$500 Gaming PC: Component Selection

[itdoesntmatter]

Yes I would for sure use different parts buy meh, I would hope people would disagree with my choices
Congrats for tomshardware looking into this.

I love the up to date analysis on hardware but sometimes looking further than just the simple best and putting into perspective many average users needs that cannot afford the best adds merit to an already brilliant website.
Looking at something as simple as the economy shows that for Europe many tomshardware pricing schemes do not relate to us directly due to different availability and prices.
That said, the multitude of articles published, coupled with the depth and seemingly honest criticism attributed to reviews makes tomshardware truly imperative to hardware analysis.
I am still running a XP2500+ system that I feel tomshardware had a major influence in.

I think you will succeed, and well too! Brownie points for the decision to give it a go.
Just a thought, would it be possible to do follow up articles with improved components? This way it may offer some mid-end users a comparable 6-12month upgrade option.
....or is that giving ammunition for companies to slow price declines...haha

 

[zenmaster]

[citation][nom]Jakemo136[/nom]Really? They should've used an X2 5000+ BE. >$100 and easily overclockable to 3.3 GHz. Oh well.[/citation]

I think the BE would have worked better with something closer to a $425 build. An OC'd E2160 will still outperform an OC'd X2 5000+, which is even slightly more expensive. However, AMD has the best Integrated Graphics at the moment. So if we decided to go ultra-low cost and move to integrated graphics, the AMD solution likely would have been the better choice.

 

[streetsoldier]

they could have got an amd athlon x2 for that price and had a much faster system...

 

[Guest]

i can build a better one for the money

 

[afrobacon]

can't disagree with any of the hardware chosen, actually has several of the same parts as my last $500 build

 

[zak_mckraken]

Good choice of components but there isn't any budget left for the OS. Like it or not, a gaming machine must run Windows to play 99% of today's games (please, don't give me your open-source emulation crap).

 

[oushi]

Much better selection this time around over the SBM. I might change a few things out of personal preference/brand loyalty, but can't make any big complaints really. Looking forward to see how it performs.

 

[MxM]

What about operating system? For gaming it is not Linux, and it does co$t money

 

[uhhhh]

Where's the OS? It's not truly a finished rig without an OS. Unless your gonna use gentoo 😛

 

[maxinexus]

all nice but why 8800GS? you can get 8800GTS 320 for the same $$$ or less. Get some Pepsi Max and wake up people!!!

 

[dspear]

Much better than the $1000 "low cost". Couldn't argue with any of these components. But I hope you show the overclocked benchmarks. The whole point of a 2160 is O/C.

 

[WeD@]

when clocked @ 3.0 or more, this cpu has nothing 2 be ashamed of, specially when u compare the price, with a high end graphic card this would be a killer machine.
About cpu cooler, it's a nice touch, but i think box cooler would be enough, just don't forget 2 put additional fan on norhbridge.

 

[porksmuggler]

nice picks, my current $500 build for gamers. Which do you think would win?
Intel E4500 $125
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L $88
Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400-2GB $36
ECS N9600GT-512MX-P $125
Seagate Barricuda 7200.10 250GB $53
RAIDMAX Sagitta ATX-912 w/ 450W $40
Samsung SH-S203N $33

 

[joefriday]

not bad at all. Personally I would have stuck with the stock cooler, at least for a stock voltage sub 3Ghz overclock, but with a P35 board, you guys are probably looking to shoot the moon 😉 good luck.

 

[zenmaster]

[citation][nom]Porksmuggler[/nom]nice picks, my current $500 build for gamers. Which do you think would win?Intel E4500 $125Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L $88Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400-2GB $36ECS N9600GT-512MX-P $125Seagate Barricuda 7200.10 250GB $53RAIDMAX Sagitta ATX-912 w/ 450W $40Samsung SH-S203N $33[/citation]

Perhaps theirs.
Yours will be held back by the Stock Cooling Fan.
RaidMax PSU not reliable.

 

[MN12BIRD]

I had that case but with the silver front and that PSU is pretty good. 80+ cert and it has 2x2 SATA ports with great reach (problem with my CM) and the amperage on it matches higher wattage PSU's. Actually it's got more Amps than some cheap "600" watts!

 

[togne]

Great shopping!

 

[zenmaster]

[citation][nom]maxinexus[/nom]all nice but why 8800GS? you can get 8800GTS 320 for the same $$$ or less. Get some Pepsi Max and wake up people!!![/citation]

Please show us where you can find the 8800GTS 320 for under $100.

 

[zenmaster]

[citation][nom]zak_mckraken[/nom]Good choice of components but there isn't any budget left for the OS. Like it or not, a gaming machine must run Windows to play 99% of today's games (please, don't give me your open-source emulation crap).[/citation]

The rules of the article are that they do not consider OS, Monitor, Keyboard or mouse.

 

[zenmaster]

[citation][nom]joefriday[/nom]not bad at all. Personally I would have stuck with the stock cooler, at least for a stock voltage sub 3Ghz overclock, but with a P35 board, you guys are probably looking to shoot the moon good luck.[/citation]

That would have been a very good option.
It would have allowed for an even better GPU.

 

[scryer_360]

You know, I too agree that this is a better system than the $1000 one. Its overclockable like all get out to.

I will say the GS card would be stomped by a GT and the GT can be found at GS prices sometimes, but only sometimes. Hence, the GS was still a good choice for most of the times.

 

[scryer_360]

And to the guys complaining about the operating system, OS, keyboard, and mouse:

When I built my first PC (ok, partial assembled) I used a mouse out of a dumpster on an Air Force base, a keyboard from my dads old office, a monitor that wouldn't adjust color (so I had to do it at the graphics card), and an old copy of XP.

Anyone building a real budget PC will scavenge for some of it. I know people who will find an OS someone isn't using anymore and install it, and like I did for my parts, just collect the old keyboard from an old system. Hell I had a guy in my dorm who still was using a BALL MOUSE. Yah.

But for reasonable answers to those questions of "where does the rest of it come from:" 1) mouse, keyboard and monitor from old computers at home, parents place, work, or what you can find. 2) OS is either an old copy or Linux.

Done.

 

[spotless]

tough it should have the 9600gt or dual kit ram instead, bravo anyway.

 

[randomizer]

Now this is low cost. Heck $1000 is a fortune for a budget rig. Very nice.

 

[romulus47plus1]

It'll beat the 1000$ system in many places, like overclocking, and some benchmarks, like Crysis.
Its the 8800gs! And it plays Crysis better than the 3870! But less futureproof than the 3870...
I think they should have not used their cash to buy a new cooler, just stick with their old cooler, and get the 9600GT. Don't you think it'll be a better buy by then?
I'm glad they use the Core 2 duo 2xxx processor. Can overclock it like hell!