the inquisitive techie

A little over a year ago I built a $600 gaming machine for my kids, and wrote a post about it.  It’s been one of my most popular posts ever, with over 1,000 views, many comments posted, and quite a few emails generated.

I was building a PC for a friend recently, and decided that the original PC needed to be updated. So I rolled up my sleeves and here is the result.  I have upgraded to a Quad Core Processor, a Phenom X4, and have added a Creative Labs X-Fi Sound Card, so the machine is better, faster, and has upgraded sound.   Here is a direct link to the newegg.com Wish List.

ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard  – $79 - Asus makes well received motherboards, and this has great specifications.  We saved $50 by choosing an ATX mini motherboard instead of a regular ATX motherboard.

CORSAIR 4GB DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $59 – Corsair is a leader in gaming memory.  This 4 gigs kit comes in 2 sticks, which allows you to run the memory in Dual Channel Mode for improved performance.  The motherboard will support a total of 8 Gig of memory in four slots, so you can upgrade to the maximum of 8 gig by simply doubling this memory order.

AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor – $95 – QUAD CORE 2.3 gig processor.  This Black Edition runs at only 95 low low Watts for reduced heat, and improved performance.  The Phenom X4 series is a great series for gamers, as the newer Phenom II processors are three times the price and certainly not 3x the performance.

EVGA GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card – $120 – This is a great, low price point, 512 MB Nvidia 9800 series card. Ihave been eVGA customer for years.  Their products are warrantied for life, and the last time I returned a card that died, I received an upgraded card for free!

Here is the one notable upgrade to the $600 Gaming PC:  A SOUND CARD!

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card – $91 – This is a great sound card, runs Dolby Home Theater sound, has Toslink Digital SPDIF audio outs, and is the reason I shaved a few dollars in other areas.  But we now have awesome gaming sound and improved overall PC performance by taking the sound processing off of the main processor and moving it onto the powerful 24 bit Creative Labs X-Fi audio processor.

Rosewill RP550-2 ATX12V v2.01 550W Power Supply – $50 – This power supply delivers 550 watts, quietly and consistently, with a cool blue lighted fan.

Cooler Master case – $50 – This case has great ventilation, can be set up with almost no tools, and is pretty sharp. It is also roomy and will hold additional drives and equipment if you would like.

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe – Black – $25 – I like LightScribe well enough, but the only reason it’s here is because its free.  This SATA drive is fast, quiet, and  mostly cheap.

Western Digital 650 Gig 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 gig HD – $7o . Fast, quiet, and nice amount of storage for just $70.

You can mix this up a bit by adding a better graphics card, bigger hard drive, or a snazzier case if you would like. Remember, the goal here was to build a great gaming machine for $600, and we did that.  A PC with an nVidia 9800 series video card, 4 gig of fast gaming tuned RAM, and a QUAD CORE Phenom X4 processor.  The total parts list on my newegg wish list was $639, with $40 in mail in rebates.  That drops the total price to just $599.  What a great deal for a high end gaming PC.

I have built this machine, and it runs every game well on high settings.  The parts are all warrantied through the manufacturers, and New Egg has great return and exchange policies.

Let me know what you think, and if you have any questions, or need any help feel free to drop me a line.

Good Luck.