Gaming Machine
Contents |
$750 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ | 88 | |
Motherboard | ABIT KN9 | 106 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2-667 | 86 | |
Hard Drive | 250GB Samsung SP2504C | 75 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS | 230 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | CoolerMaster Elite RC-331 | 44 | |
Power Supply | 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power | 49 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 722 + 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 E2160 | 125 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte 965P-S3 | 115 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2-667 | 86 | |
Hard Drive | 250GB Samsung SP2504C | 75 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT | 154 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | CoolerMaster Elite RC-331 | 44 | |
Power Supply | 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power | 49 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 694 + Postage |
$1000 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ | 198 | |
Motherboard | ABIT KN9 | 106 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 667 | 86 | |
Hard Drive | 250GB Samsung SP2504C | 75 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS | 230 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 114 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 922 + Postage |
$1000 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Core 2 Duo E6420 | 252 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte 965P-S3 | 115 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2-667 | 86 | |
Hard Drive | 250GB Samsung SP2504C | 75 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS | 230 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | 430W Coolermaster Extreme Power | 49 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 920 + 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 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ | 219 | |
Motherboard | ABIT KN9 SLI | 143 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 667 | 86 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung HD501LJ | 154 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS | 374 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 114 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1203 + Postage |
This machine is a bargain beast, with a 5600+, Geforce 8800GTS, 2GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD. Definitely a good value system :)
$1250 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Core 2 Duo E6600 | 290 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte 965P-S3 | 115 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 667 | 86 | |
Hard Drive | 320GB W.D. Caviar SE16 3200AAKS | 99 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 320MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTS | 374 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 114 | |
Cooling | - | - | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1204 + 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 AMD
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ | 308 | |
Motherboard | ABIT KN9 SLI | 143 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 667 | 86 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung HD501LJ | 154 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 640MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS | 517 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 114 | |
Cooling | Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro | 35 | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1470 + 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 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Core 2 Duo E6600 | 290 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte 965P-DS3 | 136 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 667 | 86 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung HD501LJ | 154 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 640MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTS | 517 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W | 114 | |
Cooling | Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro | 39 | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1450 + Postage |
$1750 Intel
Part | Model | Price | Case |
---|---|---|---|
CPU | Core 2 Duo E6600 | 290 | |
Motherboard | Gigabyte 965P-DS3 | 136 | |
RAM | 2GB Kingston DDR2 667 | 86 | |
Hard Drive | 500GB Samsung HD501LJ | 154 | |
Optical Drive | 18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA | 46 | |
Graphics Card | 768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX | 745 | |
Sound Card | Onboard from motherboard | - | |
Case | CoolerMaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 | 67 | |
Power Supply | 600W OCZ GameXStream | 166 | |
Cooling | Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro | 39 | |
Additional | - | - | |
Total Cost | - | 1729 + 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