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I put this dell dimension 4600 mobo(pulled from the Dimension 4600 in my bigger tower case(Gateway Performance 1500) its specs are as follows:
P4 2.8ghz
521 ram(May be 1.5, or 2gb depends if I can get money)
GeForce 6800 GT OC
What could I run with that? This is my first computer that I can upgrade around and change things. What do you think it can run?
Also what games can it handle and what games cant it?
~~Tito~~ said:
I put this dell dimension 4600 mobo(pulled from the Dimension 4600 in my bigger tower case(Gateway Performance 1500) its specs are as follows:
P4 2.8ghz
521 ram(May be 1.5, or 2gb depends if I can get money)
GeForce 6800 GT OC
What could I run with that? This is my first computer that I can upgrade around and change things. What do you think it can run?
Also what games can it handle and what games cant it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not too many, if you want me to name some i could, i know alot about windows and comps but nothing about OSX or linux.
Ace42 said:
Not too many, if you want me to name some i could, i know alot about windows and comps but nothing about OSX or linux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which games? I need like a general area. I wouldn't be running very recent games, pre 2009. No big ones either like crysis XD.
OS would be XP Pro SP3 just for stability and low resources.
Upgrade to 2GB it'll easily run C&C Generals \ Zero Hour \ GuildWars \ Return to Castle Wolfenstein \ Battlefield etc
I have the same setup a P4 2.8GHz as third computer it's just a Media Center running XP Pro SP3 Dual boot Geexbox
~~Tito~~ said:
Which games? I need like a general area. I wouldn't be running very recent games, pre 2009. No big ones either like crysis XD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-BF2
-Bf2142
-cod 1/2 maybe 4 on low settings
-Counter strike
- half life
-pacman
- need for speed most wanet/carbon/undercver/pro
-spiderman webs of shadows
-transformers 1 or 2
-assassin creed 1 low-med maybe
-you need to update your drivers
go here http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/
-Get direct X from microsoft site ro wherever
Some i listed might run on lowish but you should look up OC your spu w/ nvidia sys tools 6.05.
I was able to get cod4 mw2 running high on a 8400m gs OC, with smooth frames but too many effects slow it down.Android been eatin away at my wallet lol
So basically any steam game would run fine(Valve games, CS:S, HL2, DoD, DoD:S. .ect)?
What would be a better option, ram, or new gfx card[Which kind?](not crazy like a dual sli or something like that), then get ram later?
You'd be better off getting RAM first as no matter how good you get a GPU @ the mo your bottleneck will be RAM, then take a look @ 8800GT or the 9800GT's as they have dropped dramatically in price since the 2XX series.
you can run cod 2 on near max settings on an radeon x300, so you should be ok with that.
Crysis might run!
need for speed shift i dont think will run (it dosnt run on mine.
Online games:
Project torque!
aeria games
that runs decent.
flyboy
Depending on your budget, look for a second piece of hardware (besides more ram as mentioned) i personally would go for a new cpu (quad core q6600 is <$200 now afaik) but you could also go for a new gpu instead (either dx10, they will be cheap soon, or get a advantage and get a dx11 card, wich are releasing pretty much now)
Then you can play most games on more then decent settings.
just my 2 cents
(tbh i still run a pc i build 2 years ago, q6600 @ 2.8, geforce 8800gts 640mb 8gb ram, ram upgrade i did roughlly 6 months ago, had 2gb before)
Right now, I don't have a budget at all. If I did have enough money I would go on newegg and get some things to make a decent rig. Right now my "Budget" would be >50. That's why I ask if I should get a GPU or ram, cause I can't get anything else with out having to get something else lol, like the CPU, that would most likely need a new mobo, and new mobo means that I would need a new power supply(Current on both towers 250). This is really like my first experience with custom builds, and I need to learn more than what I already know.
LOL, here is my wish list from Newegg:
CD/DVD burner - Want
ATI Radeon HD 4650 1GB 128-bit DDR2 AGP 8X HDCP Ready - WANT!!!
PSU 480 W - Need if I get GPU, but I want
1gb (512x2) - Need
Any suggestions? Cheaper and better things? Please give me input, I am gonna try to propose this to my mom. Cheaper = better for me(just not so cheap I compromise a decent gaming computer that can handle some recent games), so I need this info asap.
I don't need a HDD, since I have a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter on the way for my 60gb hdd on my laptop at my dads, totalling the hdd space I have to 100(plenty for right now lol).
My Gaming Computer Wish list:
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
2------Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3320613AS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
2------XFX GS250XYDFU GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
KINGWIN Mach 1 ABT-800MA1S 800W ATX / BTX SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Power Supply - Retail
OCZ Gold 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Quad kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2G8008GQ - Retail
DFI LANParty DK P45-T2RS Elite LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
LG Black 8X Blu-ray Burner SATA Model WH08LS20 - Retail
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Thermaltake A4021 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Any suggestions/feedback? Please provide suggestions for my needed list 2 posts above aswell .
Looks good but try to get only what you need and wait next year or christmas to get a dx11 card.
Gotta ask. It's a 2.8Ghz P4 but is it 478 or 775?
And whats the FSB? If its not 400Mhz you can also Up the CPU(478=3ghz MAX) 775=3.4Ghz(40+)
Then the memory SHOULD be DDR?and 2 channel
Go buy 2x2(Not easy to find and a little more $ then 1x2 but its 4Gb!)
Then you can TRY VERY HARD to use CPUFSB to over clock.
And i know NOTHING about cards so...yeah
If you can get atleast a 3Ghz, 1gig ram, and a 128mb DirictX9 card you can run L4D/L4D2
Its a socket 478. I cant upgrade everything, I am not sure about the FSB on this dimension mobo lol.
Here is more info on it:
http://www.epinions.com/review/pr-Dell_Dimension_4600_D46RM_PC_Desktop/content_108956585604
Can you give me all the things I will need to make this decent? I resently pulled a 80gb caviar black, out of a external hdd(Western Digital), from goodwill , so I will have 3 hdds once the adapter comes in.
~~Tito~~ said:
Its a socket 478. I cant upgrade everything, I am not sure about the FSB on this dimension mobo lol.
Here is more info on it:
http://www.epinions.com/review/pr-Dell_Dimension_4600_D46RM_PC_Desktop/content_108956585604
Can you give me all the things I will need to make this decent? I resently pulled a 80gb caviar black, out of a external hdd(Western Digital), from goodwill , so I will have 3 hdds once the adapter comes in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What else do you want? Also what games will you get?
I think you should try AC2, Batman Arkham asylum, nfs shift, cod4/mw2 and battlefield which is fast even on old cards.
That cpu will hold you back.
Ex.
A C2D @ TXXX 2.4 is about 10X faster then a P4 @ 2.4
I wont be using this mainly for gaming, but I want to be able to play some 09' games(Sims 3 mainly, and maybe mwf2) on medium. The reason i have to upgrade this computer is because if I want to get all new parts and make a new computer my parents would most likely say no, because their mentality is, use what you have(not that defined but its there). So if I am buying parts for this, computer they probably will let me get them.
~~Tito~~ said:
I put this dell dimension 4600 mobo(pulled from the Dimension 4600 in my bigger tower case(Gateway Performance 1500) its specs are as follows:
P4 2.8ghz
521 ram(May be 1.5, or 2gb depends if I can get money)
GeForce 6800 GT OC
What could I run with that? This is my first computer that I can upgrade around and change things. What do you think it can run?
Also what games can it handle and what games cant it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NFS underground 2
NFS most wanted
GTA San Andreas
Tony Hawks Underground 2
Age Of Empires III (AOE 3)
SWAT 4
and all previous versions of those games...
I ran them on my old system:
P4 1.8GHZ ---- Now Core 2 Duo 6600
384MB of RAM ---- Now 4GB
Nvidia GF 2MX with 32mb of onboard memory, or was it GF 4MX... ---- NOW 8800GTS with 640mb of onboard mem, thats like 20times more!!
Okay guys, I have another problem. . .Its the stock dell fan. Its too loud, and I cant get cpu temps. .
Heres what I am currently running with the mother board.
-Some old atx case that is lighter than the previous one.
-Same P4 Processor
-2gb ram
-ati hd 4650 512mb
3 HDD's(80, 60, 40)
-450w power supply(Rhino)
Most of the new things I got off of craigslist cheaper then retail. The ram I got was for $30, the Graphics card for 50, and the power supply for free(generous guy). The case was given to me.
What can I do to lower the freaken fan noise? I cant seem to control it at all. Nothing works.
Just get a new fan there are many available i tend to use Thermaltake but anything is better than stock "you can generally see the db noise the fan creates in spec", while buying get some thermal compound too often a thing forgotten
Hello long time lurker first time poster.
(This is a strange first post for a forum about cell phones I know)
So my old toshiba notebook is on its last limb and its time to replace it.
I'd like to play games on it and I'll be using eclipse, browsing the web, music, probably alot of hulu/movies, etc etc. For games, I play world of warcraft from time to time but typically its canceled - I play call of duty mw 2 every now and then as well and if it could run smoothly on low settings that'd be fine - I might play more games in the near future when I have more free time so it'll be fairly important.
I'd like to keep it $1500 or lower - so I was looking at these two machines
(Can't post links)
Qosmio X505-Q870
newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114797&cm_sp=MyNewegg-_-NewItem-_-Pst04Descrip
Gateway P-7908u FX Edition
newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101203
I couldn't find much info on the graphics card in the toshiba, but from my previous nvidia encounters GTX > GTS even if the gts number is a little higher.
ATI serve more bang for buck with graphics
btw so a laptop with ati graphics i would recommend
flyboy
WIth those two as choices, I'd go with the Qosmio.
A die-hard Gateway-to-Toshiba convert here...
Ed Zachary said:
WIth those two as choices, I'd go with the Qosmio.
A die-hard Gateway-to-Toshiba convert here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XD Actually I went from an old Gateway Solo to a toshiba a few years back and its been great.
I dug around the internet all night and found the ASUS G73JH-A1 - by removing the bluray drive from it I got it for about $1500 and it has:
Display
17.3" FHD LED (1920x1080) Glossy
Video Card:
1024MB DDR5 ATI Radeon HD 5870
Processor:
Intel® Mobile Core i7 720QM
Memory:
8GB DDR3 1066MHz
Hard Drive:
Dual 500GB (1,000GB) 7200RPM Hard Drives
free razor gaming mouse (not sure if thats good or not, but its free!)
free laptop bag
2 year warrenty with asus
1 year accidental warrenty with asus (covers the lcd I believe)
its a preorder though so they wont even have the base in til next month - but seems like a great deal
I want to keep the build around $800. I am planning on reusing my case, NZXT Tempest Evo, keyboard, mouse HD-dvd/BD drive and my monitor, Acer H233H. I don't game that often and if I do it is not the latest game out. I don't watch movies on my rig, I just encode my movies to be able to stream them to my media player, surf the web and work from home, using word and excel mainly. My wife tends to use photoshop or some other photo editing software. I would like to be able to overclock and be able to upgrade to Bulldozer, probably with the next series of chips.
So far I have come up with the following:
CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler $73.74
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit $214.99
CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 (CMPSU-650HX) 650W $119.99
ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX $229.99
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T $169.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $89.99
Total is $898.69
What can I change from above to bring the price down? Obviously if the board does not come with built-in video, I will need to get a video card as well. Any other info you may need to help me?
_eroz said:
I want to keep the build around $800. I am planning on reusing my case, NZXT Tempest Evo, keyboard, mouse HD-dvd/BD drive and my monitor, Acer H233H. I don't game that often and if I do it is not the latest game out. I don't watch movies on my rig, I just encode my movies to be able to stream them to my media player, surf the web and work from home, using word and excel mainly. My wife tends to use photoshop or some other photo editing software. I would like to be able to overclock and be able to upgrade to Bulldozer, probably with the next series of chips.
So far I have come up with the following:
CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler $73.74
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit $214.99
CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 (CMPSU-650HX) 650W $119.99
ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX $229.99
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T $169.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $89.99
Total is $898.69
What can I change from above to bring the price down? Obviously if the board does not come with built-in video, I will need to get a video card as well. Any other info you may need to help me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Drop the SSD. You don't need that unless you're REALLY into speed and gaming. SSDs will reduce load time and boot time, but nothing a little patience can't fix. Your PSU is more than a little overpowered, too, for your current usage. Experience dictates that about 50% or more of the power goes to the GPU, and you don't have a GPU.
sakai4eva said:
Drop the SSD. You don't need that unless you're REALLY into speed and gaming. SSDs will reduce load time and boot time, but nothing a little patience can't fix. Your PSU is more than a little overpowered, too, for your current usage. Experience dictates that about 50% or more of the power goes to the GPU, and you don't have a GPU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. Ditch the SSD and use the leftover cash to get a midrange gpu. I payed 220 for a gtx 560 ti sc and am very happy with it. It plays most games on med/high without much effort and you can sli later. There are cheaper but get whatever fits your needs best.
I'll play devil's advocate here and say stick with the SSD. If you want to save a bit of cash, ditch the after-market CPU cooler.
Here's the reasoning:
That CPU running at stock speeds (with stock cooler) combined with an SSD will feel significantly faster than an overclocked CPU (with a fancy cooler) combined with a mechanical HDD.
I personally went from an 4-year-old Intel Core2Quad Q6600 to a Core i7 2600. I kept my mechanical HDD at the time. My video rendering times were slashed by half, which I was impressed with. But everything else felt the same (ie, navigating the OS, web browsing, document editing, etc).
A few months later, I threw in an OCZ Agility3 SSD. Everything suddenly just seems so much snappier. It's like day and night.
If you need to experience the difference yourself, just visit your local Apple Store (gasp!). Play around with the Macbook Air (with SSD) and the Macbook Pro (usually with mechanical HDD). The CPU in the Pros are significantly faster than the Air. Yet, the Air feels faster throughout.
ohyeahar said:
I'll play devil's advocate here and say stick with the SSD. If you want to save a bit of cash, ditch the after-market CPU cooler.
Here's the reasoning:
That CPU running at stock speeds (with stock cooler) combined with an SSD will feel significantly faster than an overclocked CPU (with a fancy cooler) combined with a mechanical HDD.
I personally went from an 4-year-old Intel Core2Quad Q6600 to a Core i7 2600. I kept my mechanical HDD at the time. My video rendering times were slashed by half, which I was impressed with. But everything else felt the same (ie, navigating the OS, web browsing, document editing, etc).
A few months later, I threw in an OCZ Agility3 SSD. Everything suddenly just seems so much snappier. It's like day and night.
If you need to experience the difference yourself, just visit your local Apple Store (gasp!). Play around with the Macbook Air (with SSD) and the Macbook Pro (usually with mechanical HDD). The CPU in the Pros are significantly faster than the Air. Yet, the Air feels faster throughout.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never thought of that approach to testing an ssd before. I guess i'll need to make a trip to the Apple store myself before building my next comp in a few months.
ohyeahar said:
I'll play devil's advocate here and say stick with the SSD. If you want to save a bit of cash, ditch the after-market CPU cooler.
Here's the reasoning:
That CPU running at stock speeds (with stock cooler) combined with an SSD will feel significantly faster than an overclocked CPU (with a fancy cooler) combined with a mechanical HDD.
I personally went from an 4-year-old Intel Core2Quad Q6600 to a Core i7 2600. I kept my mechanical HDD at the time. My video rendering times were slashed by half, which I was impressed with. But everything else felt the same (ie, navigating the OS, web browsing, document editing, etc).
A few months later, I threw in an OCZ Agility3 SSD. Everything suddenly just seems so much snappier. It's like day and night.
If you need to experience the difference yourself, just visit your local Apple Store (gasp!). Play around with the Macbook Air (with SSD) and the Macbook Pro (usually with mechanical HDD). The CPU in the Pros are significantly faster than the Air. Yet, the Air feels faster throughout.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll play the devil in the details here.
Dig a ditch with your shovel.
I'ld suggest getting a smaller ssd, and using it just for your OS partition, and for the ready you can get a huge hdd
Also, cutting some more cost down and getting a gpu would be better IMO
16GB isn't really needed much today unless your work needs it or something else, you can go for 8 and add in a gpu, after some months you can get another 8, to compensate
i say DO put in the money to get a graphics card. midrage nvidia geforce will make all the difference in the world.
cdesai said:
I'ld suggest getting a smaller ssd, and using it just for your OS partition, and for the ready you can get a huge hdd
Also, cutting some more cost down and getting a gpu would be better IMO
16GB isn't really needed much today unless your work needs it or something else, you can go for 8 and add in a gpu, after some months you can get another 8, to compensate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ideally, the SSD would house your OS and your applications folder. You should have a mechanical HDD for your personal documents.
Why did you pick the Crucial SSD? I'm looking at OCZ Agility3 specs which seems to suggest it's faster than the Crucial drive while being $40 less expensive (albeit with 8GB less capacity).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227726
I agree regarding the 16GB vs 8GB RAM. That's definitely an area where you can easily save some money without sacrificing performance. But remember to go with 2 x 4GB DIMMs (rather than 4 x 2GB DIMMs) so you leave yourself an upgrade path.
Hi everyone,
So I'm going off to college soon and I plan on getting a laptop and a desktop for my dorm (one to fall back on if the other dies for some reason). I am pretty sure I know which laptop I am getting, but I am having a harder time building a decently priced small gaming rig for a desktop.
Approximate Purchase Date: Most likely during the black friday/holiday season
Budget Range: 500-800 w/ rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Surfing the Net, Schoolwork
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, RAM (4gb GSkill DDR3), Hard Drive (1.5 TB Samsung 5400 rpm)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Tigerdirect, (any site is okay by me)
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: by brand or type AMD CPU, NZXT Vulcan MicroATX Case, SSD
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
Additional Comments: Needs to be small but very powerful, which is why I selected the Vulcan case.
Here is what I have so far:
AMD Phenom II X4 955-109.99
NZXT Vulcan Micro Tower Case-69.99
OCZ 600W PSU- 69.99 (I'm bad at finding PSU's, so this is open to change)
Gigabyte GeForce 560 Ti- 220
Thanks Everyone.
monkeychef said:
Hi everyone,
So I'm going off to college soon and I plan on getting a laptop and a desktop for my dorm (one to fall back on if the other dies for some reason). I am pretty sure I know which laptop I am getting, but I am having a harder time building a decently priced small gaming rig for a desktop.
Approximate Purchase Date: Most likely during the black friday/holiday season
Budget Range: 500-800 w/ rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Surfing the Net, Schoolwork
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, RAM (4gb GSkill DDR3), Hard Drive (1.5 TB Samsung 5400 rpm)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Tigerdirect, (any site is okay by me)
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: by brand or type AMD CPU, NZXT Vulcan MicroATX Case, SSD
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
Additional Comments: Needs to be small but very powerful, which is why I selected the Vulcan case.
Here is what I have so far:
AMD Phenom II X4 955-109.99
NZXT Vulcan Micro Tower Case-69.99
OCZ 600W PSU- 69.99 (I'm bad at finding PSU's, so this is open to change)
Gigabyte GeForce 560 Ti- 220
Thanks Everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stick to one device. Either get a desktop, or just a laptop.
I'm interested in building my own gaming pc, something that can run games like BF3 and Fallout 3, New Vegas on full graphics. If I had to throw a price out there, I would say something under $700, the cheaper the better. I don't have a preference in parts since I am not experienced at all in this. I have looked at different videos and tutorials on this but I wanted peoples opinions on specific combinations, part brands, etc. Thank you beforehand! :good:
I asked this question here before, a member recommended me to go to overclocked.net they could help you out alot there on how to build a computer and what parts fit your specific needs
Sent from my LG-VM696 using Tapatalk 2
I think this isn't very helpful but you should check alienware. They have that desktop for 700 bucks which has great specs.
Georges2251 said:
I think this isn't very helpful but you should check alienware. They have that desktop for 700 bucks which has great specs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DO NOT get an alienware. They are the apple of PC's. You pay a huge premium for fancy lights.
Get a computer with something along these lines:
Nvidia gtx 670
8-16 gig ram
Because of your price range you might have to go i5 as your processor
Asus motherboards are the bomb.
A cool case but don't spend more than 40 bucks on the case.
Any store you would recommend for the parts, something maybe cheaper and as reliable as New Egg?
Moved to Off-topic.
tigerdirect.com is a great place for parts
quad core CPU i5 or i7 $200
8gb ram 1600mhz or above $40
500 or 600 gtx series nvidia video card $200
SSD 128gb or above $200
750w power supply $50
Those prices are a guestimation based on average market prices. You don't need to trick out your case IMO, any that will fit your motherboard and everything else is fine. Frys electronics is a local electronics store near me that sells it all if you have one near you go there.
Thanks guys, this really gives me a good idea on what I need. What about in regards to the monitor and such. Anything good for the money? Any tips will be really appreciated.
valdesr11 said:
Thanks guys, this really gives me a good idea on what I need. What about in regards to the monitor and such. Anything good for the money? Any tips will be really appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was as close as I could get on newegg:
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129042
$54.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152185
$69.99
Acer G215HVAbd Black 21.5" Full HD WideScreen LCD Monitor
Item #: N82E16824009306
$119.99
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (100314-3L )
Item #: N82E16814102948
$169.99
Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817371030
$59.99
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT
Item #: N82E16820231422
$39.99
Intel BOXDZ77SL50K LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813121618
$119.99
Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32120
Item #: N82E16819115077
$124.99
Total before shipping+tax: $759.92
Could probably be brought down some by going with cheaper/ghetto on many of the parts like power supply, mobo, vid card, memory, case.
Also this does not take into account a copy of Windows (could be had cheaply if you are a college student through your school most likely) and keyboard+mouse.
Also could shop around for prices, Amazon can be pretty good as well as other sites mentioned.
I mostly stick with Antec for cases/power supplies these days, they're not super-gamer oriented by they have good 12v amperage and reliability.
I've been going intel not only CPUs but also Mobos for the same reasons, they are no frills reference boards. Simple and reliable. I see the appeal of overclocking but it just has never been a priority, spending more money on proper mobo+cooling to possibly reduce video encode times by seconds, maybe minutes?
Same with SLI/Crossfire, by the time I think I could benefit from a 2nd card the newer cards are already as good if not better for around what I paid for the first one.
If you did expand your budget I'd recommend a Crucial SSD drive over beefing up the CPU and mobo. You'll get more real performance gains from an SSD. Just don't benchmark it every day like a moron, they do have limited write cycles but it will last many many years with normal use not continuous torture testing.
Nice choice.. but it would be better if you go for i5 or i7 quad core processor.. they will give you higher fps and smoother performance..
Sent from the Underdog..
heinrichkaiser said:
Nice choice.. but it would be better if you go for i5 or i7 quad core processor.. they will give you higher fps and smoother performance..
Sent from the Underdog..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering his budget I'd stick with the i3. An i5 won't give any meaningful performance gains for the majority of games out there as they are usually not multi-threaded.
Google for: "The Clarkdale Review: Intel's Core i5 661, i3 540 & i3 530"
It's an AnandTech review, there is a gaming page and it shows there really is only a 3-7 frame difference between the processors, and that's with the FPS being over 70.
Also as I said aside from the graphics card a Crucial SSD would provide the biggest performance gains overall. For games it will significantly cut down launch and load times. And it will make everything else faster, but with the budget as it is that will probably be an upgrade for later (though the prices have come down quite a bit, they are now under the $1/1GB ratio).
Also if you are on a budget, I'd also recommend picking up a basic Dell with an i3 processor and a PCI-Express slot and then getting a Radeon 6850 or 6870. Then expand the ram out yourself as well. It would probably be the cheapest way to get a decent base that you could upgrade to gaming duty.
I'm not really on a budget, I just wouldn't want to spend too much. I do play, but not to an extent that I would go all out. I play maybe a couple of times a week, mostly online with BF3 and story modes on games like Fallout and Skyrim. I decided to sell my laptop since my family got me an Ipad for my birthday, and with the PC that I build with this I can sell my Xbox as well with all its games. Then I'll use my PC for school, games, and surfing the web. The Ipad for traveling and taking it to school. You guys know more than me about what is best when it comes to gaming PC's, I just want to get my money's worth and not make a mistake when putting it together. If I need to go over my "budget" a bit, its no big deal, same with letting me know if you think I shouldn't even build one and just get a Dell like you said, and upgrade the main parts for gaming in order to save money.
valdesr11 said:
I'm not really on a budget, I just wouldn't want to spend too much. I do play, but not to an extent that I would go all out. I play maybe a couple of times a week, mostly online with BF3 and story modes on games like Fallout and Skyrim. I decided to sell my laptop since my family got me an Ipad for my birthday, and with the PC that I build with this I can sell my Xbox as well with all its games. Then I'll use my PC for school, games, and surfing the web. The Ipad for traveling and taking it to school. You guys know more than me about what is best when it comes to gaming PC's, I just want to get my money's worth and not make a mistake when putting it together. If I need to go over my "budget" a bit, its no big deal, same with letting me know if you think I shouldn't even build one and just get a Dell like you said, and upgrade the main parts for gaming in order to save money.
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Building a PC isn't too bad nowadays but there are weird little quirks you can run into.
For instance, I build a system for my wife and got a case with USB3.0 front ports but the mobo only had USB2.0 front panel connectors, oops. Ended up having to buy an adapter from another case manufacturer, wasn't a huge deal but was a little annoying. I've also had issues with cases having more fans and plug harnesses than the motherboard had but that is less the case as a lot of case fans use molex harnesses.
frank_jaeger said:
Building a PC isn't too bad nowadays but there are weird little quirks you can run into.
For instance, I build a system for my wife and got a case with USB3.0 front ports but the mobo only had USB2.0 front panel connectors, oops. Ended up having to buy an adapter from another case manufacturer, wasn't a huge deal but was a little annoying. I've also had issues with cases having more fans and plug harnesses than the motherboard had but that is less the case as a lot of case fans use molex harnesses.
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Yeah stuff like this is what I want to avoid.
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valdesr11 said:
Yeah stuff like this is what I want to avoid.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
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What I listed earlier is a pretty decent start point I think.
Case obviously is very much up to taste, I like the Antec 300 because it has a lot of bays, large rear and top fans and looks nice. No chrome and lights n stuff.
Video card could be swapped based on brand/manufacturer preference.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986
$99.99
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820148443
$179.99
Adding the OS (Win7 Home 64-bit OEM) and the SSD drive bumps the total up to $1,035.90.
The SSD drive would be for OS, games, programs. And any big files like movies, music, etc could go on the regular 1TB.
As far as actually assembling it you can probably find some pretty good generic guides but really just need to take it slow and follow the directions. The case comes with these kind of "post" screws, that you put on first and then the MB sits on those and then you use the normal little screws. And check everything to make sure the screws you use are the correct threading for where you put them.
Oh and IO panel cover that comes with the MB goes into the case first before mounting the MB itself.
One weird area is connecting all the front panel switches and lights (power, hdd activity) from the case to the MB, usually isn't too bad as the case plugs are labeled and then you just color match.
I honestly think an i3 will be sufficient for normal use and gaming. Additional threads/cores won't really show their worth unless you're doing 3D rendering or lots of encoding jobs.
Only thing is with the OEM license it would be paired to the motherboard at license time. The retail license which you can move between complete systems is an additional $80.
frank_jaeger said:
What I listed earlier is a pretty decent start point I think.
Case obviously is very much up to taste, I like the Antec 300 because it has a lot of bays, large rear and top fans and looks nice. No chrome and lights n stuff.
Video card could be swapped based on brand/manufacturer preference.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986
$99.99
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820148443
$179.99
Adding the OS (Win7 Home 64-bit OEM) and the SSD drive bumps the total up to $1,035.90.
The SSD drive would be for OS, games, programs. And any big files like movies, music, etc could go on the regular 1TB.
As far as actually assembling it you can probably find some pretty good generic guides but really just need to take it slow and follow the directions. The case comes with these kind of "post" screws, that you put on first and then the MB sits on those and then you use the normal little screws. And check everything to make sure the screws you use are the correct threading for where you put them.
Oh and IO panel cover that comes with the MB goes into the case first before mounting the MB itself.
One weird area is connecting all the front panel switches and lights (power, hdd activity) from the case to the MB, usually isn't too bad as the case plugs are labeled and then you just color match.
I honestly think an i3 will be sufficient for normal use and gaming. Additional threads/cores won't really show their worth unless you're doing 3D rendering or lots of encoding jobs.
Only thing is with the OEM license it would be paired to the motherboard at license time. The retail license which you can move between complete systems is an additional $80.
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Click to collapse
Fortunately, my school provides us with Windows 7 (all versions) for free. So that's $100 I can save. Building it doesn't worry me as much as getting the right parts and making sure they work for what I need them for. What is the deal with AMD and why do people love Intel so much over it?
valdesr11 said:
Fortunately, my school provides us with Windows 7 (all versions) for free. So that's $100 I can save. Building it doesn't worry me as much as getting the right parts and making sure they work for what I need them for. What is the deal with AMD and why do people love Intel so much over it?
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Intel hit a homerun with the initial Core 2 Duo/Quad processors after the old Core Duo pieces of crap. Since then they haven't let their quality and performance drop. They were the SSD leaders for awhile as well but Crucial took that away from them, Samsung is making noise but still hasn't been proven.
Really though it just comes down to preference. I'm not really up to date on what AMDs current cpu offerings are, I switched from AMD to Intel during the Core 2 Duo days and stuck into the Core i series. Basically it seems the AMD cpus are sub-par compared to Intel offerings and to counter-balance AMD cuts the price.
Granted while I have no preference for AMDs processors I love their GPUs. The Radeon HD 4870 made a lot of waves when it came out and they've continued to deliver. The 6850/70/90 have excellent performance to price ratios.
That's another item you could swap, is the 6850 for the 6870 (what I'm running currently) or a comparable Nvidia card, just check the reviews on sites like anandtech, tomshardware, legitreviews. Again this is all opinion but the card manufacturers I've been partial to lately are Sapphire/XFX/EVGA, mostly Sapphire because they are the least expensive and I've had great results with them. ASUS and Gigabyte would probably be ok.
Also as an earlier posted said you can most likely get better info/recommendations from a dedicated site like overclock.net.
SKYNET 1.0
Good morning everyone,
I thought I should share the official build I purchased last night. Came out to a little more expensive than I wanted but it will be worth it in the end.
And that's with not doing exactly what I wanted of having two monitors and throwing in there a home theater system build as well.
So I just kept it as a gaming system for now. I will either be upgrading it as I go or sell it in the future and build my second one when I have money for it with exactly what I want, and possibly learn to overclock
1 x Logitech MK550 Black USB RF Wireless Ergonomic Wave Combo
1 x APC BE450G 450 VA 257 Watts UPS
1 x ASRock B75 PRO3 LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 x Newegg Free CPU Magazine Coupon
1 x Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, ...
1 x ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor W/Speakers
1 x SAMSUNG 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model MV-3V4G3D/US
1 x EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready ...
1 x Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
1 x Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-450-M 450W ATX12V v2.31 & EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD ...
1 x ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
1 x Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz (3.6GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics ...
Everything including shipping came out to $1,077.18 - $30 in rebates.
I'll post some pictures later on of the building process just to share with you guys.
P.S. Thank you guys for all the advice and mad credit to everyone from the overclock.net community. You were all great and a big influence on my build.
Nice!!!
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