Complete Barebones PC $281 shipped AR. Phenom II X4 955 w/ cooler, Asus AM3+ mb, 4Gb DDR3 1333MHz, 1.5TB 6Gpps SATA HD, 600W PSU, Case

Quote from LxMxFxD : I know you're trying to be helpful but this is just completely incorrect. I recently built a dual core intel system and it couldn't handle battlefield 3 in the slightest. A lot of games these days now require quadcore and even though in clock for clock the i3 is far superior to the 2009 phenom II, these games will not run well on dualcore. Even the new warcraft expac will use 4 cores.

Seriously, next to no games are multithreaded at all, and the ones that are spin off something menial like the sound engine.

Ultra is frightfully bad PSU manufacture. I've lost count how many Ultra PSU's I've seen that had violent deaths.

I've also had pretty bad luck with rebates and tiger direct. One time a product that had a rebate on it arrived with the UPC removed.

Can anyone recommend a barebones assembly service? I feel like toying with a custom-built rig but have no time/desire to assemble one from scratch.

Based on my research, I see that Microcenter offers such a service, but I am nowhere near one. Directron does too, but their site is atrociously hard to navigate.

Quote from neeyo : Seriously, next to no games are multithreaded at all, and the ones that are spin off something menial like the sound engine.

Seriously you have no idea what you're talking about. Stop while you're ahead.

Quote from neeyo : Seriously, next to no games are multithreaded at all, and the ones that are spin off something menial like the sound engine.

Wow, seriously? Is he trollin?

decent deal.

Quote from LxMxFxD : I know you're trying to be helpful but this is just completely incorrect. I recently built a dual core intel system and it couldn't handle battlefield 3 in the slightest. A lot of games these days now require quadcore and even though in clock for clock the i3 is far superior to the 2009 phenom II, these games will not run well on dualcore. Even the new warcraft expac will use 4 cores.

I am sorry but I had an i3 2120 dual core and ran Battlefield 3 on high settings with a GTX 550 ti Graphics card. It is all about the graphics card mostly. The i3 is a little more expensive but destroys that AMD Card.

Can I get some assistance with a intel gaming rig barebone build? I am trying to shop smart as well as get the most I can out of my money ( which is why we are all here ) I seen this deal but I am not a fan of AMD much.. I like the price but I dont think the performance is really worth it.. Thoughts? I will be running games like "World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2" and would like the setting to be set on high.. Thanks!

Quote from Stabulous : Can I get some assistance with a intel gaming rig barebone build? I am trying to shop smart as well as get the most I can out of my money ( which is why we are all here ) I seen this deal but I am not a fan of AMD much.. I like the price but I dont think the performance is really worth it.. Thoughts? I will be running games like "World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2" and would like the setting to be set on high.. Thanks!

This all depends on what you want to spend and if you have usable older parts.

If you are an intel fan then the options for you on the low end are the G860 which is around $90 for the CPU or for a nicer system get an I5 depending on the model around $190. If you overclock you can get an unlocked I5 for just a little more. Don't worry about the differences between Ivy and Sandy.

Motherboards are all about need and want. You need something reliable, but depending on which CPU you get determines your mobo. Do you need sata 6Gb, 32GB of possible ram, USB3? All up to you, but I would do 2X4GB of ram on a low end system and 2X8GB on an I5 leaving some mem slots for upgrades.

On the low end you will probably spend $80 on a large sata hard drive, but on the higher end get a slickdeal SSD for your OS and a sata or a raid of satas for your data.

You want a brand name power supply for reliability and don't get trapped with listed wattage on them unless you have calculated your components and know what you need. They are all switching so they will only push what is needed, but you likely won't need to spend much to get a decent one.

For vid cards on the low end get a GeForce GTX 560 around $130-$150 or if you have more money to spend than get a GeForce GTX 670 around $400

I basically want this setup for Guild Wars 2. Good enough for this or upgrade something?

Quote from fivetoone : I basically want this setup for Guild Wars 2. Good enough for this or upgrade something?

If you want to play any modern game with any sort of decent visual settings you will want to get a discrete video card.

I could use some assistance on a bare bone intel gaming rig as well...

Whats funny (and unfortunate in a few ways) is if the i3 wasnt locked it they could hit 4-5GHz and mop the floor with pretty much any AMD processor in existence (but alas they are indeed locked down)

Quote from jkee : Ultra is frightfully bad PSU manufacture. I've lost count how many Ultra PSU's I've seen that had violent deaths. I've also had pretty bad luck with rebates and tiger direct. One time a product that had a rebate on it arrived with the UPC removed.

Can I get a heck yeah!!! Ultra is ultra awful. Especially since most of the debate here is about overclocking. Overclocking with an ultra power supply is asking to replace your entire system.