Gaming Rig under $1000?

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Batman

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#56623 19-Jan-2010 10:28

Hi ya, would it be a reasonable budget to buy a reasonable gaming rig for 3 figures (under 1grand)?

Dont need any peripherals. If it doesnt come with OS that's fine too.

Is it cheaper to build your own or are the pre-built rigs cheaper eg computer lounge, playtech, anywhere else?

[now i dont expect to be able to get all/any the components below but just brainstorming/aiming high]
Assuming phenom x4 cheaper than comparable intel?
Best bang for buck graphics card to fit?
how do you tell a good motherboard? (all i want is 5.1 sound, easy bios to overclock - anything else to look for?)(dont need hundreds of pci-e all that stuff- just the basic necesseties)

kinda brainstorming to buy for a uni student's birthday.

cheers

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#291136 19-Jan-2010 10:48

if you dont want a monitor or OS ,Playtech have some good deals

[Prelude Spec V - AMD Athlon II X2 240 2.8GHz/4GB DDR3-1333/500GB SATA2/DVD-RW/Radeon 4650 1GB/500W/no OS/1 Year RTB Warranty]

$899.00 or if you can push the budget

Prelude Spec G - AMD Athlon II X2 250 3.0GHz/4GB DDR3-1333/500GB SATA2/DVD-RW/NVIDIA GT 240 1GB/500W/Win7 Home Premium 64bit/1 Year RTB Warranty

$1099.00

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#291263 19-Jan-2010 18:11

AMD is better value at that budget level.

Here are two examples of solid options for sub $1000 from gameplanets build suggestion thread (http://www.gpforums.co.nz/thread/302905/)

Intel + ATI
CPU: $125.00 Intel Pentium Dual Core E6300 2.8GHz 1066MHz LGA775
Mobo: $159.00 ASUS P5Q SE2 P45 DDR2 LGA775 ATX
RAM: $159.00 Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 2x2GB DDR2-800 XMS2 CL5
GFX: $239.00 ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB GDDR5
Case: $100.00 Case
PSU: $89.00 Cooler Master 460W eXtreme Power Plus PSU
DVD: $65.00 Samsung/Asus/LG/LiteOn 22X SATA Dual Layer DVDRW
HDD: $80.00 500GB Western Digital Caviar SE SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache
= $1,016.00 Total inc gst, ex shipping

AMD + ATI
CPU: $149.00 AMD Phenom II X2 545 3.0Ghz
Mobo: $99.00 Asustek M4N78 SE AM2+ GeForce 720D ATX
RAM: $159.00 Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 2x2GB DDR2-800 XMS2 CL5
GFX: $239.00 ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB GDDR5
Case: $100.00 Case
PSU: $89.00 Cooler Master 460W eXtreme Power Plus PSU
DVD: $65.00 Samsung/Asus/LG/LiteOn 22X SATA Dual Layer DVDRW
HDD: $80.00 500GB Western Digital Caviar SE SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache
= $980.00 Total inc gst, ex shipping

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#291269 19-Jan-2010 18:48

wow cheers guys, havent been in the desktop business for a while and how things have grown! they seem to be coming out with a new cpu every other week nowadays - and graphics cards have advanced so much since.

i'll speak to the kid involved and see if he likes it. the AMD one looks way more powerful? should i get AM3 instead of AM2+?

samwooff

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#291569 20-Jan-2010 16:22

Generally if you choose all the components separately then build it yourself it will be cheaper because you're not paying someone else to do it for you.

You're on the right track, you can easily do an alright gaming machine for under 1k.

The phenom will of course be cheaper than an intel model of the same performance, you could even stick with the base phenom X2 or X3 and try and unlock the other cores for extreme value :P

A good motherboard is one of the harder things to tell just by looking at the basic specs. Generally stick with the brands you know and trust: ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte etc then read a few reviews on potential candidates.

Computer lounge has a forum dedicated to exactly this sort of thing so it could be a smart idea to become a user there and ask them what they think you could get for your money. I did just that with my rig and avoided a few mistakes because of it.

http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/forum/Default.aspx?g=topics&f=36

Things have moved on a bit since those GP reccommendations were made(namely the new ATI 5xxx cards which you can get for that price now but it's a good guide.

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#291633 20-Jan-2010 20:21

Toy Box

Code /
Price
Description

AA17266
$149.00
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 545 (3Ghz) 6MB Cache *Dual Core* 5200Mhz Socket AM3 CPU + Fan Retail Boxed (HDX545WFGIBOX)

AA18515
$137.00
Socket AM3 Motherboard: Asrock M3A785GMH/128M Socket AM3 Motherboard

AA16837
$212.00
DDR3 Memory: OCZ Intel Extreme Edition 6GB Triple Channel Kit 3x 2GB PC10666 DDR3 (1333Mhz) Memory CL7 (OCZ3X1333LV6GK)

AA20380
$57.00
IDE Device: LG GH20NS 20x Dual Layer Multi-Format (Black) SATA DVD-Writer

AA20361
$107.00
Serial ATA Device: Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AADS - Hard drive - 640GB - internal - 3.5" - SATA-300 - buffer: 32 MB

CS00048
$89.00
Case: X-Case Zax 4-in-1 (Black) Mid-Tower Case with Keyboard + Optical Mouse 400W PSU

$0.00
No Assembly Fee - Paradigm PCs no longer assembles PCs

Order Total $751.00

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#291634 20-Jan-2010 20:24

for further info:
http://www.pcwizard.zeamarket.co.nz/
put in
001.001=AA17266
002.001=AA18515
003.001=AA16837
005.001=AA20380
006.001=AA20361
009.001=CS00048

What do you guys think? Are there such thing as "future proof" mobo? How would i know that this mobo is overclockable? (i have a dell and overclocking is a no go! arrgh)

samwooff

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#291708 21-Jan-2010 08:34

A few problems with that build from Paradigm PC.
1) I'm pretty certain that am3 is dual channel only so buying 3 sticks of ram would be kind of silly. Get either 2 X 1GB or 2 x 2GB.
2)Cases with in built PSUs are generally a no no, especially if overclocking is on the agenda.
3)This one is just my opinion but AS rock motherboards don't seem to handle overclocking too well in reviews.

Either of the builds ragnor posted with an update to the graphics card is the way to go in my opinion.

No motherboard is 100% future proof as new CPUs come out every few years often requiring a change in socket. For the duration of your current build though ensure it has all the ports, connections etc that you might envisage using in the future, make sure it has a nice layout of said connections, read a few reviews(toms hardware is pretty reliable for motherboard reviews) to see if they've cheaped out on the cooling, overcurrent protection, bandwidth to connections and BIOS ability(this is important for overclocking) and anything else I might have missed.

To know whether a motheboard is capable of overclocking you will have to read up on it's BIOS to see what options are available and how in depth they are. Most of the big gamers brands in motherboards usually have pretty good BIOSes? It's also a good way to see how physically capable the motherboard is at overclocking, you don't wanna fry your new CPU after all.

If overclocking is a possibility generally these 3 things are must haves; decent CPU cooler, decent motherboard, decent PSU.

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#291711 21-Jan-2010 08:46

thanks for the info -

1) so DDR3 does not mean triple channel? so i should only get 2 sticks.

2) shouldnt 420W be plenty? being budget we could just lay it open and blow a fan in a unheated cold flat? sorry to be a pain - but we're really trying to go budget :(

3) okay i'll research some mobos. it seems that some mobos can unlock cores to get quad core on these phenoms! but having read some review it seems the athlon x4 620 is just as overclockable (2.6 -> 3.9 GHz) so might go with that - easier, dont have to "unlock" cores!

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#291715 21-Jan-2010 08:52

hmm the only difference between mine build and the ragnor build is the hd4870 and $250. how is it that his build squeezed so much into it - also shouldt AM3 be more upgradable than AM2+?

samwooff

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#291736 21-Jan-2010 09:30

I understand you're trying to keep to this $1000 budget and it can definitely be done but some things in a computer are worth not cheaping out on, this is after all going to be a gaming rig that might be overclocked not your nannas pc running word and email.

DDR3 is the 3rd generation of DDR ram(for a more indepth explaination hit up wikipedia) the main issues being physical size and shape, compatibility with motherboards and speed when compared to DDR2, the second generation.

The optimum number of sticks is dependant on your socket, for am3 go in multiples of 2, because it is a dual channel platform.

I've not added up the whole system but 420w should be enough, however thats not all a PSU is rated by. Whether that PSU actually does 420 is another thing all together, how efficient and stable is it at delivering this power, does it have any/enough connections for your HDD/DVD/graphics etc, how many amps does the +12v line deliver(this is what powers your graphics card, for instance a HD5750 needs 40amps on the 12v line)?
The ones that come with cases generally don't tick all those boxes.

The athlon will be quicker stock in most games due to it's higher clock but at the same speed the phenom will be better. The CPU will come with a stock cooler but don't expect to get anything close to 3.9ghz with it.
As for your build vs. ragnor's post, his only had 2 sticks of ram vs. 3 for a start and a cheaper motherboard.

Sounds like you might have a bit of reading to do lol. Unless you want to read reviews for 6 months like I did I reccommend you go to the computer lounge forum, even if you don't buy it from them their knowledge with this sort of thing is very helpful.

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#291743 21-Jan-2010 09:36

420 "should" be enough, but goto 500W if you can, just in case... also make sure the PSU has all necessary connectors - not all come with all the connectors you may want/need... such as 2x PCIE power connectors - a lot come with one and throw in a molex->6pin adaptor which a lot of people recommend not to do..... something to do with voltages etc.

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#296487 5-Feb-2010 18:35

joker97: wow cheers guys, havent been in the desktop business for a while and how things have grown! they seem to be coming out with a new cpu every other week nowadays - and graphics cards have advanced so much since.

i'll speak to the kid involved and see if he likes it. the AMD one looks way more powerful? should i get AM3 instead of AM2+?

yes, that gpforum build suggested above I've discovered is quite out of date

look at the latest posts in my thread as you've wanting something similar; http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=50&topicid=57188

just chuck in a mid range graphics card in to that

the only other change you might consider to my build I'm working towards is a very minor tweak around the motherboard: instead of a 785G (which has quite decent integrated graphics) get a 790X (which doesn't have IG as you will already be getting a graphics card I assume). Because by chosing the 790X over the 785G I've got listed in my build you may get some minor cost savings (due to dropping the IG).

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