help with a budget gaming build

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yenbot

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Aug 27, 2009
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i've currently got an athlon 64 1.8, 2gb ram, nvidia 7800 gt...you get the picture. it's been about 4 years since my last build and this machine is starting to show it's age. the batman demo is all chunky and i cringe thinking about trying to play any of the forthcoming titles. basically i'm looking for the cheapest way to get a machine that will play the big titles at the high settings and hopefully last another 4-5 years. i've got a budget between $300-$400 for this upgrade and will be reusing my case (silverstone temjin tjo6), a 250 gig sata hd, copy of xp pro, and hopefully my psu, an antec smartpower 500w (it's also 4 years old) if it will work. the goal is to be cheap but i budgeted an extra $100 dollars IF spending a little bit more now will allow this system to be either more powerful and/or more flexible with an eye to upgrading again in a couple of years.

thanks in advance for the input!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$300-$400
3) Where do you live?
california
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
cpu, mobo, ram, video card, (possibly psu?)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
silverstone temjin case, antec smartpower 500w psu, wdc 250gb sata hd
6) Will you be overclocking?
maybe if it's relatively idiot-proof
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
20" LCD
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
1-2 months
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
crossfire or sli support would be nice. ddr3?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
yes win xp pro
 
Upgrade the PSU man. The Antec Smartpower is pretty old already. There is the Antec Earthwatts 650 for $74.99 at Best Buy. You can buy a PSU online from NewEgg but, you still pay the CA tax anyways.
 
The Truepower I and II series as well as the Smartpower series were well known for their above average death rates due to a poor choice in caps and cooling design. In more specific terms, Antec/CWT specified/used caps that did not respond well to heat. Unfortunately, Antec made the decision to have the PSU fan only ramp at really high temps in an effort to keep the PSU quiet. However, just medium to high temps were enough to screw up the caps so really high temps were murderous. Over time, this degraded the quality and performance of those PSU series.

So I recommend replacing the PSU, especially if you hear a squeal, whine, or any odd noise coming from the PSU. However, do note that the Truepower I and II series as well as the Smartpower series had a three year warranty. So if you do hear a squeal, whine, or any odd noise, that's enough grounds to RMA the PSU.

Go with Lt_shiro's build but add this PSU to the build:
$50 - Antec Earthwatts 430W PSU

If you want more headroom for future upgrades, definitely get the Antec PSU that HG recommended.
 
i haven't had a problem with the psu yet but i am not a fan of the rpm control. had my suspicions about a 4 year old antec psu anyhow. thanks for all the advice guys.
 
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