GARCIAN'S "SWEET SPOT" BUILDS - MARCH 2010
NOTE: The following prices are based on standard (non-sale) Newegg prices at the time of posting. They may not be current.
I) Standard Gaming Box
A basic mid-range build for gamers of all shapes and sizes. This setup will play 99% of modern games at max settings.
CPU: Athlon II X3 440 - $87
MOBO: Asus M4A77TD - $85
GPU: Powercolor Radeon HD 4850 (for 1680x1050 and below) - $100; ASUS Radeon HD 5770 (for 1920x1080 to 1920x1200) - $160
RAM: 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws Series DDR3-1600 - $105
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450W - $65
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB - $56
DVD: Samsung SATA DVD Burner - $20
CASE: Cooler Master Centurion 5 - $55
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium - $105
TOTAL: $678 w/Radeon 4850; $738 w/Radeon 5770
II) "More Power" Box
For those few of you out there who don't mind blowing a wad of cash to push insane resolutions (i.e. 2560x1600) and/or play Crysis and a few other specific games at max settings. I must stress that only a small minority of you will need this setup.
CPU: Intel Core-i5 750 - $200
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 - $105
GPU: XFX Radeon 5850 - $310
RAM: 4GB G.Skill DDR3-1600 - $105
PSU: SeaSonic SS-550HT - $74
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB - $56
DVD: Samsung SATA DVD Burner - $20
CASE: Antec Mini P180 - $100
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium - $105
TOTAL: $1075
III) Hobo Box
A budget computer that's able to play less graphically demanding games (Source Engine, WoW, etc.) at playable framerates on max settings, and more demanding games at reduced settings. Ideal for those of you only looking for a "light gaming" rig that'll also run circles around any basic productivity/HTPC tasks.
CPU: Athlon II X2 240 - $58
MOBO: ASRock M3A770DE - $60
GPU: Biostar Radeon 4670 - $63
RAM: 4GB G.Skill DDR3-1600 - $105
PSU: SeaSonic SS-400ET 400W - $57
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB - $56
DVD: Samsung SATA DVD Burner - $20
CASE: Cooler Master Centurion 5 - $55
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium - $105
TOTAL: $579
"'Casual games' are something the 'Game Industry' invented to explain away the Wii success instead of actually listening or looking at what Nintendo did. There is no 'casual strategy' from Nintendo. 'Accessible strategy', yes, but ‘casual gamers’ is just the 'Game Industry''s polite way of saying what they feel: 'retarded gamers'."
-Sean Malstrom
Essay Pro