Compromise Hardware

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Stormlifter

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 19, 2002
Messages
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So I'm building a gaming PC on a budget and wondering which parts to compromise to have more to spend on other parts.

CPU - Highest I think i'd wanna go is an i5 or a AMD 965, wondering if I should settle on the $100 CPUs like the Phenom 9850 or something.

GPU - Was first thinking 4850, but wondering if I take from the processor and go with a 4890 if that'd compensate or even end up better off if I went with that even with a lower CPU.

Hard Drive - Thinking it might be worth buying a used WD Raptor 150gb or something so that later I can grab another and RAID.

Thanks for any opinions and advice.

Currently I'm thinking a nice $100 PSU because I think they're super important to building a PC so I'll probably get whatever rates well on NewEgg in my price rang.


----------- STICKY ANSWERS -----------
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
  • All of the above
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
  • Around $800 at the end
3) Where do you live?
  • Orlando, FL
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
  • See post
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
  • Not reusing
6) Will you be overclocking?
  • Yes
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
  • I have a 23" at 1080p
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
  • Very soon, few days (hoping to sell my laptop)
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
  • The usual, RAID specifically for speed 0
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
  • Yes, Windows 7
 
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May you answer the sticked questions? Sometimes, they do help a lot!

For gaming on a budget, AMD is golden.

The GPU will be the fastest depreciating part. Try to snag a good deal from [H] FS/FT. You'll need an appropriate PSU, too.
May you please list your PSU here?
 
 
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Also wondering if this DDR3 stuff is worth it? Should I just get 4GB of that? Would I get performance out of it that's worth the buck?
 
DDR3 is the current generation of ram. No use spending money on outdated hardware. If you chose to upgrade the computer in the next 2 years, then DDR3 might be able to be reused, ddr2 there is no way it would be reused.

Eithor card has its merits. The 5750 has 128bit interface, 200mhz higher memory clock but 50mhz less core clock
 
Additionally, the Seagate 7200.12 500GB HDD that gwarren007 chose for you outperforms a 150GB Raptor (though it's only slightly slower, depending on the benchmark used, than the 150GB VelociRaptor).
 
tiraides said:
Additionally, the Seagate 7200.12 500GB HDD that gwarren007 chose for you outperforms a 150GB Raptor (though it's only slightly slower, depending on the benchmark used, than the 150GB VelociRaptor).
Click to expand...

Is that so? Good to know.
 
I found a used MSI 790FX that I might get.
Yeah I didn't realize that your one had a upgraded chipset.

is there a good HD benchmark graph that shows things all in a list?
 
Here is a thread of various HD Tune scores. However, I don't know whether or not the new 500GB drive platter HDDs (like the 7200.12 500GB/1TB HDDs, the Samsung F3 500GB/1TB HDDs, or the new Western Digital 2TB HDDs) were included.
 
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