Low budget light gaming rig. Advice welcomed !

[WalkinTarget]

I'm putting together a rig for a family friend who just watched me playing Company of Heroes, and he is hooked. He wants something cheap, and I wasn't in a piece-it-together-and-find-the-cheapest-price-on-everything mood, so I had gotten a CompGeeks email with the following specs:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...2002RS&cat=SYS

I'm planning on adding the following vid card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161196

and another 512mb RAM stick to go with it, so does this look like enough rig to run Company of Heroes ? The recommended specs are:

System: 3.0GHz Intel Pentium or equivalent
RAM: 1024 MB
Video Memory: 6800 256 MB

Going by that, I don't quite get to where I need to be, but I haven't found anything for under $250 that fits the bill like the above links. Does the 1650 compare favorably to the 6800 ?

[TheSilentAssassin]

I would think that the 6800 would be better, and definately go with 1GB of RAM.

[Grisu]

1 GB Memory is a must-have!

[WalkinTarget]

Here's the budget problem ... with what I have:

HP refurb PC - $170

Windows XP Home - $70

ATI 1650Pro - $50

Thats the $300 budget that I need to stick to, so then adding a 17" LCD jumps me all the way up to $450. So thats my dilemma, I can't even add any more to the build to stay at that figure. Mannn, budget gamer rigs are just impossible to do !!

[TheSilentAssassin]

Are you paying for this, or is someone else? Otherwise, definately upgrade the RAM to 1GB, and try to find a 6800 card.

[alpha]

when somebody wants a really really budget gaming rig, they get a lecture from me on how far just another $100 will go, and that they are buying something that is already inadequate. They don't need a screaming fast $1500+ uber rig, but I would just talk to them about how far a few extra dollars on the various parts will go.

[WalkinTarget]

I think what killed me right from the get-go was having him watch a few minutes of me playing Company of Heroes on my rig.

On a side note, they are friends of ours that are soon adopting from Guatemala, so I know money will be an issue, hence the low budget restraints. I am keeping it as low as possible, knowing that money is never just lying around after you adopt.

They are still on dialup, and I checked and found they can even get Verizon FIOS (!!!), but plan on having them purchase the low $15/monthly plan as it suits their needs much better.

[imlittlev]

are you sure you cant extend the price limit a weee bit more? you can get much more for a bit more...

edit* well my fault for not reading the post in the middle!
be sure to try Ebay for XP home, i got mine for $50 off there!

[imlittlev]

OK, i tried to come up with a reasonable list, heres my conclusion:

*********
monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824254023
cd/dvd drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106228
case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147077
HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136075
mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157108
video card (same x1650)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161196
processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819104005
RAM (2 gigs!!!, i have it, is awesome)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211066
PSU (ought to be upgrade worthy IMO)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104032
Keyboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126018

[juneau]

What resolution and kind of settings are they wanting to play this at? I played the demo quite a bit and my 7800GT struggled slightly at times. I played at 1680x1050 with medium settings.

I'm just wondering if a 6800 or 1650 will be enough.

[WalkinTarget]

Resolution is 1280x1024, as if I can't find a Good deal on a 17" LCD, they will justuse their existing 17" CRT. I may even bump it down to 1024x768, so I think the 1650 will be playable. Keep in mind the age of their existing PC (we are talking a P3-600 here) so ANYTHING will be a huge upgrade, but the dialup is their main bottleneck right now.

[juneau]

Resolution is 1280x1024, as if I can't find a Good deal on a 17" LCD, they will justuse their existing 17" CRT. I may even bump it down to 1024x768, so I think the 1650 will be playable. Keep in mind the age of their existing PC (we are talking a P3-600 here) so ANYTHING will be a huge upgrade, but the dialup is their main bottleneck right now.

That CRT might be the best way to go. It's probably not a good idea to put native resolutions into the mix, especially if they find a new game they like somewhere down the line.

[WalkinTarget]

imlittlev, nice work on the parts list !! You and I think alike on many of those items. Did you get a total on the parts to compare to the CompGeeks rig ?
I'm getting burned out on assembling rigs, so I was hoping for an easy build for a change, as I am assembling yet another rig for another customer, and this pre-built PC cut my build time down to nothing.

The good news is, I am almost out of spare parts lying around my work bench, so with the cupboards nearly bare, WT can take a break and deal with software only issues for a bit.

I'd guesstimate that I've built around 10 PCs since October, and thats from scratch as well, not just upgrading a part here and there.

[juneau]

imlittlev, nice work on the parts list !! You and I think alike on many of those items. Did you get a total on the parts to compare to the CompGeeks rig ?
I'm getting burned out on assembling rigs, so I was hoping for an easy build for a change, as I am assembling yet another rig for another customer, and this pre-built PC cut my build time down to nothing.

The good news is, I am almost out of spare parts lying around my work bench, so with the cupboards nearly bare, WT can take a break and deal with software only issues for a bit.

I'd guesstimate that I've built around 10 PCs since October, and thats from scratch as well, not just upgrading a part here and there.

I've got new parts coming soon. Want to build mine? i'm sick and tired of doing it on a daily basis.

[imlittlev]

imlittlev, nice work on the parts list !! You and I think alike on many of those items. Did you get a total on the parts to compare to the CompGeeks rig ?
I'm getting burned out on assembling rigs, so I was hoping for an easy build for a change, as I am assembling yet another rig for another customer, and this pre-built PC cut my build time down to nothing.

The good news is, I am almost out of spare parts lying around my work bench, so with the cupboards nearly bare, WT can take a break and deal with software only issues for a bit.

I'd guesstimate that I've built around 10 PCs since October, and thats from scratch as well, not just upgrading a part here and there.

yes, i decided to at least assemble a rig for the heck of it as

A: its fun to see how cheap you can get
B: the other choice is HP "ohnoes!"
C: why not?
D:what about the monitor? at almost $150 thats a nice 19in WS