So say you had about a 1,000$ budget. [Computer]

[Epical]

Parts I would focus on in a pure gaming computer?

Video Card
CPU
RAM
Monitor

Those are in no order.

[LAGUNA]

Fish tank
Coffee Maker
Toilet are all essential

[dekamii]

I agree with kinto, if you aren't aiming towards FPS games then u don't necessarily have to get the video card or the processor that kinto or xingo listed which are quite expensive. the Geforce 8800 they mentioned ranges from a good $300 to $600 which neglects your 1 grand wish

if you are just using for MMO then all u need is your video card assuming that u have a decent processor.

or...u want a vista compatible machine with aero then u'll have to blow some money on rams. if it's just vista 1GB DDR2 should be fine.

[Tirrock]

http://images.apple.com/getamac/imag...op20070130.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8210347119.jpg

[viperlasson]

$1,000 was exactly my budget for my gaming rig which I built :D. That excludes the keyboard, mouse, speakers, and LCD though. Just the tower. Here's what I bought, ALL from newegg.com (Im sure you know that website if you are thinking of building it yourself)

CPU: AMD X2 3800+ --yeah yeah, this was before i knew about intel's core 2 duo...

Motherboard: ASUS M2N SLI Delux
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131013

RAM: 2GB DDR2 800 Corsair XMS2
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820145588
2x $155.00

Video Card: 7900 GTO (this card can overclock like a motherfucker-pardon my french)
(i don't think you can buy this card anymore)

Sound Card: Creative 7.1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6829102005
$105.99

HDD: Western digital 250GB 7200RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822144701
$74.99

CD/DVD burner combo: --cant find it on their site anymore, was only like $20 though


And the extras... :3

G15 gaming keyboard, I love the backlight in this keyboard, and all the customizable buttons.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6823126179
$71.99

My yummy 20.1" widescreen LCD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824014105
got it for $199.99

Nice pair of gaming headphones
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6826106346
$39.99

and you HAVE to buy this stuff to put on your CPU instead of that crap that the manufacturer puts on
Arctic silver 5 thermal compund
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6835100007
$5.99

Also may I suggest going for a DX10 video card for future proofing your system? Though this will be breaking the 1000 for sure then... :/ This is a good card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130080

Oh yeah and you kinda need a tower itself and a power supply, i always forget about those... Um... try a GOOD 600W PSU and a nice ATX case
Happy building

[Slott]

I just built this:

550 watt power supply: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... ode=373065

Mobo: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... ode=247123

Processor duo core 2.4ghz
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... Code=80860

Ram 2 gigs ddr2
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... de=85026-3

HD: 150 gig 10k rpm raptor
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... ode=101257

Vid card: 512 ddr MSi vnidia 7600
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... ode=327708

Case
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=1509

cost about 1200.

[Rasengan]

http://images.apple.com/getamac/imag...op20070130.jpg

http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

[Norelco]

The last computer I built was geared towards pr0n!

[levish]

LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM
APEVIA X-CRUISER
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3320620NS 320GB
EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS
OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI
CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (6400)
ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
(all from new egg, no including mice, keyboard, soundcard(if wanted), speakers, OS)


1,217.00 with instant rebates, then you subtact another 35 for mail ins.


This is just a 15min quick shot at trying to make something, if you want a successful build spend time to read reviews and crap. Shop around using merchanthound, check out zipzoomfly which is my personal favorite. ResellerRatings is a great site to make sure if the seller is decent. the E6600 is a great CPU is you want to overclock. But the hard thing is, that everyone has different tastes in PCs; so its best to search on your own.

that's a good shopping list and will build a capable gaming computer

[Coren]

Currently for the Core2 duo chips I like the intel and evga boards (both run about $250). You can get a Core 2 for way under the $500 pricetag quoted above (E6400 is $220 retail boxed). You'll need a decent power supply ($100 for one of the antec trio series that has the correct power headers for the evga board). Obviously you need a case, so you can get a decent coolermaster one w/o the PSU for $50 or so (includes 120mm fans for quieter run-speed). 2x512 memory will be more than sufficient for ffxi and most other games (save your other $100 for a few months from now, you can just pop it in later). You'll want a large sata harddrive (250 WD sata is $75). I usually like 2 optical drives, so grab a combo drive and a dvd burner (can get both for $75 or so). The last big thing you need is a video card, and with the above prices, we have only $130 left; you can pick up a sapphire X1650 for just over $100, or if you prefer geforce, you can pick up an MSI 7600GS for the same price. Alternately, if you bump your price up, you can get a 512mb x1650pro for around $175.

/wall-o-text

notes: onboard sound should be sufficient, and obviously doesn't include other stuff like keyboard, speakers, monitor, or mouse

[Plow]

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopp ... ponents.do

With 2 gigs of ram... that's if you don't wanna build it yourself.

Some people don't like HP but... if you toss in an extra couple hundred bucks you can drop your shit out the door of your car or something anytime in the next 3 or 4 years and get it replaced completely free. That's worth more to me than saving some cash building it myself.

edit: lol it went un-customizable like 5 minutes after I grabbed the link ><

[Kurokikaze]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ikaze01/PC.jpg

Get an 80 dollar case and problem solved. Not the greatest video card but it'll keep you entertained until DX10 cards are being rolled out and 8800 drops in price. I'd invest an extra 70-80 dollars and get 2GB of OCZ RAM. :D

[evilbau]

if you aren't in a time crunch you should visit a deal site like fatwallet... you could get some pretty good deals

I post my deals I get on my blog so my friends can jump too if they want, here are some I got a couple weeks ago:

Western Digital 250 GB HD from Staples:
$129.99 - $50 Instant Rebate - $30 off $75 coupon + tax = $54.11 out the door (OTD)
$54.11 - $30 Mail in rebate(MIR) = $24.11 AR

Western Digital 160 GB HD from Office Depot:
$79.99 - $15 off $75 coupon + tax + free shipping = $70.35 shipped (+ free Coby DVD Player)
$70.35 - $50 MIR = $20.35 AR

Ultra Wizard Black Mid Tower Case from Outpost.com/Frys
$40.00 + tax + free shipping = $43.30 shipped
$43.30 - $40.00 MIR = $3.30 AR

Ultra V Series 500W Power Supply from Outpost.com/Frys
$40.00 + tax + free shipping = $43.30 shipped
$43.30 - $40.00 MIR = $3.30 AR

You can find all sorts of good deals on all parts if you are willing to take a little time to buy them. Also I wouldn't recommend that PSU for a gaming rig so don't jump all over that haha

What I mostly do lately is to get a good deal on a barebones dell that has good expansion (i.e. 512 ram, onboard video but pci-e slot, 80 gb hd, etc.) then take all the crappy stuff out and give away/sell it and put in good parts. Dell Mobos are solid and the psu runs at lower wattage with more solid rails, and runs very quiet. I used to build everything from the ground up, but when dell has a good deal you just can't beat it.

i.e. here is a current dell deal (3/5) that isn't spectacular but gives you an idea - This is $549

AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+
Windows Vista
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
16x DVD+/-RW Drive
19 inch E197FP Analog Flat Panel
NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Free 3-5 day Ground Delivery on select Dell Desktops priced above $399!

I would rip out the ram, replace the HD, add a good video card.

another good example:
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/message ... did=709874

Main points:

Processor Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor E4300 (2MB L2 Cache,1.8GHz,800FSB)
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
Monitor 22 inch E228WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
Video Cards 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
Hard Drive 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

for 789$ and free ship..


basically my point is don't pay retail if you can help it, there are many ways to get a good inexpensive computer

[Charla]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8210347119.jpg

http://www.deadtroll.com/index2.html?/v ... ml~content
(lolquicktime)

[Kinto]

Macs <3 but I just can't depart from my Windows machines.