$1,500 Gaming Build

[Jet]

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail- $317

ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail- $230

eVGA 512-P2-N635-AR Geforce 7950GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail- $296

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail- $210 after $50 MIR **Case and RAM are combo items (case and ram together= $304.99, before $10 MIR for case)**

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail- $35 after $10 MIR **Case and ram are combo items (case and ram together= $304.99, before $10 MIR for case)**

Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM- $150

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM- $80

HIPRO HP-P600W/TOP-600P5 ATX V2.01 600W Power Supply 115/230 V - OEM- $70

Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM- $88

Microsoft Office Standard 2003 Student and Teacher - Retail- $120

TOTAL= $1596


A little more than $1500, and some changes can be made to bring it down (eliminate the 10k HDD, downgrade CPU or GPU). Alot of it depens really on what you are going to do with this computer. If you are going to be a big gamer, you need good graphics mostly, seconded by some good memory and a good cpu. If you are also going to be storing lots of music, etc, on your computer, you need bigger hard drives. Stuff like that makes it hard to configure a computer for someone if you don't know what you're going to use it for. Overall though, this will be an excellent computer that will last a long time.


EDIT: I forgot to include an optical drive with that (a DVD+RW, for example), but one would run about $30. CD+RW/DVD-ROM Combos run about $18-25.

He needs a monitor, mouse, and keyboard.

Changes:
E6300 or the E6400 and maybe not the Raptor drive.

 

[goosy22]

how's this?

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail
ECS P965T-A (V1.0) Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail
eVGA 512-P2-N635-AR Geforce 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/ LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165H6S - OEM
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail
X2GEN MG17R Silver-Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail
Logitech G15 2-Tone USB Wired Standard Keyboard - Retail
Logitech G5 Laser 931376-0403 2-Tone 6 Buttons 1x Wheel USB Laser Mouse - Retail
Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM
Microsoft Office Standard 2003 Student and Teacher - Retail

it comes out at $1560.89... a little over budget, but that will last a while, with a great upgrade potential...

 

[Jet]

how's this?

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail
ECS P965T-A (V1.0) Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail
eVGA 512-P2-N635-AR Geforce 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/ LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165H6S - OEM
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail
X2GEN MG17R Silver-Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail
Logitech G15 2-Tone USB Wired Standard Keyboard - Retail
Logitech G5 Laser 931376-0403 2-Tone 6 Buttons 1x Wheel USB Laser Mouse - Retail
Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM
Microsoft Office Standard 2003 Student and Teacher - Retail

it comes out at $1560.89... a little over budget, but that will last a while, with a great upgrade potential...

I wouldn't skimp on the motherboard, even though the one suggested is a lot cheaper. Same goes for the monitor. My conclusion: a little more money, a lot nicer system.

 

[goosy22]

I wouldn't skimp on the motherboard, even though the one suggested is a lot cheaper. Same goes for the monitor. My conclusion: a little more money, a lot nicer system.

well within the budget i'd have to say that's a good deal... you could cut the keyboard and mouse down to bare minimum and squeeze a better mobo outta the deal, but that one has good ratings and i feel it should work... as for the monitor, i don't like picking them for people (same with keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc.) cause everyone has their personal preferences... but it's one i wouldn't mind....

and yes i agree... more money, better machine... but we have a budget to work with...