Building budget gaming <$400

[afhouston]

Here is my current PC:

Athlon XP 1700+
1 gig ram
160gig PATA wd 2mb 7200rpm
geforce 2mx400 64mb

I had a friend help me make this in June 2002 for around $600 including a 17in CRT.


These days the only game I play is World of Warcraft. My current computer tolerates this at the lowest settings. I'd like for this game to run at high settings AND be able to browse the internet. Ideally I would be able to run 2 screens - 1 for WoW and the other for office applications.


What kind of system do I need and is it possible (without monitor) to get in the $400 ($500 max) mark?

These days I visit a gaming center when I want to play well, and the monthly tab for that habit is around $40-60/month. Thats part of the reason if I wait until February or March for prices to go down, I will have spent the discount in another manner.

The gaming center has Dell XPS 600 I believe, P4 Extreme editions, 2gig ram, ATI x1600 w/256ram

That's a bit overkill - so I would like something better than what I have but not that much power.

 

[dario03]

Are you going to reuse the harddrive, Power supply, cd/dvd, and case? I'm gonna assume your not going to overclock.

If so you could go with something like

Socket 939 motherboard with built in sound and PCI-E ~$60
Socket 939 AMD64 3700+ ~$90
1 gb ddr ram (if your not overclocking it doesn't matter what you go with to much so some G.skill or crucial or kingston would be fine.) $~100
Nvidia 7600gt or ATI x1800gto (I'd say for nvidia go with BFG or EVGA or Leadtek. for ATI I would go with HIS or sapphire.) ~$150

Total would be around $400 depending on exactly what you went with.

If you are reuseing the hdd, ps, cd, and case and want to go with the $500 budget you could probably go to

socket am2 motherboard
am2 amd64 X2 3800+
1gb ddr2 ram
same video cards

You could get a less powerful video card like a 7600gs or x1600pro if you want to save ~$40. WoW doesn't really require that much of a video card.

 

[j12]

if u are JUST play world of warcraft and surf the web etc. u do not even need the 7600. ur probabally good with a 6600. assuming that u dont do any photoediting and stuff. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141027
that is a good videocard for wow and just browsin the web. if u wanted to go cheaper probablly a 6200 would do fine. i have used a 6200 and i ran bf1942 on all high setting and i got great framerates.

 

[dario03]

WoW can run on max with a 9800pro but it depends on what resolution and frame rates that you would consider max. I heard that the expansion pack would up the requirements for WoW by a bit so I would got with at least a 7600gs. Their only ~$100 anyways.

 

[afhouston]

I doubt I'll be using the same case/psu/etc - gonna give it to family/friends.

this is a list of items i put together prior to your posts. so it seems i can cut down on the video card quite a bit and probably most other components to bring it down near $500. the lcd monitor is something i'm debating atm.

CD/DVD Burners (RW Drives)
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model SH-S182D - OEM
Model #: SH-S182D
Item #: N82E16827151133
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

Remove Save Move To Wish List $29.99 $29.99

ATX Computer Cases
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V V2.0 for AMD & Intel systems Power Supply - Retail
Model #: SONATA II
Item #: N82E16811129155
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$40.00 Mail-in Rebate
Remove Save Move To Wish List $99.99 $99.99

Internal Hard Drives
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD2500KS
Item #: N82E16822144701
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy


Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $14.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $19.99
Remove Save Move To Wish List $74.99 $74.99

Monitors - LCD
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 Optiquest by Viewsonic Q9b-2 Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail
Model #: Q9b-2
Item #: N82E16824116011
Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy


Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $29.99 1 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $39.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $39.99 2 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $49.99 3 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $59.99
Remove Save Move To Wish List $199.99 -$10.00 Instant
$189.99

AMD-compatible Motherboards
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: A8N5X
Item #: N82E16813131569
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy


Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $14.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $19.99
Remove Save Move To Wish List $74.99 $74.99

Video Cards
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 SAPPHIRE 100156L Radeon X1600PRO 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Overclocked Edition CrossFire Ready Video Card - Retail
Model #: 100156L
Item #: N82E16814102019
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy


Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $14.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $19.99
Remove Save Move To Wish List $92.99 $92.99

Desktop Memory
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model VS1GBKIT533D2 - Retail
Model #: VS1GBKIT533D2
Item #: N82E16820145526
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy


Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $14.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $19.99
Remove Save Move To Wish List $99.99 $99.99

Processors
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 2.2GHz Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3500BPBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3500BPBOX
Item #: N82E16819103533
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy


Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $14.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $19.99
Remove Save Move To Wish List $85.00 $85.00

Subtotal: $747.93
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