building on a budget

Right now I've got a 2-year-old desktop that runs fairly well. I can play WoW and HL2 just fine on it, for the most part. But there are aspects of it that are lacking, such as no PCI-e, as well as some other touchy areas. I really am just considering starting an all-new box soon, particularly because I want to be able to play Hellgate: London and eventually Starcraft 2...both of which I'm sure my current box isn't going to be able to handle all too well.

Really, I'm looking for the cheapest I can go without being too cheap. I don't want faulty or unreliable components. And I really only need the core hardware - I've got peripherals and a monitor already.

I've never built my own computer from the ground up. What can I expect to spend to build a system that's going to be able to run Hellgate with reasonable settings?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

CPU: Intel E4300 - $117.00
Motherboard: ASUS P5B-Plus - $136.99
RAM: Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2-667 - $74.99
Video card: eVGA 8800GTS 320MB - $279.99
Hard drive: Western Digital 500GB SATA2 - $109.99
Power supply: Corsair 520W - $129.99

Grand total: $848.95

I didn't include a case or a DVD burner. People usually pick cases based on preference anyways. Didn't know if you had a burner or not. They're like $30 anyways.

Details about this setup. The Intel E4300 is the cheapest Core2Duo out there, but it's still hella fast. The motherboard is a very high quality board, regardless of the price. Corsair RAM is pretty much top notch. Surprising is the price. RAM is dirt cheap these days. With those three parts, you have a A LOT of room to overclock this system. I would almost recommend doing so because it's so easy.

The 8800GTS is probably your best bet, especially since your on a budget. The next step up is the GTX version at a $200 jump in price. With the new video card, you'll need a new power supply. Around $100 seems to be the standard for a 500W model. Power supplies really shouldn't be cheaped out on in the first place, though.

Lastly, you can choose whatever hard drive you want. $109 for 500GB is a pretty sweet deal, though you can still save some money and choose a smaller drive. {like this one}

Other things to think about are some intake/exhaust fans and an aftermarket CPU cooler since they do a better job than the one that comes with the CPU itself.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

This is the comp I just bought:

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar 250 GB SATA $70
Proc: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 $226
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 534 $50
Mobo: MSI P6N $125
Video: EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB $110
Power: Rosewill RP550V2-D-SL-S 550W $62
CD/DVD: Pioneer 18X DVD±R DVD Burner $32
RAM: Corsair XMS2 2GB $125

Total was $798 after shipping and rebates.

Compared with Rit's, the HD is half the size, the CPU is faster, the power supply is a brand that has bad name recognition so it is half the price but that particular one (there are more reviews in the black case one) has very good ratings, and the video card is almost 3 times cheaper. Now, his video card will be better, that's true, but I don't know how good you'll need it to be. WarCraft 3 (read: StarCraft 2) isn't exactly video card intensive. I picked up DOOM 3 after I built this comp and I was able to play most of it on the highest settings on this widescreen monitor (for a couple of the more massive levels I had to turn it back down to just the "High" settings).

How ya doing, buddy?

Just looking at screenshots for Hellgate, it would seem an 8800GTS might be the bare minimum to play the game at 30-40FPS (on everything high.) There's really not much point in buying a 7xxx series card anymore since all the "value" variations of 8xxx series cards are out now.

In comparison to Mikey's build, I traded skimped on the CPU and put it towards the video card which he'll need for Hellgate. He'll be able to play games like Crysis, UT2007, --insert demanding new game here--.

Anyway you look at it, it's possible not to pay over $900 for the entire thing (and not over $1000 with extras).

(PS: <--- not Rit.)

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Oh right, that's Reznor. Fuck all you and your bizarre names. :P

Wait, so who the hell are you?


Guru did say, though, "reasonable settings", not high. :P I mean, OK, so there's not a point in buying a 7xxx card, but from Guru's request, I don't see the need in a $300 card. A budget 8xxx then, perhaps and you save $150-$200. Skimp on my CPU back to yours and his comp is in the $600s. :P I guess we're just talking about how long his comp needs to remain fresh for (good vid card vs. budget) and how much he does outside of games (good CPU vs. OK CPU).

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by BlueMikey

Oh right, that's Reznor. Fuck all you and your bizarre names. :P

Wait, so who the hell are you?


Guru did say, though, "reasonable settings", not high. :P I mean, OK, so there's not a point in buying a 7xxx card, but from Guru's request, I don't see the need in a $300 card. A budget 8xxx then, perhaps and you save $150-$200. Skimp on my CPU back to yours and his comp is in the $600s. :P I guess we're just talking about how long his comp needs to remain fresh for (good vid card vs. budget) and how much he does outside of games (good CPU vs. OK CPU).

Haha, I'm me!
(you're the second person to mistake me for him :P)

Believe it or not, the 8800 isn't as powerful as people think. It's quite reminiscent of the FX5900 card when DX9 was new and the card failed miserably. There are still no DX10 games released, but benchmarks have been popping up showing mediocre DX10 performance. I would consider the 8800GTS to be bare minimum if you want to play games that aren't even released yet.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I don't need a good CPU for anything besides gaming. I have a Mac for everything else.

Thanks for the help guys. I imagine I'll probably be waiting until more around the release date of Hellgate before even really worrying about building a computer, because there's not a lot on the horizon that I'm feeling are must play games. That ought to give me three months for the prices of some of these components to go down even more~

FELIPE NO