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Gaming Machine

(Difference between revisions)

($1500 Core 2 Duo)
($1750 Core 2 Duo)
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! Motherboard
 
! Motherboard
| [http://www.gigabyte.com.au/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2456&ProductName=GA-965P-DS3 Gigabyte 965P-DS3 V3.3] || [http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=965P-DS3+3.3 158]
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| [http://www.gigabyte.com.au/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2456&ProductName=GA-965P-DS3 Gigabyte 965P-DS3 V3.3] || [http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=965P-DS3+3.3 154]
 
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! RAM
 
! RAM
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! Hard Drive
 
! Hard Drive
| [http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=196 320GB Western Digital Caviar SE16] || [http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=320GB+SATA 113]
+
| [http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=196 320GB Western Digital Caviar SE16] || [http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=320GB+SATA 112]
 
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! Optical Drive
 
! Optical Drive
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! Total Cost
 
! Total Cost
| - || 1710 + Postage
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| - || 1705 + Postage
 
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Revision as of 13:00, 28 April 2007

Contents

$750 AM2

Part Model Price Case
CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 100
CoolerMaster Elite RC-331
Motherboard ASUS M2N-MX 80
RAM 2GB G.Skill F2-5400PHU2-2GBNT 134
Hard Drive 250GB Samsung SP2504C 88
Optical Drive 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA 46
Graphics Card 256MB nVidia GeForce 8600GT 189
Sound Card Onboard from motherboard -
Case CoolerMaster Elite RC-331/RC-330 (No PSU) 49
Power Supply 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power 49
Cooling - -
Additional - -
Total Cost - 733 + Postage

This system, despite its low price is a viable ticket to entry level gaming. It features a reasonable sized hard drive (250GB) sufficient for most users, and a GeForce 8600GT, which will be plenty quick enough for most games. It's a little more expensive than the budget allows, but I am of the belief that having 2GB of RAM is well worth it, especially if you plan to run Windows Vista.

$1000 AM2

Part Model Price Case
CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ 155
CoolerMaster Elite RC-331
Motherboard ABIT KN9S 112
RAM 2GB A-DATA DDR2 800 185
Hard Drive 250GB Samsung SP2504C 88
Optical Drive 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA 46
Graphics Card 256MB GeForce 8600GTS 275
Sound Card Onboard from motherboard -
Case CoolerMaster Elite RC-331/RC-330 (No PSU) 49
Power Supply 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power 49
Cooling - -
Additional - -
Total Cost - 959 + Postage

$1000 Core 2 Duo

Part Model Price Case
CPU Core 2 Duo E6320 219
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05
Motherboard Gigabyte 965P-S3 143
RAM 2GB A-DATA DDR2 667 150
Hard Drive 250GB Samsung SP2504C 88
Optical Drive 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA 46
Graphics Card 256MB nVidia GeForce 8600GT 189
Sound Card Onboard from motherboard -
Case CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 67
Power Supply 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power 49
Cooling - -
Additional - -
Total Cost - 953 + Postage

At a touch under $1000 the Core 2 Duo system is quite impressive. For $1000, this system would be very quick and well suited for demanding office applications and some decent gaming.

$1250 AM2

Part Model Price Case
CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ 168
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05
Motherboard ABIT KN9S 112
RAM 2GB A-DATA DDR2 800 189
Hard Drive 250GB Samsung SP2504C 88
Optical Drive 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA 46
Graphics Card 320MB nVidia 8800GTS 396
Sound Card Onboard from motherboard -
Case CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 67
Power Supply SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W 121
Cooling - -
Additional - -
Total Cost - 1187 + Postage

This machine is designed to focus this more on stock performance than overclocking, since the Core 2 Duo systems are typically the way to go for the overclockers. However, with a 4800+, Geforce 8800GTS and 2GB of RAM, for the money, this system is a bargain beast!

$1250 Core 2 Duo

Part Model Price Case
CPU Core 2 Duo E6420 253
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05
Motherboard Gigabyte 965P-S3 143
RAM 2GB A-DATA DDR2 667 150
Hard Drive 250GB Samsung SP2504C 88
Optical Drive 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA 46
Graphics Card 320MB nVidia 8800GTS 396
Sound Card Onboard from motherboard -
Case CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 67
Power Supply 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power 49
Cooling - -
Additional - -
Total Cost - 1192 + Postage

Sub $1250 Core 2 system with 8800GTS in the house!

This machine is a real budget beast, with an E6420, plenty of RAM and a very quick video card :)

$1500 AM2

Part Model Price Case
CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 308
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05
Motherboard ABIT KN9 SLI 165
RAM 2GB A-DATA DDR2 800 189
Hard Drive 320GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 112
Optical Drive 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA 46
Graphics Card 320MB nVidia 8800GTS 396
Sound Card Onboard from motherboard -
Case CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 67
Power Supply SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W 121
Cooling - -
Additional - -
Total Cost - 1404 + Postage

I'd say at this point, the Intel system is better value, but many dedicated AMD fans will not be disappointed by this system.

$1500 Core 2 Duo

Part Model Price Case
CPU Core 2 Duo E6600 290
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05
Motherboard Gigabyte 965P-DS3 V3.3 154
RAM 2GB A-DATA DDR2 667 150
Hard Drive 320GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 112
Optical Drive 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA 46
Graphics Card 320MB nVidia 8800GTS 396
Sound Card Onboard from motherboard -
Case CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 67
Power Supply SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W 121
Cooling - -
Additional - -
Total Cost - 1336 + Postage

$1750 Core 2 Duo

Part Model Price Case
CPU Core 2 Duo E6600 290
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05
Motherboard Gigabyte 965P-DS3 V3.3 154
RAM 2GB A-DATA DDR2 667 150
Hard Drive 320GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 112
Optical Drive 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA 46
Graphics Card 768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX 765
Sound Card Onboard from motherboard -
Case CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 67
Power Supply SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W 121
Cooling - -
Additional - -
Total Cost - 1705 + Postage

Probably as far as the average user needs to go to have a very decent gaming experience - top of the range graphics card with a decent CPU.

$2000 Core 2 Duo

Part Model Price Case
CPU Core 2 Duo E6700 418
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05
Motherboard Gigabyte 965P-DS3 V3.3 158
RAM 2GB A-DATA DDR2 667 150
Hard Drive 500GB Samsung HD501LJ 162
Optical Drive 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA 46
Graphics Card 768MB GeForce 8800GTX 765
Sound Card Onboard from motherboard -
Case CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 67
Power Supply 600W OCZ GameXStream 165
Cooling - -
Additional - -
Total Cost - 1931 + Postage