Question - new computer time (1 Viewer)

[hoosierbilly]

It's getting about time for new desktop computer. Looking what Amazon and Best Buy this morning and realized I have not kept up with the terminology and technology. So... I am hoping to run up to 6 boxes, using only MQ2 with my own macros and a web browser open. How much computer do I really need and what can I get for about $500. Keep in mind I am now officially old and need a system I can just turn on and go.

BTW - I will probable only shop at Best Buy or Amazon so links to other on-line shops won't do me any good.

how much memory is enough?
is solid state hard drive really necessary?
What graphics cards are best?
How much video RAM is enough?
Radeon vs NeGforce cards?
Intell vs AMD processors?

Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

Is it to early to wish everyone a very merry Christmas?

 

[Eltai86]

Do you use the computer for anything besides web browsing and Eq? Will you only ever want to run 6 boxes or would you like the option for more? Do you want 6 boxes with all models and top graphics? Do you want significant file storage? Does things ever running slower annoy you?



Assuming EQ 6 box and options to minimize needs of the game:

Ram: 8 would do you, 16 would give you room to spare
Solid state:necessary no, nice yes. I run a 500 gb ssd and then have 3 Tb traditional drives for storage and backups of all my work files.
Video card: best or best bang for buck?
I personally am a fan of nvidia chips.
I personally go with Intel chipsets.


My most recent build is a hex core Intel chip, nvidia 970 with 32 gb of ram. This machine wasn't built with Eq alone in mind but rather for advanced ecological and biological modelling it just happens to powerhouse Eq as a side result. I'll take a look later at bestbuy and Amazon and see what options they have available for you.

 

[hoosierbilly]

Do you use the computer for anything besides web browsing and Eq? Will you only ever want to run 6 boxes or would you like the option for more? Do you want 6 boxes with all models and top graphics? Do you want significant file storage? Does things ever running slower annoy you?



Assuming EQ 6 box and options to minimize needs of the game:

Ram: 8 would do you, 16 would give you room to spare
Solid state:necessary no, nice yes. I run a 500 gb ssd and then have 3 Tb traditional drives for storage and backups of all my work files.
Video card: best or best bang for buck?
I personally am a fan of nvidia chips.
I personally go with Intel chipsets.


My most recent build is a hex core Intel chip, nvidia 970 with 32 gb of ram. This machine wasn't built with Eq alone in mind but rather for advanced ecological and biological modelling it just happens to powerhouse Eq as a side result. I'll take a look later at bestbuy and Amazon and see what options they have available for you.

It is very unlikely that I will ever do more then 6 box, but I suppose you never know.
I am looking at the what is needed to 6 box. If I can get better, of course I will.
I am also likely to get a computer off the shelf from a big box store. I'm not sure I can still handle putting one together from parts, sigh.

 

[Derp]

BTW - I will probable only shop at Best Buy or Amazon so links to other on-line shops won't do me any good.

I would add Newegg to that list if I were you. They have solid deals on computers fairly often and you can get a high quality computer there. Best Buy always seems over priced and Amazon--as much as I love it--isn't really a "computer shop".

 

[Warl0ck45]

CompUSA is a solid computer store, if you happen to have one nearby. If not , they are also TigerDirect.com. If it has to do with computer hardware, they got it... in pieces or put together. You can see what they consider a "top of the line" gaming machine VS a "budget" rig, and they have "barebones" deals that strip out a ton of stuff. If all you are looking for is a basic rig with nothing but some version of windows and EQ on it.....may be worth your time to look into it (or ask someone you trust to look them over)

As for specs... well windows will use 1-2g of ram on start up, depending on how many services and other hoopla ya got turned on/installed.
EQ will burn 1-1.5 depending on your settings and memory reduction techniques

So ( again this is just "rule of thumb" guessing, entirely depends on set up ) looking to use roughly 8-11g of ram, I would shoot for over that.

SSD are awesome but expensive (and in some cases worse then traditional) and not needed. They will help you reach the "10 second boot up" mark, but unless you want to spend some cash, not where you want your budget dollars pooled at.

Intel has been kicking the crap out of AMD for a while now in everything except price ( at least last time I got caught up on CPUs) Intel is more stable, but (depending on the chipset) you run into locking issues if you are into overclocking your rig. AMD has lower scores on most tests, but at it's cheaper price and factory tools to help overclock make it the home builders preferred chip. EQ does not utilize multiple cores... how ever MQ ( and winEQ/ISBoxer I believe) have some "round robin" core assigning set ups... it would be better to run with something with 6+ cores if you can swing it. (I am an Intel guy, but that is sorta like being a Chevy guy. AMD gets the job done at a decent price, and you wont notice the performance dip unless you are at the edges of the rig's capabilities, and generally you can get more in the AMD chip vs Intel at comparative prices....this is sorta like argueing a V8 vs a V6 engine... Intel has the horsepower and performance, AMD gets the job done, just not as milisecond fast...if you are building a budget rig , go with AMD)

Graphics... historically speaking the EQ's graphics engine occasionally has issues with ATI cards... enough so you occasionally have to juggle drivers. Nvidia has not has as many issues, and generally just has the 1 driver fits all approach. I generally have less issues with chasing down glitches/bugs with Nvidia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_units#GeForce_900_Series

this link is maintained decently. It has a lot of technical jargon to soothe the inner geek.... the things I personally look for when shopping are the onboard VRAM, GPU, and the Bandwidth (how much information the card will push out) The more you want to spend, the better performance you can get, as usual. This is more of a "be somewhat aware" guide, since you are not building. May help with the comparison list =)

I am not much for being one to tell someone "go buy this" cause, then you are responsible when it all goes to hell =P

How ever , I will say BB does a decent job of making sure you are happy with what you are buying, and generally employ some sales guys who can answer questions intelligently. Most of them in the PC section ought to be gamers themselves, and willing to talk shop with you.

At a bare minimum, in my opinion, shoot for something with 8G+ of ram (fairly standard) with the plan to put more in as/when you can since with boxing, the more RAM the better. Shoot for something with 4+ cores, which may require you to google the CPU specs since "off the shelf" PC's don't like to advertise too many details.(at the least you can find decent spec descriptions looking up the parts at Tigerdirect.com) Dual core will work... I think someone posted elsewhere they ran 16 bots on one... but frankly the prices have come down enough that it is worth spending the money for the performance boost. And HD's are getting CHEAP, no reason to not shoot for 1t+

 

[DriveCrash]

how much memory is enough?

8 GB is fine. More will give your computer more breathing room, but that gets tricky with pre-built machines. (most only have 2 memory slots)

is solid state hard drive really necessary?

Definitely not required. If you get really ambitious you can pick up a cheap 70-128GB SSD and add it just for game folders

What graphics cards are best?

EQ is not graphically demanding, even with models and effects on. Most of the workload is done by the CPU.
for Nvidia, stay away from cards numbered lower than x50 (where x is the generation). a 400 series or newer should work fine. IE: a Nvidia Geforce 460.
for AMD/ATI, same rule.. stay in the x500+ range. A generation 4000 or newer should work fine. I personally run a AMD Radeon 6800, but that is for other games.. EQ never gives the card a workout, even with 7 accounts running.

How much video RAM is enough?

1GB video ram is more than enough. Anything extra isn't needed. EQ textures are very small. I would try to stay at 512MB or higher though.

Radeon vs NeGforce cards?

IF you get a Intel CPU, get Nvidia Geforce.. for AMD processors, go with AMD/ATI Radeon

Intell vs AMD processors?

Intel i5 quad core is nice.. HOWEVER.. You have specified you are building on a budget. Considering the *ahem* high cost of Intel chips, I recommend a AMD processor. Specifically a socket AM3+ x6 (6 core processor) such as the AMD FX-6300 Vishera 6-Core 3.5 GHz. (On Newegg.com for 90$)

Good luck, and even if you are not interested in building your own rig, you might consider watching youtube videos on how to do it, and ask here about hardware combinations to order.

 

[Razkle]

I would agree with everything except the amd processor, Intel or none... you can get deals on i5 quads easy enough, make sure its quad core though

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I bought an old core2quad with 8gb and it has 550ti card in it and it will run 6 clients until the end of time..... it is the smallest pc in my arsenal but also the absolute rock solid stable one too! (it has a 250gb ssd) try to always get a 2.5" laptop hard drive even in a desktop it saves on heat and has a higher heat tolerance!

 

[eqgeek]

My son just bought a really great desktop at Costco (online). We looked at all the other stores and Amazon and none compared. Might check it out.

 

[DriveCrash]

I would agree with everything except the amd processor, Intel or none...

That's just blind brand loyalty. AMD chips do not and cannot perform as well as the newest gen of the i series for sure, but I have built and owned many newest gen AMD's and every single one is rock solid. The only times I've had AMD cpu's go flaky on me where the few times I went cheap on the power supply and got unstable voltages or under-volt core power. But the same thing has happened on a couple of Intel builds with cheap power supplies.

As long as you match quality of other components, and compare AMD to Intel, you will find there is no difference in stability or general use performance. It's only when you start pushing the hardware for modern games, heavy rendering, or large compiles that you see intel start stomping the holy doodooshit out of AMD. But unless you plan on doing those kinds of things, why spend the extra $$ for Intel?

 

[Meistro]

Get the best you can reasonably affod, shop around for best prices, but don't think high end is absolutely necessary.

I still run a HP PAVILION, GForce graphic card , 128mb ram, 250k hd memery using Windows ME as an OS,all bought in 1999, and can 2box on it as long as I turn off as much graphic extras as possible (pre-lucin models, no spell graphics, low clipplane, etc.) and I stay away from large population centers (POK, GL, etc.).

 

[DriveCrash]

Get the best you can reasonably affod, shop around for best prices, but don't think high end is absolutely necessary.

I still run a HP PAVILION, GForce graphic card , 128mb ram, 250k hd memery using Windows ME as an OS,all bought in 1999, and can 2box on it as long as I turn off as much graphic extras as possible (pre-lucin models, no spell graphics, low clipplane, etc.) and I stay away from large population centers (POK, GL, etc.).

I agree totally... also.. Holy crap that is a boat anchor! I have kits of hardware in my closet that are 5x that machine. Perhaps I should blow the dust off and fire them up for constant eq farm boxing.. lol.

That makes me wonder what the minimum video card is that would run EQ? I'm guessing it would have to be Direct-x 9.0c compatible? Perhaps I'll play around with that soon.

 

[Meistro]

I agree totally... also.. Holy crap that is a boat anchor! I have kits of hardware in my closet that are 5x that machine. Perhaps I should blow the dust off and fire them up for constant eq farm boxing.. lol.

That makes me wonder what the minimum video card is that would run EQ? I'm guessing it would have to be Direct-x 9.0c compatible? Perhaps I'll play around with that soon.

It all comes down to what you want or need it to do. I have 4 desktops (ME, XP, VISTA, 7), and 4 laptops (Vista, 7, 8, 10)(OS's are all factory installs), HP's all and other than fans, have only had 1 harddive go bad..

I even have an Amega with original win95..not internet capable, but fun to play "OLD" games on (TSR D&D stuff)....can we say 5" floppy anyone?

(Just sold an Apple 2c for $10k, that I bought fo $50 from our school when they upgraded...and yes, it still worked).

 

[hoosierbilly]

Meistro is a man after my own heart. I still own bits and pieces of some of my oldest computers... can anyone say cassette tape drive and Commodor 64?

 

[Razkle]

That's just blind brand loyalty. AMD chips do not and cannot perform as well as the newest gen of the i series for sure, but I have built and owned many newest gen AMD's and every single one is rock solid. The only times I've had AMD cpu's go flaky on me where the few times I went cheap on the power supply and got unstable voltages or under-volt core power. But the same thing has happened on a couple of Intel builds with cheap power supplies.

As long as you match quality of other components, and compare AMD to Intel, you will find there is no difference in stability or general use performance. It's only when you start pushing the hardware for modern games, heavy rendering, or large compiles that you see intel start stomping the holy doodooshit out of AMD. But unless you plan on doing those kinds of things, why spend the extra $$ for Intel?

in NO way is it blind, it is 30 years of fixing cheap amd shit for customers, dealing with customers who bought amd and now shit does not work like they want it to. By no means is it blind, it is from 30 years of seeing crap AMD, I am amazed they are still around!

 

[DriveCrash]

in NO way is it blind, it is 30 years of fixing cheap amd shit for customers, dealing with customers who bought amd and now shit does not work like they want it to. By no means is it blind, it is from 30 years of seeing crap AMD, I am amazed they are still around!

Not to start a war, but I'd like to point out something for consideration.. Perhaps the reason you have to fix cheap amd shit, is because overall most amd owners are not tech saavy, and purchased something based on it's price, not it's hardware specifications. These users are far less likely to know how to deal with malware, bad programs, dust buildup, defragging, etc etc. The list goes on. As a result, you (and I) tend to see more 'cheap' systems come in for repairs.. but it's not the hardware that is to blame.

Case in point: As you know, if the computer boots, the processor is working. Poor performance is most often due to bloatware, windows registries that have gone cancerous, and malware/viruses.. hard stutters and freeze ups are more often hardware (though bad drivers can cause it).. In cases of hardware locks, I have found most often it is faulty cheap no name ram causing the problem. 2nd most common cause is tied between bad power supply or a ultra crap motherboard with 2 cent capacitors that have gone bad. In nearly every situation, I can take the CPU out, put it in a good quality MB with good ram, and it works fine. Thus the AMD chip is not the problem.

I get that you are loyal to Intel, as they have superior hardware. I was loyal to Nvidia for the same reason. I used to be completely loyal to Intel (back in the amd k3-k6 chips that cooked themselves for no reason).. but times and products have changed. I'm not trying to bring you over to team AMD, as I am team whatever I can afford.. I'm just trying to point out that the cause and effect you see may not be as easy to single out as you believe.

With all respect,
-Drive

 

[Hihi]

Does Team Whatever I Can Afford have jerseys?

 

[DriveCrash]

Does Team Whatever I Can Afford have jerseys?

LOL. only if they are free. :p

 

[Razkle]

Not to start a war, but I'd like to point out something for consideration.. Perhaps the reason you have to fix cheap amd shit, is because overall most amd owners are not tech saavy, and purchased something based on it's price, not it's hardware specifications. These users are far less likely to know how to deal with malware, bad programs, dust buildup, defragging, etc etc. The list goes on. As a result, you (and I) tend to see more 'cheap' systems come in for repairs.. but it's not the hardware that is to blame.

Case in point: As you know, if the computer boots, the processor is working. Poor performance is most often due to bloatware, windows registries that have gone cancerous, and malware/viruses.. hard stutters and freeze ups are more often hardware (though bad drivers can cause it).. In cases of hardware locks, I have found most often it is faulty cheap no name ram causing the problem. 2nd most common cause is tied between bad power supply or a ultra crap motherboard with 2 cent capacitors that have gone bad. In nearly every situation, I can take the CPU out, put it in a good quality MB with good ram, and it works fine. Thus the AMD chip is not the problem.

I get that you are loyal to Intel, as they have superior hardware. I was loyal to Nvidia for the same reason. I used to be completely loyal to Intel (back in the amd k3-k6 chips that cooked themselves for no reason).. but times and products have changed. I'm not trying to bring you over to team AMD, as I am team whatever I can afford.. I'm just trying to point out that the cause and effect you see may not be as easy to single out as you believe.

With all respect,
-Drive

I appreciate and respect your opinion. I am always ready for a clear and thoughtful exchange of information.

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Oh as far as Video, I have ran a 6 box crew on built in video, its not the best but eq is really THAT uncaring on the video card

 

[Randyleo]

Well done gentlemen.

 

[Razkle]

Last time I had "blind" loyalty was Seagate, well Maxtor actually but WD has earned a place and now most of my new purchases are WD. Maxtor is now for all effective uses gone, eaten and not in a good way by Seagate

 

[Roshen]

my last build was around an amd cpu and it's a quality build. Intel CPU's are better for gaming though. I don't think there's really any debate there. For everquest though I don't think it's that big of a deal and might be worth building around an amd cpu to save cash. I feel like many folks build around amd's, overclock and then might be clueless about bios settings/voltages and end up cutting the life span short, thermal throtling or, and this one always makes me kinda laugh they bluescreen the machine many times trying to find the overclocking "sweet spot" (higher than they'll ever need and quite often could be much lower without any performance changes while gaming) and in doing so the corrupt their OS causing chronic crashing issues but they're 100% sure the crashing is due to hardware; when all they needed was a fresh OS install.

I'm bottle necked at my gtx 750ti gpu and get 90-120 fps in 96+ v 96+ in the current fps game I get down on, at medium settings with my current amd build, though, and spent under 400$ at microcenter and took parts from a previous build (disk drive, the HDD and got microsoft to bend on using the OS saying i replaced the mobo in the build it was in). Sure, intel makes the better cpu but if you know what you're doing and building your own machine on a budget I feel like you're going to get way more power per dollar with an amd. you couple that with eq not being the type of pvp/competitive- every fraction of a second counts and could be the differance between life/death or win/lose game it's worth considering. I'd take my amd build over any store bought tower that remotely cost the same as what i have invested. Open up mid priced towers you get from the big name brands and find quality hardware they advertised and cut down cheapo versions of anything that's not mentioned to spec in the description. To be fair if someone buys a tower from a retailer that has an amd cpu and it has problems is that not, for instance, asus who f'd the build up? I say asus because I opened up an Amd APU build to fix and the absolute garbage I found was kinda crazy - the mobo was a stripped down version of another board and by that I mean they didn't feel the need to put everything on the board. I think the particular build might be notorious for crapping out on consumers who try to overclock with software they mistakenly downloaded. Anyway, I've opened up some Dell PC's with intel cpu's and been disgusted with Dell, also. I don't know if AMD/Intel are to blame in either instance, though.

I've had a blast building and would highly recommend doing so to anyone interested, btw.

btw my current build is:
cpu: fx 8320 @ 4ghz
gpu: gtx 750ti (i think you can get these for something like 100$ these days and this card will roflstomp integrated graphics or "built in video" but it like the gtx 960 are only 128 bit, so I'd almost rather go gtx 750ti for the price unless I could go up to the gtx 970 - i haven't had any experience with amd gpu's)
mobo: 970 fatalty performance
128g crucial ssd - boot drive
1tb hdd
8gb (2x4) @2133 g.skill ram
700w bronze psu
OS: windows 10

'm curious though, with 30 years experience do you not even give amd credit back when they were kicking intel in the teeth with those first 64 bit cpu's? You remember, when their stock was valuable?

and maestro; your apple 2c reference reminded me - I still have a working tandy 1000. I don't think it can be killed by conventional weapons.

 

[Meistro]

Quote Originally Posted by DriveCrash View Post

I agree totally... also.. Holy crap that is a boat anchor!

Just so we are clear...I get more use out of me boat anchor in a year than I do that computer....But I do still you it (would work great for a "true box" server, IF I had ANY desire to play there.

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Also to any who think I actually know anything about computers, think again. I use them, yes, but know nothing about what's what, and even had to have others upgrade my Ram in the older ones.

 

[hoosierbilly]

A huge thank you to everyone that responded. It would appear that I am out of redcents to properly thank everyone.

I am almost tempted to give up a big box store bought and do a build-my-own....

I would have to start with a list of everything that is needed to build... I don't suppose anyone would want to provide the shopping list!? Anyone?

 

[Roshen]

I didn't note this earlier but, microcenter is the place to go if you have one near. They price check/match or beat both tigerdirect and newegg 3 times a week and there's a time period after you purchase an item you're able to get the difference refunded if you happen to find it priced lower. Beating my two favorite online hardware retailers and having a place I can go to exchange an item rather than return ship is soo clutch.

 

[Warl0ck45]

entirely depends on how far you want to take the build.

You will want a decent tower. My big ass hands go with a full sized Coolmaster (which comes with casters... so you can ride it around the room!) but you will want to look over what tickles your fancy, then research it a bit to see if folks have issues with it. Most towers come with easy install/adjustment set ups now a days.

You will want a decent HD. As I said before, memory is cheap now a days, you can get a decent deal with a 1TB, specially with the holidays here. (quick look showing sale prices below $50)

You will want to figure out Intel or AMD, so you can hunt down a CPU + MB combo. With an Intel.. stay away from Celeron/I3 chips. Go with an I5 (midline) or I7 (top performance). (afraid my AMD knowledge is dated. I am sure someone else can offer something on AMD though)

This is where you biggest chunk of spending money will go. You will want to spend some time getting familiar with the pros and cons of what is out there, so see what headaches you are willing to put up with! This is also where you want want to pay attention to what additional things you will want down the road. I personally went with a tri-channel RAM set up ( IE 6 stick of ram ) with plenty of SATA hook ups (the new HD cables) Most of your MBs come with with at least 1 PCI E X16 slot (for your graphics card) which should be fine for EQ. Some folks want to aim higher and want to be capable to CrossFire or SLI hook up ( multiple graphics cards working together) down the road.... or USB 3.0 might be important... --shrugs-- all I am getting at is take a moment to think on if there is something you know you will want or need, so you don't get the "AH CRAP I forgot to get that" blues later. Not to mention MOST MB come with onboard LAN, but want to be sure that's there (or WIFI if that is your thing... and if it is with a desk top, you are weird =P )

Depending on your MB specs, you will want to pick up a decent amount of RAM. Again, the price of memory is coming down so, you can probably get a decent deal ( especially now) with a good amount. Make sure you know what kind your MB takes, and just as important... the MB limits. You probably wont be hitting those limits now... but bear them in mind for later.

Graphics card... explained above already. Again, some awesome deals going on right now =)

and lastly... PSU! (power supply unit) this is actually a commonly under appreciated piece of equipment. Depending on your MB and Graphics card, you want to be sure to get something rated above what you need. This is something you DON'T want to stress out. A flaky PSU will fry your rig, even just bad connector pins (the 1cent parts! heh) don't just buy the cheapest thing you can find here. Go with a known name, that reviews say backs up their product. I got 1 PC around here with a hole in it from a bad PSU, and another with scortch marks.

Optional- DVD drive, they are fairly cheap and heck, theres always a need to make blackmail videos of the EQ get-together parties....or heck, it is a powered coffee cup holder!

Optional- additional fans. Keeping your rig cool is top priority. If your tower did not already come with fans, you will want to invest in them. Plan your flow ( and keep an eye on wiring blocking it) so you get enough ventilation across your RAM, graphics card, and CPU. Check that your CPU/MB came with a CPU fan of course, and either develop a cleaning schedule to clear out evil dust bunnies, or invest in some intake filter set up (heck, drier sheets work wonders!) Unless of course you want to go with liquid cooling... which I just don't even like the sound of after putting that much money into something electrical =P
-------------

That ought to more or less cover everything you need, outside of the stickers, LED lighting and racing stripes. That is of course, just the tower. The peripherals like keyboard, mouse, speakers, what ever else... are a whole other discussion! (speakers are coming WAY down in pricing too btw)

 

[DriveCrash]

and maestro; your apple 2c reference reminded me - I still have a working tandy 1000. I don't think it can be killed by conventional weapons.

lol!! I have a TRS-80 MC-10 I got back in 84'.. I doubt it will ever die.

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A huge thank you to everyone that responded. It would appear that I am out of redcents to properly thank everyone.

I am almost tempted to give up a big box store bought and do a build-my-own....

I would have to start with a list of everything that is needed to build... I don't suppose anyone would want to provide the shopping list!? Anyone?

Here's something for you. I'm including a link to a list of computer cases in case you do not like the look of the one I picked out (Picked for price and fans). If you have a ATX case that is not proprietary (such as Dell, HP, Compaq) you can re-use that case if desired to save a few bucks. Otherwise, pick any ATX case that you like, so long as it is not a mini case.

Motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P (rev. 2.0) AM3+ AMD 970 6 x SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD 65$
CPU:
AMD FX-6300 Vishera 6-Core 3.5 GHz (4.1 GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W FD6300WMHKBOX Desktop Processor 90$
CPU Thermal Paste (stuff that transfers heat from CPU to cooling system:
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G 7$
Memory:
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) 38$
Video Card: (Overkill and a brand I don't normally recommend, but you won't be pushing the card, so it should be fine)
SAPPHIRE DUAL-X Radeon HD 6970 DirectX 11 100314-4L 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 90$
Power Supply:
CORSAIR CX series CX500 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified 53$
Hard Disk Drive: (Use this as boot drive)
Hitachi Ultrastar A7K1000 HUA721075KLA330 750GB 32MB Cache 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" 40$
Solid State Drive: (Store EQ clients and game files here) *** DO NOT Trust this drive with data, it will likely fail without warning ***
Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 2.5" 60GB SATA III 37$
DVD/CD Drive:
SAMSUNG DVD Writer SATA Model SH-224FB/RSBS 14$
Drive Cables:
Rosewill 10" Red Flat Serial ATA III Cable with Locking Latch 3$ x2
Case:
COUGAR MX200 Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Standard ATX 30$

List of Cases to consider for example:
ATX Mid Towers

Total price with shipping should be around 485$, depending on taxes and shipping in your area.

CAUTION: This does not come with an operating system install disc, or registration keys for an OS. As Windows 7 is discontinued, and I cannot recommend windows 8.1 or windows 10 for gaming.. I recommend finding someone who has a copy of windows 7 they will sell you used. Or find someone who has it laying around who's feeling very generous. Otherwise you will sadly be stuck with windows 10.. which frankly is not very good yet. The cost of the OS will push the total cost of the rig to upwards of 600$. You can reduce this cost a little with a less powerful Video card and not getting the SSD. Or you can cut costs dramatically by playing the odds and ordering refurbished hardware. Playing the odds works often enough, but I don't recommend doing so as a first time builder. If you have a piece of bad hardware, troubleshooting it could be infuriatingly painful.

Do keep in mind that this is COMPLETE overkill for what you need, and would serve you well as a gaming / video / all around computer for many years to come. If you want dirt rock bottom price, I can throw together a system of that nature. However I usually get "grandma email-boxes" pre-built off ebay or local auction.

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After thought: If you have not installed Windows from scratch before.. Building a rig yourself may be ill-advised. Perhaps buying a pre-built that is upgradable is a better way to go?

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After digging around a bit.. You can drop the intial price down to 400$ in order to pay for windows OS if you don't get the SSD drive, and get this Video card instead:
GIGABYTE GeForce GT 610 DirectX 11.1 GV-N610D3-2GI 2GB 64-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready 45$

Or you can bump it up a notch and go with:
PowerColor Radeon HD 6950 AX6950 1GBD5-2DHE 1GB 256-Bit GDDR5 70$

The 45$ card should run EQ without any problems, and the system build is upgradeable however you want later. If you find you are interested in playing a newer game, upgrade the video card and your ready to go. Or if you need more ram, order another 2 sticks and add them to it. Etc etc, blah blah.

Hope this helps.