Another budget build - Help?

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CoRPS

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 19, 2004
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So, I haven't built a PC since the mobile 2400+'s were badass. :) But I'm planning on building one up in the VERY near future. I want to be able to play games like Crysis, Call of Duty 4, BioShock pretty seemlessly. Any input would be appreciated.


A64 X2 5600+ Windsor - $139.99
ASUS M2A-VM Motherboard - $64.99 (not sure about this)
G.Skill 2GB (1GBx2) x 2 - $93.98 ($46.99/ea)
MSI NX8600GT 512MB - $89.00 after rebate
Samsung 20x DVD Burner - $31.99

Comes out to $440.94. I have a 120GB Hitachi HDD and a random PSU/case at the house so i won't be needing either of those.

Thanks for any input
 
Make sure that random psu is capable of handling the system you are powering with it... after all it is just about the most important component of a computer

I don't know about seemlessly, that depends on the resolution and settings you are playing these games at.

This is what I am thinking of building
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L $89
Intel core 2 duo e4500 $122 (you should be able to overclock this to 3.0 fairly easily with stock cooling, which would outperform the amd)
G.Skill DDR2 800 2x1gb $47
Coolermaster Centurion 5 $35 after MIR
WD 250gb SATA HD $70
GeCube X1950XT $120 (probably will buy something used in FS section instead)
Antec Earthwatts 430watt PSU $30 after MIR

That is like $513 total after MIR, everything from newegg is free shipping the stuff from mwave might not be. You could save some money by going with a smaller HD and obviously you already have the case and psu so it comes out to about the same price as yours.
 
What PSU do you have? Please state the exact make and model of it. One lesson that everyone should know with a PC is never to skimp on the power supply.

Anyway:
- What's your budget?
- What size monitor do you have?
- Are you planning to OC?
- Is that hard drive SATA or IDE?

And yes, vtx_ is right. An OC'd E4500 will whip that AMD CPU's ass pretty badly. Or even a OC'd E2160 can beat that AMD. Most Core 2 Duo CPUs can easily 3.0ghz with little effort.
 
I would 2nd or is it 3rd the motion for an Intel build and also the motion on the argument that you should never skimp on the PSU.

Apart from this you should really consider if it could be at all possible to squeeze an 8800 series card into that build if you want to put eye-candy "on" in Crysis, that game eats GPUs for breakfast...
 
Please answer Danny's questions with as much detail as possible, then we can help you better.
 
Danny Bui said:
Anyway:
- What's your budget?
- What size monitor do you have?
- Are you planning to OC?
- Is that hard drive SATA or IDE?
Click to expand...

The PSU is some piece of shit I picked up at tigerdirect for like $25, I should probably upgrade, but at the same time I'm not willing to spend ~$75 on a PSU. Find me a decent one around $30 and I'm happy :)

Budget: I'd like to keep it around $400 if possible.
Monitor: 17" LCD, could really use some replacing but monitors are fucking expensive. Also I plan on using my 42" Aquos for a lot of the gaming.
OC: No, I don't want to complicate things, not that it's too complicated (just change multiplier) but I want everything to remain stock. Reliability is what I want most.
HDD: SATA

Edit: I just checked, the PSU is a Coolmax AP-450X(V-400)
Edit2: I also don't mind Intel vs AMD. When I was roaming these boards most everyone was all about AMD for gaming, so I just figured it had stayed the same. I'm down with whatever you guys suggest, as I have no idea what I'm talking about these days.
 
Now before I go on, I have to say this: $400 is not enough for "Seamless gameplay" with Crysis. Even on a 17" monitor. Crysis EATS video cards. My 7900GS barely handles Crysis at 1280x1024, let alone the slower 8600GT. $400 is barely enough for COD4 and Bioshock, if you keep the settings fairly low. Though if you want to have a better gameplay experience, up your budget another $150 or so.

Never skimp out on a power supply. It powers your entire system and if it dies it can and will take out your system in the process. Or if it's a shitty piece of crap, it can deliver improper voltage to your system and kill several parts. So spend a bit extra on the power supply. This is probably the cheapest power supply I'll recommend:
XClio Goodpower 500W PSU - $50

You do know that you need a 64bit OS like Vista 64bit in order to use all 4GB of RAM right? If you're not planning on moving to a 64bit OS, then just drop the RAM down to 2GB.

Also the 512MB of VRAM on that 8600GT will not help whatsoever since that card is a bit too slow to use all that RAM. I recommend going with this card instead since it's the same price as the 8600GT before the 8600GT's rebate but it does outperform the 8600GT:
Sapphire 100199L Radeon X1950GT 256MB PCI-E Video Card - $110

Anyway the mobo is good choice. It's gotten some pretty good reviews. And since you're not planning to OC, despite how easy it is with Intel Core 2 Duos, then the AMD CPU is a good choice. And AMD does need all the support it can get now since it is in a very bad state now. Actually the better term would be "Fucked."
 
Its all about Intel now, and has been since summer '06 (launch of Core2).

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1252045

Get that PSU while you can. Its a SevenTeam 500W for $9AR. Not great, but not that bad either.

OC'ing a Core2 isn't that complicated, and you can still keep the system stable. BTW, its just changing the FSB, not the multiplier, as those are locked on non-expensive-edition intel CPUs.

Monitors are actually cheap compared to a 42" Aquos. :p Anyhow, that Aquos is 1080p, right? You'll need at least an 8800GT for that (if you want to game at native resolution), IMO, which costs about $250 if you can find a good deal.
 
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