Build a Kick-Ass $500 Gaming PC, Play Crysis at 40FPS!
Posted 04/22/09 at 11:30:00 AM by Florence Ion
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Back in December, we gave you the low-down on how to build a kick-ass $800 gaming PC. Well, lately the economy has been in a bit of a shamble, so we’ve lowered our price ceiling to spec out a tightly budgeted $500 rig that will deliver admirable gaming framerates and still leave you some cash to actually buy some games and pay off that credit-card debt.
The last time we conducted a $500 PC build-off (October, 2007), we matched a Allendale-based Core 2 E4300 CPU with a Nvidia 8500GT, which gave us pathetic FEAR and Quake 4 benchmark results. That build cut so many corners that we even opted out of a case and used a cardboard box instead (in retrospect, a really bad idea). Almost two years later, the tech is better and prices for some component categories have dramatically dropped. A bit wiser and gutsier, we were determined to build a PC that could actually play modern games.
In order to keep the machine under $500, we factored out the price of purchasing an operating system, and assume that you already have a copy of Windows XP, Vista, or the Windows 7 Beta lying around. And obviously, we were forced to restrain ourselves from choosing the high-end premium parts that we would normally recommend to readers. But despite the low cost, we actually didn't have to make any real compromises to get a solid gaming machine. Our (relatively) cheapo PC actually surprised us in our benchmark tests -- scoring close to our zero-point system -- and made us feel confident that a rock bottom price doesn’t automatically mean rock bottom performance.
Join us as we take on the $500 Gaming PC Challenge!
The Parts
Videocard: PowerColor AX4870 512MB
Price: $175
We started off by picking a videocard, since this is the most important part of a gaming PC. Using one of Nvidia or ATI's ultra budget-cards may have been sensible given our $500 limit, but we didn't want pay for anything that wouldn't beat the hell out of integrated graphics in a real gaming benchmark. With the bottom of the barrel out of the question, we targeted the top performers of the last generation, and were delighted to find an ATI 4870 card priced at $175. The 4870 was one of our favorite price/performance videocards of last summer, and would guarantee that we could play games like Unreal Tournament III and Crysis.
CPU: Intel Pentium E5200 2.5GHz Wolfdale
Price: $71
Next was our toughest choice, the processor. On a budget machine, we seriously considered an AMD part, but ended up choosing a Pentium E5200 which has been highly touted for its speedy performance and power efficiency. The E5200 is a Pentium Dual-Core, which is a step under the Core 2 series. But rest assured, this is not a Pentium 4 or Pentium D. This chip is made from the same 45nm Wolfdale architecture as the Core 2 branded E7000/8000 line, with an 800mhz FSB and 2MB cache (down from 1066 and 3MB on the Core 2's).
Motherboard: MSI P43 Neo3-F LGA 775
Price: $90
Once we had the CPU picked out, we knew we needed a low-cost LGA 775 motherboard. MSI's P43-based Neo3-F was as bare-bones as we could find without sacrificing features like integrated audio and NIC. This mobo supports Core 2 processors up to 1333MHz FSB, so it'll still work with higher-end Core 2s and even tolerate overclocking. On the GPU side, your upgrades will be limited to swapping out the videocard, since there's only one PCI-E slot, which takes SLI and Crossfire out of the picture.
Memory: Crucial 2GB DDR2 SDRAM 800
Price: $23
We all know memory is cheap, but as it turns out, we're even cheaper. That's why with over 60% of our budget already spent on the CPU, GPU, and motherboard, we opted for 2GB of DDR2 800 memory. You can probably find memory priced even lower online, but we stuck with a trusted brand that we knew wouldn't fail us. If you decide to go over budget on your own build, this one one of the first places where we would recommend making an upgrade.
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S223F 22X DVDR
Price: $25
Having skimped out on some of the other parts, we thought that our $500 PC deserved one undeniably kick-ass component. So we equipped it with our current favorite optical drive, the Samsung SH-S223F. It outperformed the competition by over 2 minutes in a 7GB DVD rip test.
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB
Price: $50
Here's another category where we really wished we had more cash to spend. Our $50 hard drive is by no means a slouch, but 320GB seems like such a waste when we know that terabyte drives can be found for only $100. But again, since this build is also a test of our restraint, we were happy with the Western Digital Caviar SE, which has enough storage for an OS, games, productivity software, and even our music collection.
Case and Power Supply: Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black
When we got down to the case and power supply, we had less than $100 left to find suitable housing and power plant for our rig before we could start construction. A while we normally would never do this for a mid-range or high-end build, we bought a combo chassis and PSU. Rosewill had a set that cost almost exactly what we had left from our allocation, which included a 500-watt PSU with PCI-E and SATA power connectors. Since our system uses mostly low-power parts, we have faith that this PSU will be sufficient to juice our machine during processor and GPU-intensive activities. Again, if you have any more budget to spare, a third-party PSU from Corsair or Antec would still be preferable.
Price: $75
Price Breakdown
|
Component: |
Make and Model: |
Price |
(after Rebate) |
Newegg Link |
| Motherboard | MSI P43 Neo3-F LGA 775 | $90 | $80 | Link |
| CPU | Intel Pentium E5200 | $71 | Link | |
| Videocard | Powercolor AX4870 512MB | $175 | $155 | Link |
| RAM | Crucial 2GB DDR2/800 | $23 | Link | |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS | $50 | Link | |
| Optical Drive | Samsung SH-S223F | $25 | Link | |
| Case + Power Supply | Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black | $75 | Link | |
| Total | $509 | $479 |
On to the step-by-step build and benchmarks!
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Submitted by dwinhofer on Sat, 09/12/2009 - 8:56am
Can I use a dell dimension e510 case with this build?
Submitted by kingweb356 on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 12:25pm
Hey all, this is my second time building a pc, first gaming computer, so I'm just wondering...Could I exchange the graphics card used in this guide with my geforce 9500 GT and not come across any compatibility issues? My other question is will I still need a sound card with this rig or is it included here somewhere and I just havent found it yet? My last question: anyone know of a good optical drive to replace the one in this guide, seeing as it's been discontinued? Thanks everybody
Submitted by ready4war on Mon, 08/10/2009 - 8:12am
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4948134&csid=_22
Submitted by ready4war on Mon, 08/10/2009 - 8:03am
SomeTIMES Tiger Direct has good deals on FULL barebone kits you GET EVERYTHING including an VIDEO CARD.
They have an identical optical drive but its an SH-S223B for $30 BUCKS!
$460
Submitted by cfmwarren on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 8:07pm
These parts can now be had for around 460 on newegg... and under the graphics card, the "customers also bought" box is filled with these exact parts.... great guide guys.
PII 940 Oc'd 3.85 GHZ
Radeon 4850
MA790X-Ud4P
2.5ghz processor??
Submitted by jrz895 on Sun, 07/26/2009 - 4:32pm
2.5ghz isnt really kick-ass, but i guess anything to fit the budget.......
________________________________
Amd AthlonX2 64 3.2ghz
SLI Nvidia 9800 GTX/ 9800 GTX+
4GB DDR2 Ram
500GB and 1TB HDs
Submitted by Obsulete on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 2:26pm
I just bought a computer from Staples. It may not have a ot of cores or a high end graphics card. It has an AMD 2.7 ghz proc. and a geforce 8200 gpu. It doesn't play new games at high resolution. But itr did come with Vista Home Premium and comes with 2 gigs of ram. I know people these days are looking for something more but I feel comfortable playing with this machine. I think it is not alor of money and a monitor for around $250 and you have a pretty good game machine if your willing to put up with lower resolutions.
Submitted by u5urp3d on Tue, 07/14/2009 - 7:18pm
the picture shows 8 sata connections, but you stated that there are 6. it would be nice if you either checked the specs, or made sure that the hardware referenced matches the pictures. i say this only because you guys generally rock. you don't need someone assuming that you have no idea what you are talking about and going elsewhere or getting bad advice.
Submitted by Invincer on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 6:04am
I tried the build on this recommendation pretty much and followed all the steps. It made it very easy for someone who was only building their 2nd computer ever. I upgraded the motherboard to a P45 Neo2, 4GBs of RAM and the GPU I purchased was a Radeon 4890. Also, a Segate 1.5 TB HD (and would like to put a 2nd one in there). But after setting everything all up, it powers on and everything seems to be working, even the GPU fan works, put no image comes up on the screen. I tried 2 seperate monitors, tried the video card on another system and it works, and even put the other systems Radeon HD 4850 in this one and it still doesn't give me any kind of image at all.
When I leave work today I could run by BestBuy and get a higher wattage power supply if anyone thinks this might be the reason no image is coming up. But if it's the PSU the 4850 should have worked shouldn't it as it takes much less juice. I don't know, just a guess. Normally I would never get something like this at BestBuy, but I want to work on it this weekend and if I need to return it they are right down the street.
Anyone have any other suggestions of what might be causing this?? Thanks
Submitted by visibly_stealthy on Mon, 08/03/2009 - 8:54pm
probably need to switch the primary graphics in the bios.
In the hands of a master, any object can become a field improvised, lethal weapon.
Submitted by alarson5 on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 3:20pm
Ok I have wanted to get a new pc for awhile as I still have a old HP computer that I upgraded the ram and video card awhile back to some AGP ATI 256 card and dont think my comp can take much more before I need a new psu and cpu ect. ect. Anyways I have never built my own computer though I know where everything goes and how it all works and such. This article makes me want to build my own pc but I dont neccesarily need to be under a 500 dollar budget. Yes thats awesome. But I could throw a extra 100-200 dollars down for a REALLY sweet machine. I dont really want to scrap my old machine either to save money, I would rather keep it as a pc for internet and work and then have my gaming machine.
And I dont need to worry about the OS since my mother works for microsoft and I can pickup a version of vista for like 30 dollars.
My questions are, if I order this in parts will I have any difficulty putting it together. And who can send me an email with a REALLY Bad-ass computer in between 500-700 dollars give or take? I would love your guys input feel free to email me at anytime.
Temp
Submitted by Lilrockerdude on Sun, 07/05/2009 - 2:13pm
How does it run on idle and load temputure wise? Also with the rebates, you can add a couple of fans to cooler it off cause the way the picture and hardware are I bet this rig runs hot!
Submitted by Chris-UK on Fri, 06/26/2009 - 11:43am
Charles Odom owes me $471.95 for graphics card never sent , he emptied his paypal and cannot afford to repay what he owes . Please guys DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY .
Submitted by CompWiz on Fri, 06/26/2009 - 11:09am
If you're willing to shop arond, and not just buy everything at newegg, you can get a much better system for under $500.
Here's a configuration I set up, using all currently offered deals:
CPU: AMD Athlon II(Phenom II based)X2 250 (3ghz)
$78 at newegg after coupon code: AMD691GPU: HIS Radeon 4890 1GB
$121.99 at ZipZoomFly.com after - $30 off $100 with eBillme for New Customers and $20 rebateMotherboard: any one of the AM3 motherboards on newegg for under $110(including shipping), pick whichever one you prefer, maybe the ECS Black 790GX for $99 after rebate + $7 shipping.
RAM: OCZ 3gb kit (1gb x 3) 1600mhz 8-8-8-20 240-pin ddr3 dimm w/heat spreader
19.99 at MWave.com w/ $40 rebateHard Drive: 1TB Hitachi 7200RPM
$67 at newegg with coupon code: EMCHDD10ACase: Cooler Master Case Centurion 5 Case
$40 at newegg with $10 rebate and coupon code: EMCLTMM67Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S223Q/BEBN Black 22X DVD burner w/ lightscribe
$20 at zipzoomfly w/ $15 rebatePower Supply: OCZ StealthXStream 500watt PSU
$40 at newegg after $20 rebateTotal: $492, all prices include shipping.
You get a faster CPU, much bigger hard drive, faster graphics card, faster and more DDR3 RAM, better power supply,and a nicer case. What's not to like?
Plus, the Radeon 4890 is very overclockable, and the AMD Athlon II's can sometimes be unlocked into being Phenom II X4's, so you may even get a quadcore out of this. If some of the disabled cores are a bit less overclockable, you can independently overclock each core using AMD's software.
that sounds like a pretty
Submitted by DarkDeity on Sun, 06/28/2009 - 10:34am
that sounds like a pretty decent system! what would you say is your best resource for finding these codes, rebates, and coupons?
nice work again!
Submitted by robwert2020 on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 9:13am
So, I had my entire rig all setup and ready to go using this build, my virtual shopping cart was full and I was ready to complete the order at newegg - and I hesitated. As a result, the Powercolor graphics card recommended with this build is now out of stock.
Can anyone recommend a comparable graphics card for this build in both power and price? I would be more than willing to go got +/- $30 or so.
Thanks in advance!
Here you go. Video Card: HIS
Submitted by SniperXX on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 9:35pm
Here you go.
Video Card: HIS Hightech H487F512P Radeon HD 4870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161236
Or if you wanted to spend about $200 on the video card, check out the ATi 4890s.
Does it really work
Submitted by jjengel123 on Sat, 06/13/2009 - 8:16am
Okay im new to building computers (actually me and my dad didnt even build it yet) but i got unreal III and i was wondering it said that it was garenteeded to play unreal III but does it play it on high graphics or does it just barely have the specs to work??
Plz i need an answer before i build so i can get a better video card or watever i need to make it work
Oh and does this build play WoW very high graphics or does it just do enought to get by??
Submitted by Superbiz2 on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 5:05pm
Yes it will run whatever it is you want to throw at it. WoW, Unreal Tournament 3 etc. It says it plays Crysis at 40FPS (probably on high) which is good, because crysis is a hardware killer. Anyway, I own an HD4870 and it runs Unreal tournament 3 very well. So yes, it will run pretty much all your games.
Submitted by ka0tix on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 2:48pm
Rosewill and Powercolor? It's only less than 500 dollars because it's full of cheap components. Also, AMD has a better bang for the buck, and at that level, you could get a better processor for the same price.
Submitted by bgdaddy55 on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 1:22am
OK.
I have read the articles, and the comments. First of all, thank you all for being so smart.I'm not a huge gamer, so I couldn't see myself going crazy with an almost $200 video card.
It is more important to me that this computer last me a while, so I wanted to buy the almost top end of everything else. Well, maybe not top end, but at least above average. Here is what I came up with:
RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WB Black 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case
- Retail
$10.00 Instant
30.00 Mail-in Rebate
89.99
79.99
AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HD960ZWCGDBOX -
-$30.00 Instant
119.99
89.99
ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard -
Retail
10.00 Mail-in Rebate
78.99
HIS Hightech H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported ... -
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
79.99
Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT25664AA800 -
$49.99
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM-
10.00 Instant
69.99
59.99
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM
24.99 Subtotal: $463.93
Tax: $38.27
Calculate Shipping
Zip Code:
GOShipping: $35.48
Grand Total: $537.68
-$50.00 for Mail-In Rebates
New Total is $487.68. I found a clean copy of Microsoft XP on eBay for $85.00, but I would really like to know how to copy my Microsoft XP onto my new computer from my current one. Even if you add in XP, it's about $570.00. I'm not a huge gamer, but I like to have my Youtube videos flow. What do you think? Would this work?
In addition, I would appreciate any advice (links) on copying my XP over from current computer to new one. Thanks!
WHAT !!!!!!!!!
Submitted by mojosico on Mon, 05/25/2009 - 8:13am
MOJOSICO scratches his head on this one???? i know this is maximum pc , but serouily how many people actually just chuck out their old pc's when building a new one without using some of the old parts in the new pc??? now mojo can relate if you buldeing for a relative , or a friend . guess i dont have anything to complain about after all??
lol!!
Submitted by linux_dork on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 8:58am
This is not how we make budget gaming computers in today's world. A few years ago, maybe, but not today. Here is what we do today:
BUDGET: $500
$250: Biggest widescreen LCD you can find (HP 23 inch from Office Max for $240+tax)
$150: Some used computer from Craigslist with decent specs. Talked the guy down from $300, because he needs to make rent. Make sure it has Vista, probably comes with speakers, keyboard, monitor, etc.
$50: Buy some more RAM
BONUS! If the computer you got from Craigslist came with anything like a monitor, printer, scanner, etc... sell it on Craigslist and buy more RAM (and maybe the cheap video card mentioned in this article!
MAIN POINT: A big awesome screen is way more important than pure specs.
Did it right
Submitted by ozarkpcs on Tue, 05/26/2009 - 3:25pm
I don't agree with knocking MaxPC on this one, seriously, this is just a quick way to build a pc for cheap, they don't need to include a monitor, lets just picture this, you are a do it yourself, and you don't own a monitor, your an idiot at that point. Everyone and their grandma has a monitor. So let's just admit that yeah it would be awesome to have a pretty kick ass pc with a monitor for 500 bucks, but thats not going to happen. The point is just showing off some parts for dirt cheap and a good starting point. Nothing more.
Submitted by null0byte on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 5:59am
No, no, just NO.
1. Computers on Craigslist rarely (if ever) show pictures of the inside of the computer, so, unless they post the make/model of the motherboard used in the computer, you'll have little idea what the computer will support. Unless you want to assume (what's that someone said about "assume" oh yeah....), you'll need to contact the seller to get more details.
2. If it is an OEM computer like a Dell, Gateway, etc. the warranty and support do not follow it, so you'll be on your own for support if anything breaks. (this IS a second-hand computer we're talking about here, you have no idea what the original owner really did with it, regardless of what they tell you)
And to those people saying "But you don't need Windows, Linux is FREEEE!!!" (knee jerk) :
We are talking about a GAMING PC. Sadly, with the currently reality that is Linux, you're going to find yourself facing a lot of little gotchas when it comes to gaming. Telling people that if you want to do gaming "just get an emulator" is incredibly arrogant and condescending. You DO realiz that Crossover Games costs money too right? Your only other options here are to either: Bang your head constantly against a wall getting WINE up and running and configured properly, or, use an unused license of Windows you have laying around (if you have one), or, just pony up the dough for a cheap copy of XP.
Gaming on Linux as it currently stands involves a LOT more effort and headache just to play a subset of the games available for the PC. (not to mention the fact that graphics card drivers on Linux are even worse than the drivers on Windows)
Actually, the warranties do
Submitted by big_montana on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 9:26am
Actually, the warranties do transfer with Dell systems. The original owner needs to contact DEll and they will transfer teh warranty to the new owner (not that I Would ever purchase or recommned a Dell).
Submitted by DoubleHogarth on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:07pm
Anyway we can add more than just the 2GB or ram? Maybe 3GB or 4Gb?
Submitted by sedwards on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 7:09am
ok seriously guys stop dinging maxpc for not including an os, monitor, keyboard, etc. first off this probably isnt your first computer if your checking out the maxpc site so you probably already have a monitor keyboard etc that already works so this is a great guide if your problem is performance and all you really want is to upgrade your box. i realize that this makes it a bit of an issue for games (get an emulator) but if you need to factor in an os cost then just get linux. oh look now you can include an os and still be under budget.
secondly, to buy a legit windows license, monitor, keyboard, etc could cost up to like $500 easy. so wheres the rest of the budget for the guts of your computer? obviously you can't buy both for $500 and if you did buy everything for under $500 bucks I would be more worried about trying to type in ms word without it looking like a slideshow let alone playing crysis at 40fps. so at least be realistic about what they could actually build. who wants to read an article about building a pc that may include "all" the parts but the challenge is to actually boot vista or something instead of actually running a game well.
Thanks to MaxPC for the article.
Wait a minute......
Submitted by Mangoman232 on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 8:16pm
Ummmm... Surely, you've got the box and all the cool innards to call it a PC, but ummm.. let's say you get it all together, click the l/0 rocker switch to l, hit the power button on the front of the case, and .........what are you going to watch all these cool games on???? As far as assuming there's an operating system at hand, remember that when you break down the word "assume" you make an "ass" out of "u" and "me". That's an assumption that may or may not be applicable.
Also, to not factor in the price of a monitor doesn't make sense in the scheme of having a 'puter. Hell, yeah, it's downright wonderful that you can buy a real nice 21.5" Asus monitor right this minute at Newegg for less than two C notes, but there ya go... ya gotta have it to play Crysis at 40 FPS. Are we to also "assume" that a mouse and keyboard are just laying around too? I play Crysis with a very nice Deathadder mouse and the MS Natural Keyboard 4000, neither of which were free. I'm just curious as to why these items are not factored into the final cost of building this PC. None of them are options we can do without, and they're obviously parts that should be included. Yes, we can build the box and stuffing, but we won't be able to do a damb thing with it without the mouse, keyboard, and monitor.
Submitted by Cerberus049 on Mon, 05/04/2009 - 9:45am
This seems like a very find budget build computer. Although assuming we have a copy of Windows on hand seems kind of lame - not quite cardboard PC case lame, but still. That's an extra chunk of money we have to shell out. Unless we go with a Linux distribution.
That being said, I was curious how your budget build here stacks up to $500 gaming machines available on NewEgg? These rigs already have Windows 64 bit as well as more RAM and larger Hard Drives. Plus you get a manufacturer's warranty on the system. Is making a computer at a $500 budget even practical anymore??
Thanks.
Submitted by big_montana on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 9:57am
Like the author said, you should have a copy of Windows lying around, I do as I upgraded to Vista so I still have my original copy of XP Pro going unused. Plus as far as warranty goes, every part has a manufacturers warranty on the component parts if it should fail (anywhere from 1 to 5 years depending on the vendor) so that is not a concern. If you are still worried, than surf on over to squaretrade.com and purchase a warranty for the system as the remaining $40 price will more than cover a 3 year accidental damage warranty for the system. In teh meantime quit moaning and take the article in the vain it was written.
Great Idea
Submitted by matthew.ickstadt on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 12:56pm
I think this is a great idea. It helps to ccompare/see if it is worth it to build your own at $500. I looked at newegg and now I think it's really worth it. For about $675 you can get a comp with a bigger harddrive and more ram but it has a athlon X2 7750and a 9600gt. On the other side there are $550 w/Q8300 & 7050gt. My cheapo laptop has a 7000m gt and can run world of goo at 20 fps all low settings and 720x480 (yeah, I know, good thing I have a desktop).
The MaxPC build has more money spent on the GPU and thus gets better results for gaming, but the RAM is limited and extras are too.
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I may not know as much as I think I don't.
Submitted by Brad1776 on Sat, 05/02/2009 - 9:49pm
I can't give you a specific number of frame rates for WoW. But, if this thing will play Crysis at 40fps, you will have absolutely no problem play WoW with this system.
Submitted by Ohteedash on Sat, 05/02/2009 - 5:22pm
Hi, could anybody tell me when FPS this would run at on max setting on World of Warcraft?
Any help would be fantastic
Submitted by Lightning_Storm2 on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 3:26pm
Can you guys tell me if this is all compatible? Also, should i go with the PSU from MaxPC's rosewell, because i am not sure if it will power everything. If not, how much wattage should i get if i need a new PSU? This is the specs i have--
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
Open Box: POWERCOLOR AX4870 1GBD5-PPH Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
MSI P43 Neo3-F LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - Retail
Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM
Im using the same parts as MaxPC except the CPU, Videocard, 1 more gig of RAM, and a bigger harddrive.
I know this isnt a $500 rig, but im new to building pc's and could use some help!
Any comments are appreciated!
Submitted by cfmwarren on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 4:12pm
Use the help me buy/help me build section.
AMD Athlon X2 5400+ OC'd 3 GHz,2 9600 GTs OC'd 700,4GB DDR2-800 OC'd 870,X-Fi Professional Fatal1ty Ed
Submitted by tdk650 on Wed, 04/29/2009 - 4:37pm
CPU - AMD Phenom 8750 Toliman 2.4GHz - $87.00
Board - GIGABYTE GA-M61PME-S2P - $49.99
Memory - Kingston HyperX 2GB DDR2 1066 - $25.99
Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 7200 - $44.99
Video Card - SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 - $139.99
Optical Drive - HP 20X DVD+R SATA CD/DVD Burner - $21.99
Case - HEC Mini Tower Computer Case 585W Power Supply - $54.99
Subtotal - $424.94
Tax - $35.06 (California Central Valley) - (City of Manteca)
Grand total with shipping to where I live is $470.52
I have built a rig with this Tri-core, and to say they least when paried with a very similiar video card, the preformance was darn good. Leave some comments to tell me how this rig shapes up.
Submitted by Comp_Nub on Thu, 04/30/2009 - 10:08pm
Since that video card is unavailable at Newegg.com; these are some items I replaced/added...I just wanted to check if it's a go....=]....
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail
Total: $616.92
+$10.55 Shipping...
= $627.47
*I didn't add rebates*
Noteworthy comparison
Submitted by 457R4L on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 8:43pm
here is Arstechnicas comparison. http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2009/04/ars-technica-system-guide-april-2009-edition.ars . I actually think the MaxPC build is more respectable but now you have a display to consider.
Submitted by Wolfy78 on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 8:31am
This Rig isn't quite $500 but I believe true gamers on a budget will spend the extra $20.
CPU - AMD Phenom 9850 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor - OEM $140
Mobo - Foxconn A7VMX-K AM2+/AM2 AMD 780V Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $55
GPU - SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 $150
Memory - OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $39
HDD - Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive $50
DVD - LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM $23
Case - Rosewill R6426-P BK ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $26
Power Supply - Broadway Com Corp OKIA-BLACK-600 600W ATX 12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $30
Total - $513 + shipping
Submitted by hentaiboi on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 7:03pm
this baby men is rock solid. i've read the original amd build but this one pars better i think.
but again my modifications:
GTX 280 OC BFG
ram 2x2GB ddr 2 800
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Submitted by Comp_Nub on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 2:11pm
Hey, I'm new to building computers, but I was wondering: Could I buy another pack of the Crucial RAM to have a total of 4 gigs with this set up (The MaxPC setup). Thanks.
Submitted by Lavos666 on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 12:02am
Intel Core2Duo E5200
$87.99
Asus P5KPL-CM
$76.52
Corsair XMS2 6400C5 2x2GB
$39.99 after $30 MIR
CoolerMaster Elite 330
$52.25
Corsair 400CX
$49.99 after $12 MIR
Western Digital 320G
$62.16
Samsung SH-S223F DVDRW
$30.23
Evga GTX260 core216 55nm
$219.99 after $20 MIR
Total
$619.12 CAD
$509.31 USD after conversation. You could easily save 10$ by going with a cheaper case. This system would be much better option if crysis was your only concern.
No OS?
Submitted by winmaster on Sat, 04/25/2009 - 12:31pm
Everybody is posting comments on this story about better rigs that they can build for $500, but nobody, not even Maximum PC, is including an OS in that figure. $100 dollars for an OS makes a big difference when you don't have $17,000 to spend on a machine.
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