Decent, upgradable, gaming buy for around $700?

[SleepingLesson]

Looking to get a decent rig for playing some PC games, but I'll be looking to upgrade down the line. I've got about $700, but I would hate to spend all of it unless I was really getting a killer deal.

I'm not terribly confident in building, but I'm not really sure what's involved there...

I've been comparing prices online, and I keep going back to this: Gamer Ultra SLI GT. Am I paying too much because I'm not building it? Also, is this even a deal? I don't plan to run Crysis anytime soon, just some Star Wars Galaxies laughing and some home music recording.

I realize there's plenty of alternatives out there, but this one jumped out at me. Opinions greatly appreciated!

POWER SUPPLY: 680 Watts Power Supplies (Hush Power Supply SLI/CrossFire Ready)
CPU: AMD Athlonâ„¢ X2 6000+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
COOLING FAN : XtremeGear Ultra Heatpipe Cool Copper Heatsink CPU Cooling Fan (Extreme Silent at 20dBA & Overclock Proof)
MOTHERBOARD: MSI K9N SLI-F V.2 NVIDIA nForce 570 LT SLI Chipset DDR2/800 SATA RAID PCI-Express MBoard w/GbLAN, USB2.0, &7.1Audio
MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO CARD 2: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
Optical Drive: (Special Price) LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card

 

[veg1992]

Not good for the price..

If you are completely not confident about building, here's what you do..

- Buy the Barebone version of that Rig aka, everything except: GPU, RAM, Hard Drives, DVD Drives, NIC's
- Go on Newegg and buy that stuff separately



You'll end up with a much better rig for cheaper

But for $700 you can do an e5200 rig or X2 7750 BE rig that smokes that rig..

 

[SleepingLesson]

Hm, noted. That's exactly what I wanted to know, thank you.

Can I buy a "barebones" PC shell somewhere? I'm comfortable putting in RAM and such, but I'd hate to break some hardware because of my lack of knowhow. Not that I'm unwilling to learn, of course, it can just be intimidating to someone who's never built a PC.

 

[veg1992]

There are some guides that I always recommend:

Build a System: Page 2
Build Your Own Computer : Step-by-Step Guide

Its really quite easy, and I'm not saying that because of my geekness.. its really really easy

 

[SleepingLesson]

I guess this rather shifts the thread topic, but that's ok.

I've decided I can get something much better, for less, if I build it myself. I know, duh.

How does this look?

- Pioneer Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM...
- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
- BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Mobo
- EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
- CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
- G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 900(PC2 7200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
- AMD Phenom 8450 Toliman 2.1GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Triple-Core Processor
- NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower

Brings me up to $688.72 including shipping and tax.

 

[Gilles]

I'd suggest getting this card.
Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H485FN512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

The case is a good choice, but you could shave off some with:
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite RC-330-KKR1 Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Computer Cases
or
Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Your power supply is a bit overkill, you could get away with 500 watts easy, imo.

 

[SleepingLesson]

Ah, any bit I can shave off is great! I am buying this with my student aid, after all. -_-'

Replaced a couple of things, here's the new ones:

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

HIS Hightech H485FN512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Video card is the same price as the other one, is it any better?

($643 with tax and shipping)

 

[veg1992]

I guess this rather shifts the thread topic, but that's ok.

I've decided I can get something much better, for less, if I build it myself. I know, duh.

How does this look?

- Pioneer Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM...
- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
- BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Mobo
- EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
- CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
- G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 900(PC2 7200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
- AMD Phenom 8450 Toliman 2.1GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Triple-Core Processor
- NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower

Brings me up to $688.72 including shipping and tax.

CPU and GPU isn't good in that price bracket


I'd get the X2 7750 BE instead, the First gen Phenom's were pretty bad.. or if you want a Phenom, get hte PHenom II 720.. the HD 4850 is faster and cheaper than the 9800GTX+

 

[SleepingLesson]

Ah, duly noted. I have read the same elsewhere about the Phenoms.

Updated with different PSU and Processor. Am I paying too much for any of this? I plan to do some upgrading a year or so down the line, am I limiting myself too much?

- Pioneer Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM...
- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
- BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Mobo
- HIS Hightech H485FN512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
- CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
- G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 900(PC2 7200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition Processor
- Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Total is $598 including tax and shipping.

 

[Thresh25]

I built the rig in my sig for liek 640. Amd dual cores in my opinion are way too slow at this day an age. Ya you can get by if you've already got one, but why now buy old technology? I went from an amd x2 to now a phenom II 720 and it's a world of difference. I would really recommend going with a phenom II if you can spend the extra cash.