Budget Gaming Build

H

Hauki

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
223
I'll try to keep it brief, it's been about 4 years since I last built a system - looking to build a budget gaming system (~700$US), with the intent of squeezing out whatever I can via OC'ing on stock/cheap cooling. I play a lot of FPS/RTS, 1600x1200 native res 21" CRT.
I don't really need any extra features, just good best-bang-for-the-buck functionality. I also have all accessories including the above monitor, as well as a spare 160gb SATA drive I plan on using. I'd also like the new system to retain as much upgrade value in the future as possible, given the above budget.

At the moment I already have a case on it's way, went with an Antec 900 (100$ - link just for reference)
PSU - Grabbed the Newegg deal a week or two ago for the Antec 550W NeoHE (55$ AR)
Mobo - Eyeing the Abit IP35-E at Mwave, heard it's great for my needs, and at that price it seemed hard to beat. (89$)
CPU - Planning on an E4400, also at Mwave - seems the best cost-option for my stock OC plans. (119$)
RAM - Spotted this G-Skill DDR 800 at Newegg - looked like a good deal, and it seems like it'll easily get me through a stock cooling OC (70$)
GFX - Unsure on this, I heard X1900XTs & X1950XTs were great for the price, but I can't seem to find many at all - the few I've seen have all been absurdly priced in comparison, in the 300-400$ range. Basically, I'd just like to be able to play the most recent games at decent framerates, they don't have to look great.

Currently I'm looking at an X1950GT from Newegg or a BFG7950GT, also at Newegg. (115$/140$AR)
There's also a 512MB version of the X1950GT that falls at 140$ as well - can anyone offer any insight & comparisons with regards to these three cards? From what I've heard, the difference between 256MB vram & 512MB vram isn't really noticeable until you reach fairly high resolutions/settings. Finally, it seems that nVidia's cards are generally more OC-friendly - could I scrape much more out of the 7950GT without having to delve into aftermarket cooling for it?

Also grabbing an extra HDD - this 320GB Seagate 7200.10 at Newegg seemed the most reasonable in terms of performance/price (80$)

Total - 645$-670$US after 2x40$ MIR. Also going to grab an extra case fan with that, 5$ more.

Finally, I'm not sure what to do with my old system - if I do scavenge the 160gb HDD for my new system, it won't have any internal storage. Secondly, I don't have any spare optical drives, and while I could scavenge the pair from my old system I'd leave it wanting then.

Basically, my thoughts are these - buy a new pair of optical drives, or even just one (+35$-50$) leaving the old system with 1 CD RW and/or 1 DVD, scavenge the HDD & try to resell it as is from that point, a complete system minus hard storage. I'd also be tacking on a spare 19" CRT, as it's not doing me any good at the moment. Ultimately hoping to get 200-300$ for it to help offset the cost of the new system, which is 20-25% of what I paid to build the system alone ~4 years ago. Although... I don't really have a great need for storage, I'd guess I use about 200gb at the moment. I could probably leave the 160gb in there and get by on a single 320gb drive in my new system, if that might improve the saleability of the system.

Anyway, I hope I covered the necessities - any input, suggestions, commentary, insight, all are greatly appreciated. Oh, any ideas as to the OC I could expect from that build, given the case & stock cooling? I've heard people say they've reached ~3GHz on stock, but wasn't sure if they'd gone to any especial effort to reach that, or how much environment might come into account - can't keep my apartment below ~27C most of the year, relatively hot & arid here.
 
Fairly sure the 7950GT is the better card, of those 3. The X1950 GT is fairly OC friendly, but yes, the 7950 will clock fairly well. At your res no reason to pay extra for more vram, no. Read up on some benchmarks.

I'd recommend spending ~$30 more on your HDD for a 500 GB if you're worried about storage and keeping the 160 GB in the machine you plan to sell, as yes, I do think it will improve saleability... and the 500GB drive would be faster than your old IDE drive anyway.

Other than that looks solid. If you're still hurting for cash you can get E2xxx series chips down in the $75 range and OC...
 
Nothing wrong with the NeoHE line. Pretty much all the other Antecs except the higher end Trios suck, but the NeoHE's are just rebranded Seasonics if I remember correctly... just like the Corsairs you're suggesting.
 
silent-circuit said:
but the NeoHE's are just rebranded Seasonics if I remember correctly... just like the Corsairs you're suggesting.
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That's what I seem to recall, but I'm not positive.
Pretty much a moot point anyway, like I said I already picked it up for half the price of the Corsair model - unless there's something terribly wrong with it, I don't plan on returning it.

Thanks for the input on the vid card, I guess I'll dig up benchmarks on the two cards & hope I can find some crossover.

I imagine I'll be fine on 320gb, but I'll bump it up anyway just to be safe - when I bought the 160gb sata years ago I couldn't imagine filling it, but I didn't have much trouble doing that.

I'll go ahead and stick with the E4400 I think - not really hurting per se, I just want to put a hard cap on it before I start adding things to my cart :p Also buying a car & sending myself halfway around the world for a number of months, both of which take precedence right now.

Thanks for the replies, I'll probably hold off ordering until Monday to see if anyone else has any input or suggestions.
 
He already bought the NeoHE 550, so theres no real good reason to return it. It is, afterall, still a Seasonic rebadge, albeit a lower quality one. Again, its good enough for his needs.

I agree with s-c on the vidcard. The X1950GT should be able to OC to PRO speeds without extra cooling.

An E4400 should be able to reach, at least, 3Ghz. Though, you may want to get an aftermarket cooler.

I have an E4300 I'd be willing to sell for around $85 + shipping. If you're interested, drop me a PM.

The rest of the parts look good. However, I would have spent less on the case and more on the vidcard.
 
troisanh said:
id replace the g.skill with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565 if you dont mind rebates. overall way better OCing ram for same price AR.
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That truly is a great deal, but he won't need such OC'able RAM with an E4400, since it has a 9x multiplier.

E4400: 10 × 200 = 2.0Ghz, DDR2-400 << STOCK speeds
E4400: 10 × 266 = 2.6Ghz, DDR2-533 << Easy OC
E4400: 10 × 333 = 3.3Ghz, DDR2-667 << Great OC

As you can see, he doesnt even need DDR2-800. However, the prices for DDR2-667 and 800 are similar, so the G.Skills for $70 are good enough. I, personally, like to avoid rebates... but if you like them, then either will work fine.

Hauki said:
Also buying a car & sending myself halfway around the world for a number of months, both of which take precedence right now.
Click to expand...

You might want to build this rig AFTER you get back from your trip, lol.
 
Also buying a car & sending myself halfway around the world for a number of months, both of which take precedence right now.
Click to expand...

If you are going to be away and won't be using the machine for a few months, I'd wait until you return to do this build. A lot of new stuff is due to come out in the next few months and you will be able to buy a much better stuff when you return.
 
frogger42 said:
If you are going to be away and won't be using the machine for a few months, I'd wait until you return to do this build. A lot of new stuff is due to come out in the next few months and you will be able to buy a much better stuff when you return.
Click to expand...

Or at the very least, get older hardware for much much less.
 
enginurd said:
The rest of the parts look good. However, I would have spent less on the case and more on the vidcard.
Click to expand...
What would be the next card/pricepoint you'd recommend?
Also sending PM about the E4300.
I really do dislike MIR, even if I have two going on already - I'd like to avoid them if at all possible, and if the G-Skill will serve my needs well enough, I'll probably just stick to that although the Ballistix does look like a great deal.
As to the trip, I'm not leaving for a while yet, but most of my bank is going into that at that moment and I simply don't want to dip into savings.
I might play the waiting game for a bit just to see if I can get better deals on any of those components, but I've gone long enough without upgrading that it's starting to get in the way - I'd kind of like to just get it over with.

Thanks for all the input so far ^ ^
 
I would have gone for the 8800GTS 320MB for ~$250AR. However, that price point is still far off even if you would have settled for a $35 case. Since you already have the case, go for the X1950GT and OC it.

The DDR2-800 $70 G.Skill sticks will serve your needs well for either an E4300 or E4400. Basically, anything with a 9x multiplier would be fine.

Possible OCs with an E4300 on a 1:1 linked config:
E4300: 9 × 200 = 1.8Ghz, DDR2-400 << STOCK speeds
E4300: 9 × 266 = 2.4Ghz, DDR2-533 << Easy OC
E4300: 9 × 333 = 3.0Ghz, DDR2-667 << Good OC, near max on good air

When are you leaving for your trip, and how long will you be gone? Keep in mind, the longer you wait, the better the components get for the same amount of money. So, wait as long as you can.
 
I may look into the 8800GTS anyway, even if it is ~100$ more.
I'm guessing I would need aftermarket cooling to approach 3ghz on the 4300, right?
As to the trip, not leaving for 6 mos. yet, probably be gone about the same, maybe a little less.
 
Going to need/want aftermarket cooling to do any kind of major OC with any C2D chip. The people that are running 3Ghz on stock cooling seem to think near to 80C load is "ok". In short, they're nuts.
 
3Ghz would be ok on the stock cooler if you don't mind high temps. However, a good enough cooler could be had on the cheap:

$30 - Cooler MASTER RR-CCH-L9U1-GP 92mm Hyper TX2 ($15MIR) ($14 Promo: EMC920ACCE02)

That comes out to under $10 after tax, shipping, and rebate!

You're only going to get about 6 months out of this thing, then its going to sit idle for another 6 months??!? eh, up to you, hehe. Eh, if you could wait a year or so, then I'd suggest doing so.


silent-circuit said:
Going to need/want aftermarket cooling to do any kind of major OC with any C2D chip. The people that are running 3Ghz on stock cooling seem to think near to 80C load is "ok". In short, they're nuts.
Click to expand...

80°C? jeez. With the E4300 on stock cooling, the CPU only reached 68°C on Orthos for me... but I was using AS5, lol.
 
Hmm... yea, honestly there really isn't anything coming out in the next 6 months that I plan on playing but couldn't run on my current system. Having a new system idling literally halfway across the world from me isn't really a good investment either.
I'll go ahead and wait.

Thanks for all the help so far, expect a new thread in about a year :p
 
have a good trip... we'll still be here when you get back... i hope, lol.

Oh, another thing you could do is sell your rig before you leave for your trip. I have a friend who builds systems quite often, and turns around and sells them rather quickly, too. He usually makes his money back and turns around to build another new system... it works well for him because he seems to always find people to sell the systems to, lol.
 
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