best gaming rig money can buy for 800$

DeusEx · Post by **DeusEx** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 6:22 pm

allright so my friend wants to get a gaming rig this Xmas but he is short on cash because he has a low paying job. his budget is 800$ and he cannot go above that. He was wondering if he should buy from a company or build it himself after i told him about LR. Naturally, the video card is probably most important and companies like Dell dont offer anything beyond radeon x1300 for that price. He wants a mid tower case with the best components possible for that price. Obviously its not going to be a killer machine but is it worth it for him to build it himself? Can you guys outline suggestions what YOU would buy if you were a gamer and you had that kind of a budget. Here is a couple of things that might help narrow it down:

-Hard drive space is not that important he probably will never need more than 100 Gb.
- Video card is pretty important.
- he has no monitor so he needs one of those too.

Thats about it so far. Any suggestions ? any imput is greatly appreciated as Xmas is almost here.

Post by **dicecca112** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 8:07 pm

gonna be tough. Especially with a monitor.

Couple Questions

What games does he play?
LCD or CRT?

dgood · Post by **dgood** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 8:12 pm

if you can find a used crt at some place for liek 20 dollars then you are golden but if you need to buy an lcd or nice crt then you are in trouble I think.

dgood · Post by **dgood** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 8:35 pm

so I know dicecca112 wouldn't like this but I bet a budget build like that would benefit from a psu/case combo usually not the best psus but since you wont' be using a high end card it'll probably work. saw a raidmax case with all 5star reviews and 500watt psu for 90 and x1650 pro HIS for 92 or so after a 10 dollar rebate. 512 ddr2 Geil or something cas 4, and core 2 duo 1.86 conroe, msi motherboard. came out to 734 or so. and thats more than enough for a second hand crt 17" from my normal dealings. I know our university surplus here sells them for liek 25 dollars most of the time. could exchange gfx with a slightly better one if you find a good deal on monitor. but it had a 320 gig hd that was combed with case for 90 also so 180 for case with 500 watt psu and 320gig sata II 3.0 gb/s. thats the best budget I could find. someone else will probably outdo me though. or at least say get a better psu and downgrade the case which might not be a bad idea. maybe a 7600gs or even gt if you get the right deals on them. Good Luck, I've build lots for that money though but always get crts second hand for cheap.

DeusEx · Post by **DeusEx** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 8:52 pm

he wants an lcd but he doesnt want a monster size. he mentioned something about 17 inches.

he games bf 2142 and WoW and maybe some others.

dgood · Post by **dgood** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 9:51 pm

most lcds even 17" are 145+ so I imagine you'd have to downgrade case and hd and try to save some money there maybe getting a cheaper mobo or try going amd 64x2 and getting cheaper mobo since there are so many more of those out there i'll look into it later tonight when i'm done bowling and playing poker or whatever

The Black Pumpkin · Post by **The Black Pumpkin** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 10:32 pm

Here's my shot:

PSU: FSP 400W
case: Rosewill basic
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 3800+ (65W)
motherboard: MSI K9N Neo-F (nForce 550)
ram: OCZ DDR2 800
video: Sapphire X1650 Pro
monitor: Sceptre 17" lcd (8ms)
hard drive: Seagate 80GB
dvd drive: LG Super-Multi burner
keyboard/mouse: Microsoft basics
speakers: Altec Lansing basic
floppy: basic

Total without rebates/shipping: $786.14
Total with rebates/without shipping: $759.14

Should be just around $800 with shipping, and the rebates would help afterwards, too. If he can go about $15 more (after you add shipping) you could get a 120GB or 160GB hard drive.

I only picked a 400W psu, because on the eXtreme PSU calc (the one with water cooling and stuff) said the load would only be around 280 with what I picked.

DeusEx · Post by **DeusEx** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:25 am

thank you very much for your imput i will talk to him as soon as i can

dgood · Post by **dgood** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:35 am

does that build include windows xp? because the builds I was talking about had windows incorporated in it.

The Black Pumpkin · Post by **The Black Pumpkin** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:40 am

No, it doesn't. If you need windows too, you're pretty screwed on hardware options...

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:50 am

Case $70
This case has an Antec 380W PSU incl.

Intel E6300 CPU $181

GeIL 1GB DDR2 800 Ram $109

SCEPTRE X7G-NagaVI Black 17" 8ms LCD $149

80GB Western Digital Caviar SE $44

GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 mobo $125

Total: $678
$120 left over for GFX, DVD and keyboard & mouse.

You can save a bit on the motherboard, bu that gigabyte will allow overclocking...which might be useful when he wants to upgrade.

IF you could stretch to $850 it would be alot easier.

Post by **dicecca112** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:55 am

dgood wrote:so I know dicecca112 wouldn't like this but I bet a budget build like that would benefit from a psu/case combo usually not the best psus but since you wont' be using a high end card it'll probably work. saw a raidmax case with all 5star reviews and 500watt psu for 90 and x1650 pro HIS for 92 or so after a 10 dollar rebate. 512 ddr2 Geil or something cas 4, and core 2 duo 1.86 conroe, msi motherboard. came out to 734 or so. and thats more than enough for a second hand crt 17" from my normal dealings. I know our university surplus here sells them for liek 25 dollars most of the time. could exchange gfx with a slightly better one if you find a good deal on monitor. but it had a 320 gig hd that was combed with case for 90 also so 180 for case with 500 watt psu and 320gig sata II 3.0 gb/s. thats the best budget I could find. someone else will probably outdo me though. or at least say get a better psu and downgrade the case which might not be a bad idea. maybe a 7600gs or even gt if you get the right deals on them. Good Luck, I've build lots for that money though but always get crts second hand for cheap.

absolutely positively not. Not just because of the obvious reasons, but I doubt DeusEx wants to have to provide support when the PSU has killed half the components. Don't make me say why the Raidmax Psus are bad. As shown above, you can get cheap high quality PSUs over the raidmax.

Post by **dicecca112** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:57 am

The Black Pumpkin wrote:Here's my shot:

PSU: FSP 400W
case: Rosewill basic
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 3800+ (65W)
motherboard: MSI K9N Neo-F (nForce 550)
ram: OCZ DDR2 800
video: Sapphire X1650 Pro
monitor: Sceptre 17" lcd (8ms)
hard drive: Seagate 80GB
dvd drive: LG Super-Multi burner
keyboard/mouse: Microsoft basics
speakers: Altec Lansing basic
floppy: basic

Total without rebates/shipping: $786.14
Total with rebates/without shipping: $759.14

Should be just around $800 with shipping, and the rebates would help afterwards, too. If he can go about $15 more (after you add shipping) you could get a 120GB or 160GB hard drive.

I only picked a 400W psu, because on the eXtreme PSU calc (the one with water cooling and stuff) said the load would only be around 280 with what I picked.

do you really need overclockers memory?

just get this and save 20$ or so http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820161669

Post by **dicecca112** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:03 pm

kenc51 wrote:Case $70
This case has an Antec 380W PSU incl.

Intel E6300 CPU $181

GeIL 1GB DDR2 800 Ram $109

SCEPTRE X7G-NagaVI Black 17" 8ms LCD $149

80GB Western Digital Caviar SE $44

GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 mobo $125

Total: $678
$120 left over for GFX, DVD and keyboard & mouse.

You can save a bit on the motherboard, bu that gigabyte will allow overclocking...which might be useful when he wants to upgrade.

IF you could stretch to $850 it would be alot easier.

cheaper memory at ZZF. Really don't need overclockers memory if he's just gaming http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... e=85016-13 (-5)

Again if no OCing

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... ode=242691
(-23)

leaves 150$ for what Ken had said

The Black Pumpkin · Post by **The Black Pumpkin** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:08 pm

Well, I was just getting a better brand actually. I would have gotten the Corsair myself and spent a little more, even if I wasn't overclocking.

DeusEx · Post by **DeusEx** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 5:17 pm

thank you for all the help guys. now the only question remains should he buy it right now or after Xmas? Do the prices change?

Post by **dicecca112** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 5:28 pm

yes they can drop a bit. I've seen prices drop as much as 20$ per item and as little as a 1$. All depends on what people want

Topher · Post by **Topher** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:02 pm

A gaming system for under $800?

Why not just get a PS3 with a few games?

bubba · Post by **bubba** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:56 am

accutally, this is my wish list... somewhat, changed: case, HD, and monitor.

case Antec $70 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6811129012
CPU E6300 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6819115005
mobo ECS 945G-M3 $78 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6813135032
GFX XFX GeForce 7600GS $124 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6814150170
RAM corsair 1gb(2x512) $108 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820145568
HD 80gb $44 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820145568
Monitor SAMSUNG 740B $190 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6824001070

795 plus shipping, He might want to think about getting what he can now and a part a month from then on. It's what I'm doing.

cyberneticimplant · Post by **cyberneticimplant** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 9:27 am

Don't buy a slower video card than a 7600GT or X1650Pro. That's the lowest I would consider buying. I think AM2 is better suited for a budget system because processors, and motherboards are less expensive than Core 2 Duo, and in games you're gonna be maxed out by your video card, not processor.

Here is what I would be looking at. However, I would presonally go with a CRT from a local store to save money.

Cooler Master Centurion 5 - $45 Minus $10 Rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119047

3800+ X2 - $131
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103733

Asus M2N-E AM2 nForce 570 Ultra - $94
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131022

1GB Corsair XMS PC2-5400 - $104
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145539

XFX 7900GS - $180 Minus $40 Rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150208

Acer 17inch 8ms LCD - $155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824009088

Samsung DVD Writer - $31
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827151133

WD 7200RPM 80GB - $44
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822135106

450W Forton FPS (+12V1@18A, +12V2@18A) - $54
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817104954

Total $838 minus $50 rebates = $788

Keep in mind that I picked a 7900GS, that's 20 pixel pipelines, and 256 bit memory interface. By taking the eVGA 7600GT instead you can take the budget to $783 before rebates, and $753 after rebates.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130062

If that stretches your budget too much I would downgrade to a micro-ATX mobo, if that's still too much I would go down to socket 939 instead of AM2, however for a gaming rig I wouldn't sacrafice the video card.