Gaming Rig for $600?

Circean_Mike

Distinguished
May 20, 2009
3
0
18,510
Hey guys, I'm looking at making a very great gaming rig that will be able to handle games set on their optimal settings. Also, me and my wife also need this computer to be a dependable for our photography and graphic design work, as well as our video editing work. I asked a buddy recently and we came up with this set up for a great price. I have a budget of 750 bucks, and we hit under it, which is amazing. Please let me know if this is actually going to work out, thanks!

$23.99 - LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM
$39.99 (mail-in rebate) - NZXT Alpha Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Open Window - Retail
$99.99 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
$124.99 (mail-in rebate) - EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
$99.99 (mail-in rebate) - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
$46.99 - CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - Retail
$52.99 - GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128357
$69.99 - Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail

All of these prices are off newegg, and we are planning on adding the Microsoft Windows 7 Beta as the OS, I've heard great things about it, and my buddy actually uses it currently. Main point on that is that it is free, currently...But a few questions come up about it...Will Windows 7 give me any problems with gameplay compatibility? Will Adobe products run with this OS fine?

Thanks for checking this out, please let me know if there are any glitches in this order. :bounce:
 

godsgift2dagame

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2009
108
0
18,680
Antec Three Hundred - $55
Thermaltake PurePower 500W - $60

COMBO
Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P & Gugabyte Radeon 4850 - $210

G. Skill 4GB DDR2 800 - $48
Phenom II X4 920 - $170
Western Digital Caviar 640GB - $70
LG X22 DVD Burner - $25

Total = $638.88 + Shipping (around $10) - Mail in Rebates ($40)

Get a future-proof motherboard, with a high end quad core, a much better graphics card for much less, and a much larger Hard Drive. Only thing I might have "skimped out on" was the PSU, but since three of my friends are using them with no problem, I think you will be OK.
 

nerrawg

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
500
0
18,990
Its a decent build, here is another suggestion though, just so you can see what $600 can get you:

Suggestion 1: (ultimate fps in games)
CPU and MOBO combo ~ $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190733
Corsair 650 TX - $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
2 x 4770 - $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131155
WD 640 GB - $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Rest the same

Total ~ $560

Suggestion 2: Multitasking and video editing:
MOBO and CPU - $270:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190732
GPU: 4670 512MB - $60 or get an NVidea 9600GT for a bit more
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102820
Corsair 650 TX - $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
Rest the same

Total ~ $590
 
The E5200 is a nice budget CPU, but it's not going to shine for photo and video editing. I would try to squeeze in a quad core for those tasks. With a $750 budget you can get a pretty nice build:

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190732 $269.98

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284&Tpk=WD1001FALS $99.99

NZXT Alpha Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Open Window - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146041&Tpk=NZXT%20Alpha%20Black $59.99 - $20.00 MIR

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801 $189.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=750tx $119.99 - $20.00 MIR

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 $23.99 (+ 10% off with promo code "BHD5TWENTY9" - ends today)

Total - $763.93 - $40 MIR's