What do you computer types think of this suggested system?

[Schutt]

Originally posted by Krusty
A "good gaming system" can't be had for $1000 or less, to me. It includes a $300 vid card, a $100 sound card, a $150-$200 mobo, a $350 CPU, a $100 PSU, and a $200 HD.

Lessee, that comes to about bare minimum 1200 or so, not counting other things.

Think 1000$ is doable with E6300, 2GB RAM, 7600GT video, x-fi musik soundcard, enermax powersupply, xp-pro , WD 160GB HD and CoolerMaster Centurion case.

Edit:

Ok i misjudged US prices there and come up with $1092 + shipping from newegg, might be other places where you can get stuff cheaper.
List from newegg stuff:
----------------------------

  LITE-ON 20X DVD±R Burner with 12X DVD-RAM write and LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model LH-20A1H-186 - Retail
Item #: N82E16827106045
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
     $38.99

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UB Black /Blue Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119047
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
     $49.99

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822144415
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
     $52.99

ENERMAX Liberty ELT400AWT ATX12V 400W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817194002
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
   $79.99

Logitech 967973-0403 Black PS/2 Standard Deluxe 250 Desktop Mouse Included - OEM
Item #: N82E16823126017
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
     $13.85

A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1A16K - Retail
Item #: N82E16820211066
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
   $169.99

Open Box: ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - OEM
Item #: N82E16813131070R
Return Policy: Open Box Item Return Policy
     $105.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115005
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
     $184.00

  GIGABYTE GV-NX79G256DP-RH GeForce 7900GS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814125045
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
     $189.99

  Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2b 1pk w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116175
Return Policy: Software Return Policy
     $139.99

  Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16829102007
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

   $65.99


Total: $1,091.76

[humble]

You can easily beat the $1000 mark.......

The big difference between home & pro is specific to netwrking and file sharing across a network. Nothing i'm aware of that would effect a single user.

I just bought...

6600 combo $330
maxtor 250G sata drive $70
2G OZC DDR2 (667m){5-5-5} $140
Windows XP Media Edition {basically xp pro} $109

Looking for the rest....

DVD  $40

PS  
$30

This is a good deal on a reasonable PS (again looking for decent product at great price)

  Case $40

VC $80

So basically $850

for a E6600 with 2GM and a X1650P

you even get a free "upgrade certificate to vista (not that I'd use it:))

Tweaking a bit you can....

Case/PS combo  $50

E6300 combo $260

I looked for a decent AMD combo but nothing seemed decent that wasnt within $20-30 of the core duo combo's...

Again nothing here is uber....but all is reasonable quality and will work well.

So for ~$750 {if I added right} you can build out a good "gaming" rig....nothing you want to tweak...but also nothing with a bad bottleneck.

[38ruk]

I looked for a decent AMD combo but nothing seemed decent that wasnt within $20-30 of the core duo combo's...

I agree with that , i wouldnt  bother building an AMD gaming system right now if i was building , it just doesnt compare to the price/performance of the conroe. If you already have some AMD platform hardware to use i could see , but not new build gamer.

I'm not anti-AMD, hell my last intel was a 466 celery lol. They just got caught with their pants down .   Fwiw .   38

[humble]

I love AMD...but you can get a E4300 COMBO at fry's today (AGP)....

Just no way to even recommend an AMD chip. My understanding is that the 4300 OC's very well and is way above any 939 socket chip "out of the box" {feel free to correct me here if I'm wrong}....

So you can get the entry level core duo for less then "retail" with a MB....just amazing. Great option if your stuck with an AGP card...I'm considering grabbing one to upgrade my sons box....since he can still use the X800pro he has....

In fact I'd recommend anybody with a 754 board to strongly consider this if you have a good VC....you could get 2-3 years from the rebuild and then swap the chip to next yrs "OC special" board when it hits the discount rack....by then the new 8800's should be $99 or so as well...

[Yeager]

Is this a suck system?

AMD64 3800+X2 Proc
1gig DDR2 5800 Ram
EVGA 7300GT 256 DDR2 PCI
250gig HD
XPPro

?

[38ruk]

Originally posted by Yeager
Is this a suck system?

AMD64 3800+X2 Proc
1gig DDR2 5800 Ram
EVGA 7300GT 256 DDR2 PCI
250gig HD
XPPro

?

You would prolly want to bump the video card to a 7600GT , the 7300 would most likely dissapoint you . I would have to say that the ati 1950 XT/pro or the nvidia 7600GT is the best bang for the buck card out right now .  

The system isnt really that bad , it depends on how much it is going to cost you . If you don't mind giving us a price range you would like to stay within, i'm sure we can help you out .  


Here is a decent interactive chart that will help when buying a video card , just select the card you like from the pull down list and compare it to others in all the different games and a benchmark.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

 Looking at that chart , the 7300gt appears to be quite a bit slower than a 6600GT that is two video card generations older than the newer 7300 series .   Good luck , and if you want to drop me a line @
rukkee@toast.net , i'd be glad to give you a hand .  8)

[republic]

Originally posted by 38ruk
You would prolly want to bump the video card to a 7600GT , the 7300 would most likely dissapoint you . I would have to say that the ati 1950 XT/pro or the nvidia 7600GT is the best bang for the buck card out right now .  
 

I concur.  From the rebates I've been seeing the x1950 Pro seems to be the absolute best bang for the buck.  Almost even the ti4200 of the the current generation....until the 8000 series goes mainstream.

[humble]

Originally posted by Yeager
Is this a suck system?

AMD64 3800+X2 Proc
1gig DDR2 5800 Ram
EVGA 7300GT 256 DDR2 PCI
250gig HD
XPPro

?

The problem I see here is that they are throwing in parts that give greater markup. what they need to do is build out a system that does what you need and tack on a build fee. Is that a good budget gamer.....yes. The 7300Gt is a very good card....for under $100....you left out the price...I'd say that a bout a $600 system {out the door with build fee included}

[Yeager]

The guy is offering me this:

AMD64 Dual-Core 3800 x2 (Dual Core)–AM2 loaded on a
MSI/Gigabyte/Asus motherboard, DDR2 (Sound/LAN/Modem included)...sound aint that big a deal to me, I use headphones 90% of the time, just needs to be decent.

1gb High Density RAM DDR2 800MHz

EVGA 7300GT 256 DDR2 PCI

Western Digital 250gb SATA2 HDD (7200rpm)16mb

Pioneer DVD R/W 16x

All loaded into a Hampton Cool Case

XPPro+one year Norton anti-V

all for $750+tax (a blond pube over $800 with state tax)

Im not really into studying this stuff anymore.  I have a basic grasp of things and for the price this would seem to be a decent system for a "casual" gamer like myself.  I dont live and breath this stuff (anymore) I just want a decent running PC that is upgradable for the next two or three years.  If I buy this it will only be my fourth all new system since 95.

[38ruk]

Price seems high to me , atleast make him throw in a 7600GT for the same $ . I can understand the guy needs to make a living but i would try to get something more out of him .  Good luck

[Yeager]

thanks and I hear you, but I doubt the guy makes anywhere near what I do annually and afterall, I am asking him to spare me the hassle of building the damned thing up.....(I dont enjoy doing that anymore)

But whats more important to me is how well the machine will play basic games like AH, CoD2, Vanguard......stuff like that, for a fair price (anything decent under 1k) and still be upgradeable next year.

[humble]

as someone else mentioned the 6600GT is a better card and is similiar in price. The 7600 GT is only $20-30 more then either. I agree the price is a bit high but in the end its up to you....

I went to PC Club and was able to configure the bare bones system with a core duo e6300, XP Home, 1G Ram and 7600GT for $819. with tax and fedex ground it was $897 to the door.

[Yeager]

7600GT eh....maybe I should see if he would roll that in for the same price.

[eagl]

Yeager,

With the exception of the 7300 vid card, that system will run AH and general use stuff just fine.  If you get crazy you might get some potentially huge gains from overclocking, but even bone stock you'll get both good bang/buck and actual performance out of that system.  It won't approach the raw cpu speed that even the cheapest core 2 duo systems could get you, but you won't notice unless you're into benchmarking, e-noodle comparisons, or you toss an 8800 vid card in there.

2 nice things - you can run that system for a year or two and then probably double the cpu speed with the last of the AM2 cpus when AMD transitions to their next generation, and with a faster cpu a year or two down the road, it'll still be a nice match to the 8800 or next gen vid cards.  Again it'll never beat the top-end systems but for price/performance, it's really hard to beat a nice AM2 based system right now.  You can get a whole system with "good enough" performance for essentially the cost of a core 2 duo mobo, cpu, and memory alone.

[humble]

Hmmmm....

With the cost of core duo combos in the $160 range (on a board that supports both DDR & AGP I dont see how you can say that. No question that we're at a point that performance has outstriped true need by a wide margin and any reasonable configuration will work. Given the huge performance gain even the e4300 has vs anything from AMD why would anyone buy an AMD cpu right now? As many have mentioned its a good time to pick up the best 939 chip available if you have a 939 socket system. The AM2 combo's aren't any cheaper then the e4300 combo's....not enough to matter anyway.

In a game like AH which is CPU dependent I'd think the difference in CPU capability would be noticable at max settings....