I found one combo deal that uses an Intel Dual Core Pentium processer. From my research, these aren't as good as the Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs and tend to run hotter. Does anyone have experience with these?

It also only comes with a chipset for a GPU (Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3100).

Here is a link to the combo.

Will this be able to adequately play WoW until I can manage to budget for a dedicated graphics card?

Once I get a better GPU, will it be able to play some of the newer MMOs (AoC, etc.)?

Thanks!

 

[onedestinazn2]

the e2200 is fine im using one right now its just a trimmed down core 2 duo. i think you can do better but you have to do it in parts like graphics at bestbuy, maybe monitor and some other parts at newegg

some suggestions are this 19' westinghouse its native is 1680x1050 for 199 and a visiontek 4850 for 199 try to see if you can use the 10-12% coupon thats always floating around

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8725784&type=product&id=1201306973889

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8894057&type=product&id=1212192380309

 

[Toaster Oven]

The problem I see with that Dell is it's using a slim case and clearly a TFX or proprietary form factor PSU. I'm sure it's not up to powering a decent graphics card and there's a good chance you won't physically be able to fit a large graphics card inside that case. Hell I dunno if the comp even has a free PCI-E 16x slot inside as I couldn't find any documentation on it. My advice is to skip the prebuilt. Limit your purchases at BestBuy to items that are a fairly good deal and then get the rest elsewhere.


BestBuy

LG 22" Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD Monitor W2252TQ-TF $280
Brother MFC-465CN Network-Ready Multifunction Printer/ Copier/ Scanner/ Fax/ PhotoCapture Center $80
PNY - Optima 1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 DIMM Memory x2 $56


Newegg + Amazon

Intel E2180 $70
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L $84
Antec Earthwatts 500W $55
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB $44
Samsung SH-S203N $28
GIGABYTE GV-NX88T256HV1 GeForce 8800 GT 256MB $100 - $30 MIR

Antec Three Hundred $60


With tax and shipping that puts you around $400 BB GC + $500 Cash - $30MIR. Should leave you just enough to pick up KB+Mouse and OS.

 

[engiNURD]

Or... you could sell your gift cards and find a good dell deal for a Vostro 200 system (or see if BB carries the vostro).

http://bensbargains.net/deal/70702/

Configure the Vostro 200 Dual Core Mini Tower Desktop Computer with the free E228WFP 22" LCD Monitor upgrade for $484 with free shipping. Comes with Vista Basic installed. The specs include:

# Dual Core 1.8GHz, 2GB DDR2, 160GB SATA, 16x DVD+-RW Drive
# 22" E228WFP Flat Panel, Intel GMA 3100 Video Card, 7.1 Channel Audio

#1 grumpydog - Posted 11:01 am PDT 07/7/08 (775 Posts)
I tried starting with the cheaper vostro 200 in the same case and upgraded to this harddrive, added the monitor and upped the memory to 2gb and the price is $469 instead of $484. If you are considering this you might want to verify that the upgraded cheap one is the same as this one.

I would probably switch to a Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E4600 (2.40GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800FSB) [add $40]

Add a 9600GT or 8800GT and you'll be all set. If you want to add anything higher or one more HDD, you'll need a better PSU.

$485 - Dell Vostro 200 w/ 22" Monitor, KB/Mouse/OS
$135 - 9600GT
=======
$620 + tax & shipping

--OR--

$485 - Dell Vostro 200 w/ 22" Monitor, KB/Mouse/OS
$175 - HD4850 (newegg deal)
$55 - Earthwatts 500W
=======
$715 + tax & shipping

 

[silent-circuit]

Another vote to sell the giftcards.