Suggestions for an Optimal "Budget" Desktop for Playing NTW

[♔DeusVult!♔]

I posted this over on the NTW tech help forum, but was directed over here for more specific help. Here is a copy and paste of my question:

Hey guys, I have a question for you computer gurus. Firstly, I know next to nothing about computers. However, I am getting fed up with playing ETW, and (esp) NTW on low-medium settings on my laptop. I am leaning towards buying a desktop that can play this game, but I am not looking to spend too much money, as NTW and World in Conflict are the only games I play on the PC. Other than that I just use my comp for browsing the web and typing papers. I would, however, like to play NTW on at least high settings without lag. So what suggestions do ya'll have for an optimal "budget" pc for playing NTW? I want to spend under $1000 dollars as I am a college student with a part time job. And ideally I would prefer a build around the $700 range. Thanks for any tips/suggestions!

[Awqa Puriq]

Well as always if you build one you could save more money, otherwise you could take a look at Newegg. Also the resolution will affect. I found these while looking:
-Desktops with price range of $500-$750
-Desktops with price range of $750-$1000

This one seems pretty good though, but before buying check the rest of the computers since the computer seems to have some bad reviews.

[mrmouth]

Don't know where you live, but in the US there have been some great deals on Phenom ll X4 965 and motherboard combos for around $250 recently. That would be a great base to build on, and you could easily end around $700. But you would have to build it yourself, or have a local shop do it for you, which might cost $100+.

For $700 you are probably not going to be able to go Core i5, although you likely could for around $1000, if you dont need a new monitor and other crap too.

Again, to stay around $700, this is the way to go:

CPU

motherboard

[mrcrusty]

Typically building one yourself will save you money.

I can't help you with complete bundles, but part by part, I can try:

CPU: AMD Phenom II x3 720 BE - $104.99

Motherboard: Asus M4A79XTD EVO - $119.99 - $10 rebate. (Overkill, but cheap and opens the door for Crossfire in future)

Graphics Card: ATI 5770, there are about a million on newegg, each with a different aftermarket cooler, but you might as well get the XFX card, sure, it's got the reference cooler, but double lifetime warranty? - $174.99

Power Supply: Corsair HX 650 - $99 after rebate. (More than enough juice, probably overkill, but again, leaves open chance for 5770 Crossfire in future)

RAM: G-Skill 4GB DDR3 RAM - $104.99

HDD: Samsung Spinpoint 1TB - $89.99

Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion - $69.99

Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc - $24.99

Now, if you're fine with your current HDD/Optical Drive, etc you can probably ignore those sections but in total, minus shipping, you're looking at an approximate $770 bundle.

You can also get a cheaper motherboard and power supply if you want. The reason I chose those ones in particular is because they leave open the door for Crossfiring the 5770 in the future, and apparently the CF 5770 is somewhere inbetween the 5850 and the 5870 in performance.