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A sub $400 computer that you can game on?


Nadril

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One of the major arguements against PC gaming is the price. However, I wonder if it would be possible (with todays technology) to build a computer capable of playing most of todays games at a decent frame rate. So instead of trying to build a PC as the most powerful thing, lets try and build the cheapest. :)

 

 

 

Build by me and ultimania92:

 

CPU- AMD Athalon 64 X2 5000+ 2.6ghz $60

 

GPU- EVGA 8600GT 256MB $40

 

RAM- Corsair 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR2 800 $45

 

HD- Seagate 400GB 7200RPM $50

 

CD/DVD- LITE-ON 16x DVD 48x CD $18

 

Mobo- BIOSTAR nForce 520D $49.99

 

CASE- Linkworld /w 400W PSU $36.99

 

OS- Microsoft XP OEM $90

 

Total Price: $390

 

 

 

 

 

This would place the computer right around the cost of a 360, and you can count out $90 if you already own XP. :)

 

 

 

Likewise I am guessing it could play about any game out today at at least medium settings.

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, what do you guy's think you could come up with? I just wanted to try and see if we could prove those wrong who say console gaming is cheaper. :thumbup:

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Only thing people would have left to factor in are a keyboard and mouse($10), a good 17" LCD monitor for around $130, and maybe some speakers or headphones.

I was going to eat hot dogs for dinner tonight. I think I will settle for cereal.

 

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I just built one on newegg for $12 more then your build but IMO its better :D

 

Ok here it is;

 

GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H

 

POWERCOLOR X3870

 

LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive

 

Antec Basiq BP500UB 500W

 

OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

 

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic SP1 64-bit English

 

Antec Three Hundred

 

AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz

 

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

 

ASUS K8A4-8SB3 80mm Sleeve CPU Cooler

 

 

 

The cpu and hdd are slightly worse, but the case and psu are far better and more reliable. The gpu is a lot better.

 

The DVD is SATA (IDE is not a good connection to buy for a new build).

 

The OS is 64bit so it will allow you to use all the 4gb of ram without any issues.

 

 

 

The motherboard has onboard (and its pretty damn good for onboard) graphics so if they aren't going to be using it to game drop just drop the gpu.

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Joe, that CPU is a real bottleneck, I would replace it with a Core 2 Duo and from what I've heard, the new 45nm E5xxx is pretty good and are fine overclockers.

 

As for the cpu being a bottleneck it won't be on 99.9% of games. The gpu will cap out well before the cpu does.

 

The word bottleneck gets thrown around too much.(biggest bottlenecks: HDD -> Motherboard -> Ram -> CPU -> GPU [roughly anyway])

 

 

 

For a $400 budget you wouldn't get a C2D and a decent motherboard.

 

The C2D's (and C2Q's) are great chips and do overclock well but to get the best out of them you need a decent motherboard and HSF.

 

If you had an extra $50 you could have a E2200 and a ASUS/Gigabyte mobo.

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First build has nearly exactly the same specs as my computer, just more ram. :| :wall: Yeah, if I had the skills to build a computer myself back then, I would have a much better computer right now.

 

I can tell you that that thing would game pretty decent though. I can get suprisingly good framerates with the 8600GT.

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Well, since i already own XP i've got 90$ more to play with.

 

*drinks coffee and checks newegg*

 

 

 

ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W - 50$

 

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 - 118$

 

Foxconn M7VMX-K LGA 775 - 44$

 

G.SKILL 2GB - 25$

 

Asus Read/Write CD/DVD Sata - 21$

 

Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 - 85$

 

HITACHI Deskstar T7K500 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s -50$

 

 

 

(And yes i know, Micro atx motherboard+ATX case, but it fits)

 

@393$

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Errr...what about a PSU?

 

 

 

You see ze case?

J'adore aussi le sexe et les snuff movies

Je trouve que ce sont des purs moments de vie

Je ne me reconnais plus dans les gens

Je suis juste un cas désespérant

Et comme personne ne viendra me réclamer

Je terminerai comme un objet retrouvé

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Why Windows XP? You can get Vista Home Premium for $99 on Newegg. There's no reason for an average computer user to put XP on a new computer over Vista. Especially when that computer is DX10 compatible with 4GB of ram.

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Why Windows XP? You can get Vista Home Premium for $99 on Newegg. There's no reason for an average computer user to put XP on a new computer over Vista. Especially when that computer is DX10 compatible with 4GB of ram.

 

 

 

cause with vista...you lose a gig of ram -.-

 

and a good amount of video memory...

 

 

 

(btw have you heard of 64-bit XP's? still would recognize the 4 gigs anyways)

 

 

 

edit: is that vista you're talking about is 64-bit? (seems too good for $99)

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Why Windows XP? You can get Vista Home Premium for $99 on Newegg. There's no reason for an average computer user to put XP on a new computer over Vista. Especially when that computer is DX10 compatible with 4GB of ram.

 

 

 

cause with vista...you lose a gig of ram -.-

 

and a good amount of video memory...

 

 

 

(btw have you heard of 64-bit XP's? still would recognize the 4 gigs anyways)

 

 

 

edit: is that vista you're talking about is 64-bit? (seems too good for $99)

 

 

 

XP 64 bit has too many compatibility issues, go for Vista 64bit instead...

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Why Windows XP? You can get Vista Home Premium for $99 on Newegg. There's no reason for an average computer user to put XP on a new computer over Vista. Especially when that computer is DX10 compatible with 4GB of ram.

 

 

 

cause with vista...you lose a gig of ram -.-

 

and a good amount of video memory...

 

 

 

(btw have you heard of 64-bit XP's? still would recognize the 4 gigs anyways)

 

 

 

edit: is that vista you're talking about is 64-bit? (seems too good for $99)

 

 

 

Vista has better memory management, the ram it uses when not gaming is irreverent. Why only use 500MB when just going online and have 3.5GB just sitting there wasted?

 

 

 

64bit

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6832116488

 

32bit

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6832116485

 

 

 

Both $99

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I'm not much on building a machine, but let's see how well I do with this project. Been meaning to actually look into getting a machine, but I didn't want to spend too much on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMD Athlon X2 AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz -- 45W

 

 

 

BIOSTAR NF520-A2 AMD Motherboard

 

 

 

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) RAM

 

 

 

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 400GB HDD

 

 

 

PNY VCG86512GXWB-OC GeForce 8600 GT GPU

 

 

 

Lite-On Black DVD/CD burner w/Lightscribe

 

 

 

ATOP Red ATX Mid-Tower Case

 

 

 

Logisys 480W ATX 12V PSU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Processor: $65

 

 

 

Motherboard: $50

 

 

 

RAM: $65 - $25 Rebate = $45

 

 

 

HDD: $50

 

 

 

GPU: $80 - $40 Rebate = $40

 

 

 

Optical: $26

 

 

 

Tower Case: $26 - $10 Rebate = $ $16

 

 

 

PSU: $17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subtotal: $379 w/o S&H

 

 

 

After Rebates: $304 w/o S&H

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holy crap, I think I did alright. I might be able to throw in a decent monitor with this rig and still fall under $400!

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Why Windows XP? You can get Vista Home Premium for $99 on Newegg. There's no reason for an average computer user to put XP on a new computer over Vista. Especially when that computer is DX10 compatible with 4GB of ram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal choice really. I don't see an 8600GT really running any DX10 stuff "well".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although I did think vista was more expensive.

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