Well I have a friend who is ready to do a budget gaming rig. He has drives and a decent monitor but will probably need the rest. I think his PSU is an Antec 430 or 480 which might not be enough? We need to know the best budget but still good guts to go in this thing. I was thinking IP35-E, E4400, Gskill 2x1G, Artec Freezer 7, Xclio 500, 8800GT or possibly a cheaper used GTS card. Let me know what you think!
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Poor mans gaming rig?
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That looks good. What his budget? What size monitor does he have? He might be able to stick with the Antec... what model is it?
I will have to tear into his rig.. its pretty old I think. Its probably a True Power. He has a 19" viewsonic LCD. There is no real set budget.. we plan on getting an idea of what we have to spend and then see if he can pull the $ together. We dont want to build something that wont be worth the upgrade. He is on an XP3200 Socket A with a gig of memory and 6800GT. This might play UT3 and COD4 but probably not at native res or with any details or AA turned up. His case is one of hte orginal Lian Li's from way back in the day with 80mm fans. We will probably swap that for something with better cooling. I can probably get the E4400 up to 3.2+ ghz. I just did one that hit 3.4ghz really easy on air and low voltage.
Dangman
Ninja Editor SuperMod
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FYI, the E4500 is only $122 at Mwave.com.
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 CPU - $122
Other than that, your build plan looks good. I do recommend getting a newer PSU however if its more than 2 years old.
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 CPU - $122
Other than that, your build plan looks good. I do recommend getting a newer PSU however if its more than 2 years old.
His PSU is probably about 2 years old if I had to guess. I remember him changing it out a while back. Does the E4500 overclock as well as the E4400? From experience the E4400 is a great overclocker and sometimes the faster chips dont OC as well. Thanks for any info!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703011
get this psu should be enough for one video card.
get this psu should be enough for one video card.
sabregen
Fully [H]
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on 4 boards that I have used it on, my E4300 just will not POST above 380, and anything above 356 is a complete PITA to keep stable. FWIW, 3.2GHz on an $80 chips is still damned good, IMO...especially since it smokes all those AMD 6000+'s running around, OC'd or not...for almost 3x the price.
Your PSU might be okay. A friend of mine had the same age and series of PSU that your friend has, and he just upgraded. I know you're trying to stay on a budget, so what my friend chose might be out of range for your build. A Corsair HX520 could very well be within range though, and a very solid unit. If you intend to go with a 800FSB chip, don't waste $ on anything over PC2-6400, because you just won't use it. Opt for more ram, instead of faster RAM on this build. You may want to look into picking up a used 8800GTS here in the FS/FT section. Anything that is at or below 1680x1050 native res should hold fine on an 8800GTS 320mb card, or a 640mb if you can find one cheap enough. Other good alternatives would be a x1940pro/xt/xtx 256 or 512, or a 7900gs/gt/gtx 256 or 512. Those cards should range anywhere from $85-180 or so (give or take).
Good luck with the build! I'd vote to keep the case, it's one less thing to buy right now, unless your friend has the $ to do that as well.
Your PSU might be okay. A friend of mine had the same age and series of PSU that your friend has, and he just upgraded. I know you're trying to stay on a budget, so what my friend chose might be out of range for your build. A Corsair HX520 could very well be within range though, and a very solid unit. If you intend to go with a 800FSB chip, don't waste $ on anything over PC2-6400, because you just won't use it. Opt for more ram, instead of faster RAM on this build. You may want to look into picking up a used 8800GTS here in the FS/FT section. Anything that is at or below 1680x1050 native res should hold fine on an 8800GTS 320mb card, or a 640mb if you can find one cheap enough. Other good alternatives would be a x1940pro/xt/xtx 256 or 512, or a 7900gs/gt/gtx 256 or 512. Those cards should range anywhere from $85-180 or so (give or take).
Good luck with the build! I'd vote to keep the case, it's one less thing to buy right now, unless your friend has the $ to do that as well.
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The Antec is probaly a smartpower or truepower. Check the +12v rating(s) on it and let us know the amperages. It would still probably be a good idea to replace it. If the XClio is overpriced (IIRC, newegg lists it for $60 now; should be $50), just get the Corsair 450W instead:
$76 - Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450W PSU ($10MIR)
If you buy the E4500 at mwave, choose the bundle and get the mobo with it to save a couple dollars... literally.
Same thing happened with my E4300 until I got a better cooler. When I slapped the Tuniq on it, I was finally able to reach 3.5Ghz with a bit more voltage. I didn't get a chance to do any stability testing yet, though, so when I do, I'll submit it to the db.
I agree, keep the case. Just switch out the fans for some Yate Loon 80mm fans ($2 each at jab-tech).
$76 - Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450W PSU ($10MIR)
If you buy the E4500 at mwave, choose the bundle and get the mobo with it to save a couple dollars... literally.
Same thing happened with my E4300 until I got a better cooler. When I slapped the Tuniq on it, I was finally able to reach 3.5Ghz with a bit more voltage. I didn't get a chance to do any stability testing yet, though, so when I do, I'll submit it to the db.
I agree, keep the case. Just switch out the fans for some Yate Loon 80mm fans ($2 each at jab-tech).
I might try to talk him into the HX520 or PC power and cooling Silencer 610 which is close in price. Honestly I think the case will be fine I just need to pop an extra 80mm hole in the back but he has had it for years and is pretty dead set on replacing it.
yea i can do 356 but i dont like the voltage mine craps out at 356 also even with a freezer pro 7 use the money you save from the 4x00 and get a powersupply that wont need upgraded i like the crucial ram with this board the epp work out really nice