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View Full Version : Upgrade Your Stock Machine To A Screamer For a Little Over 500 Coin

35Pete
March 29th, 2007, 5:47:46 PM
A fellow Ranger PM'ed me and asked if he could build a decent rig for $500. After thinking about it I said yes. Keep your monitor, mouse, and keyboard and buy this. This will smoke 95% of the rigs on the Range. Guys like Merc, R&R, Woody, and I...well...spend a little more. No, a LOT more. LOL

But this is a great bargain. Fellow geeks, any suggestions? Total budget is 5-6 bills.

AMD Barebones Kit with case, power supply, and mobo.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2864144&CatId=332

800 MHz Dual-Channel DDR2 (2 GB)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2882686&CatId=2261
dasaybz
April 5th, 2007, 10:12:09 AM
Pete, this rig has no GPU ...
Merc
April 5th, 2007, 3:57:31 PM
You can get a nice Gigabyte Silent 7300GT with 256MB of GDDR2 RAM for $80.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125036

A 160GB SATA 3.0 HDD is about $58 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144415
dasaybz
April 5th, 2007, 4:50:51 PM
You can get a nice Gigabyte Silent 7300GT with 256MB of GDDR2 RAM for $80.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125036

A 160GB SATA 3.0 HDD is about $58 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144415

7300gt doesn't hold a candle to the 7600gt. You can pick up a 7600gt for about $100.
Merc
April 5th, 2007, 8:46:42 PM
I agree dasaybz but having to build for folks that scream at an extra $20 I thought I'd offer a compromise card. Personally I'd recommend an 8800GTS 320MB but that's just me. $600 limit means every cent has to count so..... I figure that the Gigabyte 7300GT is the least money you can spend for a Vista capable card.

UPDATE: The 8500 and 8600 cards are being released and show good numbers on the benchies.
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=38769
35Pete
April 6th, 2007, 5:28:55 AM
Dasabyz. Some people want a faster rig but aren't nuts enough to spend $300 on just a power supply alone.

But your choices are excellent. So if someone wanted to add another 150 to their setup I'd go with Merc's HD and your choice of Vid card. If they were really penny pinching I'd go with Merc's card.