Absurd Minds

Thought I'd try to do something a bit more interesting and fun for you guys. Basically, the challenge is to do a "virtual" build going to your favorite e-retailer (Newegg, Tigerdirect, NCIX, hell even Best Buy's website) of computer hardware and try to come up with a full gaming system. The challenge is this: create a build without exceeding $800. Also, you MUST include 1 of each of the following:

- CPU
- Motherboard
- Memory (must be at LEAST 4gb of RAM)
- Hard drive (must be at LEAST 500gb)
- Video card (GPU memory must be GDDR3 or greater and must be DirectX 10.0 or greater)
- Computer chassis
- Power supply (650W or greater)
- DVD burner (must have at LEAST 1)
- CPU cooler (stock cooler is INVALID)

Optional:

- Keyboard and/or Mouse combo (can be separate)
- Monitor
- Accessories (extra lighting, fans, etc.)
- Software (operating system)

And no, you CANNOT submit pre-made systems (Dell, Alienware, CyberPC, etc.)

Hmmm, interesting.... I will try to do it.

130.99 AMD Phenom II X4 925 CPU
79.99 MSI 770-G45 CFX-ready Motherboard
89.99 Coolermaster Storm Scout case
119.99 Corsair 650HX PSU
159.99 Sapphire Radeon 5770 GPU
23.99 LG DVD Burner
109.99 Corsair XMS3 4gb DDR3 memory
69.99 Western Digital Caviar black 500gb HDD
39.98 Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU cooler
2.99 shipping charge (mobo)

-20.00 mail in rebate (PSU)
-10.00 mail in rebate (memory)

797.89 total

Wow! This was much harder to do than I expected. I had to do a lot of price cuts here and there to get the best performance (IMO) at or under the $800 limit. I initially started with a Core i5 dual core CPU and then cut that out and replaced it with the AMD CPU because the Intel P55 motherboard cost about twice as much as the AM3 motherboard listed. The only thing I really left alone from my initial list (I had a list saved in a folder) was the memory, hard drive, and dvd burner. Everything else, I had to downgrade. Seriously, this wasn't an easy feat. At first I thought it would be because my first built PC cost around $560 (that PC used mostly budget parts though) but later realized that the initial setup I listed was over $1,000. Oh and all of the stuff listed here is from Newegg.com

Lol nice! I still haven't been able to do anything with mine.