Poor man's build

U

uviuar2

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
227
Hah, ok so lets put together a super super budget build here. I'll be scrapping a lot of parts so that helps.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Light gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$400 if possible
3) Where do you live?
USA
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, Ram, Video, Motherboard, PSU, thats it!
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Reusing case, HD, monitor, peripherals etc
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
21" 1650x1050 LCD
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next week. Will wait for up to 1 month for deals
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Absolutely no frills motherboard. But quality please, I dont want BSOD's or hardware failure in 1 year due to shoddy workmanship.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes.



Basically I'm suffering here with my old hardware which can barely keep up. I am upgrading from an Athlon 64 3500+ system with GeForce 6800GT video card. I'm not a heavy gamer these days, just like to goof around in TF2, L4D:2, FC2, Crysis, COD5 etc.
 
 
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Very nice builds my friend. I notice your 2nd build basically costs more, and comes with a nicer processor with L3 cache and DDR3 memory. Is that basically the only fundamental difference here? Better processor performance? Do you feel it would even be noticeable?
 
uviuar2 said:
Very nice builds my friend. I notice your 2nd build basically costs more, and comes with a nicer processor with L3 cache and DDR3 memory. Is that basically the only fundamental difference here? Better processor performance? Do you feel it would even be noticeable?
Click to expand...

honestly, while some games may have multithreaded options, for example L4D (no idea how you've got L4D:2 going...), the differences between CPUs is generally minimal, especially if the chips are fairly close to one another

since neither seems to be a huge issue with budget, I'd probably go for the higher end chip, even though the performance gains are likely to be minimal
 
The DDR3 build offers the most flexibility. You use current generation ram (ddr3), the option to add a second video card (multiple monitors), and the ability to use am3 processors in the future. So if you choose to go for a newer am3 processor-upgrade the bios at that time-your good to go. If you want to go I5, just buy the CPU/mobo and reuse your ram.
 
Another way to go about buying for a system on the cheap, is to look up parts on Ebay. It's a little riskier but you can find some damn good deals especially if you buy some components that are 6-18 months old. It's one way of going about it.
 
Thanks again for advice, I'll go for system 2 so I have that upgrade room later once framerates start killing me again.

Btw, Im not actually playing L4D:2, but I want to, and know it will probably crush my current system ever harder than my last one.
 
Oh, and anyone have an opinion on getting the X4 processor? It's quad core clocked at 2.6ghz. Im guessing the dual core 3.0ghz will still perform better in gaming for quite some time.
 
For gaming the dual is better for now. The quad may not be realised for the full four cores for years to come.
 
For most of the games you listed, and for your listed purposes, no need for a quad.

I'd trust the FS/T forum here more than eBay.

I agree with obobski and g, minimal performance difference, but better upgrade ability, assuming you don't wait too long to upgrade. So if you don't mind the price premium, go for the DDR3 build g listed.
 
Last question guys, a buddy of mine has a Core2Duo E8400 wolfdale system with a GeForce GTX 260 (216 core) video card. So I have seen him play crysis and fallout and TF2 on this system and am pleased with the performance. How do you think my budget build will compare framerate/detail wise for gaming?
 
Honestly, the video card has a larger impact on gaming performance than the processor. Yours will perform worse due to the fact that the GTX 260 is better than the HD4850. The two processors (the Core 2 Duo E8400 and the Athlon II X2 545) are a wash at stock speeds, but the E8400 has a slight edge when overclocked (but that's assuming that your friend has overclocked the E8400).

You also have to keep in mind that your buddy built what was essentially a high-end system two years ago, whereas you're building a budget system with future upgrading in mind. You could easily outperform your friend's build in the future by adding a Phenom II X3 or X4 processor and overclocking it, and by getting the HD5870 or whatever new card is on the horizon.
 
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