Gaming Machine
Contents |
$750 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Athlon X2 5600+ | 164 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 | 107 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2-667 | 48 | |
Hard Drive | 250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C | 70 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 256MB ATI Radeon HD3850 | 176 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU | 106 | |
Power Supply | Included with case | - | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 706 + 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 E2200 | 99 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte EP35-DS3 | 129 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2-667 | 48 | |
Hard Drive | 250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C | 70 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 256MB ATI Radeon HD3850 | 176 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU | 106 | |
Power Supply | Included with case | - | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 670 + Postage |
$1000 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Phenom X4 9500 | 220 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 | 107 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 55 | |
Hard Drive | 320GB Samsung Spinpoint T HD321KJ | 88 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT | 240 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 107 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 919 + Postage |
For $1000 this machine represents unbelievable value, with an 8800GT, a quad-core AMD Phenom CPU along with 2GB of RAM.
$1000 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 | 219 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte EP35-DS3 | 132 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 59 | |
Hard Drive | 320GB Samsung Spinpoint T HD321KJ | 88 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT | 254 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Element ST50EF Plus 500W | 95 | |
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 9600 | 268 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 | 111 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 59 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 110 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS | 352 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 147 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1149 + Postage |
$1250 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 | 289 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte EP35-DS3 | 132 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 59 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 110 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS | 352 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 147 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1191 + Postage |
$1500 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Phenom X4 9700 | 363 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 | 111 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 59 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 110 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 1024MB ATI Radeon HD3870 X2 | 548 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 147 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1444 + Postage |
$1500 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 | 289 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte EP35-DS3 | 132 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 59 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 110 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 1024MB ATI Radeon HD3870 X2 | 548 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 147 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1390 + Postage |
$1750 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 | 289 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte EP35-DS3 | 132 | |
RAM | 4GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 800 | 155 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 110 | |
Optical Drive | LG GSA-H62N 18x SATA DVDRW | 35 | |
Graphics Card | 1024MB ATI Radeon HD3870 X2 | 548 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Silverstone Temjin TJ04 | 120 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 147 | |
Cooling | Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro | 39 | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1585 + 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 E8500 (3.16GHz, 1333FSB, 2x3MB L2, 45nm) is similar money.
After this point, the higher end systems are found in the Dream Machine section