A companion to our Enthusiast Gaming PC Buyer’s Guide, this Entry Level PC Buyer's guide has a lower $900 budget and aims to show that you can still build a perfectly capable system for less than a $1,000. This Entry-Level Gaming PC Buyer’s Guide will offer processor and motherboard suggestions for both an Intel and AMD system, though the other components will mostly remain the same. And while you'll need to make even more compromises with a $900 budget than had to be made with our Enthusiast system, you’ll still end up with plenty of power to get some work, and some gaming, done.
System Case: NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Mid Tower
Current Cost: $36
With the old saying of, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” in mind, we again went with the NZXT GAMMA GAMA-001BK mid-tower case for this build. At a price of only $36, there’s a lot to like about this case.
Measuring 7.48” (W) x 17.68” (H) x 20” (D), this mid-tower should still allow you to fit whatever graphics card you choose to put into your system. While NZXT only included one 120mm fan, mounted in the rear, the case supports five additional 120mm fans and comes with pre-drilled holes for those who wish to go with liquid cooling. And showing that form can go hand-in-hand with function, it sports a design that screams “gaming system.”
Power Supply: Antec Basic BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified
Current Cost: $55
Also returning is the Antec BP550 Plus, a 550w power supply that is 80 PLUS Certified. With its module cable design, three +12v rails, it’s just a hard PSU to beat at this price point.
AMD CPU and Cooling: Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition (3.3GHz) w/ Bundled Cooling
Current Cost: $190
Previously appearing as our recommendation in the Enthusiast Gaming PC Buyer’s Guide, the 3.3GHz Phenom II X6 1100T is now our recommendation for entry-level builds, as well. This AM3 socket processor comes with 6MB of L3 cache and 512KB of L2 cache dedicated to each of its six cores. And as with other Black Edition processors, the 1100T’s multiplier is unlocked, allowing for overclocking.
Intel CPU: Core i5-2300 (2.8GHz) w/ Bundled Cooling
Current Cost: $185
Also changing since the last edition of this guide is our Intel CPU recommendation. This time around, we’re going with the 2.8GHz i5-2300 Sandy Bridge processor. With 6MB of L3 cache and 256KB on each of its four cores, this quad-core processor offers plenty of power at a reasonable price.
AMD Motherboard: ASUS M4A87TD EVO (AMD 870)
Current Price: $105
This motherboard from ASUS, with AMD 870 and AMD SB850 chipsets, offers two PCIe 2.0 x16slots, four memory slots (with a max of 16GB of RAM), six USB 2.0 ports in the rear (plus six more mid-board), two USB 3.0 ports, gigabit LAN, integrated 8-channel audio, and six SATA 6Gb/s connections.
Intel Motherboard: MSI P67A-G43 (P67)
Current Price: $125
Out switch to a Sandy Bridge processor meant switching to an LGA1155 motherboard, as well. This MSI, with a P67 chipset, offers two PCI-E slots, two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots, four memory slots (with support for up to 32GB of RAM), two USB 3.0 ports, eight USB 2.0 ports, gigabit LAN, integrated 8-channel audio, and two SATA 6GB/s connections.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-10600CL9D-4GBPK 2 x 2GB kit
Current Price: $36
The 4GB G.SKILL kit remains our choice for both of our builds should offer plenty of memory for an entry-level gaming machine. In each of our builds, though, this will leave two memory slots available. So users who find themselves needing (or just wanting) more will have room to grow.
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB (Bare Drive)
Current Price: $55
This drive from Samsung remains our choice, offering plenty of performance and space with only a few compromises having to be made: namely its 32MB cache and 3.0Gb/s SATA interface. Despite these, this 7200rpm drive is sure to please and is a perfect fit for an entry-level gaming system.
Optical Drive: LG DVD±RW GH22NS50B SuperMulti Drive Black SATA Model (OEM)
Current Price: $19
When faced with the choice to spend more on processors or more on an optical drive, we once again decided to forego a Blu-ray drive and stick a DVD burner. As we’ve noted before, though, the LG we went with offers plenty of speed for the money and should more than meet most users’ needs.
Video Card: Sapphire 100283-3L 5770 Radeon HD 5770
Current Price: $115
Still offering plenty of power for entry-level gamers, the RADEON HD 5770 remains our choice for this build. The specific model we chosen to mention is once again from Sapphire, though others are also available and rebate deals often abound. So keep checking prices for this and other models as you go through your build.
LCD: Acer X223WDbd Black 22" 5ms 1680x1050
Current Price: $120
As we moved to higher-end (read: more expensive) processor choices, something had to give. And one of the compromises we made, this time around, was going from our previous 23” monitor recommendation to a 22” model. Still, we think we’ve gone with a solid choice in recommending the 22” Acer X223WDbd. It offers a 5ms response time, 1000:1 contrast ratio, and 1680x1050 resolution. Connections include an analog connector and a DVI port.
Sound Card: Integrated
Current Price: $0
Logitech LS21 Speaker System
Current Price: $20
Given our $900 budget, we once again decided to forego a dedicated sound card and make do with the integrated 8-channel chipset that each of our selected motherboards comes with. Paired with the Logitech LS21 speaker system, though, we’re still left with some darned good sound for a price of only $20.
Mouse: Razer Abyssus Gaming Mouse
Current Price: $30
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-7300 Multimedia Keyboard
Current Price: $12
We’re once again recommending the same pairing that we did in the last edition of this guide. This mouse from Razer and keyboard from Rosewill offer the flexibility and functionality that one is looking for in a gaming system as a combined cost of only about $42.
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-pack for System Builders
Current price: $100
And finally, we again chose Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit as our operating system. For an entry-level gaming system, this choice pretty much made itself.
Price Roundup
AMD Phenom II X6 System
Case: NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK - $36
Power Supply: Antec Basic BP550 Plus 550W - $55
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition 3.3GHz - $190
CPU Cooling: Stock Cooling - $0
Motherboard: ASUS M4A87TD EVO (AMD 870) - $105
Memory: G.SKILL F3-10600CL9D-4GBPK (CAS9) 2 x 2GB kit - $36
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB - $55
Optical Drive: LG DVD±RW SuperMulti Drive Black SATA Model GH22NS50B - $19
Video Card: Sapphire 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770- $115
Monitor: Acer X223WDbd Black 22” 5ms 1680x1050 - $120
Sound Card: Integrated Sound - $0
Speakers: Logitech LS21 Speaker System - $20
Mouse: RAZER ABYSSUS Gaming Mouse - $30
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-7300 Multimedia Keyboard - $12
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $100
Total Price: $893
Intel Core i7 System
Case: NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK - $36
Power Supply: Antec Basic BP550 Plus 550W - $55
Processor: Intel CPU: Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz - $185
CPU Cooling: Stock Cooling - $0
Motherboard: MSI P67A-G43 (P67) - $125
Memory: G.SKILL F3-10600CL9D-4GBPK (CAS9) 2 x 2GB kit - $36
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB - $55
Optical Drive: LG DVD±RW SuperMulti Drive Black SATA Model GH22NS50B - $19
Video Card: Sapphire 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770- $115
Monitor: Acer X223WDbd Black 22” 5ms 1680x1050 - $120
Sound Card: Integrated Sound - $0
Speakers: Logitech LS21 Speaker System - $20
Mouse: RAZER ABYSSUS Gaming Mouse - $30
Keyboard: Rosewill RK-7300 Multimedia Keyboard - $12
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $100
Total Price: $908
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