Hi Everyone!
I have updated the specs for the Ultimate $600 machine in a new post here titled The UPDATED Ultimate $600 Gaming Machine.
It now has a sound card, better graphics, and a quad core processor!
Mark – 4/4/09
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I was writing another article, and I had to make a hardware list of my PC inventory. I realized that I have refined my gaming machines down to a standard set of parts over the years, that I buy the same basic list now, and it all costs less than $700. Actually, about $680.
I buy all my hardware from NewEgg.com, and every part I select is usually from their Customer Choice Award Winners list. This list is rated by the buyers of the hardware,. My logic is that if everyone else likes the parts, they will work for me. This method of picking hardware has served me very well for almost 10 years now, and I now have few hardware issues. I can also choose my price point for each hardware item, and then choose the highest rated parts for that price on the newegg site, which made it easier to write this.
So here’s the list, and where necessary a few notes. I have posted this as a Public Wish List at NewEgg. Oh, and I don’t make any money from newegg, but I like their service and return policies. Great pricing too.
Gigbyte M61P AM2 Motherboard – $75 - Gigabyte makes solid motherboards and better AMD motherboards, reasonably priced ones.
4 Gigs of Gskill DDR2 800mhz memory – $90 – GSkill makes great gaming memory – cheap gaming memory too. 4 gigs will be enough for any game you play.
AMD Athlon 6000+x2 Processor – $160 – dual core 3.3 gig processors. low wattage, great series for gamers. Comparable Intel Processor -
eVGA 8600GTS 256 MB GDDR3 video card – $140 – This is a great, low price point, 256 MB Nvidia 8000 series card. It will run almost any game you can buy at the highest settings, runs DirectX 10, and is well under $200. Nice.
Rosewill RP550-2 ATX12V v2.01 550W Power Supply – $70 – This power supply delivers 550 watts, quietly and consistently, with a cool blue lighted fan.
Cooler Master case – $40 – 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.
$30 SATA – DVD Burner of your choice (I picked a nice Samsung one on my list)
$75 250 Gig SATA 3.0 gig HD. These items are fairly easy to find if you want to add HD space or more drives. required case under $50.
You can mix this up a bit by adding a sound card, for better sound, or a better graphics card. The key here is that you can build a great gaming machine for under $700 – one with a nVidia 8000 series video card, 4 gig of RAM, and a dual core 3.3 gigahertz processor.
Let me know what you think, and if you have any questions drop me a line.
Good Luck.
at Amazon.com