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

Sound Card: Integrated
Current Price: $0
Logitech LS21 Speaker System
Current Price: $20

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: $15
Keyboard: Logitech K120 Keyboard
Current Price: $11

The Gigabyte GM-M6800 Gaming Mouse and the Logitech K120 Keyboard remain our choices for input devices. Though the price has inched upwards to $26, it's still a great price for a solution that should easily meet your needs.

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 FX-6100 System

Case: Rosewill Challenger Black Gaming Mid Tower - $50

Power Supply: Antec Basic BP550 Plus 550W - $65

Processor: AMD FX-6100 3.3GHz - $150

CPU Cooling: Stock Cooling - $0

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ (AMD 990X) - $130

Memory: Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB KHX1600C9D3B1K2/4GX 2 x 2GB kit - $24

Hard Drive: Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 500GB - $85

Optical Drive: LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner GH22NS90B - $16

Video Card: DIAMOND 6770PE51GB Radeon HD 6770- $100

Monitor: Acer S211HLbd 21.5" 5ms 1920x1080 - $120

Sound Card: Integrated Sound - $0

Speakers: Logitech LS21 Speaker System - $20

Mouse: Gigabyte GM-M6800 Gaming Mouse - $15

Keyboard: Logitech K120 Keyboard - $11

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $100

Total Price: $886

 

Intel Core i7 System

Case: Rosewill Challenger Black Gaming Mid Tower - $50

Power Supply: Antec Basic BP550 Plus 550W - $65

Processor: Intel CPU: Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz - $179

CPU Cooling: Stock Cooling - $0

Motherboard: MSI P67A-G43 (P67) - $115

Memory: Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB KHX1600C9D3B1K2/4GX 2 x 2GB kit - $24

Hard Drive: Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 500GB - $85

Optical Drive: LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner GH22NS90B - $16

Video Card: DIAMOND 6770PE51GB Radeon HD 6770- $100

Monitor: Acer S211HLbd 21.5" 5ms 1920x1080 - $120

Sound Card: Integrated Sound - $0

Speakers: Logitech LS21 Speaker System - $20

Mouse: Gigabyte GM-M6800 Gaming Mouse - $15

Keyboard: Logitech K120 Keyboard - $11

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - $100

Total Price: $900

 

 

Closing Remarks

We just barely managed to stick to the $900 budget on the Intel build in this edition of the guide, with the AMD build falling comfortably below that amount. And while you'll undoubtedly want to tweak our recommendations to your specific likes and needs, either of the above builds will leave you with a solid system for both work and play.