Gaming Machine
Contents |
$750 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Phenom X3 8450 | 142 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 | 104 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2-667 | 45 | |
Hard Drive | 250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C | 59 | |
Optical Drive | 20x Samsung super-WriteMaster SH-S203 | 25 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA Geforce 9600GT | 141 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Antec NSK4480B | 97 | |
Power Supply | Included with case | - | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 627 + 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.
Now this machine is running a triple core AMD Phenom CPU. :)
$750 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo E5200 | 109 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte EP35-DS3 | 105 | |
RAM | 4GB Transcend DDR2 800 | 82 | |
Hard Drive | 250GB Samsung Spinpoint P120 SP2504C | 59 | |
Optical Drive | 20x Samsung super-WriteMaster SH-S203 | 25 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4850 | 193 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Antec NSK4480B | 97 | |
Power Supply | 380W EarthWatts included with case | - | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 670 + Postage |
$1000 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Phenom X4 9750 | 226 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 | 104 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 53 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 77 | |
Optical Drive | 20x Samsung super-WriteMaster SH-S203 | 25 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS | 275 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Antec NSK4480B | 97 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 97 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 928 + Postage |
For $1000 this machine represents unbelievable value, with an 8800GTS, a quad-core AMD Phenom CPU along with 2GB of RAM.
$1000 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 | 209 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte EP35-DS3 | 105 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 53 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 77 | |
Optical Drive | 20x Samsung super-WriteMaster SH-S203 | 25 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4870 | 316 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Antec NSK4480B | 135 | |
Power Supply | EarthWatts 430W Included with Case | - | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 920 + 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 9850 | 288 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 | 104 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 53 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 77 | |
Optical Drive | 20x Samsung super-WriteMaster SH-S203 | 25 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX | 329 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 144 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1135 + Postage |
$1250 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 | 212 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte EP35-DS3 | 105 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 53 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 77 | |
Optical Drive | 20x Samsung super-WriteMaster SH-S203 | 25 | |
Graphics Card | 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4870 | 319 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Antec NSK6580B | 135 | |
Power Supply | EarthWatts 430W Included with Case | - | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 926 + Postage |
$1500 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Phenom X4 9850 | 288 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 | 104 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 53 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 77 | |
Optical Drive | 20x Samsung super-WriteMaster SH-S203 | 25 | |
Graphics Card | 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800GX2 | 584 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 144 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1351 + Postage |
$1500 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 | 380 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte EP35-DS3 | 105 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 800 | 53 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung Spinpoint T166 HD501LJ | 77 | |
Optical Drive | 20x Samsung super-WriteMaster SH-S203 | 25 | |
Graphics Card | 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800GX2 | 584 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 144 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1439 + Postage |
$1750 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 | 580 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte EP35-DS3 | 105 | |
RAM | 4GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 800 | 107 | |
Hard Drive | Western Digital 1TB 16MB 3.5" SATAII (GREEN POWER) | 175 | |
Optical Drive | 20x Samsung super-WriteMaster SH-S203 | 25 | |
Graphics Card | 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX280 | 487 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | Silverstone Temjin TJ04 | 120 | |
Power Supply | 620W Corsair CMPSU-620HX | 145 | |
Cooling | Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro | 39 | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1787 + 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