Hello, I was recommended to come here in order to obtain some advice. I have decided that I wish to replace my several year old laptop (that can't play games for jack shit) and get something that I can play fairly modern games upon. I have decided to buy some pieces and parts for such a machine, so that I may construct it myself. I would be quite grateful if anyone could give me some advice on what to buy, and from where.
$500-$600 gaming PC
- Thread starter FNG9232
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TheCrimsonStar
Tech Monkey
Newegg and TigerDirect are your best bets for online PC shopping. I will warn you though, due to problems at their manufacturing plants, pretty much all hard drive prices are through the roof, like $60 HDDs now cost $150. Just something to keep in mind. Some other questions: How modern of games do you want to play? Latest, semi-latest (like ~1-3 years ago)? My old AMD rig could handle pretty much anything I threw at it, and I built it for $830 a year ago. That price is surely lower now considering all the newer equipment out there has made the older stuff drop in price.
marfig
No ROM battery
I'm not one to give you specific product names and prices, since it's an area I don't tend to explore much unless I'm in the process of buying or upgrading a machine. Crimson above, and others, can do that better than I ever would.
In any case, one piece of advise. The key factor to keep in mind here is that in order to maintain that kind of budget and still get a good gaming machine you want to reduce your screen resolution.
You will be able to play modern games at very high settings (if not top settings even) on a $100 to $150 video card if your screen is something like 1440x900 or very close (16:10 are a bit harder to find, so if you can't find it look for an equivalent 16:9).
HDDs are a concern right now. The flooding in Thailand made a big dent on world supply. The trick for that one is to avoid buying online if you can't find the right price and go look for it instead on your local retailers.
In any case, one piece of advise. The key factor to keep in mind here is that in order to maintain that kind of budget and still get a good gaming machine you want to reduce your screen resolution.
You will be able to play modern games at very high settings (if not top settings even) on a $100 to $150 video card if your screen is something like 1440x900 or very close (16:10 are a bit harder to find, so if you can't find it look for an equivalent 16:9).
HDDs are a concern right now. The flooding in Thailand made a big dent on world supply. The trick for that one is to avoid buying online if you can't find the right price and go look for it instead on your local retailers.
I am not sure if you live in the US or Canada, but here are some suggestions on stuff available at Newegg (US, but there is a Canadian site also).
Chassis
Your choice - ~$60
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z68P-DS3 - $100
Processor
Intel Core i3-2100 - $125
Memory
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) - $50
Graphics
Radeon HD 6770 - $110
Power Supply
Corsair Builder CX430 - $50
Hard Drive
Western Digital 500GB Caviar Blue - $110
The sub-total of all this is $605 (no shipping or taxes), and I admit that some of the parts are not ideal. You're planning to build a PC at a bad time due to the recent increase in hard drive prices as marfig and TCS mentioned, but that one I picked there is about as good as I could find without sacrificing too much or going overboard.
That said, a PC like this would be able to handle current games quite well (especially at 1440x900 or 1680x1050). Someone else might have better suggestions, but I'd feel this to be quite a good PC for the cost.
Chassis
Your choice - ~$60
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z68P-DS3 - $100
Processor
Intel Core i3-2100 - $125
Memory
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) - $50
Graphics
Radeon HD 6770 - $110
Power Supply
Corsair Builder CX430 - $50
Hard Drive
Western Digital 500GB Caviar Blue - $110
The sub-total of all this is $605 (no shipping or taxes), and I admit that some of the parts are not ideal. You're planning to build a PC at a bad time due to the recent increase in hard drive prices as marfig and TCS mentioned, but that one I picked there is about as good as I could find without sacrificing too much or going overboard.
That said, a PC like this would be able to handle current games quite well (especially at 1440x900 or 1680x1050). Someone else might have better suggestions, but I'd feel this to be quite a good PC for the cost.
OriginalJoeCool
Tech Monkey
Could you save more if you chose AMD over intel?
Thank ya'll for the helpful information. I'll be sure to take this into DEEEEEPPPP consideration when I go ahead and purchase what I need to build my computer.
Also, the screen I'm going to use it with, for the time being, is 1024 x 768.
Edit: That last sentence had a lot of commas, but all of them were grammatically correct!
Also, the screen I'm going to use it with, for the time being, is 1024 x 768.
Edit: That last sentence had a lot of commas, but all of them were grammatically correct!
Looks pretty much like what I was planning on building!
Was going to use an ASUS P8H67-M LE, but it sounds like there can be problems with the PCI-E (x16).
Planning on using an i5-2500K, which pushes the system over the target price, but I'm ok with that.
Also, was going to go with the HD 6750, but decided the extra $15 is worth it.
TheCrimsonStar
Tech Monkey
Yeah, go with the 2500k. I love it. Only gripe with it is the stock cooler. It sucks BAD. I got a Corsair H80 to take care of that though 
TheCrimsonStar
Tech Monkey
My 955 Black Edition cooler was epic. Held a 3.6GHz overclock and kept it pretty cool.
OriginalJoeCool
Tech Monkey
Crimsonstar, what's your take on AMD vs. intel motherboards? I'm still uncertain. Most people say intel is the best for raw power - virtualization, heavy multitasking, etc.
DarkStarr
Tech Monkey
Eh, yea I guess so, the original quad heatpipe wasn't bad but for the most part stock coolers suck especially when it comes to Intel.
As for AMD/Intel mobos...... well it seemed like Intel ones just had more of everything when I built my Phenom II system HOWEVER now I would say its fairly even. However I wouldn't recommend a BD setup at all. Intel typically has a lot more power but if its mainly gaming however it makes almost no difference.
As for AMD/Intel mobos...... well it seemed like Intel ones just had more of everything when I built my Phenom II system HOWEVER now I would say its fairly even. However I wouldn't recommend a BD setup at all. Intel typically has a lot more power but if its mainly gaming however it makes almost no difference.
TheCrimsonStar
Tech Monkey
Same for what DarkStarr said. If you just want gaming and everyday tasks, go AMD. If you want to do anything else other than that, like video/photo editing, FRAPS recording, heavy multitasking, etc...go Intel.
All motherboards come with built-in audio cards, and given you are trying to keep this as cheap as possible, buying a discrete one just isn't a reasonable option.
DarkStarr
Tech Monkey
oh god if its realtek onboard you might as well just cry now. I had a Via chip on my AMD board for audio that I LOVED. It was great got this board and HOLY SHIT WTF!!!! just problem after problem, wouldn't output to speakers correctly couldn't change a lot of options I could on the old board so said screw it spent a little on a used Asus Xonar DX and wow... its great, now if only it could auto-detect front panel connections..... Other than that no complaints at all.
marfig
No ROM battery
Check the board manual and your case wires. I believe front panel audio connection runs a cable that needs to go onto the board.
TheCrimsonStar
Tech Monkey
I've had Realtek on all my boards with no issues.
But you also run your gaming at 1440x900!!!
/me runs as fast as he possibly can away from TCS.