How to get a sub-$1000 high-end gaming rig
Posted by The Technocrat | Filed under Gaming, Geeky, Hardware
With the announcement of the PS3 price, there is serious doubt on whether or not a console can continue to provide enough functionality to justify its cost. Compared to a PC, it's a hard sell to buy a $600 console these days, no matter how many additional features it has. Let's see if we can get into the online-multiplayer-FPS scene for under a grand. Chances are that you have at least $600 in computer stuff for eBay, and can scratch up $400, so this should be do-able for most of you.
For this article, the goal is to get a very capable gaming machine for as little as possible. While the machine will most likely be more expensive than a new PS3, the additional features available to a PC make an additional $400 worth the expense. Therefore, I've set a $1000 budget for this project. I'm a little nervous here, because the last time I built a gaming rig, it was based off of system requirements for Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source, and cost me $2200 by the time I was done. In addition to those two games, I hope to dominate in Day of Defeat with the new project.
I'll be going back and forth here, as this is a guide in how to price a machine on a budget, as much as it is a build of a gaming rig.
Here is what I came up with about 2 weeks ago, sourcing parts from my favorite place, newegg. It's important to note that these may not be the hottest parts around, but they were the best I could fit into this budget:
- $297 – AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 2000MHz HT 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor
- $150 – G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory – Retail
- $090 – Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive – OEM
- $299 – BFG Tech BFGR78256GTOC Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card – Retail
- $090 – ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard – Retail
- $068 – Sunbeam IC-SS-US-SVBK Silver/Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply – Retail
- $004 – Rosewill RFA120-K 120mm Sleeve Case Cooling Fan – Retail
- $002 – GENERIC NET12 Fan Guard/Grill, chromed, for 120mm fans – OEM
Total price? $997.95. (prices above are rounded up) I wasn't able to get a CD or DVD player in this budget, I opted for the extra fan instead. Lucky for me my target game, Day of Defeat, is available via Steam.
I like the case, it's got 3 120mm fans that come with it, plus the one in the power supply. I added the fourth fan to go in the front of the case, which puts 3 120mm fans inline with the box, since there is a center-mounted 120mm that I'm planning on moving down to blow on the graphics card.
The fan guard is for when I cut out the small holes in the window and make one giant hole. Those small holes have a habit of sounding like a jet engine when air gets blown through them. I'm not a big fan of power supplies that come with the case, they can be a bit unpredictable. However, with $2.05 let in my budget, I didn't have room for a nice 500W high-efficiency model.
The rest of the specs (processor, graphics card, etc) were chosen to try and get the most performance for as little cash as possible. They're not top-of-the-line, but they're the best I could figure out for under $1K total.
I thought I was set, and told myself 'OK, I'll post this to GeekLimit tomorow.' Then Intel came and blew my plans clear out of the water with their heavily overclock-able (4.2Ghz!) $130 2.66Ghz Pentium D 805 . So back to the drawing board, since my entire system is now way too expensive…
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May 13, 2006 at 5:13 am
Aha … so after all you decided to go with 805D for your sub-1000 configuration. Lucky you, the article came just in time while you were looking out for new rig.
So, is this a PS3 killer – can your 805D @3.6Ghz and 7800GT be a direct killer to CELL 3.2Ghz processor + RSX graphics chip?
And what about Blue-Ray!!!
You gonna buy one?
May 13, 2006 at 10:37 am
I think it’s way past the cell – after all, I think it’ll be a while before we see software on blu-ray…look how long it took to get on DVD!
The main allure of this rig is that it can do much more than a PS3. Being an operating system, and not a console, there are virtually unlimited options!
May 16, 2006 at 8:26 pm
Unfortunately a PC will never quite be as good as a console for games – on a PC you have the Operating System in the background and other things draining resources, whereas ALL a console has to do is run the game.
But at the same time, I can agree with you on the stupid price of those new consoles – why pay that much, when for a little bit more you get a whole lot more functionality and still very good quality gaming?
I don’t even have a console myself – I use my PC for games, and would use my Mac if I put Windows on it, but I’m going to wait until BootCamp is finished first, be that stand alone or part of Leopard.
May 17, 2006 at 8:35 am
Right. I couldn’t agree more that if you’re just going to play games, building a $1K PC is stupid. But if you figure the PS3 will be $600, think of everything else you get for the remaining $400.
Just agreeing with you here…
May 17, 2006 at 8:45 am
I’d like to point something out here in retrospect – this article is as much about the process in which to build a PC on a budget as it is for a $1000 gaming machine in May 2006. Some things to also consider, that I didn’t write down:
You may have to pay for shipping if you go with an online component retailer like newegg.
If you’re replacing a machine, like I would be, you’ll have a copy of Windows XP Pro or something (just wipe the HD before it goes on eBay). If not, add an additional $90 or so.
May 17, 2006 at 1:31 pm
The fact of the matter is a computer will ALWAYS be a better gaming machine than a console. It’s totally upgradable and way more versitile. Not to mention that most games, with the mix of a mouse, keyboard, or gaming pad totally blow away the console’s control mechanics. With the new overclocked chip, this system, especially if you are just upgrading is way better than a PS3…except the blue-ray. Damn you Sony.
May 18, 2006 at 5:02 am
[...] I love a good challenge. I wrote up how to shop for a sub-$1000 gaming machine a few days ago, and was pretty happy with the results. While reading my feeds this morning, an article by ExtremeTech came through on my del.icio.us popular feed that was similar to mine, except with an $800 price tag. Let's see if we can use some of the methods I talked about with my $1000 rig to beat theirs [...]
July 7, 2006 at 8:01 am
Im a computer gamer myself……But the good thing about consoles is if you buy a game for it, you know it will work. With a PC, it may not run smooth or you may have to turn down the settings, forcing you to upgrade to play the game.
July 7, 2006 at 3:08 pm
I thought the same thing a while ago. What I found out is that a console (in this case, an XBOX) is equal to a machine with the graphics turned down.
The only advantage was that in some games (like Forza Motorsport and MLB05), the console’s controller was easier to use.
However, for a FPS fan like myself, I found the XBOX controller unbearable. For me, there isn’t any replacement for a FPS than the AWSD-keys controlling the player, and the mouse controlling the weapon.
July 8, 2006 at 3:03 pm
I know what you mean Techno, I only play FPS. I cannot play FPS with a controller, it sucks!
November 28, 2006 at 6:19 am
I can agree with you on the stupid price of those new consoles – why pay that much, when for a little bit more you get a whole lot more functionality and still very good quality gaming