Budget build

I'm looking to upgrade my desktop after a year or so of having stopped playing all together due to outdated specs. I currently have an athlon xp 3000+ with a 6800 vanilla and a gig of ram. It let me play games like tf2 at a decent rate but now it can't handle anything new and so it's been collecting dust. I don't have a ton of money but would like to play Dawn of War 2, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty 4, and looking forward to Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2. Now keep in mind that with my previous build I have gotten used to play games on subpar specs so I'm not looking for something that is going to dominate at high res with AA. If I could play at 1280x1024 no AA and maintain 40+fps I would be happy. My budget is probably going to be under 500 dollars. I was looking at processors like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072
I'm so out of date right now that I'm sure this 72 dollar processor is going to feel like it's flying. I just haven't looked at componants in so long that I have no idea what to pair this with. I probably won't need a new PSU or HDD. If anyone could make some suggestions on CPU/GPU/RAM/MOBO this is probably all I need.

Intel Pentium E5200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072 $73

XIGMATEK HDT-RS1283 120mm CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233012 $33

GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128357 $53

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 $46

EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370 $200

BFG Tech LS SERIES LS-550 550W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.8 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702008 $80

Total from Newegg before S&H $486

Little overclocking to 3.3 GHz on the e5200 and you are set.

p.s. list your current PC in detail.

That's almost what I picked on my own so at least I havn't gotten too rusty at this Do you think i could get away with this GPU?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

POWERCOLOR AX4830 512MD3-H Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131129 $90

If you are on a budget this would be a better value.

At 1280x1024, you don't need anything more than a 4830.
Again, I would stay away from Powercolor, and get something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127420

I will have to disassemble some stuff to check on the PSU but I think it's 600w. Also, I probably won't OC right away so I don't need the heatsink yet. This brings me under 300 which is very doable

ThirtySixBelow said:

I will have to disassemble some stuff to check on the PSU but I think it's 600w.

Click to expand...

Which 600W PSU do you have? Not all 600W PSU are the same.

heres another build to consider,

AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition $63.50 + fs
BIOSTAR TForce TF720 A2+ AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 720a ATX $69.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified $59.99 + fs
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $45.99 + fs
HIS Hightech H485FN512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB $139.99 - $10 mir + free copy of stalker clearsky + fs
Total: $379.99 - $20 mir + mostly free shipping
Should handle everything nicely.

Ok I think the final build will be:
E5200
GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800
SAPPHIRE HD4830 512MB

Here is my psu:


Only 500 watts but has good amp ratings on the 12v rail which is why I got it. You think this will be ok for this build?

what brand the pic show Emacs? never heard of that.

hossdaddy said:

what brand the pic show Emacs? never heard of that.

Click to expand...

Zippy/Emacs... I did a lot of research at the time and it seemed to be a good quality power supply for the money. Must not be well known anymore.

They're known for good server PSUs. You should be fine.

I concur with Enginurd: That server grade PSU should be fine for the OP's planned setup. However, if you go any higher with the video card, I recommend upgrading the PSU in that case.