Cheap Gaming Computer Desktop

Twisted Warthog · Post by **Twisted Warthog** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:35 pm

Ive wanted to get a new computer tower for a while now and my birthdays 5 days away so i decided to think about what Gaming Computer Tower i should buy. It would be better if it was under $1000 dollars and could play games such as WoW and Half Life 2. Does anybody know where i could get a Gaming Tower for under $1000 dollars that can still play high graphical games? Also if you guys think i should go the way of buying separate pieces and putting the Tower together myself not buying one all together what should i buy if i do that? Any input would be appreciated.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:50 pm

Its a gaming desktop, not a gaming tower, I thought you meant a case.

You could easily build a gaming desktop for less than $1000 (do you need a monitor or not?). I priced an AMD rig for about $600 on Newegg that was really good, I think the GPU was the only thing that wasn't top of the line or close to it. Add $200-300 for a good card and PSU (the motherboard I chose needed a weird one) and you're still under $1000. If you know what you want, build it yourself. If not, buy one. Building allows you to get exactly what you want, but you have to know what you want and how to put it together. I'd guess that most any pre-built desktop in the $600-800 range would be good enough, but you might take a hit on what you can do as far as upgrading is concerned.

Twisted Warthog · Post by **Twisted Warthog** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:54 pm

Well i have a brand new monitor that i just bought but i didn't have enough left over for a "desktop" sorry if i confused some people I'm just use to saying tower i don't know why. So if i go to Newegg i can get a good "desktop"? Ill check it out thanks.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 3:01 pm

Twisted Warthog wrote:Well i have a brand new monitor that i just bought but i didn't have enough left over for a "desktop" sorry if i confused some people I'm just use to saying tower i don't know why. So if i go to Newegg i can get a good "desktop"? Ill check it out thanks.

I just checked Newegg's pre-builts and most of the $750-1000 seem ok, but you'll want a better graphics card, most of them have integrated ones that my card could likely run circles around (and thats saying a lot, since my card is several years old).

Twisted Warthog · Post by **Twisted Warthog** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 3:07 pm

Well i put a ad on my local classifieds for a gaming computer and this person replied to my ad with this "desktop" for $525. Is it worth it?

-AMD 64 3500+ processor w/upgraded fan(im not an overclocker but this is a lot quiter and is adjustable)
-2 gigs dual channel kingston ram w/heat spreaders
-evga 7600 gt ko 256mb pcie graphics card
-320 gb sata harddrive
-dual layer dvd burner
-floppy drive(for bios updates)
-nice gamers case with see throught window
-550w power supply with leds
-evga nf804 mobo
-really nice and loud logitech speakers and powered sub
-keyboard and mouse
-battlefield 2

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 3:18 pm

Seems pretty good, but you might want a new motherboard and processor if you get that, its not a dual core and likely has the dying 939 socket. But swap in an AM2 motherboard and an X2 5600+ and it should be pretty good. Does it come with Windows?

Post by **bicostp** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 3:18 pm

Building your own computer is more satisfying, you can tailor it to your needs, and it's not too hard if you can follow directions and diagrams.

My advice is to not waste tons of money on the case, especially if it's going to live under your desk. Buying a fancy case and stuffing it with mediocre parts is like ricing out a Civic; it looks shiny and gets the job done, but not nearly as well as a unit with better internals can. If you have an old PC with an ATX board, and you don't mind sacrificing it, gut it and use its case. Why? Imagine your friends' surprise when you boot a seemingly old POS computer and run brand-new games on it!

Same deal for "gaming" mice and keyboards. Any decent optical mouse will work just fine, and

If you have the budget, go for a Core 2 Duo. It's better than anything AMD currently has on the market.

It may be on the expensive side, but get fast RAM, and get at least a gig. (1.5 gigs if you plan on running Vista.) Conversely, don't get RAM that's faster than what the motherboard can handle.

Definitely do all your shopping at Tiger Direct, MicroCenter, or NewEgg. Best Buy and CompUSA rip you off.

For the OS, you might want to spend some time earning enough tickets to get a free copy of Vista. XP would work if you have it, but you can't argue with free stuff (even if it is Vista...).

If you can, get a video card with TV-out. It's great for emulators, videos, and most PC games. (If you have a TV with HDMI, ignore this and buy one of those DVI-to-HDMI cables.)

Don't ask me what graphics card is the best; I don't keep up with that stuff.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 3:23 pm

Twisted Warthog wrote:Well i put a ad on my local classifieds for a gaming computer and this person replied to my ad with this "desktop" for $525. Is it worth it?

-AMD 64 3500+ processor w/upgraded fan(im not an overclocker but this is a lot quiter and is adjustable)
-2 gigs dual channel kingston ram w/heat spreaders
-evga 7600 gt ko 256mb pcie graphics card
-320 gb sata harddrive
-dual layer dvd burner
-floppy drive(for bios updates)
-nice gamers case with see throught window
-550w power supply with leds
-evga nf804 mobo
-really nice and loud logitech speakers and powered sub
-keyboard and mouse
-battlefield 2

That's not a bad deal at all. For that price you're not going to get much better than that.

Twisted Warthog · Post by **Twisted Warthog** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 3:24 pm

I don't care what the case looks like i just care about how it plays video games and yeah i am thinking about letting my cousin who is a genius when it comes to anything to do with computers (hes in University for that stuff) just to make me a gaming computer himself. Although i may just buy that computer and put a duo core in it and some other spiffy stuff. I don't know yet once i get the dough on my birthday ill decide what to do.

Twisted Warthog · Post by **Twisted Warthog** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:54 pm

Ok i got another offer and this guy wants me to come up with a price that he thinks is good for me to buy it from him. Heres the offer hes giving me how much do you guys think i should give him for it? Or should i not even bother with this guy.

case with psu (600+ watts ... good power to 12v rails so it can work with very good video cards ... AMD Opteron 146 cpu (socket 939) .... DFI Lan Party motherboard with 1 GB of cas 2 OCZ pc3200 ram w/copper heatspreaders .... EVGA 7900 GS 256 MB pci-e video card (still under warranty) .. LG DVD-RW ... black keyboard and mouse ... can load it with a ton of burned games if need be ... has a 120+ GB hard drive 7200 rpm with 8 MB cache ...

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 5:38 pm

Twisted Warthog wrote:Ok i got another offer and this guy wants me to come up with a price that he thinks is good for me to buy it from him. Heres the offer hes giving me how much do you guys think i should give him for it? Or should i not even bother with this guy.

case with psu (600+ watts ... good power to 12v rails so it can work with very good video cards ... AMD Opteron 146 cpu (socket 939) .... DFI Lan Party motherboard with 1 GB of cas 2 OCZ pc3200 ram w/copper heatspreaders .... EVGA 7900 GS 256 MB pci-e video card (still under warranty) .. LG DVD-RW ... black keyboard and mouse ... can load it with a ton of burned games if need be ... has a 120+ GB hard drive 7200 rpm with 8 MB cache ...

Thats seems like a mix of good and bad, good PSU, bad CPU (its a server CPU), slower ram, good GPU, bad hard drive. If you want it to have any upgrade ability and you're going AMD, get an AM2 motherboard. Then deck it out with a good CPU (I'd recommend the X2 5600+, best AMD value), at least 1, preferably 2gb of the fastest ram your motherboard/CPU can handle, and a good GPU (I think a 7600 is about the lowest you should go with nvidia).

If that guy tried to sell you that combination of stuff, you might be better off looking elsewhere, sounds like he just listed off some spare stuff he had that he'd throw together.

cowsgoquack101 · Post by **cowsgoquack101** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 6:14 pm

I recommend 2 GBs of RAM, for one it's hella cheap. Mushkin has 2gb for like $80.00 new. I paid $120 for my 1.5GB of RAM not so long ago. Go intel if you can, I have the core 2 duo E6300 running at 2.4 ghz (OCed). As for a GPU go with Nvidia for now. But before you do check out ATI's offerings of new DX10 cards. They seem to run pretty well for the money, and if you go AMD just go ATI, they merged companies. Go at least 550W for a PSU and for operating systems, I recommend Vista since both Halo 2 and Shadowrun are vista only. This will be a changing problem if you go xp.

totokan · Post by **totokan** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 8:27 pm

I just rebuilt my custom PC, don't try ordering motherboards from them. Every one of the 3 different builds I've done so far, I've used a different motherboard. Every time, the first motherboard I receive is DOA. Sometimes, I end up having to send 3 or 4 back, sometimes just one. It's just a hassle, but it takes a long time to ship, get the new one, re-install, find out it doesn't work and repeat.

Twisted Warthog · Post by **Twisted Warthog** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:42 pm

Got another reply for my ad this guy wants $700 or best offer for this, you think its worth it he says it plays WoW no problem but the price seems a bit high. What do you guys think?

ASUS p4800 SE board
3.8 intel D processor (1 mg cache)
Nvidia 6800 video card
4 gigs of ram (hyper thread)
Black windowed case with lots of fans (green lcd)
And neon green tubes

cowsgoquack101 · Post by **cowsgoquack101** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 10:57 pm

Man that processor is old. It's slow and the only good things on that PC is the RAM which 4gb is too much for Windows XP (allegedly) and the video card. Try to get $500 for it because it's not worth the money at all.

Hang on, let me try to configure on for you. Without an OS because you could choose your own.