budget gaming build help

J

johnnyreed

n00b
Joined
Apr 29, 2010
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6
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Primarily MMORPG gaming

2) What's your budget? $800 shipping included

3) Where do you live? Oregon

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? Everything but monitor, peripherals, and OS.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Nothing reused.

6) Will you be overclocking? No

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? 23in

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Within the week.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? Firewire. Esata

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? No.

Thanks for any input, I appreciate the help.
 
You don't have an OS license, yet you don't want to include (the costs of) one within your build budget. Why?

What resolution are you using for games? What level of visual quality?
 
Flegg, I am currently playing WoW, but plan to play Final Fantasy 14 when it is released later this year.

Tiraides, I planned on picking up an OS locally. I play WoW @ 1280 x 800, with the effects reduced to a minimum as I am playing on an older laptop at the end of its run.
 
If those are the only games you are going to play I would suggest an SSD even though budget your budget is only 800. Especially if you switch between accounts regularly. How much space does WOW take up nowadays?
 
flegg said:
If those are the only games you are going to play I would suggest an SSD even though budget your budget is only 800. Especially if you switch between accounts regularly. How much space does WOW take up nowadays?
Click to expand...

17GB here. With the expansion coming in the near future, I'd say roughly 25GB would be good to have.
 
First, the build:

$161 - AMD Athlon II X3 440* & Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3 combo
$95 - Corsair XMS3 DHX 2x2GB DDR3 1333 kit*
$55 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS*
$20 - Sony Optiarc AD-7240S-0B*
$170 - XFX HD-577A-ZNDC HD 5770*
$115 - Antec Earthwatts EA650 & Antec Three Hundred Illusion combo
=====
$616 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

Items with an asterisk (*) come with free ground shipping
The Three Hundred Illusion has a $15 off promo code EMCYSYR33 that ends 5/10

Over at NewEgg, an OEM copy of Windows 7 Home Premium costs around $100 shipped. It may be easier for you to grab the OEM copy at the same time as the rest of your parts. Or, you could use the "savings" to pick up a monitor (assuming that you don't already have one on hand).

I believe that an SSD is impractical for this build. In addition to the amount of space WoW takes up, you also have to throw in an additional 10GB-20GB for the Windows install. And while an SSD would load games and programs faster, it doesn't improve frame rates as much as a good video card (like the HD 5770) would.

A few more questions:
- Do you already have the monitor on hand? If so, which particular monitor do you have? If not, when do you plan on buying one?
- Are you going to limit your game playing to just MMOs? Will you try other games/genres?
 
mnewxcv said:
ah crap, i got the upgrade by mistake :(
Click to expand...

If you did get an upgrade (rather than the "full") copy of Windows 7 or Vista, all is not lost. The Windows 7 (or Vista) setup will allow you to install a trial copy onto your system (do not enter the product key yet during this trial install). That copy cannot be activated on its own - but you can then perform the upgrade install (from the very same setup disc that you've just installed the trial from, only this time using the product key) over the trial version that you've just installed. This second install can be activated (legitimately).
 
E4g1e said:
If you did get an upgrade (rather than the "full") copy of Windows 7 or Vista, all is not lost. The Windows 7 (or Vista) setup will allow you to install a trial copy onto your system (do not enter the product key yet during this trial install). That copy cannot be activated on its own - but you can then perform the upgrade install (from the very same setup disc that you've just installed the trial from, only this time using the product key) over the trial version that you've just installed. This second install can be activated (legitimately).
Click to expand...

right, nah i was kidding, ive done that with vista upgrades before. good to know it works for 7 as well, might grab it rather than pick up an oem copy.
 
mnewxcv said:
right, nah i was kidding, ive done that with vista upgrades before. good to know it works for 7 as well, might grab it rather than pick up an oem copy.
Click to expand...

Especially since all retail-boxed copies of Windows 7, including upgrade copies, come with both 32-bit and 64-bit setup discs. (The choice between 32-bit and 64-bit versions to install depends on the capabilities of your system's CPU and the amount of RAM that the system has.) If you choose an OEM or a System Builder copy, you will have to pick 32-bit or 64-bit (you can't get both unless you pay extra).
 
I don't think he is going to have to worry about frames playing WOW or FF14 ~ which is why I say consider an SSD. 175 frames vs 125 frames & 1/3 the loading time.

Of course it's personal preference and I'm guessing at the numbers but I wanted to throw that out there.

Personally if I were him I would only go SSD if I knew 100% those were the only games I wanted to play AND if I used more than 1 account frequently.

May want to see what can be dug up as far as FF14 graphics/system demand go.

But otherwise I agree 100% with Tiraides' build. Could wait around and find a better deal on the PSU + case, though atm that seems to be the best thing going. I would check the FS/FT section for that. (love the 300 for simple builds btw)
 
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With wow involved I wouldn't bother with a ssd on that budget. I Would want atleast 80gb of space so thats like another 215 for a rebranded intel.
 
flegg, with an $800 budget (including shipping costs), the price of a decent SSD has to be factored in -- you'd probably spend over $100 for an SSD with more than 32GB of space -- along with the possibility that the OP may also want to buy an OS and/or a monitor. With the money "saved" from not going with an SSD -- keep in mind that the single-platter WD5000AAKS itself will be noticeably faster than the laptop HDD the OP was using earlier -- the OP can buy either a new OS or a decent (if not great) gaming monitor and still stay around (if not under) his budget limit.

Of course, I'm operating under the assumption that the OP has neither the monitor nor the OS on hand and was planning on buying those separately from the rest of this system. What I'm suggesting is that, by going with a relatively inexpensive system like the one I "built" for him, he could buy one of those two things alongside the rest of the parts for the build.
 
Well yea I'd definitely recommend a better monitor (up to 1900x1200) over an SSD.
 
I Think the OP is probably using a Monitor at 1900x1080 or 1920x1200 already. I Get the impression that he has a 23", but the low 1280x800 resolution was caused by the laptop he was using, not the monitor.
 
Tiraides, I don't have a monitor on hand yet. The plan was to build the box, and with next paycheck find a monitor, using my TV in the very short term.

Generally speaking, MMO's are my bread and butter, and I don't see any reason I'd stray from that.

Thanks again for all the input. As per FF14 requirements, I haven't been able to get any hard information, but as the beta is running now more may be coming out. I'll see what I can't find.
 
No Blade&Soul or Old Republic for ya? Cmon join the non WOW club ;p
 
We'll see. To be honest, i'm taking my first foray into pc gaming. Been a console junky and have roommates who are all pc gamers. Damn peer pressure... :)
 
What about something like this (I cringe at the PSU, but thats about it).

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=6270921&sku=B69-0214

$699, - 8.5% Bing Cashback ($60 back basically) gives you $639.

Throw a mid range 5xxx series card into it, and voila, you should hit the mark
of $800. (Some say the board is blah, but it has all you need in it, including the e-sata)

Here ya go, 5770 1GB, and you're in like Flynn.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5599121&CatId=3669 (again, take off 8.5%, not much, but eh its something).

This is all not considering shipping and / or tax if that applies to you.

Its not the best of the best by any means, but its a solid CPU, looks to be a rather decent MB specs wise, overkill on the PSU, and since you aren't gonna OC, the stock cooler will work just peachy.



.
 
The generic PSU and the Green HDD (which runs slower than the WD5000AAKS) scare me. Then again, I don't really see the benefit of using a six-core Black Edition processor for MMORPGs.
 
 
 
Flegg, I will likely dabble in other games as my roommates are all nonMMO pc gamers. To this point my gaming has been limited to console stuff, so I'll likely branch out.

Thanks for all the help guys. Really appreciate it. Feel alot more comfortable with this purchase now.
 
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