Gaming Machine
Contents |
$750 AM2
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ | 100 | |
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 | Foxconn TSAA805 | 49 | |
Power Supply | 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power | 48 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 732 + 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 4200+ | 136 | |
Motherboard | ASUS M2N | 89 | |
RAM | 2GB A-DATA DDR2 800 | 189 | |
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 | iCute S901-4GA-BB | 70 | |
Power Supply | 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power | 48 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 941 + Postage |
$1000 Core 2 Duo
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Core 2 Duo E6320 | 219 | |
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 | iCute S901-4GA-SS | 70 | |
Power Supply | 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power | 48 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 955 + Postage |
At a touch under $1000 the Core 2 Duo system is quite impressive. The RAM, CPU and Board will allow for some nice overclocking, whilst the 8600GT is a decent card. For $1000, this system would be very quick and well suited for demanding office applications.
$1250 AM2
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ | 168 | |
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 | iCute S901-4GA-SS | 70 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 121 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1190 + 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 | |
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 | iCute S901-4GA-SS | 70 | |
Power Supply | 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power | 48 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1194 + 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 | |
Motherboard | ABIT KN9 SLI | 165 | |
RAM | 2GB A-DATA DDR2 800 | 189 | |
Hard Drive | 320GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 | 113 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 320MB nVidia 8800GTS | 396 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | iCute S901-4GA-SS | 70 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 121 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1408 + Postage |
This machine is about the fastest machine that's still worth considering AMD, past this point, it's Intel all the way!
$1500 Core 2 Duo
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Core 2 Duo E6600 | 290 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte 965P-DS3 V3.3 | 158 | |
RAM | 2GB A-DATA DDR2 800 | 189 | |
Hard Drive | 320GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 | 113 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 320MB nVidia 8800GTS | 396 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | iCute S901-4GA-SS | 70 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 121 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1383 + Postage |
$1750 Core 2 Duo
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Core 2 Duo E6600 | 290 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte 965P-DS3 V3.3 | 158 | |
RAM | 2GB A-DATA DDR2 667 | 150 | |
Hard Drive | 320GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 | 113 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX | 765 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | iCute S901-4GA-SS | 70 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 121 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1713 + 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 | |
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 | iCute S901-4GA-SS | 70 | |
Power Supply | 600W OCZ GameXStream | 165 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1934 + Postage |