Build A Gaming Computer

What Are the Best Gaming Computers?

Build a gaming computer that best fits your needs. In gaming, the best gaming computers are ones designed by you. A gaming desktop computer is most common, with selected computing gaming accessories.

I wanted to show you that it was possible to build a gaming computer for $500, and to give you ideas if you are on a budget.

Keep in mind also, that if a computer can be used for gaming, you can use it for any office application you have.

The best gaming computers are the ones that you build to your own specification; at the right cost of course.

The build specified here will not run today's games at top resolutions with graphics cranked up to maximum, but will be able to play them with some tweaking. Note that this build does not include a monitor or operating system.

A Gaming Computer for $500

CPU - Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160 $73.99 - To build a gaming computer, at just under $80 currently, this processor will get us started on the right foot. It is a very overclockable CPU, and at the price, you can't beat it. This processor runs at 1.8GHz, with an 800MHz FSB (Front Side Bus), and 1MB L2 Cache. Not the best stats, but as I said, it overclocks very well.

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L $88.99 - The Intel P35 is a great chipset for overclocking, which you will most likely want to do with that CPU. Even if you don't plan to overclock, this board still offers a nice selection of connections, onboard 7.1 sound, and support for up to 8GB of DDR2 1066 RAM.

CPU Cooler - Rosewill RCX-Z775-LX $17.99 - I tried to find a cooler here that would keep the price down, yet perform well enough to overclock the CPU safely. The Rosewill RXC will keep your processor temps below 50C, even when overclocked. It's a great heatsink for the price.

RAM - Patriot 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $36.00 - I have been using Patriot RAM for years now and it has always performed to expectations. For the price, this is a great pair of modules to help you build a gaming computer. With a CAS latency of 5 ms and a speed of 800MHz, it will work well with the overclocked CPU.

Graphics Card - XFX PVT88SFDFU GeForce 8800 GS 384MB $129.99 - The graphics card will be the most expensive part when you build a gaming computer, so I wanted to carefully choose which card to use. At the time of this writing, there is even a $30.00 rebate on the card, but that is not figured into the price. The 8800 GS has proven in many benchmarks and tests that it can outperform some of the higher end ATI cards such as the HD3850. That makes it perfect for our budget build.

Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500AAJS 250GB $57.99 - With 250GB, the Western Digital finds a great price point. Lower capacity drives will only save you around $10.00, and that takes you down to 160GB, so I decided to pop for the extra $10 here so that you would have a bit of room for more than just games.

Case+PSU - Antec NSK4482/NSK4482B(Black) includes 380W Earthwatts Power Supply  $91.00 - Antec manufactures quality computer cases, I have used them many times in the past. When that is paired with an Earthwatts power supply that is 80 PLUS Bronze certified for power efficiency, it's a combination that can't be beat at this price.

DVD Drive - LITE-ON Black SATA Drive $22.99 - DVD burners are pretty cheap these days. There's not much to say about this, it burns and plays DVD's and CD's, and will allow you to install your games.

Total Price: Around $518.93 To build a gaming computer!

There you have it: $518 for a budget gaming PC. If you overclock this system, it will even play games like Crysis at medium settings. The key to this build is the CPU, motherboard and graphics card.

The CPU and motherboard combination is great for overclocking, which you will most likely want to do if you use this for a gaming machine. If you are not using it for gaming, or only light gaming, you can actually save another $75.00 or so on a lower end video card, and won't need to worry about overclocking it.

When you build a gaming computer, you have control of the product and you can customize it for your play. Gaming desktop computers are still the most common (you need the space and set up to play with all the necessary computer gaming accessories).

There are some very good pre-built gaming computers on the market, but I still think the best gaming computers are the ones you build for yourself - to your own specification and your own playing needs.

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