Low budget gaming rig (suggestions please)

S

Spyhunter83

Geek Trainee
I have a buddy who asked me to put together a complete ( but low budget ) gaming / wife and kids computer. Here is my submission


AMS GMONO BLACK MID-TOWER CASE, Model "CF-2029" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16811180013



$39.00


Samsung 12X DVD±RW, Model TS-H542A/WBCH Black, OEM
Item# N82E16827151204



$55.99



SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model MPF920, OEM
Item# N82E16821103116


$6.99


Western Digital Special Edition 120GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD1200JB, OEM Drive Only
Item# N82E16822144118



$82.00

Logitech Premium Desktop USB/ PS/2 104keys Keyboard & Cordless Optical Mouse -OEM
Item# N82E16823126136


$15.00


OCZ Enhanced Latency Series 184 Pin 512MB PC-3200 Platinum Edition - Retail
Item# N82E16820146889



$123.25


ViewSonic E90FB 19" PerfectFlat CRT Monitor –RETAIL
Item# N82E16824116281


$210.00




MSI nForce3 250 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Athlon 64 Socket 754 CPU, Model "K8N Neo Platinum" (MS-7030) -RETAIL
Item# N82E16813130457



$126.00



Thermaltake W0013 Silent Purepower 480W with Silver housing - Xaser Edition ATX 2-Fan Power Supply
Item# N82E16817153008


$56.50



AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - Retail
Item# N82E16819103452



$135.00



Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 -OEM
Item# N82E16837102151



$91.00

**This item may only be returned for a replacement of the same make/model. what's this?


Logitech X-530 5.1 Black Speaker System -RETAIL
Item# N82E16836121118



$65.99




ATI AIW RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/CATV/VIVO, 8X AGP, Model "ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 PRO" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16814102297



$256.00

Extended Warranty Coverage
Extended Warranty: $0.00
Product total: $1,272.72
Shipping & Handling: $ 0.00
Total (Before tax): $ 1,272.72
I would like any suggestions and advise, because I want to set him up right (he likes playing games on consoles right now because he spends more time fighting with his current PC than actually playing games.) Thanks in advance!
 
One more thing this video card doesn't have a VGA plug, I've read reviews about it but none of them talk about attaching an analog monitor to it. This may sound stupid but do they provide you with a means of doing this? In the picture I see an adapter that I'm guessing is for this, am I right?
 
Yes if the card only has a DVI slot you will receive the necersary adapter / dongle to still use your monitor :good:

Thats a very good choice of specifications you have chosen, i do however have two things to add, you may want to spend the little extra $150 or so and change your motherboard / cpu from a 754Pin to a 939Pin. The move is worth the money as it means he has alot more room to upgrade in the future, as 939Pin is what AMD is currently sticking with.

Secondly this:

Thermaltake W0013 Silent Purepower 480W with Silver housing - Xaser Edition ATX 2-Fan Power Supply
Item# N82E16817153008


$56.50
Click to expand...

this price i have to say is unacceptable, i have this powersupply, over here in the UK a powersupply like that will cost you atleast £50! not including vat and delivery!!!! YOU BASTARD! lol i hate you americans, that means that that powersupply we are charge like $90 - $100!!!! almost double the price lol!

other than that, yes v.good system, although i would go for 939 personally..
 
An analog monitor can be attached to either a VGA or, a DVI (if it's set up to connect as such). The blue 9-pin connector is the VGA port.

"This item may only be returned for a replacement of the same make/model. what's this?"

Basically, you can't return it and say you want them to send you Windows 2000 with SP4. You can only exchange it for another copy of Windows XP Home SP2. This is in part to save Newegg money and help prevent piracy.

Barring that, the list looks good. You should be all good to go.
 
ProcalX said:
this price i have to say is unacceptable, i have this powersupply, over here in the UK a powersupply like that will cost you atleast £50! not including vat and delivery!!!! YOU BASTARD! lol i hate you americans, that means that that powersupply we are charge like $90 - $100!!!! almost double the price lol!

other than that, yes v.good system, although i would go for 939 personally..
Click to expand...

Lol i agree. I paid around £45 for my ok 500W Jeantech one from PC world and you get a thermaltake 480W for $50! Thats around £30. This is extortion.
 
Thanks for your input guys. I gotta admit, I think I'm more exited than he is lol. I will get him to go with the 939. :good:

Oh yea, I wanted to ask you do you think 512MB of ram really sufficient, a lot of times I read people saying that you really need a Gig.
 
V.good suggestion, ditch the All In Wonder and get a "regular" card like a Pro, not an SE though, then get more ram.

I had limited funds with mine, so i merely ordered Case / CPU / Motherboard / Memory and i only got 512mb, which is ok.. but next month ill get 1GB (1024mb memory) as its becoming more of a standard for generic spec games & systems in general.

Next month i need another 512mb memory, Dual Layer DVD-RW, a new graphics card and perhaps a HDD.. *eeek*

but be a good system :Ps
 
Just my thoughts... Budget and Gaming rig is an oxymoron. Because gaming requires the generally top end stuff costing the most. You buy cheap, you get cheap
 
Good idea I will tell him to get another stick of ram at a later date after he recoups his finances a little. The AIW card is I have to admit kinda my idea,(he don't know what he is getting) there is only a $23.00 price increase over a 9800pro and you get all them cool toys with it. What we are looking for is a computer that will play the games on the shelf now, like Far Cry and C.O.D. with graphics turned up.With the computer he has now Raven Shield wont even bother to come off the disc to install it, same with other games that are over a year old. So I figure he has all these great games he has missed over the past three years or so up until now to play with before this new rig starts to break a sweat, even with dated hardware. Am I right? will this hardware play todays games turned up?
Thanks for your help.
 
I would also get a diff heatsink for the CPU. I would suggest a Thermaltake volcano12+. Those pwn. And if the ram doesn't have it already, ramsinks or heat spreaders. They help quite a bit I've noticed on my friend's pc. Only cost a few dollars too. If this is a gaming PC, I would also get a PCI exaust fan to cool down that video card!! and how's the case cooling?
 
Spyhunter83 said:
Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 -OEM
Item# N82E16837102151 -- $91.00
Click to expand...
One question - why XP? You can get 2000 Pro, full, retail box, for around $60. It's exact same operating system as XP, except less trouble-prone and more stable. It even plays games at higher FPS.

2000 Pro = NT5.0
XP Home = NT5.1
 
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