Cheap Gaming Rig for Friend

[cwiz]

hey guys, i'm trying to build a rig for my friend, he said he wanted to spend 400-600 so heres what i came up with. let me know if all this stuff will work togther.

LITE-ON DVD BURNER

CASE AND PSU

WESTERN DIGITAL HDD

MOBO

1GB (2x512) DDR2 RAM

AMD AM2 3500+ CPU

PNY 7900GS BEST BUY DEAL

we're going to use the windows xp that came w/ a compaq that has been sitting in his closet... will that work? itll save alot of dough

I know there is much faster ram, way better psu's, mobo, and cases out there, but i wanna squeeze as much graphics as i can out of ~$550 and i think this is the way to go. let me know if i screwed anything up.

oh, out the door its ~$527.91

 

[hmammen]

yea....other than the standard ram for the mobo being ddr2 800, its looks like a decent future proof(AM2) build. and if he wants to upgradel later he already ahs the new socket.

 

[Ronnie]

yea that is a pretty decent build for a budget one

 

[cwiz]

thanks, i told hime to get faster ram and a better psu for his next upgrade... maybe a dual core when it starts getting utilized by games

 

[Ronnie]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820161675

if he didnt already order it yet tell him to get htis ram instead because it is faster and cheaper and 1gb sticks are more future prof then 512 sticks imo

 

[cwiz]

i'm pretty sure ddr/ddr2 performs better in a 2 stick configuration that a 1 stick... anyone confirm this?

 

[Ronnie]

whether it is or not it is
it is still cheaper and faster and when he upgrades later he will be glad he went with 1gb stick instead of 2x512

 

[cwiz]

ahh, i see, it has a faster speed... my bad

 

[darkop16]

Iv been thinking about building me a $600 system thats am2 ready, too.

Be careful with the psu's that come with cases...ecspecially a $25 case.
If the psu goes...it prob will take must if not all of the rest of the computer.

can you sqeuz this into you buget? froton 450w psu
Thats a reilble psu and i think it keeps you under $600. Other then that, everything looks good.

 

[cwiz]

yeah, thats probably the weakest part of the build... if the psu goes, i doubt it will damage the whole computer, u usually just need to replace it