Building gaming com $1100 budget for now, suggestions?

Voynichisacookbook · Post by **Voynichisacookbook** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 6:22 am

I really need some good advice on worthwhile hardware. Gotta get set for Half-Life 2.

Sol Invictus · Post by **Sol Invictus** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 6:28 am

Pentium 4 2.4 or higher (overclock to 2.6)
1gig DDR RAM (highest quality you can get, the price is negligable)
ATi Radeon 9700
SB Audigy with 5.1 Speakers
21" monitor
200gb hard drive
48x48x16 TDK cdrw

Aluminum case with space for at least 8 CPU fans.

Voynichisacookbook · Post by **Voynichisacookbook** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 6:29 am

Oh yeah, I dont need a monitor.

Killa-Killa · Post by **Killa-Killa** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 9:36 am

P4 2.4 GHZ , 800 FsB (Mobo combo)
Asus P4S800 Motherboard, 10/100 LAN, UDMA\ATA133, AGP8x, 5xPCI 2.2, 4xUSB 2.0,+CPU+Fan, 260$
768 MB DDR @ 400 Mhz: 110$
ATA 133 120 Gb HD: 88 $
GeForce FX 5900 256 Mb 800 Mhz AGP 8x: 410$
16x/40x DVD/CD drive: 30 $
Aluminium case + 500w power supply: 30$
Sound Blaster Audigy 2: 70$
4 case fans, 120mm 2400 RPM: 30$
250Mb internal IDE zip drive: 40$
1.44 Mb internal floppy: 10$
Keyboard: 10$
Logitech (They make by far the best mice I've seen) optical w/ scroll wheel, 10$
Decent speakers: 30$
A good gaming PC: Priceless (or in this case 1,120$)
I assume you have a monitor, OS, and Mouse Pad.

Demon-X · Post by **Demon-X** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 11:45 am

If you have deep pockets then this is for you

nuff said.

Megatron · Post by **Megatron** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 11:46 am

www.alienware.com

yoyoyo

edit: badahf

you won't need something as powerful as some suggestions, but it'd be nice.

Raymondo · Post by **Raymondo** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 2:23 pm

Alienware wrote:Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz 800MHz FSB
512MB DDR SDRAM PC-3200
80GB Seagate Barracuda 2MB Cache
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra 128MB
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 1394

WOW nice but is it really worth the money.

Megatron · Post by **Megatron** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 2:33 pm

mabye if you posted the amount it costs?

Raymondo · Post by **Raymondo** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 2:40 pm

oops, $1,568.00

Demon-X · Post by **Demon-X** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 3:29 pm

Demon-X wrote:If you have deep pockets then this is for you

nuff said.

Megatron wrote:www.alienware.com

yoyoyo

edit: badahf

you won't need something as powerful as some suggestions, but it'd be nice.

Pyro u blind spammar

Fallout Junkie wrote:WOW nice but is it really worth the money.

Yes, yes tis definately worth the money.

I own an alienware comp and its one of the most stable machines ive ever used....well, its the only stable computer ive used. And aside from the shit load of support you get with them, they look good too.

I know ppl say cost doesnt mean quality, but in this case is does...

Spazmo · Post by **Spazmo** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 3:36 pm

That's right. You can't just jam the best parts into a computer and expect it to be the bestest. It also takes a certain level of craftmanship and skill that the folks at Alienware have mastered over the years. You pay out the wazoo, but you get a damn fine gaming machine.

Not for $1100, though.

Megatron · Post by **Megatron** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 3:38 pm

I got a similair system for Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£800 :/

no t-shirt though

swordinstone · Post by **swordinstone** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 3:48 pm

Ok, I'm going to list very thing, then paste a link for it too. I'll add up totals and what not too.

Computer Case. Best case ever! Go Chieftec... $59
http://www.gameve.com/store/gameve_view ... roduct=176

Power Supply. Enermax 430W $76
http://www.gameve.com/store/gameve_view ... roduct=293

Mother Board. ASUS A7N8X Delux nForce2. Built in Audio and LAN $133
http://www.gameve.com/store/gameve_view ... roduct=700

Processor. AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (retail) (2.133 GHz) $105
http://www.gameve.com/store/gameve_view ... roduct=704

DDR RAM. Samsung 1 GB PC2700 (333mhz) (this is 2 sticks of 512) $172
http://www.buyaib.com/sa1gb5x2pcdd.html

Hard Drive. IBM Deskstar 120GB 7200rpm $105
http://www.gameve.com/store/gameve_view ... roduct=640

Asus GeForce 4 128mb $130
http://www.gameve.com/store/gameve_view ... roduct=752

Total: $780.00

Not too shabby, and one hell of a machine! I've been using AMD with the nForce plateform for a few years, and no problems what so ever. One of the best things here, is the mboard doubles you memory speed when running in dual channel mode. Which is part of the configuration I listed above.

Note That I dont have a processor cooler on here... I'm currently looking for a good one. No CD drives, and a few other things, but these can typically be salvaged from an old machine, which is what I'm doing.

Jimmyjay86 · Post by **Jimmyjay86** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 4:04 pm

You don't really need a cooler unless you are consistently overclocking. If you have a fast processor in the first place, is it necessary?

I am specing a system based on the newer P4-3.06Ghz chip and am thinking about the ABIT IS7-G board. I'm still trying to decide on the graphics board. So far that's $550.

spyder07 · Post by **spyder07** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 4:30 pm

I got a
Pentium 4 2.4
512 Mb Ram
Radeon 9200 128 Mb
Some sound Blaster card for the 2.1 speakers
60 Gb Hard drive
CoolMax System- Basically two medium sized intake fans and one huge ass outflow fan, keeps it nice and cool.
17" Monitor

Case, monitor, and speakers are all in black.

I got all that for like $800. Some of it I bought and put in, but most came all squared away.

swordinstone · Post by **swordinstone** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 4:37 pm

Jimmyjay86 wrote:You don't really need a cooler unless you are consistently overclocking. If you have a fast processor in the first place, is it necessary?

lol, i dont know for sure, cos ive never been nuts enough to try it before. I certainly wouldnt risk it though, considering most coolers arent much more than $25. I live in florida tho, so i certainly wouldnt go without cooling here.

One of my friends was joking about converting a kegerator (mini fridge) into a computer case. I wonder if that would work. Would be pretty funny if you could put in a cdrom and grab a beer all in one trip

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 5:33 pm

How come does the Alienware use GeForce FX? I thought Radeon was the boss of the market?

Demon-X · Post by **Demon-X** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 5:37 pm

Alienware reccomends Raedon, but you can select Geforce from the custom build list

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 5:43 pm

I mean, it's on the default list. Just check it out, it's on both Area-51 and that other (AMD) package.

POOPERSCOOPER · Post by **POOPERSCOOPER** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 5:44 pm

Kashluk wrote:How come does the Alienware use GeForce FX? I thought Radeon was the boss of the market?

I think the latest FX scored a little bit higher in the 3dmark, so everyone is assuming it's better.

Anyways, I have a Dell and their good computers at good prices, with award winning support. The only thing I don't like about their computers is they use like a full plastic case, and it's flexes and moves alot, creating a pain in the the ass to try and get it level on a carpet floor. Often it will make a loud noise like a something hitting against the case and you have to move it a bit to get rid of the noise. When I get a new computer one day, I'm definitly getting full metal or something hard.