Budget Compact Gaming Rig

[ARom]

Putting together a budget gaming desktop for less than $500 (lower is better, I'm only interested in the GPU and CPU that won't bottleneck). I'm looking for suggestions although I will use the Desktop Reviews "best desktop you can build for $X" as a basis.

I will probably go with mostly used parts except for the Case w/PSU, the Motherboard and RAM.

I fly home every 8 months from college so I need a reasonably compact machine that I can fit in a big suitcase entirely or unscrew and fit in a suitcase along with the components wrapped in bubble wrap. (computer parts > clothes)

Do you know of a better budget compact case than the Micro ATX Cube Computer Case with 400W PSU? (11" width x 9" height x 13.8" depth w 400W power supply?)

MOTHERBOARD - BIOSTAR G31E-M7 LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

PROCESSOR - Used Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W

MEMORY - 2GB RAM

HARD DRIVE - Used Western Digital 250GB/320GGB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache

OPTICAL DRIVE - Samsung 22X SATA DVDR /Cheapest SATA DVDRW

GRAPHICS - Used ATI Radeon HD 5770

Thoughts / Conflicts?

[Grimmwold]

Strongly recommend you look into getting 4GB of RAM so you don't end up having to page everything. Games want ram!

edit::I only say this because the ram doesn't say used. If yer gonna buy, buy enough, as you only have 2 ram slots on that mobo. Therefore any upgrade will make you ditch what you bought previously.

[finchey-lv]

I'll tone it down abit this time for Snow Fox, but if you are looking at a build under $500, why not consider an AMD processor? The money you save could allow you to upgrade your memory, and buy a new HD instead of a used one. I also personally prefer the NVIDIA chipsets to ATi, but I seem to be in the minority. You might find my step-by-step guide to building a pc informative as it covers picking parts for a variety of applications, from budget builds to higher-end systems.

[Snow_fox]

@ARom -
This is only my personal thoughts on it. *If* you plan on keeping this computer.. go with a mid sized tower and seperate PSU.

I know your on a tight budget but, having a seperate PSU and a larger tower means you have more upgrade options later and aren't looking at getting a new case and psu then.

I know your only *looking* for cpu and gpu performance.. however, you may save money in the future.

*Edit*I am not sure how to handle the flying home and college situation. Honestly my brothers comp is a mid sized tower and I could fit it in a decent sized suitcase. It would be another suitcase you'd have to bring.. but, you could squeeze some other stuff in there.



@ Finchey, I did not make my suggestion in order to bash you or anything. I do work in sales however, and any time you come on too strong you risk alienating someone as opposed to helping them.

The post in this thread is much better. I am only trying to help. If you feel in anyway flamed then I do apologize and have no problem discussing that in pm.

[KryptoRoxx]

I know this is a more expensive case but have you considered a Lanbox from Thermaltake? It has a handle on the top so that you can carry it around. Beyond that I can say that for it's size you can work with what's inside very easily. You can also build as powerful as you like within the limits of how you deal with the heat. Here's a link to it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133035

It is a hundred bucks but I have a lanbox lite in my house and have an ATI 4850 inside without any overheating issues. It also has a quad core intel and 4gb of performance ram so it can get rather heated in there. I would recommend a Thermaltake ORB for the cpu cooler and some artic silver 5 for the cpu. That cooler will help you out with keeping the heat off of your cpu. It will also fit inside the case which is kind of a hard thing to find. In addition to those two parts I mentioned I recommend this mobo. I run it currently in my lanbox and it is very solid. I haven't worked with the gigabyte board you picked but I know for a fact this board is solid.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131387