Budget Gaming Build #2

N

Neon2303

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
71
OK I'm doing another budget gaming build and you guys are the best at this.
I've actually been out of the loop, so I'm going to need to be filled in.

The computer will be mainly used for gaming (COD4, Starcraft 2 Beta, L4D), but I will probably do some Photoshop and occasionally other apps like WorldMachine/Terragen and Blender. I want at least Medium settings (I realize video card I already have will limit this).

My budget is $450+/-$50 USD. This includes shipping and tax. Don't include rebates but if they're available listing them would be nice.

I do not need a hard drive, optical drive, video card, or power supply. These are already available. I am only concerned about the PC, I do not need speakers, mouse, keyboard, or display.

I am located in Louisiana.

The Video Card is an NVIDIA 7900 GS. The PSU is 800W. I'll have to look for make and model, but I know this is a good one and supports SLI and most new hardware. I have some IDE drives, so it would be nice if the motherboard supported IDE, otherwise I will need an enclosure or a card. My primary drives are SATA.

I am capable of overclocking, so if this helps in performance/price, keep that in mind. I hope to save as much money as possible, so anything OEM is OK, and stock cooling is OK as long as I can get a decent OC. If there are refurbished or open box parts, that is fine as long as that is noted.

My monitor is an Acer 24" 1920x1200 with HDMI/DVI/VGA. Max resolution in games is not essential. Ability to use that resolution in playback of HD media is. Blu-Ray is not necessary (I will add support for BD later).

I plan on purchasing the parts and having the computer built before or during Easter. The date is around April 12, 2009.

I already have an OS (Windows 7 Beta and Windows Vista Ultimate).

Intel CPU is preferred but not necessary. Best compatibility with Nvidia video cards is also preferred as if I upgrade from the 7900 GS it will be an Nvidia. I plan on upgrading in the summer.

I prefer to keep shipping and tax costs as low as possible in order to get the most out of my money. If this means a build across-sites, or with a single site, that is fine. I use PayPal (therefore PayPal support is preferred) and shop with many people including newegg, buy, mwave, zipzoomfly, and others.

Any other questions please ask.
Thanks in advance.
 
I read that before posting.
I have stated:
2xIDE 2xSATA Hard Drives
NVIDIA 7900GS Video Card
Acer 24" HD Monitor
800W PSU
Lite-On SATA DVD-RW Burner

If you want me to be more specific, please ask. The power supply I am not sure on actual specs as I did not see any marking on it, therefore I will have to find the box.
 
I suggest you open up your case and look at the model no. for that powersupply.
 
I actually did, it turned out to be on the top, because as I said it's completely black with no writing on any visible area.

So, it's a Power Up PU800.
 
Antec 300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 $55 (minus $10 promo code Antec0309)

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128380 $85

Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072 $73

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 $40

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 $40

BFG Tech BFGEGTX260MC896OCE 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=N82E16814143155 $180

Total $463 before S&H

Overclock the E5200 to 3.5 GHz and you are set.
 
Thanks lt_shiro.

I like the (Antec) case, hopefully it will do. I don't have much experience with cases where PSU goes on bottom, but it does look like the PowerUp 800W would fit fine with it.

The (Gigabyte) motherboard I have experience with and I also like. The processor (E5200) I would have chosen if I wanted dual core, but I'm skeptical because I'm pushing for Quad. The HSF is fine although I prefer smaller ones, though I like that one for OC. Just in case, any other recommendations (for HSF)? Can't beat G.Skill, I would have grabbed those for most builds. The GTX 260 is what I had in mind but won't get immediately since I have that 7900GS and I'd rather put the money ($180) into something else.

Basically, any advice on ignoring the GTX 260 and going for a better processor?

Also, any other Motherboard suggestions? I like to shop around for those, but I certainly have nothing against the Gigabyte.

I'd like to see input from other people as well, it's nice to have a decent amount of information to sift through.

PS. I couldn't agree more on the E5200 OC @ 3.5GHz (I just am pushing toward Quad - I realize I won't use it as much for gaming purposes but it may come in handy with some other production apps I use on occasion).
 
The GTX 260 would be a better choice in gaming, but if you must have a quad core, you could get away with gaming on an HD4850 or (if you can find one for around the same price) a 512MB HD4870.

For overclocking, you might as well stick with the Xigmatek Dark Knight, as it comes with a retention bracket to make mounting it easier and more secure. With the "regular" HDT-S1283, we normally recommend buying a (sold) separate(ly) retention bracket as well.
 
Thanks for the input, tiraides.

So, y'all recommend just letting that that (of which I already own) Nvidia 7900GS remain on the shelf?
That's what seems to be the consensus here...

If I do decide to get a GPU and can find a reasonably priced HD4870, would that be better than the GTX 260 in this case, or is Nvidia just better geared for gaming in the current market?

Also, y'all are against Quad it seems. I don't want the lack of cores to affect me, but it seems it should not... Any more input on that?
 
Though there is an increasing number of games that can recognize and utilize a quad core effectively, most games are still more dependent on the video card than the processor. For a pure gaming machine, you could stick with a dual core and not suffer many problems.

If, however, you were able to obtain at least $200 (preferably, at least $350) within the next month or so, I wouldn't have any reservations about you getting a quad core processor now and reusing your 7900GS until you get the new video card. But you've made no mention that you were going to spend anything, beyond the $450-$500 that you currently have, in the near future.
 
A quick analysis would be nice, but I'll look into comparisons on the HD4870 vs the GTX 260.

Sorry, I guess I should have been more clear. I do plan on spending more when I come across the money. One example is the aforementioned BD Drive. And yes, the 7900GS would be temporary. I will probably use it until I am able to sell it. Speaking of which, does anyone know a good (used) resale value for the 7900GS? I still have its box. It is a PVT71PUDP3:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150202

I don't have any concern for gaming performance, but I do have concern towards certain non-gaming apps.
So, if I do go Quad, what's a good price/performance Intel Quad I could get? Also, I wouldn't want to lose performance in gaming just for Quad (as I realize similarly clocked processors in Quad cost more). I'm trying to see just how much I can do with my money (and where I'll have to wait).
 
Check the For Sale / Trade forum here for a price estimate on the 7900GS. We can't offer price recommendations here.

The quick analysis is: the HD4870 and GTX 260 perform about the same. They trade blows in various benchmarks, but the performance difference is no so great whereas one could be considered better than the other.

Danny Bui said:
And yes the GTX260 is about the same as the HD4870 1GB. See for yourself:
http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTYyNiwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0
http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTYzMSwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0
Click to expand...

One of the $200 quad cores -- the Q8200, the Q8300 or the Q6600 -- would be enough for your needs. Without knowing the particular programs in question (which you could find out by searching for a few benchmarks), we can't say that one quad core is better than another.
 
Neon2303 said:
So, it's a Power Up PU800.
Click to expand...

Get a new Power supply. That's an unknown, more than like crappy judging from the company's history and the specs on that 800W PSU is pretty damn low for a "800W" PSU. So with all of those facts combined, it would not be smart to reuse that PSU with any new system.

So I recommend getting this PSU if you plan on getting a quad-core CPU and a GTX260 card:
BFG Tech LS-550 550W PSU - $68
 
The PSU has seemed to suit me well on my current machine (though the draw is significantly less). What's the best way to keep an eye on it?

Tiraides, as far as apps I'll be using, basically some of Adobe's suite. I do web work, so mainly Photoshop and Dreamweaver with some Flash - but I like to play with the other ones sometimes. I've always wanted to try Blender. I have previous experience with software such as Terragen and World Machine. Does it still look like I'll be fine with Dual?

Thanks for the PSU recommendation though, because I'll keep it in mind. I'll add the GTX 260 when I get a chance (I'd prefer Nvidia over AMD, so I'll do that...). I'll look around myself for 7900GS pricing.
Edit: WOW! The Dark Knight 4870 (while more than $190) seems much better priced than the GTX 260.

PS. I may be able to get a 680i SLI Deluxe motherboard for free from a friend. Will the E5200 and HSF work fine with it?
 
Neon2303 said:
The PSU has seemed to suit me well on my current machine (though the draw is significantly less). What's the best way to keep an eye on it?
Click to expand...

Use a digital multimeter to monitor the PSU voltage. No software of any kind will be able monitor PSU voltages accurately so you need to use a digital multi-meter:
http://www.bfgpower.com/troubleshooting.html#DMM

I really wouldn't trust that Powerup 800W PSU considering this:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1326337

That PSU was barely capable of providing 365W of power. So you will need to upgrade that PSU when you upgrade the rest of the parts.

Neon2303 said:
Tiraides, as far as apps I'll be using, basically some of Adobe's suite. I do web work, so mainly Photoshop and Dreamweaver with some Flash - but I like to play with the other ones sometimes. I've always wanted to try Blender. I have previous experience with software such as Terragen and World Machine. Does it still look like I'll be fine with Dual?
Click to expand...

A dual-core CPU would be fine. But if you have the cash, a quad-core would be better choice.

Neon2303 said:
PS. I may be able to get a 680i SLI Deluxe motherboard for free from a friend. Will the E5200 and HSF work fine with it?
Click to expand...

The CPU probably won't work. The latest BIOs for that mobo is from 2007. The E5200 came out in 2008.
 
Thanks for the heads-up on the PSU and the 680i. I'll have to research the exact motherboard to see people's success (or lack of) stories. For the PowerUp, you have me worried. I have searched Google and some forums but haven't been able to find much information on the company or the model, which gets me more skeptical. Since it looks like I'll at least be getting a new PSU (and may wind up getting the newer GPU), I can't budget the Quad. This doesn't bother me as much as power concerns. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Does anyone know any more about that make of power supplies?

Also, I'm aware of the GTX 260 and HD4870 models having multiple revisions, and therefore significant differences in prices between models. What's the easiest way to tell between the new and the old ones when shopping? Or, is there not really an easy way and I'll just have to examine specs?
 
The new model HD4870 and GTX 260 cards have 1GB of GDDR5 memory and 216 shader processors (or "cores"), respectively.

I trust Danny's judgment on that PowerUp PSU. I can't comment on it, having never used it before, but I've personally avoided using "generic" power supplies for years. PowerUp, for as far as I can remember, has always been considered a "generic" brand power supply.
 
Thanks, both of y'all. I've decided on a better video card and PSU and I'll just sell off the 7900GS and the 800W PSU to someone noting their downsides (I'm a nice guy). I'll ignore Quad for now. I'd rather save money and put it towards software (games).

If anyone would be kind enough to help me shop for GTX 260s and HD4870s, I'd greatly appreciate it. I've seen them from $220 to $270 - AMD and Nvidia.
 
Neon2303 said:
Thanks, both of y'all. I've decided on a better video card and PSU and I'll just sell off the 7900GS and the 800W PSU to someone noting their downsides (I'm a nice guy). I'll ignore Quad for now. I'd rather save money and put it towards software (games).

If anyone would be kind enough to help me shop for GTX 260s and HD4870s, I'd greatly appreciate it. I've seen them from $220 to $270 - AMD and Nvidia.
Click to expand...

Best price to performance IMO:
BFG Tech BFGEGTX260MC896OCE GeForce GTX 260 896MB PCI-E Video Card - $180
 
Thanks, hossdaddy.
And to get this clear, my understanding is these products are so similar in performance it's best to just go with what appears to be the best price?
Oh, I'll be comparing specs too. I just want to know if it'd be find to go with that COD: World at War package - I plan on buying this game for my new PC and having it come with it would be nice. The game is the full game right (I just want to make sure I'll be able to play COD Multiplayer).
 
Looks like everything is taken care of now..? I should be shopping for those parts looking for best prices on them and buying sometime this week. Did anyone have any last-minute advice or recommendations? Also, if something comes up I'll be sure to stop by. Thanks, everyone at [H].

Update:
I forgot to mention, I will have about 4 hard drives in there. That will likely affect PSU choice. Since I'm getting a new PSU, please reevaluate. I just want to make sure because I may need more than the BFG Tech LS-550 550W PSU now.
 
Sorry about the double post/bump, but I just added new info to an otherwise thread intended to die. Please see the previous post.
 
Neon2303 said:
Update:
I forgot to mention, I will have about 4 hard drives in there. That will likely affect PSU choice. Since I'm getting a new PSU, please reevaluate. I just want to make sure because I may need more than the BFG Tech LS-550 550W PSU now.
Click to expand...

Nope, the BFG LS-550 is still enough.
 
Thanks. I've decided to get what lt_shiro and the others recommended & the PSU that Danny Bui told me about. I'm trying to decide on the following 3 cards:

I like Call of Duty, but if the differences between the two GTX 260s means the BFG is significantly faster than the EVGA, I would rather the faster card. I'll do without COD:WaW if I must. Also, the HD 4870 I found for a reasonable price here:
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=AT...2f9620c368e894adb64514e73fa57f85550d289bd3a85
I'm not sure if I can trust it or whether or not that card is even worth it compared to the previously mentioned GTX 260s.

Otherwise, everything seems good.
 
Neon2303 said:
Thanks. I've decided to get what lt_shiro and the others recommended & the PSU that Danny Bui told me about. I'm trying to decide on the following 3 cards:

I like Call of Duty, but if the differences between the two GTX 260s means the BFG is significantly faster than the EVGA, I would rather the faster card. I'll do without COD:WaW if I must. Also, the HD 4870 I found for a reasonable price here:
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=AT...2f9620c368e894adb64514e73fa57f85550d289bd3a85
I'm not sure if I can trust it or whether or not that card is even worth it compared to the previously mentioned GTX 260s.
Click to expand...

There's isn't a huge performance difference between the BFG and eVGA GTX260 that hossdaddy linked to. As for the HD4870 1GB, if you go back to post #13 of this thread, you can see the performance difference between the HD4870 1GB and GTX260 for yourself. It can be best summed up like this: They're even.

So performance wise, it doesn't matter which card you go with. Now what matters is customer support and length of warranty. And thats where that Sapphire card loses since A) it's made by Sapphire, known to have poor CS and B) only has a two year warranty. Both the eVGA and BFG comes with a lifetime warranty once you register the card and have pretty good CS.

Oh as a FYI, COD:WAW currently costs $50 at most retailers. If you go with the eVGA card, you're basically getting the game for $30 since the eVGA card performs about the same as the $180 BFG card.
 
Thanks, I'm choosing the EVGA GTX 260 to stick with Nvidia and because I want COD World at War. As far as performance, it seems it doesn't really matter. I'll let everyone know how everything goes - and post the final part list. Whenever I purchase I'll also post the price, and when I build I'll give results.
 
It wound up being around $600 total.
Some quick benchmarks:
11137 3DMarks in 3DMark06. Default 3DMark06 settings and default hardware settings.
P10900 3DMarks in 3DMarkVantage: CPU Score: 27149 ; Graphics Score: 9087
3997 PCMarks in PCMarkVantage x64.
It's running Vista Ultimate 64-bit.
More to come later.
Thanks everyone I'm enjoying it fully!
 
Certainly tiraides. I need to get some things squared off with my digital camera and I'll take some and post them.
 
I'm looking to put a build together for about this much, so thanks for all the info! Does anyone have any idea if OPs build will play a game like fallout 3 at 1080p? I generally play rpg type games or rts games so it seems like a waste to go all out, but I do want to set for a while. Also, can that psu run two video cards in SLI (and is that even a logical thing to want to do a year or 2 from now)?
 
Makenxero said:
I'm looking to put a build together for about this much, so thanks for all the info! Does anyone have any idea if OPs build will play a game like fallout 3 at 1080p? I generally play rpg type games or rts games so it seems like a waste to go all out, but I do want to set for a while. Also, can that psu run two video cards in SLI (and is that even a logical thing to want to do a year or 2 from now)?
Click to expand...

The OP's build should be able toplay FO3 at pretty decent settings at 1920x1080. The BFG LS-550 would not be enough for GTX 260 SLI. But SLI isn't a good upgrade path to begin with:
Markyip1 said:
Just some info on SLI / Crossfire: It's absolutely not worth considering if a) you're gaming at a resolution under 1920x1200 (as you'll see no performance benefit over a single card,) and b) if you plan to buy one card now and another later. SLI / Crossfire as an upgrade path is usually a very poor idea, as by the time you're ready to get that second card, a new single card solution will likely be available that will outperform two of your older cards in tandem. Furthermore, there really is no cost benefit to the SLI Upgrade Route, as any additional cost in getting the new card can be easily mitigated in most situations by selling the original. By avoiding an SLI / Crossfire solution when it will not be of benefit, you gain a cooler running, simpler to maintain system and more importantly, access to a much better (and broader) selection of motherboards.
Click to expand...

If you have any more questions, please make your own thread with the answers to the stickied questions.
 
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