• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Build

G

gkg101

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
422
My current desktop rig just gave up the ghost, probably a motherboard failure, but at any rate I need a new generation of parts.
Budget: $200
Parts Needed: Mb, CPU, RAM

Co
 
Please answer the stickied 'ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better
 
Oh sorry, I thought this part went through.
So, it's for media and 3d games like Crysis to be played on high settings, but not crazy FPS expected. I want it good for 3 years or so.
 
$200 will net you an AMD AM3 motherboard, an AMD Athlon II (or Phenom II) processor, and 4GB of DDR3 RAM:

$157 - AMD Athlon II X4 640 (quad-core) & Biostar TA880GB+ combo
$40 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 DIMM

But AMD's upcoming Bulldozer platform and its AM3+ socket will require you to replace the motherboard at the very least. The Bulldozer AM3+ boards will support older AM3 processors but not vice versa. In other words, you may still want to upgrade come this time next year.
 
Thanks for the advice. Is this AMD system more bang for the buck than Intel? Well obviously you like AMD...why?
 
gkg101 said:
Thanks for the advice. Is this AMD system more bang for the buck than Intel?
Click to expand...

The trouble with Intel, in this case, is that the least expensive worthwhile combo would far exceed your stated $200 maximum; in fact, the least expensive worthwhile Intel CPU/mobo/RAM combo would well exceed $300 as well. Any Intel-based combo under $200 is either totally obsolete or ill-prepared for future programs that take substantial advantage of more than two physical cores.
 
About $150.00 for the card alone I'd be willing to pay, for Crysis, GTA4, etc.
I'd like smooth FPS, on a 22 inch monitor, on high, not necessarily ultra settings.
 
Last edited:
gkg101 said:
About $150.00 for the card alone I'd be willing to pay, for Crysis, GTA4, etc.
I'd like smooth FPS, on a 22 inch monitor, on high, not necessarily ultra settings.
Click to expand...

You're basically looking at the GTX 460 768MB in that price range. However you may not get smooth FPS on high settings with that card.
 
Thanks, one more question.

Are there any games right now that benefit from 1GB from 768mb?
 
gkg101 said:
Thanks, one more question.

Are there any games right now that benefit from 1GB from 768mb?
Click to expand...

Many, but that depends on the resolution they are being played at. Is your 22" monitor 1680x1050 or 1920x1080?
 
^ This

I'd strongly consider one of those low $100-range Microcenter combos with a Core i3

The reason AMD has been suggested is that Intel has some very outdated budget offerings. Their "Pentium Dual Core" is the good but old Conroe architecture dating back about five years, just more refined and at a much lower price point. Intel doesn't really get interesting until at least a Core i3, which is generally priced around $120 for just the CPU. The $120-200 range has dual core Core i3s and i5s trading blows with quad core Phenom IIs, where the performance depends on the application and how much you overclock. Everything below that, AMD has a superior line-up. Everything above that, Intel is the only choice, as AMD's flagship processor is only around $200.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top