Gaming Machine

Revision as of 19:40, 11 May 2007

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+	89
Motherboard	Gigabyte M55SLI-S4	103
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2-667	110
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	82
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	256MB nVidia GeForce 8600GT	166
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Elite RC-331	49
Power Supply	430W Coolermaster Extreme Power	49
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	692 + 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.

$1000 AM2

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+	168
Motherboard	ABIT KN9S	112
RAM	2GB A-DATA DDR2 800	179
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	82
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	256MB nVidia GeForce 8600GTS	254
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Elite RC-331	49
Power Supply	430W Coolermaster Extreme Power	49
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	939 + Postage

$1000 Core 2 Duo

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Core 2 Duo E4400	182
Motherboard	Gigabyte 965P-DS3	145
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2-667	110
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	82
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	256MB nVidia GeForce 8600GTS	254
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	430W Coolermaster Extreme Power	49
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	934 + 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
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+	242
Motherboard	ABIT KN9S	112
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	110
Hard Drive	320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10	105
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB nVidia 8800GTS	385
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	121
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1188 + Postage

This machine is a bargain beast, with a 5600+, Geforce 8800GTS and 2GB of RAM. Definitely a good value system :)

$1250 Core 2 Duo

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6420	253
Motherboard	Gigabyte 965P-DS3	145
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	110
Hard Drive	320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10	105
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB nVidia 8800GTS	385
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	121
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1232 + Postage

I'd say that this machine is probably the sweet spot. It has a quick CPU, plenty of RAM, and a very quick video card. :)

$1500 AM2

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+	298
Motherboard	ABIT KN9 SLI	165
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2-667	110
Hard Drive	320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10	105
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	640MB nVidia 8800GTS	517
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	121
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1464 + 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
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6600	290
Motherboard	Gigabyte 965P-DS3	145
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	110
Hard Drive	320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10	105
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	640MB nVidia 8800GTS	517
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	121
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1441 + Postage

$1750 Core 2 Duo

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6600	290
Motherboard	Gigabyte 965P-DS3	145
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2 667	110
Hard Drive	320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10	105
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX	749
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	121
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1672 + 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.

After this point, the higher end systems are found in the Dream Machine section

@@ Line 201: / Line 201: @@
 |- bgcolor="#efefef"
 ! CPU
-| [http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2duo/index.htm Core 2 Duo E6600] || [http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=E6600 290]
+| [http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2duo/index.htm Core 2 Duo E6420] || [http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=E6420 253]
 | rowspan="12" | [[Image:Centurion5.jpg|right|CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05]]
 |- bgcolor="#efefef"
@@ Line 226: / Line 226: @@
 |- bgcolor="#efefef"
 ! Power Supply
-| [http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=RS-430-PCAR/P&other_title=+RS-430-PCAR%2FP+eXtreme%20Power%20430W 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power] || [http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=extreme+430 49]
+| [http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-56f.htm SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W] || [http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=ST56F 121]
 |- bgcolor="#efefef"
 ! Cooling
@@ Line 235: / Line 235: @@
 |- bgcolor="#cccccc"
 ! Total Cost
-| - || 1197 + Postage
+| - || 1232 + Postage
 |-
 |}