Quick Question: Friend doesn't have a ton of money for gaming rig

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Citizen86

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Quick question, mostly about CPU bottlenecking.

My friend has ~$500 for a computer, more or less, but he wants to game on it. Basically my only question, since I've been a little out of the loop for a bit. I know for a while the AMD cpu's have bottlenecked the higher-end cards like the 8800GTX. I know relatively how good all the newer cards are.

So basically my question is, if my friend bought a 4850, played on a 17" monitor at 1440x900, approximately how much CPU power would he need to not have it too bottlenecked? I'm figuring one of the ~$100 AMD cpu's would be enough since most newer games with all eye candy will still be relatively GPU bound, IE Crysis, and most other games will have high enough FPS as it is without worrying about bring CPU bound. I could be way off though.

So would a 5600+ or something CPU be good enough? Opinions?

Edit: BTW we are trying to order parts in US, but we don't live in US, we're south of the border, so hot deals like Fry's E8400 CPU's are out.
 
that cpu would be ok. But, if you want teh best help tell us what you are re-using and what you need.
 
I put together a computer at Newegg with CPU, hard drive, mobo, ram, video card, and power supply. The case, DVD Drive, monitor, and peripherals he can get locally if he doesn't already have most of them.
 
I suppose you answered it, but will one of the older, cheap X2 AMD cpu's be a huge bottleneck for a 4850 at 1440x900, or will it be okay?
 
I'm amazed at the prices these days. This is an amazing computer for under $500.


Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $54.99

SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card $154.99

BFG Tech GS-550 550W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.8 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply $64.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPQ $47.99

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard $79.99

Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 $72.99

Subtotal: $465.94

With an Intel chip that cheap, the only thing that would make logical sense below that would be one of the $40 AMD chips, but those would require some decent overclocking, which I don't really think my friend will do, even if I help him. This is probably the best bet for him I think.
 
Hmm, if you're willing to do a little overclocking, the $73 E5200 is a far better choice than any $100 and below AMD CPU. Clock for clock the E5200 will beat out all those AMD CPUs and it will not be a bottleneck once you hit 3Ghz. Considering that you can hit 3.4 to 3.8Ghz with the E5200, the E5200 is a better choice if you're willing to overclock.

Though at stock speeds the E5200 is still faster than the X2 6000+ and on par with the X2 7750.

Oh and ditch the GS PSU. It's a low quailty PSU not good enough for a gaming system. I recommend this PSU instead:
Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU - $65

Though check out this link when you order the PC to see if this BFG PSU is in stock and around $65 (This is the excellent quality LS 550W, not the crappy GS 550 you chose):
BFG Tech LS-550 550W PSU - $62

Oh and you do not need DDR2 1066 RAM for the E5200, even with overclocking mind. All you need is DDR2 800 RAM:
G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM - $40
 
You could actually grab an E7400 for $119.99 and stay within budget with Danny's price cuts.

Just an alternative to consider.
 
Ah thanks, I knew there was a newer good BFG psu, but didn't search which one it was.
 
Dito on the E5200 I just got one and have it at 3.4 with fairly low voltage and temps:)
 
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