need gaming computer (not mac)

[biohazard6969]

ok i know that a mac forum isn't the place to be postiong for a PC related buying question. but theres no harm in asking, i didn't know where to start and figured a lot of the guys on the forums are knowledgable in the PC area as well as macs

anyways here goes

i need a CHEAP PC that i can use to adequately play battlefield 2 and half life 2 (these being the most hardware intensive games out there at th e moment)

heres the catch....i only have abaout a $1200 canadian budget

any suggestions?

 

[EvilDoc]

whats the how much is that in US dollars?

 

[chucknorris]

whats the how much is that in US dollars?

I've seen this question posed a lot. I don't know the exchange rate off hand, so I wouldn't expect a fellow U.S. citizen to. BUT it is incredibly easy to find out. There are currency converters all over the place online. Please just use one of those, because that question is totally lazy IMO...

 

[1nsanity]

Well 1200$ is really not a lot especially if that includes a monitor.

I would personnaly say wait a little bit and save just a little more.

here is a quick really quick setup I have made using prices from http://www.ncix.com. It is a canadian website kinda like newegg.com in the us, I highly recommend them. anyways here it goes:

AMD ATHLON 64 3000+ PROCESSOR S939 VENICE 1.8GHZ 512K L2 CACHE 90NM RETAIL BOX $203.06
CORSAIR VALUE SELECT PC3200 1GB 2X512MB DDR400 184PIN DIMM DUAL CHANNEL MEMORY KIT $151.13
ASUS A8N-E MOTHERBOARD ATX S939 NFORCE4 ULTRA DDR PCI-E16 PCI-E4 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA RAID GBLAN SOUND $149.50
ASUS EXTREME AX800XL/2DTV RADEON X800 XL 256MB 256BIT DDR PCI-E DUAL DVI VIVO VIDEO CARD $366.24
SEAGATE BARRACUDA 7200.7 160GB SATA W/ NCQ 7200RPM 8MB 8.5MS HARD DRIVE 5YEARS MFR WARRANTY $120.23
BENQ DW1620 DVD+-RW 16X4X16 DUAL LAYER +R 2.4X BEIGE IDE OEM W/ SW $53.99

Total:1044 CND$
Missing a case with a 24pin power supply.
Opinions and recommendation may vary its all about preferences but for that amount its really decent and can live with future upgrades!

 

[EvilDoc]

I've seen this question posed a lot. I don't know the exchange rate off hand, so I wouldn't expect a fellow U.S. citizen to. BUT it is incredibly easy to find out. There are currency converters all over the place online. Please just use one of those, because that question is totally lazy IMO...

Not lazy just that iam at work and most sites are blocked.. ( no idea why i can still view macrumors ) i think i know the exchange rate but oh well.. i think it would been just as easy for you to tell me vs you tell what to i should have done. to each his own right?

but any ways, the above specs would make a very good machine, but alot would depend if you already had a monitor, kb and mouse. i had a very similar machince ( diffrent video card ) and i played farcry with everything on max. the case shouldnt be to expensive and you should get aleast a 420 watt powersuppy...

 

[biohazard6969]

exchange rate is easy with dashboard. use unit converter

anyways thats only about $990 american

i know its not a lot but i rele watnt to play these games

i don't really know wat the sys reqs are. i figure its gotta be at LEAST 2 ghz.

i'll look around...i can always go with a rele cheap ass monitor if need be lol

 

[wako]

Well 1200$ is really not a lot especially if that includes a monitor.

I would personnaly say wait a little bit and save just a little more.

here is a quick really quick setup I have made using prices from http://www.ncix.com. It is a canadian website kinda like newegg.com in the us, I highly recommend them. anyways here it goes:

AMD ATHLON 64 3000+ PROCESSOR S939 VENICE 1.8GHZ 512K L2 CACHE 90NM RETAIL BOX $203.06
CORSAIR VALUE SELECT PC3200 1GB 2X512MB DDR400 184PIN DIMM DUAL CHANNEL MEMORY KIT $151.13
ASUS A8N-E MOTHERBOARD ATX S939 NFORCE4 ULTRA DDR PCI-E16 PCI-E4 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA RAID GBLAN SOUND $149.50
ASUS EXTREME AX800XL/2DTV RADEON X800 XL 256MB 256BIT DDR PCI-E DUAL DVI VIVO VIDEO CARD $366.24
SEAGATE BARRACUDA 7200.7 160GB SATA W/ NCQ 7200RPM 8MB 8.5MS HARD DRIVE 5YEARS MFR WARRANTY $120.23
BENQ DW1620 DVD+-RW 16X4X16 DUAL LAYER +R 2.4X BEIGE IDE OEM W/ SW $53.99

Total:1044 CND$
Missing a case with a 24pin power supply.
Opinions and recommendation may vary its all about preferences but for that amount its really decent and can live with future upgrades!

Pretty good system right there. One small change I would do on it is change the video card to a 6800 GT. The 6800 GT I believe now are $400 and get a better performance then that of the x800XL

 

[Xephian]

Pretty good system right there. One small change I would do on it is change the video card to a 6800 GT. The 6800 GT I believe now are $400 and get a better performance then that of the x800XL

I would much rather pay an extra ~$60-$80 and get a Geforce 7800 GTX which is faster than Dual 6800 GT's in SLi or wait a couple months until the 7800 GTX gets to around $400 when the R520, Geforce 7800 GT, Geforce 7800 Ultra, and Geforce 7600 GT are out.

 

[biohazard6969]

ok, how does this setup look? i looked at the sys reqs for the two games, and i think this is sufficient and then some

 

[1nsanity]

I would much rather pay an extra ~$60-$80 and get a Geforce 7800 GTX which is faster than Dual 6800 GT's in SLi or wait a couple months until the 7800 GTX gets to around $400 when the R520, Geforce 7800 GT, Geforce 7800 Ultra, and Geforce 7600 GT are out.

Sorry but the 7800gtx is a lot more expensive double the price not 60-80$. For example NCIX.com had it for like 670$ on sale. The 7800gtx imho is not worth it not for the price anyway and read carefully that card eats half the initial budget of 1200$

Pretty good system right there. One small change I would do on it is change the video card to a 6800 GT. The 6800 GT I believe now are $400 and get a better performance then that of the x800XL

Ok we could argue for ever but the 6800gt isnt that much better than the x800xl and note that in some cases the x800xl is better than the 6800gt.

Those prices I posted are all in canadian $$


This is my current pc system

AMD socket 939 3000+ 64 bit
Asus Nforce 4 A8N-E
2 gig OCZ copper (4x512)
80+120gig western digital 7200rpm 8mb buffer
MSI X800xl Dual dvi 256mb
Audigy2

Anyways I play BF2 and HL2 and it plays without a itch.
The ati card has another advantage over the nvidia. Future ati technology "crossfire" will be like nvidia's sli technology but will work differently!
You'll be able to use 2 different ati cards from 2 different generations (ati 600x and up i believe) and hook them up together to share the power. Unlike nvidia you don't need to buy 2 exact same card.

Anyways for the price you'll have a great system for over a year!

FYI: I play bf2 at those specs: 1280x1024 4Xfsaa and it never lags (gotta love cable connection too!)

 

[Xephian]

Sorry but the 7800gtx is a lot more expensive double the price not 60-80$. For example NCIX.com had it for like 670$ on sale. The 7800gtx imho is not worth it not for the price anyway and read carefully that card eats half the initial budget of 1200$




Ok we could argue for ever but the 6800gt isnt that much better than the x800xl and note that in some cases the x800xl is better than the 6800gt.

Those prices I posted are all in canadian $$


This is my current pc system

AMD socket 939 3000+ 64 bit
Asus Nforce 4 A8N-E
2 gig OCZ copper (4x512)
80+120gig western digital 7200rpm 8mb buffer
MSI X800xl Dual dvi 256mb
Audigy2

Anyways I play BF2 and HL2 and it plays without a itch.
The ati card has another advantage over the nvidia. Future ati technology "crossfire" will be like nvidia's sli technology but will work differently!
You'll be able to use 2 different ati cards from 2 different generations (ati 600x and up i believe) and hook them up together to share the power. Unlike nvidia you don't need to buy 2 exact same card.

Anyways for the price you'll have a great system for over a year!

FYI: I play bf2 at those specs: 1280x1024 4Xfsaa and it never lags (gotta love cable connection too!)

The Geforce 7800 GTX is not double the price. Here is a MSI Geforce 7800 GTX for only $479 and dropping. The Geforce 7800 GTX will drop more over these few months probably to as low as $400 for most.

 

[savar]

I've seen this question posed a lot. I don't know the exchange rate off hand, so I wouldn't expect a fellow U.S. citizen to. BUT it is incredibly easy to find out. There are currency converters all over the place online. Please just use one of those, because that question is totally lazy IMO...

According to Dashboard, its about $950. (2 seconds)

To the original poster, try reading at arstechnica.com. They frequently review the best deals for all sorts of gaming rigs, from economy all the way up to "god box" (as it were...).

 

[dejo]

Get a Voodoo PC and support your fellow Canadians...

 

[1nsanity]

The Geforce 7800 GTX is not double the price. Here is a MSI Geforce 7800 GTX for only $479 and dropping. The Geforce 7800 GTX will drop more over these few months probably to as low as $400 for most.

I am going to say that again.............
The prices I posted and the original currency used by the thread starter are all in good old candian funds !!!!!!!!!!
478 is in us dollars
478us = 580CND dollars whish is 244 canadian more than the x800xl.
Also mind you that newegg is not availalble for canadian customers so the price of 478$ is not really available to us.

Oh and Ill say that again , lets not forget that the budget for the pc system is 987.965 USD and that the 7800gtx so dearly recommended by you eats half of the budget.

For those that can't see the difference between US and CND dollars use this :http://www.xe.com/ it might help a lot!


-------------These prices are now showed in US dollars------------

Here for fellow americans those prices are now showed in US DOLLARS:
AMD ATHLON 64 3000+ PROCESSOR S939 VENICE 1.8GHZ 512K L2 CACHE 90NM RETAIL BOX $167
CORSAIR VALUE SELECT PC3200 1GB 2X512MB DDR400 184PIN DIMM DUAL CHANNEL MEMORY KIT $124
ASUS A8N-E MOTHERBOARD ATX S939 NFORCE4 ULTRA DDR PCI-E16 PCI-E4 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA RAID GBLAN SOUND $123
ASUS EXTREME AX800XL/2DTV RADEON X800 XL 256MB 256BIT DDR PCI-E DUAL DVI VIVO VIDEO CARD $30
SEAGATE BARRACUDA 7200.7 160GB SATA W/ NCQ 7200RPM 8MB 8.5MS HARD DRIVE 5YEARS MFR WARRANTY $98
BENQ DW1620 DVD+-RW 16X4X16 DUAL LAYER +R 2.4X BEIGE IDE OEM W/ SW $44
Total:858$US

-------------These prices are now showed in US dollars------------

 

[wako]

I would much rather pay an extra ~$60-$80 and get a Geforce 7800 GTX which is faster than Dual 6800 GT's in SLi or wait a couple months until the 7800 GTX gets to around $400 when the R520, Geforce 7800 GT, Geforce 7800 Ultra, and Geforce 7600 GT are out.

that was only a rumor... in real time and in games you don't see 7800gtx's do better then two 6800gt...


If you bothered looking at any benchmarks you would know the 7800gtx is only a 10% increase in performance.