PC Buyer's Guide for Entry-Level Gaming -- January 2012 - Page 3

Sound Card: Integrated
Current Price: $0
Logitech LS21 Speaker System
Current Price: $21

As in past editions of this guide, we once again decided to forego a dedicated sound card and instead chose to make do with the integrated 8-channel chipset that each of our selected motherboards comes with, pairing that with the Logitech LS21 speaker system.

Mouse: Gigabyte GM-M6800 Gaming Mouse
Current Price: $13
Keyboard: Logitech K120 Keyboard
Current Price: $11

The Gigabyte GM-M6800 Gaming Mouse and the Logitech K120 Keyboard remain our choices for input devices. At a combined price of $24, it's just a hard combination to beat.

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-pack for System Builders
Current price: $100

And as we have for months and will likely continue to until the next Windows upgrade comes along, we once again chose Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit as our operating system.

Price Roundup

AMD Phenom II X6 System
Case: Rosewill Challenger Black Gaming Mid Tower - $50
Power Supply: Antec Basic BP550 Plus 550W - $63
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Black Edition 2.8GHz - $150
CPU Cooling: Stock Cooling - $0
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ (AMD 990X) - $130
Memory: G.SKILL F3-10600CL9D-4GBPK (CAS9) 2 x 2GB kit - $25
Hard Drive: Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 500GB - $80
Optical Drive: LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner GH22NS90B - $18
Video Card: ASUS Radeon HD 6770 EAH6770/DI/1GD5 - $115
Monitor: Acer S211HLbd 21.5" 5ms 1920x1080 - $120
Sound Card: Integrated Sound - $0
Speakers: Logitech LS21 Speaker System - $21
Mouse: Gigabyte GM-M6800 Gaming Mouse - $13
Keyboard: Logitech K120 Keyboard - $11
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $100
Total Price: $901

Intel Core i7 System
Case: Rosewill Challenger Black Gaming Mid Tower - $50
Power Supply: Antec Basic BP550 Plus 550W - $63
Processor: Intel CPU: Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz - $178
CPU Cooling: Stock Cooling - $0
Motherboard: MSI P67A-G43 (P67) - $115
Memory: G.SKILL F3-10600CL9D-4GBPK (CAS9) 2 x 2GB kit - $25
Hard Drive: Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 500GB - $80
Optical Drive: LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner GH22NS90B - $18
Video Card: ASUS Radeon HD 6770 EAH6770/DI/1GD5 - $115
Monitor: Acer S211HLbd 21.5" 5ms 1920x1080 - $120
Sound Card: Integrated Sound - $0
Speakers: Logitech LS21 Speaker System - $21
Mouse: Gigabyte GM-M6800 Gaming Mouse - $13
Keyboard: Logitech K120 Keyboard - $11
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $100
Total Price: $909

Closing Remarks

We managed to stay extremely close to the $900 budget on the AMD build this time around, though we went slightly over that threshold on the Intel system. But as we have noted before, we do not factor rebate deals and instant discount/coupon codes into our prices, enough of which are available that you should easily be able to bring both of the above builds well below the $900 mark.