Let’s build a gaming PC for $1k
I’m doing this conversational marketing campaign with Symantec. They’re going to give me a grand to build a gaming PC from parts, I’m going to write about my experiences, and then when it’s all said and done I’m going to auction the PC off for Child’s Play. (After politely breaking it in with a few games for a month or two, of course. Just common courtesy.)
Most of the posts will actually be over on the Symantec site — my first post is over there already — but I thought you guys might be interested in helping me pick out parts.
I’m going for gaming performance exclusively, so bigger hard drives or quad-core isn’t that important to me. I’d rather give up any nicety for pure speed.
I am going to splurge on one thing, though: That Antec Skeleton open-air case. It’s nearly $200, but it should make all the building and troubleshooting much less of a hassle. Plus, you know, it’s neat. And since it’ll be a gaming PC and not a multimedia workstation, I really don’t care if I can hear all the fans. It’ll be off when I’m not using it anyway.
Following the Ars Bargain Box guide I think I can squeeze in right under $1k if I ditch silly things like an outboard sound card. Vista will have to be my OS since this is a gaming box. And Intel and ATI seem to have the CPU and GPU market tied up in the low end. Just have to figure out motherboards and which CPU and GPU to actually buy.
For the record, I hate building PCs. I find it just a miserable experience. This is even worse: I’m going to build one, go through all the trouble of making it run, and then give it away. (Or maybe I’ll just donate $1k to Child’s Play. That might be easier.)
