Girlfriend wants a "gaming" computer

[luciusad2004]

I dunno if this is in the right spot or not so if not just let me know and move it.

My gf revealed to me today that she wants to save up and build a "gaming" computer. I put that in quotes because she says she plans on playing things like Roller Coaster Tycoon, The Sims, Black and White. All pretty easy on the system as far as i know.
I don't have a real budget from her yet but so far it looks to be,
Less than a thousand but more than 500. She needs peripherals and a monitor so im gonna say probably not more than 500 - 600 on the comp.

Hear is what i was thinking so far in terms of specs.

Processor: Core2Duo
MotherBoard: ? (i think it would be nice to be able to later upgrade to the quad core)
Ram: At least 2 GB
Video Card: 256MB memory...?... I really know nothing about video cards. She doesn't need anything top of the line, and she can always upgrade later.
HDD: ? She probably doesn't need anything more fancy than a single large hard drive.
Cooling: Basic cooling, nothing over-clocked or water cooled
Power Supply: ? Ill figure that out once the other components are figured.


My Idea hear is that, I want to try and get a good foundation so that as time goes on she can upgrade as she gets money. That way if she decides she wants to play some more taxing games she won't have to build a whole new rig. So i guess what i'm looking for is a thrifty build, but w/ new enough tech that if in a year or two she has more money, she can add to it.

Anybody have any ideas what i should look for? Any help would be appreciated.

Some things i don't understand to well: Graphics cards, MotherBoards; what do i look for in these components? How much money do you think should be devoted to these components?

thanks for any help.

[xRyokenx]

Mobo:
Socket LGA 775
Probably 4 200-whatever pin RAM slots with a max capacity of at least 4GB total RAM
I'd say a Crossfire/SLi board (they may cost more though) with at least 2 PCIe x16 slots
a few PCI slots
SATA HDD compatibility
...stuff like that

Video Card:
Maybe get an ATi 3850 or 3870 (2 of those uses Crossfire if you want to have that option for the future)... I have a 3870 and it runs Crysis maxed out... it is like $180 for one though.

CPU:
C2D are good and going down in price

RAM:
some sort of DDR2 800 or so, depends on the mobo you get. If you get a mobo with 2 slots, get a 2GB DIMM, if it has 4 slots, get 2x1GB or something like that

etc. etc... 1am is not being kind to me, lol... sorry if this is a little hard to understand.

[HackSore]

Ryo has pretty much hit it on the head there, just go with a motherboard that can handle ddr2 ram, pci-express x16 and has sata ports.

With the sli/crossfire thing, keep in mind that one decent video card is almost always gonna be better then 2 not so decent ones!

And from the AMD cpu angle, go for socket AM2 for upgradeability.
Although even though im running AMD and am a bit of an AMD fanboy, if the price gap isnt too hefty, i would advise going with an intel setup, but if you can get an amd setup for a lot cheaper, then it'll more then do the job.

Ryo is again right with the video card recommendations, going by the games you have listed, you will get a nice cheap ATI card that will comfortably run the kind of stuff im guessing she will want to play.

ddr2 RAM is starting to become dirt cheap now, you can get a 2gb kit off 800mhz over here for around £30 now.

[crenn]

Monitor: $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254029
Keyboard and mouse: $42.99 + $39.99 ($32.99 + $14.99 after mail in rebates)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126035
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104210
Speakers: $18.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121128

Total for peripherals: $261.96 ($226.96 after mail in rebates)

CPU: $219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
RAM: $89.99 ($74.99 after mail in rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731
Motherboard $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
Case: $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
PSU: $99.98 ($69.98 after mail in rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152030
HDD: $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
GPU: $129.99 ($109.99 after mail in rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102715

Main System total: $789.92 ($724.92 after mail in rebates)

System Total: $1051.88 ($951.88 after mail in rebates)

System run down:
19 inch widescreen LCD Monitor
Logitech Media Keyboard and G3 Mouse
Logitech R20 2.1 Speakers
Intel Core2Quad Q6600
4GB Mushkin DDR2-800
Gigabyte P35 motherboard
Antec 300 case
RAIDMAX 700W PSU
500GB WD SATAII HDD
512MB Sapphire HD3850

[luciusad2004]

Thanks for the tips, you guys rock. Ill keep browsing the egg and see what i can find, She still needs to save up, so it will probably be a little bit b4 she can really afford to build this. If i get some spare change after i purchase my monitor maybe ill help her out w/ it to. Ill post up whatever i find in a day or so. ATM i have school work i should be doing.:dead:

[crenn]

I technically should be starting a lab report, but I'm lazy. I'll update the list for components shortly.

[luciusad2004]

I technically should be starting a lab report, but I'm lazy. I'll update the list for components shortly.

Ok, LOL. Take your time, She's not in a hurry. Like i said, she needs to save some money so it might be a little while until we go through w/ this. I'm currently trying to write a six to eight minute speech on Network Neutrality... It's due tomorrow.

[crenn]

List updated.

[Ap1thy]

if shes going to be easy on the system, why not save 40 bucks and go for an e8200. also if you do go with the e8200, you could save some cash and grab an ocz stealthxstream 500w unit that would power the system just fine. just my 2 cents

[crenn]

I selected a unit around 650W for the purpose of doing upgrades at a later stage.

As for the quad core, I selected that because some of the newer C2Ds were basically $20 less than the Q6600.

[b4i7]

i havent really taken a look into hardware for a while...cuz i dont plan on upgrading any time soon..... but you could get away with and 8600 for vid card

[Ap1thy]

eh why not a 9600gt? its only $40 more and offers a hella lot more power for the price

[luciusad2004]

I should probably just think about the graphics card when she gets the money. Who knows what will be on the market by the time she is done saving. She quit her job and has to find a new one. She was a bus girl for a small restaurant and i guess they were giving her like next to nothing. On top of that they were forcing her to work off the clock so she quit and is looking for something different. It'll probably be a bit, this'll probably be on hold for now.

[xRyokenx]

Isn't it illegal to make your employees work off the clock?

[luciusad2004]

Isn't it illegal to make your employees work off the clock?

Yeah but from what she says she was probably payed under the table anyway so since she wasn't paying taxes... i doubt the government cares.

[xRyokenx]

Ahh yeah. ...jerkasses, lol.