If any one is looking to put together an affordable graphics rig
Test Setup
PlatformCPU AMDAMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 (65 nm; 2100 MHz, 2x512 kB L2 Cache)CPU IntelIntel Pentium Dualcore E2160 (65 nm; 1800 MHz, 1 MB Shared L2 Cache)Motherboard AMDMSI K9AGM2-FIH, Socket AM2 (Rev. 1.02)
AMD 690G ChipsetMotherboard IntelElitegroup G33T-M2, Socket 775 (Rev. 1.0)
Intel G33 ChipsetRAMPatriot PDC21G6400LLK
2x 512 MB DDR2-800 (CL 5-5-5-15 2T)Hard Disk DriveSeagate Barracuda 7200.10
320 GB, 7.200 RPM, 16 MB cache, SATA/300DVD-ROMSamsung SH-S183Graphics CardGigabyte Radeon HD 2600 Pro w/ Silent Pipe II Cooling
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 2600Pro (600 MHz)
RAM: 512 MB GDDR2 (800 MHz DDR)Sound CardIntegratedPower SupplySilverstone ST50EF-Plus
ATX 2.2, 500 WattSystem Software & DriversOSWindows XP Professional 5.10.2600, Service Pack 2DirectX Version9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)Platform Drivers AMDVersion 8.40Platform Drivers IntelVersion 8.3.0.1013Graphics Drivers ATICatalyst 7.8
Our $500 Shopping Cart
AMD PlatformIntel PlatformProcessorAthlon X2 BE-2350
$ 95Pentium Dual Core E2160
$ 92MotherboardMSI K9AGM2-FIH
$ 69Elitegroup G33T-M2
$ 89RAMPatriot PDC21G6400K, 2x 512 MB DDR2-800
$ 49Graphics CardGigabyte Radeon HD 2600 Pro
$ 85Hard DriveSeagate Barracuda 7200.10, SATA/300, 320 GB
$ 65Power SupplySilverstone ST50EF-Plus
$ 99CaseCoolermaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 Black/Silver
$ 49OtherSamsung SH-S183 DVD-ROM
$ 30Total Cost$ 541$ 558
We haven't included the lowest-available prices, but usually picked the second best price, which better reflects what you will end up paying, including shipping cost, or when you buy the components at your local computer store. You can certainly save some money by selecting a cheaper power supply, recycling your optical drive or going with a simpler graphics card. However, in our opinion, this doesn't make much sense. A price range of $500 to $520 is what you can expect when you invest in these components or similar ones.
PlatformCPU AMDAMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 (65 nm; 2100 MHz, 2x512 kB L2 Cache)CPU IntelIntel Pentium Dualcore E2160 (65 nm; 1800 MHz, 1 MB Shared L2 Cache)Motherboard AMDMSI K9AGM2-FIH, Socket AM2 (Rev. 1.02)
AMD 690G ChipsetMotherboard IntelElitegroup G33T-M2, Socket 775 (Rev. 1.0)
Intel G33 ChipsetRAMPatriot PDC21G6400LLK
2x 512 MB DDR2-800 (CL 5-5-5-15 2T)Hard Disk DriveSeagate Barracuda 7200.10
320 GB, 7.200 RPM, 16 MB cache, SATA/300DVD-ROMSamsung SH-S183Graphics CardGigabyte Radeon HD 2600 Pro w/ Silent Pipe II Cooling
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 2600Pro (600 MHz)
RAM: 512 MB GDDR2 (800 MHz DDR)Sound CardIntegratedPower SupplySilverstone ST50EF-Plus
ATX 2.2, 500 WattSystem Software & DriversOSWindows XP Professional 5.10.2600, Service Pack 2DirectX Version9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)Platform Drivers AMDVersion 8.40Platform Drivers IntelVersion 8.3.0.1013Graphics Drivers ATICatalyst 7.8
Our $500 Shopping Cart
AMD PlatformIntel PlatformProcessorAthlon X2 BE-2350
$ 95Pentium Dual Core E2160
$ 92MotherboardMSI K9AGM2-FIH
$ 69Elitegroup G33T-M2
$ 89RAMPatriot PDC21G6400K, 2x 512 MB DDR2-800
$ 49Graphics CardGigabyte Radeon HD 2600 Pro
$ 85Hard DriveSeagate Barracuda 7200.10, SATA/300, 320 GB
$ 65Power SupplySilverstone ST50EF-Plus
$ 99CaseCoolermaster Centurion 5 CAC-T05 Black/Silver
$ 49OtherSamsung SH-S183 DVD-ROM
$ 30Total Cost$ 541$ 558
We haven't included the lowest-available prices, but usually picked the second best price, which better reflects what you will end up paying, including shipping cost, or when you buy the components at your local computer store. You can certainly save some money by selecting a cheaper power supply, recycling your optical drive or going with a simpler graphics card. However, in our opinion, this doesn't make much sense. A price range of $500 to $520 is what you can expect when you invest in these components or similar ones.