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Need a Budget Gaming Rig

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BaconTheory

Member
So I'm in need of a budget gaming rig. My current setup has served me well, but I desperately need a new rig. I'm looking for the following:

-Cheap as possible without going with crappy/low-performance parts
-Easily Upgradable
-Should have decent performance in most all games (Source, Doom 3, etc)
-PCI-E if at all possible

thanks
 
What's the budget?

AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3000+ OEM $128.75
EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra $103.00
eVGA 7800GT w/ Call of Duty 2 $334.99
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus10 250GB $89.99
OCZ 2x1GB PC3200 Value Series $203.41
OCZ PowerStream 520W $120.00

Total: $980.14

Really upgradeable too, the 7800GT might bottleneck in the 3000+, but since you want upgradability, you can go for a better CPU later on.
Plus the stable PSU can allow you to add pretty much any core, and even another 7800GT if you wanted.
I didn't know your budget, so I went for 2GB of ram over 1GB. Plus I didn't take into consideration about if you wanted to OC or not, since value ram isn't that great at OCing, especially 2x1GB sets of value ram.

If that is too expensive, drop to a Forton AX500-A, get 2x512MB of Corsair Value, and grab a 6800GTor a X800GTO2.
 
we can give you better advice witha budget, how necessary is a 500W powersupply, I would guess he could get by with a 400
 
i would say focus on a nice video card, and socket 939.

but yes a budget helps alot. low budget for you is not low budget for alot of members here.

tell us how big your wallet is !! :D
 
looking at your current system in your sig, it seems you can have a decent system with using most them parts.

sell the rest and you have raised your budget a bit.
 
To ME a budget rig consists of parts I have on hand and less than $200 aditional cash....

For a BUDGET gaming rig, I would say to get a pretty darn good video card, decent amount of ram (512mb) and and skimp on the rest as much as you can.

A cpu in the area of 1.5Ghz is pretty much enough to handle everything out there, gamewise and your HDD needs can only be determined by the number of games you plan on installing- 40gb may be plenty for you, it may not. ;)

With a decent video card- something around a 6600gt and 512 mb of ram, just about any game will play fine and have decent FPS for relatively low money, I would think, and would do so in just about any system.

So the question really DOES rely on the budget you want to be in, my friend. ;)
 
If I didn't spend so much on my hard drives, it'd be more budget. I'd go with an X800gt, they have a killer one at newegg for about 180.
 
I'm just gonna say you have an $800 budget. You have an $800 budget.

Motherboard - ASRock Dual SATAII $69
Processor - AMD X2 3800+ $335
Memory - 2x1GB OCZ Platinum $225 w/ rebate
Video Card - Chaintek 6600GT Free
Hard Drive - Maxtor DiamondMax10 250GB $104

The total is $768.03 with shipping. With this setup, you can use your old card and still have room to upgrade to PCIe down the road, not to mention M2 as well. This of course, is assuming you already have a power supply, case, and everything else. But in the case that you don't:

Motherboard - ASRock Dual SATAII $69
Processor - AMD X2 3800+ $335
Memory - 1x1GB OCZ Titanium $147
Video Card - Chaintek 6600GT Free
Hard Drive - Maxtor DiamondMax10 200GB $84
Case - Antec SonataII $100
Power Supply - Antec SmartPower 450w Included with Case

That is a few dollars less, and it gives you room to buy another 120mm fan for intake.
 
LordDarik said:
I'm just gonna say you have an $800 budget. You have an $800 budget.

That is a few dollars less, and it gives you room to buy another 120mm fan for intake.

$800 is hardly a cheap budget rig lol
A cheap rig with a budget is <$250
 
LordDarik said:
I'm just gonna say you have an $800 budget. You have an $800 budget.

That is a few dollars less, and it gives you room to buy another 120mm fan for intake.

$800 is hardly a cheap budget rig lol
A cheap rig using parts from old machines with a budget to me is <$250

EDIT: Crap i knew it double posted...thought firefox locked up :(
 
ps2cho said:
$800 is hardly a cheap budget rig lol
A cheap rig using parts from old machines with a budget to me is <$250

EDIT: Crap i knew it double posted...thought firefox locked up :(
Maybe, but the point is, he wants mostly new computer (I'm assuming). He said he wants something upgradable, not just an upgrade. But I guess he could just keep all his parts and just get a new motherboard and processor, that's always another choice.
 
I dont understand whats wrong with his current gaming rig? I'm sure it runs every game out perfectly fine, If anything, just upgrade the graphics card to a 6800 or something to get a boost. Other than that, i dont see anything wrong with it.

Oh wait...its an intel.

<*insert intel joke here*>
;)
 
LordDarik said:
I'm just gonna say you have an $800 budget. You have an $800 budget.

Motherboard - ASRock Dual SATAII $69
Processor - AMD X2 3800+ $335
Memory - 2x1GB OCZ Platinum $225 w/ rebate
Video Card - Chaintek 6600GT Free
Hard Drive - Maxtor DiamondMax10 250GB $104

The total is $768.03 with shipping. With this setup, you can use your old card and still have room to upgrade to PCIe down the road, not to mention M2 as well. This of course, is assuming you already have a power supply, case, and everything else. But in the case that you don't:

Motherboard - ASRock Dual SATAII $69
Processor - AMD X2 3800+ $335
Memory - 1x1GB OCZ Titanium $147
Video Card - Chaintek 6600GT Free
Hard Drive - Maxtor DiamondMax10 200GB $84
Case - Antec SonataII $100
Power Supply - Antec SmartPower 450w Included with Case

That is a few dollars less, and it gives you room to buy another 120mm fan for intake.
OCZ Titanium RAM isn't needed in desktops. its for servers. its designed to be ultra stable rather than fast.
 
Newer doesn't always mean better. I would go with either platinum or Gold. i would also stray from the sonataII and just get a Centurion 5 or a P160. 7800gt is a solid card too and a good motherboard would be the Epox nForce4 ultra Board.

-1cem4n
 
The Centurion 5 is also a good choice, and also the P160, but that may be too expensive for a budget setup. What's wrong with the Sonata? (I'd like to know because I was planning on getting one.)

Also, 9mmCensor, the Titanium memory is just as fast as the Platinum stuff is. It is $10 more though, but that's a small price to pay for OCZ's Powerswap warranty. Some people may not be bothered by a normal warranty, but I like to have my memory NOW. :)
 
hey you guys ...

in his sig he has 1gb of memory already.

i think a good choice would be that 7800gt for $290.
and then a decent mobo and venice cpu.

maybe around 500 bones..

i see you have a 6600gt
so a well known 6800gt that will do ultra would probably be as low as you wanna go. if you can find a decent one on the cheap rather than a 7800gt if 290 is to much .
 
LordDarik said:
The Centurion 5 is also a good choice, and also the P160, but that may be too expensive for a budget setup. What's wrong with the Sonata? (I'd like to know because I was planning on getting one.)

Also, 9mmCensor, the Titanium memory is just as fast as the Platinum stuff is. It is $10 more though, but that's a small price to pay for OCZ's Powerswap warranty. Some people may not be bothered by a normal warranty, but I like to have my memory NOW. :)
timings are looser though.

like i said. not as preformance oriented. more stability oriented.
 
BaconTheory said:
So I'm in need of a budget gaming rig. My current setup has served me well, but I desperately need a new rig. I'm looking for the following:

-Cheap as possible without going with crappy/low-performance parts
-Easily Upgradable
-Should have decent performance in most all games (Source, Doom 3, etc)
-PCI-E if at all possible

thanks
what is your budget?
 
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