Gaming Machine
Contents |
$750 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Athlon X2 5200+ | 135 | |
Motherboard | MSI K9N-Neo V3 | 89 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2-667 | 49 | |
Hard Drive | 250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C | 70 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 256MB ATI Radeon HD3850 | 210 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU | 102 | |
Power Supply | Included with case | - | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 690 + 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 decent video card, which will be plenty quick enough for most games.
$750 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 | 105 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte P35-DS3L | 110 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2-667 | 49 | |
Hard Drive | 250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C | 70 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 256MB ATI Radeon HD3850 | 210 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU | 102 | |
Power Supply | Included with case | - | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 688 + Postage |
$1000 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Athlon X2 6000+ | 176 | |
Motherboard | MSI K9N-Neo V3 | 89 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2-667 | 49 | |
Hard Drive | 320GB Samsung Spinpoint T HD321KJ | 88 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT | 329 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 65 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 108 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 939 + Postage |
For $1000 this machine represents unbelievable value, with an 8800GT, a quick AMD 6000+ CPU along with 2GB of RAM.
$1000 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 | 165 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte P35-DS3L | 110 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2-667 | 49 | |
Hard Drive | 320GB Samsung Spinpoint T HD321KJ | 88 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT | 329 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 65 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 108 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 949 + Postage |
At a touch under $1000 the Intel 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 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Phenom X4 9500 | 248 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 | 129 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 62 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 119 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT | 329 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 65 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 148 | |
Cooling | Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro | 35 | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1170 + Postage |
$1250 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 | 219 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte P35-DS3L | 110 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 62 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 119 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT | 329 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 65 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 148 | |
Cooling | Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro | 39 | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1126 + Postage |
$1500 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Phenom X4 9700 | 363 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 | 129 | |
RAM | 2GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 800 | 85 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 119 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS | 403 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 65 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 149 | |
Cooling | Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro | 35 | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1383 + Postage |
$1500 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 | 315 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte P35-DS3L | 110 | |
RAM | 2GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 800 | 85 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 119 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS | 403 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 65 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 149 | |
Cooling | Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro | 39 | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1320 + Postage |
$1750 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 | 315 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte P35-DS3L | 110 | |
RAM | 2x 2GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 800 | 170 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 119 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX | 643 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Silverstone Temjin TJ04 | 122 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 149 | |
Cooling | Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro | 39 | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1712 + 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. If dualcore is more your thing, an E6850 is similar money.
After this point, the higher end systems are found in the Dream Machine section