Gaming computer help please

M

Melting Point

New Member
Hello all: I’m a new member here and am very impressed with this forum. I was wondering if somebody can help me out. I have a friend that has kids and needs a computer so they can play there games. I am no tech but am in school right night now for an IT Major. They gave me a list of games they play which are the following:

Counter strike 1
War Craft
Battle Chess
Star Craft Expansion
Brood War
War Craft 3 Frozen Thrown
Diablo II , and three when it comes out

His budget is $800.00 he already has an LCD monitor. If willing he just might go up on money a little more. Knowing how his kids are it will probably need upgrading in the near future. ATX would be nice. I have been looking around to see what I would choose for a processor I’m shooting for Dual Core. Amd or Intel? When it comes to the game part I have no idea where to start.

If any body can help me out on this it would be really appreciated.

Thank You

Martin
 
so are you happy to build the pc then or are you looking at a prebuilt system, apologies if you have already stated the answer...long day at work :)
 
you should be able to get a pretty damn good core 2 duo system from newegg that would fit around the $850 budget, just a quick stab at it and i bring up:

LG 18X DVD±R Super-Multi DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE Model GSAH22N-BK - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827136103
$29.99

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811119068
$49.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3120814A 120GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822148104
$60.49

HIS Hightech H195PRF256DDN-R Radeon X1950PRO 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814161060
$189.99

Antec True Power Trio TP3-430 ATX12V 430W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817103942
$79.99

G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model F2-4200PHU2-1GBLA - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231017
$124.99

ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131030
$126.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115005
$195.00


Subtotal:$857.43

thats actually a pretty competant gaming machine that will be more than powerful to run the games you have listed and last for quite some time i would say. Its up to the task of running some of the latest games very well too.

It would be easy enough to tweak it to reduce the price if needed but that gives you some idea of whats available to you
 
Thank You

Thank You for the build. Now I am under the understanding that AMD is alot less when it comes to gaming but I see alot of mixed reviews on the board about this what would be considered if we went that route.

Thank You
 
AMD used to be the best performer when it came to gaming, for quite some time it was the best performer and at a decent price.

However the core 2 duo was released the tail end of last year and it completely destroys that AMD line for speedand power. Plus for the first time the Intel processors were of a decent price too.

That particular CPU that i have put in this build can be a match for some of the most powerful processors that AMD can provide.

If you are looking for a gaming machine for now and for the future then its really not worth looking at anything other than a Core2duo processor :)

and this is coming from someone who has generally used nothing but AMD processors previously :)
 
jimmymac

Thanks for the help I really do appreciate it you have done a great service on helping me out. I can't wait to give birth to this Frankenstein.

Thank You

Martin:cool:
 
One last question

How do I over-clock this sucker? Never done it but would like to try on this one, just to see the difference.

Martin
 
Have some more questions

Now if I were to buy one pre made were would I even consider were to look. I’m under the impression that they are quit a bit more.

Martin
 
With the 800-900$ budget you can get a great computer if you build it on your own where as if you buy a computer prebuilt you won't really be getting much for 800-900$.

I don't really know any pc's where you can get much for that price. I say custom is always the way to go.
 
hpi

Thanks I new that but I needed be sure because they started asking questions on the build. I showed them some of the prices out there and they almost fainted. But they will be happy be happy to build after reading this.

Martin
 
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