The last time I built a gaming rig was about five years ago.

I want a box capable of running Oblivion, Doom 3, Quake 4, etc.

I have a good case and hard drive I intend to use.

I assume my once monstrous 300 watt power supply will not get the job done nowadays. None of my old RAM will be adequate either.

I also recently learned that AGP is out, and PCI express is in. ...yeah, that's how far out of the rat race I am.

I have no clue where to start as far as brands or models. I need:
-mobo
-processor
-RAM
-power supply (I assume)
-video card

Would like to spend no more than $700. Can it be done?

To save time, I will go ahead and post all of the initially useless typical TWW replies that we've all come to expect.

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"omf dude just google it. fucking n00b"

"lmao you didn't know about PCI-E? I'm going to rape your aunt and then burn down your house."

"Dude you MIGHT be able to get a good processor for $700. I get a [fill in the blank] 3Dmark score."

"Battlefield 2 rulez all stop playing gay games"

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4/3/2006 9:10:23 PM

Under $700 would be very difficult for the level of performance you are looking for.

For new high-end graphics you would likely need a 350W+ power supply

Also, you need to consider cooling for your current case - is it adequate?

Is the HDD you have SATA? If you are trying to build a high-performance unit and stick it with an older ATA 100/133 then that would certainly hurt performance.

[Edited on April 3, 2006 at 9:36 PM. Reason : +]

4/3/2006 9:31:43 PM

Actually you can buy some pretty decent combos on ebay. They usually include MB, Processor, and a decent case with around a 500W PS. That is probably the simplest option to stay under budget.

4/3/2006 10:32:41 PM

You CAN do it. Check me on this though, but I think this is a possible build. 800 bucks and not 700 though.

Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127222

processor :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103547

Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125010

memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440

case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129152

powersupply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103936

The mobo is definately skimping, you could get a good power supply cheaper and a better deal on the card on ebay. The total on all that is roughly 800 bucks with shipping. That would run most games pretty well. It's definately not the best for the money, but it's an example of what you can do for around 700 something. Also, the video card is out of stock. For about 1000 though you could get something significantly better.

this build did assume you had optical drives and that you have a decent SATA harddrive.

Alternately, you could get a faster single core processor:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103529

for about 20 bucks less, but neither the speed nor price difference are really significant.

[Edited on April 3, 2006 at 11:12 PM. Reason : ]

4/3/2006 11:06:12 PM

For about $10 more than the combo (case + PS) above, you can get a Sonata II computer case ($120 for the Sonata II with its own power supply and minus what you won't pay for shipping at NewEgg). They sell them at Intrex on Glenwood now. I have one and it's a really good case. Very quiet power supply and it comes with a three speed 120mm exhaust fan (silent).

As for the processor, I wouldn't bother with the dual core if you're going for gaming. I'd go with the single core. I just dropped $470 into a 4400+ and it doesn't really utilize the power (bottlenecked by my 6600GT). The 4200+ is cheaper, but it lacks the cache that the higher end chips have in similar price ranges.

I have an A8N-E mobo, but that looks identical to the Abit recommended.

4/4/2006 12:53:25 AM

seriously though, battlefield 2 rulez all stop playin gay gamez

4/4/2006 1:40:14 AM

^^ Yeah, a friend of mine uses one of those and the thing is almost silent compared to his old HP he was using. You're probably right that the faster yet cheaper single core would be better for gaming, although more programs are becoming optimized for dual core systems (oblivion takes SLIGHT advantage of dual core setups for example.)

4/4/2006 9:06:13 AM

My computer is strictly bottlenecked at the video card for Oblivion, it only utilizes about 30% of each core during gameplay. I don't know if it's that big a leap over my apt-mate's 3000+ with the same video card.

But yeah, it's better prepared for the future in terms of technology. If I were you, Wyloch, and I wanted a dual core, I'd get the cheapest Opteron with 2 megs of cache. I think the Denmark or Italy is cheap enough? ($330-ish at Newegg). Oh, and if you feel like voiding your warranty and getting a silent setup, you can pick up a Zalman Northbridge cooler (cheap at Newegg) and a Zalman flower ($30 at Intrex) for like $40 more total.

[Edited on April 4, 2006 at 10:59 AM. Reason : prices]

[Edited on April 4, 2006 at 11:01 AM. Reason : useless junk]

4/4/2006 10:59:00 AM

check out some of these, these are probably some of the best priced custom built pcs Ive seen

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

4/4/2006 11:12:57 AM

^
http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=356757&page=1#7652256

4/4/2006 11:24:45 AM

ah yeah, I almost forgot about -> http://www.resellerratings.com/seller6897.html

[Edited on April 4, 2006 at 11:40 AM. Reason : ]

4/4/2006 11:40:03 AM

this is the only fucking gaming machine you need, son

4/4/2006 11:42:41 AM

gambling is wrong, frosh.

4/4/2006 12:01:29 PM

THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WRONG AND ILLEGAL SIR

4/4/2006 12:09:49 PM

Thanks a lot all - gonna sift through all of this. The $700 will be going up (tax returns are on the way).

4/4/2006 1:02:24 PM

^ which is good ...

You can most certainly build a powerful PC on a budget but $700 was a touch too low.

Just be sure that you balance system performance so that no single component will be a serious bottleneck. If you 'have time' then watch for sales and buy parts slowly and save quite a bit of money as well.

4/4/2006 1:15:11 PM