Low Budget Computer building.

rolleggrollrolleggroll Next to a bowl of rice
edited June 2008 in Hardware
A friend of mine approached me with the thought of building a new gaming computer. I haven't paid much attention to the market at all for a while. I need help picking out components to fit his budget. A couple of considerations:

1) Roughly $800 to work with. Can add a little for tax and shipping maybe.
2) This system is being built for the sole purpose of gaming particularly playing Age of Conan.
2a) Age of Conan Requirements.
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz (E6600) or better
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7950GX2 or better
RAM: 2GB or more
3) Will be played in widescreen.
4) Energy / electricity / noise / tacky looking case etc. Does not matter.
5) No overclocking anything. (I know this sucks, ill try and convince him that its safe if done properly.)
6) Budget of $800 requires everything for a computer except a monitor/headset. Which means we need to account for a mouse and keyboard.
7) Everything will be bought off Newegg.com or Fry's in store.

here's what I have so far. feel free to discuss this build and add on to it please.

Case:CM Centurion 5 $49.99
PSU: OCZ600SXS $89.99
MoBo: ASUS P5B-VM SE $79.99
CPU: Intel Q6600 $214.99
RAM: Corsair XMS2 $85.00
Graphics Card: XFX 8800 GT XXX 256MB $139.99
Sound Card: X-fi XtremeGamer $80
Optical: ???
HD: ???
Mouse+Keyboard: ???
3rd Party CPU Heatsink:

Concerns: This build is already at $745.00. No HD, no DVD drive, no aftermarket heatsink, no mouse and keyboard. The vidcard is on a really really good sale, but AoC really needs 512 MB. Should I try and take a hit on the RAM/CPU so that we can get a better vidcard?
Is the power supply going to be able to handle the load?
Where should I cut back on?

Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited May 2008
    If your buddy isn't overclocking, folding, or doing anything besides playing MMOs, you could skimp in some areas.
    - Dude doesn't need a Q6600. Get him a dual core and save $100. E7200 or something like that.
    - Buy a retail processor. You get the warranty and the lame stock heatsink. If he isn't overclocking, it'll run fine. Might not be as cool as we like it, but it'll be quiet and functional enough. If it works for OEMs, it'll be okay for you buddy.
    - Budget ram. Again, he isn't overclocking. Even if you want fancy RAM, shop around. There are better deals to be had.

    PSU is fine. Video card is okay, but if you work the numbers you should be able to land a 512MB on without issue. Also, personally, I'd just use on-board sound.
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited May 2008
    If you buddy really like listening to his music and/or does some mixing and editing than I would stick with the off board sound card. You can go with the lower end Creative SoundBlaster cards, the higher ones don't really afford you anything except more sound card ram they all have the 24-bit crystal onboard which cleans up music static, the quality needs to be good to hear the benefit though high stream rates.
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2008
    Yeh, on the soundcard note; I have an HT Omega Striker soundcard. This thing makes my klipsch speakers come to life. I will tell you though that if he has crappy speakers a good soundcard will not help much if at all. It's just one part in the system.

    You have the file/music program, the source file should be high bitrate and the program should support the needed dsp's as well as 24 bit output. Next is the soundcard. I'm gonna be a shill for the striker. God is it nice. It sounds natural and is so much better than onboard. Next is the speakers. If you have a good soundcard and a good source file but your speakers are the $5 bargain bin speakers then the first two don't matter. Invest in some good speakers. They'll last a very long time if you treat them right.
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    edited May 2008
    FWIW, a sound card isn't worth it if he doesn't have the speakers to back it up already, or is planning on buying some that will.

    IMHO, save the money and put it elsewhere.
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    NiGHTS wrote:
    FWIW, a sound card isn't worth it if he doesn't have the speakers to back it up already, or is planning on buying some that will.
    airbornflght wrote:
    I will tell you though that if he has crappy speakers a good soundcard will not help much if at all. It's just one part in the system.

    And that's just your opinion. Sure I could have spent that $85 on a better video card, but I'd much rather have a nice sound card and good speakers than a good video card. But that is just because I was never all that attracted to gaming on the pc. I use it for photoshop and playing back mainly audio and sometimes movies. Sounding good is really important to me, I'm an speaker freak for sure.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    BJ, I don't think $85 for 2X2GB Corsair is bad at all. You can find 4GB kits for less, but only by about $5 or $6 per kit. I have found Corsair to be a champ at compatability. Yup, Q6600 is overkill unless he'll be doing a lot of multi-tasking. Sound card...Airborn was right on the mark. Wanna bet the guy has junk speakers? Centurion case. If I'm correct, that's the same model of Centurion I have. I had to modify mine. The build and quality are top notch, and the internal design is well thought out. It would be an excellent choice if it weren't for the anemic breathing. If it's like mine, the only intake is a single 80mm fan. Yeah - back to 1995, no kidding. However, if you mount fans on the side intakes, it ought to be OK, but not if overclocking.
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    airbornflght wrote:
    And that's just your opinion. Sure I could have spent that $85 on a better video card, but I'd much rather have a nice sound card and good speakers than a good video card. But that is just because I was never all that attracted to gaming on the pc. I use it for photoshop and playing back mainly audio and sometimes movies. Sounding good is really important to me, I'm an speaker freak for sure.


    I wasn't responding to you at all. I didn't even read your post. I read the title of the thread, the reasoning behind the build, and posted why I felt a soundcard would be a bad investment.
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    NiGHTS wrote:
    I wasn't responding to you at all. I didn't even read your post. I read the title of the thread, the reasoning behind the build, and posted why I felt a soundcard would be a bad investment.

    It's cool man, no insult meant. I was just trying to make the point that different people value different things on the computer. Graphics aren't so important to me as I don't game so much.
  • adarryladarryl No Man Stands So Tall As When He Stoops To Help a Child. Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    I would also support Buddy J's recommendation on a C2D. SharkeyExtreme has some interesting info re their Extreme Gaming PC Buyers Guide recommendation. Says more than I can:

    http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/EGBG/article.php/10721_3731911__2

    Here is the C2D Wolfdale at NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    You're going to want a motherboard with a newer chipset than the 965. If you're going mATX look at stuff with a G33/G35 or Q33/Q35. I have one of these paired with one of these running with one of these as my LAN gaming box. It's quite nice and the entire machine only ran me $600 total. Of course, I recycled a case, PSU, sound card, and hard drive and already had a spare copy of XP x64 but if you're careful you could probably do the same for your budget.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    You're going to want a motherboard with a newer chipset than the 965.
    Oh, glad you caught. Right, no reason for a chipset that's already two generations old.
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