Perfect Gaming PC Build

There are many guides for building a gaming PC. Most of those guides cover a wide range of potential systems and often times start with an entry level of $800 dollars or more. In truth, most of these guides are completely overblown. The days of needed a multi-thousand dollar computer to run games at high resolutions and detail settings are long gone and probably won't return for years, if ever. That means that a great gaming PC can be built for an extremely low price. And when I say great, I mean it. The computer listed here will absolutely run Crysis Warhead at an average of 30fps at Gamer detail settings on the typical 22" monitor. This in turn means that most other games will be far faster. Fallout 3, for example, should average around 60fps with almost every possible detail turned to its max.

That is not to say that some gamers might not want more power. But according to the Steam survey, even this rig is far more powerful than what most gamers use. If you are a self-titled extreme gamer who refuses to play games on a monitor smaller than 30 inches, this is not the guide for you. Everyone else, however, should read on. You'll save a lot of money if you do.

The Parts List:

CPU: AMD X3 720 - $120

GPU: Radeon 4890 - $200

Motherboard: MSI 770-C45 $80

RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM - $~90

Hard Drive: WD Caviar Black 640GB $75

Case/PSU: Antec 300 w/430 watt PSU $100

Optical: DVD/CD RW ~$25

Total $690

 AMD's current lineup of processors is a dream for gamers. Games, unlike some other applications, games still have not been heavily optimized for many-core processors. They rely more heavily on clock speed and, to a less extent, cache. The degree to with any processor improves system performance is also far less than it has been in the past, so buying a top-of-the-line processor is no longer required for awesome performance.

The X3 720 is something of a compromise, with its three cores and high - but not extremely high - clock speed. But it is a good compromise. The processor is fast enough in old games to keep up with the E8400, but the third core gives it an edge in those few titles that do put more than two cores to use. In fact, the X3 720 is often equal in performance to the Core i7 920 in game benchmarks. That is amazing for a processor that retails at $120 dollars, and runs on a much cheaper platform.