$400 gaming? even possible?

[X24]

IDK what he was smoking, but another one of my friends got hooked on pc games, and he said he wants me to build him a $400 pc to play some of the games, i was just wondering if its really possible and what parts would do the best for that?

 

[kobaj]

For that price it is gunna be REAL hard, unless you get all the parts second hand. What kind of games is he planing, if some like halflife2, Fear, ect than there is very little chance, Unless he gets all parts used or just upgradeds his old machine . And if he neads monitors/kb/ms/ect than there is NO way even if you get the parts from other people. So putting it simple a very good gaming rig would be the minumum of $700.

 

[X24]

Well, he played bf vietnam, farcry, and bf 2 the battlefield games were the ones he got hooked on, and all he needs is a tower. i'm thinking its gunna have to be
512mb ram
cheap processor such as an amd semperon
best graphics card i can find
40gb hdd
cheap case
cheap psu that has good enough amperage
cd burner
cheapest mobo


i'll check zipzoomfly

 

[34erd]

Buy a used one off e-bay maybe?

 

[skidude]

That'll probably work. You will end up getting like a Radeon 9600XT or a GeForce FX5250 or something like that.

 

[gamerman4]

Alright, this will be hard but I'll help ya.
This is just the tower and nothing else. This is also the bare essentials for playing games too, no bells and whistles.

get a cheap case from CompUSA...mine was $50 make sure it comes with it's own PSU

Athlon XP 2600+ (will overclock pretty good) $77
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103417

ASUS a7n8x-x (pretty high-quality mobo) $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131468

SAMSUNG 40GB 8mb cache 7200RPM HDD $48
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152023

OCZ Value RAM 2 x 256MB = 512MB (OCZ RAM is awesome) $48
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146995

lite-on DVD-ROM drive (DVD was $5 more than CD drives so.....) $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827131410
couldn't find a cheaper cd burner might have to stretch the $400 to about $415

Radeon 9600XT $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102344

final price before shipping charges...$398!!!!!

I tried to stray away from OEM or refurbished parts so you wouldn't have any problems.

This is a decent budget gaming rig if I do say so myself.

If I missed something or something isn't compatible, tell me and I will update this but......damn! I am surprised how well this did. Never thought I could stretch $400 this far. Go newegg!!! you might want to cheack zipzoomfly for any better prices but I doubt they will save you much more.

 

[X24]

u forgot about the case there, and i think zipzoomfly is suppose to be cheaper with free shipping

 

[Camper]

you can get a case for less then 50 dollars
My 2800+ can Play all those games he likes
BFV worked when i hade 512MB of ram and a XFX 5200

 

[Geoff]

my comp plays the newest games (HL2, FarCry, Halo, ect) at high-highest settings with no lag.

and my system costs $200... of course that cause i already had the video card, hard drive and ram.

 

[diduknowthat]

my comp plays the newest games (HL2, FarCry, Halo, ect) at high-highest settings with no lag.

and my system costs $200... of course that cause i already had the video card, hard drive and ram.

well that's not saying alot cause you had some carry me on parts ;D

 

[Charlie7940]

u forgot about the case there, and i think zipzoomfly is suppose to be cheaper with free shipping

zipzoomfly doesn't ship cases for free.

 

[Camper]

$34.00 with a 400w with a 18 amp 12+ rail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811209008

 

[X24]

243837 Quantity Limit: 20
ECS KT600-A Via KT600 Athlon(XP)/Duron SktA DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, LAN, Serial ATA Retail *** Free 2nd Day ***
Remove $49.99 $49.99



80177-R Quantity Limit: 20
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ 2.08GHz 333FSB 512KB Processor Retail *** Free 2nd Day ***
Remove $96.99 $96.99



80098-6 Quantity Limit: 20
Corsair VS512MB400 512MB DDR400 PC3200 CAS2.5 Value Select Memory Retail *** Free 2nd Day ***
Remove $48.00 $48.00



711006-017 Quantity Limit: 20
Western Digital Caviar WD400BB 40GB ATA/100 7200RPM Hard Drive *** Free 2nd Day ***
Remove $51.90 $51.90



322272 Quantity Limit: 20
Gigabyte GV-R96X128D Radeon 9600 XT AGP 8X 128MB DDR Video Card w/TV-Out & DVI Retail ***Free 2nd Day***
Remove $84.00 $84.00



172454 Quantity Limit: 20
Sony CRX320EBK DVD 16x + CD-RW 52x24x52 Combo Drive w/Software (Black) ***Free 2nd Day***
Remove $37.00 $37.00



145200 Quantity Limit: 20
SunbeamTech IC-SA-BA Samurai Mid Tower Case w/Side Window (Black) Retail
Remove $39.99 $39.99



For more information about tax, please click here. Subtotal: $407.87


what i came up with!

 

[aj327]

I can do one for 149.99. It's called the X-Box. I hear it's pretty sweet!

 

[X24]

Oh, that one will deffinatly match the graphics of bf 2 or hl 2 won't it, and it isn't at the end of its life span right now is it?
he wants to play pc games anyway, and shooters are always better with mouse and keyboard imo.

 

[X24]

no need for that opperating system, and what about a cd or dvd drive?
and i belive the 9600XT beats the 9800se

 

[Greg J.]

Here you go, as best as can be!

PROCESSOR:
Athlon XP 2600+ (will overclock pretty good) $77
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16819103417

MOTHERBOARD:
ASUS a7n8x-x (pretty high-quality mobo) $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16813131468

HARD DRIVE:
EXCELSTOR J880 80GB $51.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822162004

(Alternate choice: Samsung 80GB hard drive $52.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152021 )

VIDEO CARD:
Radeon 9600XT $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16814102344

CASE + POWER SUPPLY:
$34.00 with a 400w with a 18 amp 12+ rail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16811209008

NEC CD/DVD combo burner (high quality!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152047 $38.99

Total Price: $354.99

And that's the total line-up. I assume you already have a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and speakers. (If you want, ask for them and I can list and add in.)

 

[flame1117]

You could do alot better then that, as long as you dont mind not doing it the "legal" way. Time for a black mask and a moneybag.(for the CPU's f coarse)

 

[Renzore101]

if u can get a good used gaming rig that can play hl2 and farcry on highest for 200$ then u are good, i mite look out 4 that

 

[Geoff]

you know, once and a while newegg has specials for free or reduced shipping, once i saw that everything has $0.99 shipping (even a 21" CRT!!). Maybe you could wait for some low shipping deals to get the big stuff.