Building gaming PC (sort of) for around $400 for eq2 and AoC

[DrShields]

i already have a case and monitor and dvd and all that already have decided on 512 8800gt im just not sure about:mobocpurampowersupplyNOT SURE ABOUT BUT MAYBE: harddrive. (if i buy harddrive il have to buy vista so thats extra $).i need those 5 items and dont wana spend over $500. but do i really need a new harddrive? mine is a 150gig one that came with this comp i bought at bestbuy a lil over a year ago. my current specs are amd 64 3800+, 256 7600gt, and 1gig ddr400. i bought this comp from a store prebuilt and only thing i upgraded was the integrated graphics with a 7600gt. i quit following computer technology about 2 years ago so i dunno anything anymore. is a fast harddrive needed? ive heard some stuff about harddrive bottlenecks cus of data access speed and all that but i really dunno. i plan on using it to play games in general but mainly eq2 and then Age of Conan when it comes out. i could really use some help and have done a bit of research here and there.

[Vendolyn]

When I built my new box, I used the <a href="http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/13660" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tech Report</a> as a guide line.  The Grand Experiment, to be exact (although I went with EVGA over XFX, got a better CPU, skipped sound card and hdd).  So far, it's been a pretty solid build.  For sources, I read up between the Tech Report, NewEgg customer reviews, and asked a lot of friends.  I've built quite a few boxes over the years and this one has made me quite happy.Question: why would you need to buy Vista if you get a new hdd?  I still use and like XP, have it in this set up.

[greenmantle]

Wondering why you want to rebuild  the system rather than getting a new graphics card and more ram?

[DrShields]

<cite>greenmantle wrote:</cite><blockquote>Wondering why you want to rebuild  the system rather than getting a new graphics card and more ram?</blockquote>because my motherboard doesnt support DDR2, or dual core CPUs. more ram would mean more ddr3200 400mhz ram...which considering that ddr3 will be standard in a few months is a very stupid thing to doalso about vista, if i get a new harddrive i dont wana install XP on it one because if i spend all that money i might as well spend a few bucks more to get vista for the directx 10 support, plus xp doesnt support 4gigs of ram, at least not very well. plus u wil have to upgrade to vista eventually because it will get better. so i might as well buy it now.

[Vendolyn]

Do you plan on currently upgrading to more than 3 gigs of RAM?  If not, I'd stick with XP and worry about Vista later.

[Kursa]

<p>this shouldnt have been posted here...but ill respond anyways</p><p> Your card is ok for the game.  Not the best but certainly not the worse either.  Again, same story with your CPU.  Not the best but not the worse.</p><p>If I were you, you need to update your RAM.  Your loading screens have to be somewhat annoying when playing EQ2 with 1 GB.  I have 4 gigs of RAM and only spent about 200 bucks on it last year</p>

[bleap]

I just went through this...and I have to tell you, for the money I could have spent on a bottom barrel EQ2 playing machine, I was able to get a brand new Dell and a decent video card...You might want to see what you can get from them before you spend the money on a PC that will be obsolete the minute you bring it into the house. You have a case, but is the power supply heavy duty enough to use with a new MB/CPU/Memory and the video card you want? I have been building PCs for nearly as long as clone PCs have been available....this time I just couldn't turn down the deal I got from Dell..The funny thing is, my husband owns a company that sells and services PCs and equipment...even he couldn't beat the price of the Dell I bought...well he could have, but he couldn't justify it on his books...

[flesyMeM]

<p>If you're wanting to build a PC on the cheap and still have hope that AoC will actually be playable, you may as well forget about Vista. Vista is pretty demanding on hardware by itself (and if you want more than 3.5g of RAM you will need 64-bit Vista) and AoC is sure to have some steep hardware req's if you don't want it to look like trash.</p>

[Rqron]

There are many places out there that sell hardware and looking at what you want to do I would say it is possible if you take the time to shop around. J.C.

[tecninja]

Dude, you use $400 PC, and AOC in the same sentence.  Muhahahahaha.  Silly MMO player!!Seriously though, Tom's hardware site could help you make some informed decisions.In short, an Affordable Pentium Dual Core CPU,  A MB with a good chipset for that CPU.  4 GB of DDR 2 (DDR3 is expensive and not much better), and a good Vid Card is what you need.  You can stick with XP if you don't care about Direct X 10 for AoC.