Build me an $800 gaming machine.

[o0Brandnewcolony]

Alright, monitor aside, we have $800 to spend.

This is a system I'm doing for a friend, who games alot, but has been using a store-bought HP. ( I know, )

Anyways, I prefer the AMD route, with emphasis on graphics, and if possible, 2gb of ram.

Have at it!

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Build me an $800 gaming machine.

I'll assume there won't be much OCing done.

I'd say go with the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra for the motherboard. It's stable, cheap, probably has more features that he'll use, and it can OC alright if you do end up doing so. Chaintech has been making some great boards since the socket 754 days. It could have more SATA ports and whatnot, but even most enthusiasts probably won't care.

On this budget, I'd say a 6800GS is perfect.

I'd go for dual 1GB sticks of any CAS 2.5 RAM. Corsair and Mushkin make some fairly cheap stuff like this, IIRC. Other "good" companies are more expensive, even for that CAS latency. If the budget spares, you could go for dual OCZ 1GB CAS 2 PC3200 sticks, but it won't make a huge difference.

Antec and Fortron both make 500W models that should do, and don't cost too much. Just make sure you get the ones with either the 24-pin connector or the 20+4-pin connector. The board will need a PSU with a 24-pin connector to be stable.

Get a retail Athlon 64 3200 or 3000. The 3000s seem to have been wiped from the face of the Earth, so a 3200 may be mandatory.

The cheapest case that he likes the look of will do. So will just about any 80GB 7200RPM hard drive, but Western Digital and Seagate are preferable.

[o0Brandnewcolony]

Re: Build me an $800 gaming machine.

Are all these available on Newegg? I can't seem to find the motherboard.

Thanks!

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Build me an $800 gaming machine.

Yep. That's because it's not there, unfortunately. Try this.

[treeonmyhead12]

Re: Build me an $800 gaming machine.

who's the rig going to be for lawton?