Budget Gaming PC Setup Parts List: the PC Case and its Internal Components

RAIDMAX AZTEC ATX-619WB ($69.99)

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For a mid-tower, there is plenty of space and a lot of expansion drive bays (4 x 5.25” external, 2 x 3.5” external and 4 x 3.5” internal). It's a beautiful PC case, and a very sturdy one: it's made with 1.0mm thick SECC steel, so it's safe to handle (case material won't bend easily) and move around (like to a LAN party). Both side panels fold out allowing for easy component installations, upgrades and cleaning. This case comes with 4 fans, so it's very well ventilated and kept cool inside.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ ($51.99)

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This dual-core processor strengthens AMD's position as the leader of affordable CPU performance. You will be able to get high fps while maintaining decent levels of detail in your games. Unless you plan to overclock the CPU, the heatsink and fan included in the retail version will do just fine. The OEM version does not include a heatsink or fan. By buying this processor, you can save your money for the next generation of AMD processors: the Phenom II. It is coming out next January, and it reportedly rivals Intel's current best line of desktop CPUs, the i7.

ASRock A780GXE ($79.99)

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Coming from the budget line of ASUS motherboards, you can rest assured that this motherboard provides excellent quality, performance and value. The onboard video (AMD Radeon HD 3200) and audio (Realtek ALC888) make for a very nice backup solution. There is great upgrade potential, from the peripherals (10 USB ports) to the expansion slots (2 PCIe 2.0 x16, 1 PCIe x1, 3 PCI) to the AM2+ CPU socket - you will be able to install the Phenom II processor on this motherboard.

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB ($69.99)

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Sure there are drives with much larger data capacities than this drive (like the 1.5TB 7200.11 from Seagate), but what's really important for gaming is performance and reliability - this SATA 3.0Gb/s 7200 RPM drive delivers big time on both aspects. For the price, you still get a lot if space though - plenty enough to install all your favorite games. The 32MB cache ensures smooth and quick data writing/reading operations, so your games won't be slowed down by this hard drive.

Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 ($31.99)

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With this kit you get the benefits of a dual channel setup, which is an absolute minimum to go for when building a gaming PC. Essentially, this doubles the speed at which data travels between the memory controller and the memory. With games having ever higher CPU requirements, the last thing you want to do is to keep your CPU waiting because of a slow memory module. Those lost fractions of seconds can spell the difference between victory and defeat.

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD burner ($28.99)

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Although game downloads are gaining popularity, most games are still distributed on CDs and DVDs, so you will need a fast and reliable DVD drive like this Samsung to install and play your games. Since this drive is for a budget gaming PC, there is no need for a newer Blu-Ray drive, which is more intended for a general entertainment system. Plus, good quality Blu-Ray drives and Blu-Ray burners can cost as much as 4 and 9 times the price of this drive respectively.

EVGA GeForce 9500 GT 512MB ($64.99)

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This card supports the DirectX 10 and OpenGL 2.1 3D APIs, so you'll be able to play the most recent games with it. Supporting a resolution of up to 2560x1600, this card can show your game on even the biggest HDTVs and monitors out there - it comes with all the connections and cables required (HDTV & S-Video). Increasing the resolution however means harder work for the video card; you will have to turn down the game settings accordingly to avoid getting choppy framerates.

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 ($90.99)

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The X-Fi line of Creative audio cards brings affordable, high quality surround sound to your PC. Unlike the stripped-down version of the X-Fi (XtremeAudio), here you get a true X-Fi card. It has hardware acceleration and EAX Advanced HD 5.0 support (for the best immersive audio experience in your games). As is the case with video, audio processing tasks need to be delegated to a card with its own processor (such as the XtremeGamer) for optimal performance, because it will take workload off the CPU.

Antec BP550 Plus 550W ($89.99)

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Antec has a long standing reputation of making rock solid power supplies, and this one is no exception. For our budget gaming PC, 550W of power is plenty enough. The included active PFC will give your PC components cleaner, more stable energy. Unneeded wires can be disconnected from this power supply, since it is a modular model. Doing so will leave more space in your case and increase airflow, helping keep your PC case temperature cool. The 120mm fan also helps in that regard, by quietly but effectively sucking warm air out of the case and sending it out through the mesh grill in the back.

The total cost of the case and its installed components is $578.91, which I believe is very affordable considering I did not skimp on quality or features for any component. If you need help assembling your PC, here's a great, step by step guide with pictures. In the next and final article of this series, find out which items I selected to complete this budget gaming PC setup.