silentiger
08-30-2008, 03:19 PM
The steps and what you should buy for a great midrange machine capable of any game, only highest settings*. Extremely upgradable and powerful.
*Not gaurenteed, may not work on Crysis with Very High
Step 1: Buy the parts.
Have your credit card ready, information, etc. Just give your credit card to the local hardware shop and tell him to overnight the most powerful and expensive parts.
Just kidding. For a budget pc, you need to see whats the best bang for the buck, and consider many choices before you pull out your card.
I reccommend Newegg.com because they have the best prices and amazing shipping.
Lets take a look at the parts:
Monitor: Hanns·G HB-191DPB Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2400:1(DCR) Built in Speakers - Retail 149.99$
A great monitor, cheap and 19" with a pretty good resoulution of 1440x900.
Speakers: Logitech G51 155 watts RMS 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - Retail These are amazing speakers. Gives the WOW you can brag to your friends. 110$
Keyboard&Mouse: Logitech 920-000264 Black 104 Normal Keys 14 Function Keys USB Cordless Ergonomics Desktop Wave Mouse Included - Retail The logitech wave is still my favorite set of keyboard & mouse, with a great price of 75$. The mouse isn't as great as the Logitech G5/G7/G9, but its cheap.
Computer Components:
PSU (power supply unit that gives power to your parts:
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail A 750watt powersupply. Remains my favorite for best bang for the buck. 110$
Motherboard:
TP35d2a7 90$ Great budget mobo. Pretty stripped down to the basic parts, but works great. A intel p35 chipset makes you feel safe. Amazingly well placed sataports, even though they stick up they are very well placed for the harddrive. Use the ddr2/800 model so the memory is cheaper.
Video Card:
Ah, the great item that matters the most of any gaming computer. For a budget pc, i reccomend the PNY GeForce GTX260. Its only 40$ more than the 9800gtx+, and delivers more performance. 250$
Cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00 GHz Wolfdale, 6mb L2 Cache
A gamers favorite cpu. Even though quad cores are as cheap, not enough applications support quad core proccessing, not even dual core, so faster and less cores are better than slower and more cores*.
*Crysis is one of the few apps/games right now that really do utilize 4 cores. (and 8 cores but 8 cores would be more than 2000$ right now)
Computer Case:
NZXT Tempest. An amazing case, looks like the Antec 900/1200 but with less fans and a bit roomier. Much cheaper than the 1200. My favorite case, it is roomy for all your video cards, and looks pretty good too. Inside, there are sharp places, so take care of your fingers. You might get a cut or two. 110$
Hard Drive:
HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 HDP725025GLA380 (0A35399) 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
I have one of these. Except mine is cheaper with IDE (than sata, just a type of connector.
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Decent memory, i have a pair of these. WOrks with motherboard for only 54$.
Operating System (OS)
I know windows vista is horrible, and windos 7 is coming up, but in a few years applications and software will be only limited Windows Vista.
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 English NA DVD - Retail 223$, and this is the last part you need.
Total: 1401.99 (for only parts, no shipping/shipping not included)
Grand total: Do it yourself.
Guide to actually making the computer is below.
*Not gaurenteed, may not work on Crysis with Very High
Step 1: Buy the parts.
Have your credit card ready, information, etc. Just give your credit card to the local hardware shop and tell him to overnight the most powerful and expensive parts.
Just kidding. For a budget pc, you need to see whats the best bang for the buck, and consider many choices before you pull out your card.
I reccommend Newegg.com because they have the best prices and amazing shipping.
Lets take a look at the parts:
Monitor: Hanns·G HB-191DPB Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2400:1(DCR) Built in Speakers - Retail 149.99$
A great monitor, cheap and 19" with a pretty good resoulution of 1440x900.
Speakers: Logitech G51 155 watts RMS 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - Retail These are amazing speakers. Gives the WOW you can brag to your friends. 110$
Keyboard&Mouse: Logitech 920-000264 Black 104 Normal Keys 14 Function Keys USB Cordless Ergonomics Desktop Wave Mouse Included - Retail The logitech wave is still my favorite set of keyboard & mouse, with a great price of 75$. The mouse isn't as great as the Logitech G5/G7/G9, but its cheap.
Computer Components:
PSU (power supply unit that gives power to your parts:
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail A 750watt powersupply. Remains my favorite for best bang for the buck. 110$
Motherboard:
TP35d2a7 90$ Great budget mobo. Pretty stripped down to the basic parts, but works great. A intel p35 chipset makes you feel safe. Amazingly well placed sataports, even though they stick up they are very well placed for the harddrive. Use the ddr2/800 model so the memory is cheaper.
Video Card:
Ah, the great item that matters the most of any gaming computer. For a budget pc, i reccomend the PNY GeForce GTX260. Its only 40$ more than the 9800gtx+, and delivers more performance. 250$
Cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00 GHz Wolfdale, 6mb L2 Cache
A gamers favorite cpu. Even though quad cores are as cheap, not enough applications support quad core proccessing, not even dual core, so faster and less cores are better than slower and more cores*.
*Crysis is one of the few apps/games right now that really do utilize 4 cores. (and 8 cores but 8 cores would be more than 2000$ right now)
Computer Case:
NZXT Tempest. An amazing case, looks like the Antec 900/1200 but with less fans and a bit roomier. Much cheaper than the 1200. My favorite case, it is roomy for all your video cards, and looks pretty good too. Inside, there are sharp places, so take care of your fingers. You might get a cut or two. 110$
Hard Drive:
HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 HDP725025GLA380 (0A35399) 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
I have one of these. Except mine is cheaper with IDE (than sata, just a type of connector.
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Decent memory, i have a pair of these. WOrks with motherboard for only 54$.
Operating System (OS)
I know windows vista is horrible, and windos 7 is coming up, but in a few years applications and software will be only limited Windows Vista.
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 English NA DVD - Retail 223$, and this is the last part you need.
Total: 1401.99 (for only parts, no shipping/shipping not included)
Grand total: Do it yourself.
Guide to actually making the computer is below.