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Sub $600 AMD gaming rig possible?

hyt3k9

hyt3k9

2[H]4U
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Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Messages
2,240
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I'm building this PC strickly for gaming nothing else. My current gaming tastes are: MMOs (EQ2, Conan & Rift) - Shooters (Too many to list, love them all) Starcraft II & anything made by Bioware (Dragon Age II, Mass Effect II) Also wanting to play Witcher II.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$600-ish (little more, little less if possible with diff hardware recommendations)
Def after the best bang for buck build that's still capable
3) Where do you live?
Ohio
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, RAM, MOBO, Graphics, PSU & Case
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Optical: Samsung DVD-RW - HDD: Seagate 1TB 7200.10
6) Will you be overclocking?
Nope, stock cooler will work right?
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Dell 24" 1920x1200
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next couple paychecks with overtime. (Within a month, maybe less) Parts will be purchased online, although I have a Micro Center close (within an hour) in Cincinnati, OH
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
AM3 to support the processor, that's about it. Only gaming on this
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes. Windows 7 Home Premium x64 OEM



Very loose research on parts (Mostly from Danny's rig) I read through his build post, and was able to see some of the things his machine was capable of. I'm curious if this could be cut even farther down in price but still remaining capable to play the games decently mentioned above. Not loyal to any brands or manufacturer's so long as the warranty or quality remains. I think this build totaled around $750 shipped.. HELP! :eek:

3.4Ghz AMD Phenom II X4 965
G-Skill 8GB RAM <2x 4GB> DDR3 1333
Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 890GX
XFX Radeon HD 6850
Antec True Power 750W
NZXT Tempest EVO Case
 
Danny Bui said:
I highly recommend that you wait till the 2nd week of March and ask for advice again. By then, we'll know what March Newegg Combo deals are available then. That way, we can definitely bring that build under $600
Click to expand...

Really? Sweet! :D :cool:

I can wait. No problems there. I would love to get this build mentioned above for around $600 and maybe squeeze a X6 instead of the X4 if the prices get real crazy!!! :eek:
 
Heres one for about $624 the rebate and shipping should keep it around that price.



You could always wait to buy something on that list and use the $10 gift card. Also you could go with 4gb ram and be just fine and that would drop it under $600.
 
hyt3k9 said:
Really? Sweet! :D :cool:

I can wait. No problems there. I would love to get this build mentioned above for around $600 and maybe squeeze a X6 instead of the X4 if the prices get real crazy!!! :eek:
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't think a X6 would be possible for around $600.

Anyway, I wouldn't go with munkle's setup for two reasons:
1) That Newegg combo deal for the CPU and motherboard ends on February 28th. So it's basically useless to you since you're buying in March. Not to mention that there are significantly better combo deals this month:
$222 - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition CPU + Biostar A880GU3 AMD 880G Motherboard
$240 - AMD Phenom II 965 Black Edition CPU + Asus M4A87TD/USB3 AMD 870 AM3 Motherboard

But again, the above combo deals expire on February 28th. So unless you can buy before the 28th, don't worry about them.

2) At $33 shipped, that Linkworld case is poor buy: It does not provide sufficient cooling for that kind of setup. In addition, for $7 more you can get a better case with more than enough cooling for that kind of setup:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121096
 
Danny Bui said:
Yeah I don't think a X6 would be possible for around $600.

Anyway, I wouldn't go with munkle's setup for two reasons:
1) That Newegg combo deal for the CPU and motherboard ends on February 28th. So it's basically useless to you since you're buying in March. Not to mention that there are significantly better combo deals this month:
$222 - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition CPU + Biostar A880GU3 AMD 880G Motherboard
$240 - AMD Phenom II 965 Black Edition CPU + Asus M4A87TD/USB3 AMD 870 AM3 Motherboard

But again, the above combo deals expire on February 28th. So unless you can buy before the 28th, don't worry about them.

2) At $33 shipped, that Linkworld case is poor buy: It does not provide sufficient cooling for that kind of setup. In addition, for $7 more you can get a better case with more than enough cooling for that kind of setup:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121096
Click to expand...

Didn't even look at the 965 since it was $20 more but those are some good combo deals, I would have gone with those instead. I just chose the cheapest case since newegg usually doesn't charge the full case price for shipping when you do a whole pc but it is a pretty crap case. I don't like picking out cases since the user should really pick out one he likes so I just go with cheapest. It was just a quick pick to show that you could do around $600.
 
munkle said:
Didn't even look at the 965 since it was $20 more but those are some good combo deals, I would have gone with those instead. I just chose the cheapest case since newegg usually doesn't charge the full case price for shipping when you do a whole pc but it is a pretty crap case. I don't like picking out cases since the user should really pick out one he likes so I just go with cheapest. It was just a quick pick to show that you could do around $600.
Click to expand...

Understandable.
 
2nm29u1.jpg
 
If you are playing games, the difference between the 3, 4, and 6 cores (having owned all three personally) will be pretty much zilch. Unfortunately newegg is not currently carrying the phenom II x3s, but if you could get one of those in the $70-80 dollar range, that would allow you to buy a much better video card for games.

Also, its pretty much impossible to run sc2 on ultra smoothly at that resolution with anything short of a 4+ghz phenom or an icore, as I have unfortunately found out :(
 
re: cases,

I just recently bought the cheapo Newegg "Rosewill" house brand case, "Blackbone", $44.99 and at the time it had free shipping. It is very lightweight steel, but has 2 x 120mm fans and plenty of bays. I actually intentionally used a MATX mobo in it to leave that open space at the bottom for a expansion slot dual fan VGA cooler, which blows nicely across the mobo power section, North/Southbridge heatsinks and Sideport memory, plus keeps things stirred up in the cabinet.

The extra space also allows for the cabling bundle from the USB, audio and SATA mess. I used snap-on ferrite cores on all the leads in and out of the mobo to minimize stray EMI and also to protect the mobo from RF from my ham radio stuff (running several hundred watts on VHF/UHF and HF), so quite a bundle of stuff at the bottom.

The case has an adequate front top panel jack array, and the entire front including the individual bay blanks are perforated with a foam filter behind them. The toolless stuff is just OK, but it can all be converted to tooled if you like.
 
Very nice fellas, thanks for contributing. All additional info is noted and considered. Hoping to see some of the March combo deals like Danny mentioned.

EDIT:
If you come across something in this build or better for great combo deals, toss it my way

EDIT 2:
My budget may increase slightly, as I'm currently considering selling my barely used 13" Macbook Pro on here. Coconut battery (last time I checked) only has charged the battery for 17 cycles.. bought last July '10. Never ended up using it.
That should help with the PC build budget
 
hyt3k9 said:
Very nice fellas, thanks for contributing. All additional info is noted and considered. Hoping to see some of the March combo deals like Danny mentioned.

EDIT:
If you come across something in this build or better for great combo deals, toss it my way

EDIT 2:
My budget may increase slightly, as I'm currently considering selling my barely used 13" Macbook Pro on here. Coconut battery (last time I checked) only has charged the battery for 17 cycles.. bought last July '10. Never ended up using it.
That should help with the PC build budget
Click to expand...

Biggest thing I can say is take advantage of the microcenter combo's.. The asus 870 board paired with the Phenom 840 for 140 (its really just a fast athlon) or the same board paired with the Phenom 965 for 190
 
PrometheuSBoxeR said:
k1q6A.jpg


That's what my recommendation would be. Came out to $5 dollars shipping for me.
Click to expand...

There is one small problem:

That BP550 costs too much money for its quality/performance: It costs $67 shipped, but it is not worth more than about $40.
 
UPDATE:

I went into my local MicroCenter tonight just to have a look around. I saw that they were having a pretty big sale with prices comparable to Newegg, so I grabbed some stuff. I'm a little iffy on a couple of the parts and before I crack open boxes and use the parts I want opinions! ;)

(I originally said I was on a $600 budget, and ended up spending more like $650 tonight w/ Ohio sales tax but close enough)

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T ($199)
MOBO: Biostar A780LG3 ($ Free w/ Processor purchase)
RAM: 8GB (2x 4GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 ($105)
VGA: Sapphire Radeon HD6850 ($185)
PSU: 700W OCZ Stealth X Stream 2 ($85)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ($50)

As you can see, pretty good deals. The Biostar motherboard was free with the processor purchase only because they were giving a $40 off select motherboard prices when you bought a cpu with it. I was originally thinking I would just use this motherboard in the meantime, until my budget afforded a higher end one. I'm already having second thoughts on it but wasn't sure which one they carried in stock would be a decent bang for buck. Since I don't need a ton of features, but I "did" buy a black edition CPU and DDR3 1600 RAM, I'm thinking that a motherboard that has the capacity to overclock down the line would be cool now.

The other part I'm really iffy on is the PSU. I mean it got pretty terrible reviews on Newegg about more than a couple people saying it died within a few months. This scares me, and they had the Antec TruePower 750W in there but they were asking $125 for it. (About $20 more than Newegg) but I can get it and build my system tomorrow night.

Two questions...

Question #1
Would someone mind checking out MicroCenter's website here: http://www.microcenter.com/index.html
Search for OHIO- Cincinnati/Sharonville location, and recommend me a decent motherboard to exchange this PoS I bought tonight with? :D
Maybe even give a couple recommendations, in case the board that is recommended doesn't have the $40 bucks off CPU combo deal? I would like to stay as cheap (but quality) as possible, also one that has potential to overclock down the road should I get interested in learning a thing or two about it :D

Question #2
Is this CPU cooler the hawtness for AMD CPU's nowadays? (Cooler Master Hyper 212)
It doesn't say that it supports the x6 processors? Weird..
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315397
Thinking of getting this as well as 3x 120mm fans since Cooler Master only included 2 effing fans in the HAF 912 :( (Specs out for 5)
 
Last edited:
That psu is crap, my friend had one, died in about 8 months on a stock c2d system. I would recommend a better one. Also alot cheap mobo's seem to blow (literally, like the mosfetts will blow) when oc'ing the six core amd so I would be careful on the free motherboard.
 
munkle said:
That psu is crap, my friend had one, died in about 8 months on a stock c2d system. I would recommend a better one. Also alot cheap mobo's seem to blow when oc'ing the six core amd so I would be careful on the free motherboard.
Click to expand...

Yeah, PSU is going back for sure. Along with the motherboard. I'm all set on which PSU to buy tomorrow (the one Danny and others recommended already) however, kinda clueless on what a decent motherboard would be to exchange for.

I would like to build the system out tomorrow night, so even if their prices look a lot higher on the motherboards.. some of them qualify for $40 bucks off which brings them down a bit more reasonable. Looking for a few recommendations on decent ones they carry at the store close to me: OH - Cincinnati/Sharonville location :)
 
hyt3k9 said:
Question #1
Would someone mind checking out MicroCenter's website here: http://www.microcenter.com/index.html
Search for OHIO- Cincinnati/Sharonville location, and recommend me a decent motherboard to exchange this PoS I bought tonight with? :D
Maybe even give a couple recommendations, in case the board that is recommended doesn't have the $40 bucks off CPU combo deal? I would like to stay as cheap (but quality) as possible, also one that has potential to overclock down the road should I get interested in learning a thing or two about it :D
Click to expand...
From this link:
http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html
I recommend the Gigabyte mobo and the last two Asus mobos listed.
hyt3k9 said:
Question #2
Is this CPU cooler the hawtness for AMD CPU's nowadays? (Cooler Master Hyper 212)
It doesn't say that it supports the x6 processors? Weird..
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315397
Thinking of getting this as well as 3x 120mm fans since Cooler Master only included 2 effing fans in the HAF 912 :( (Specs out for 5)
Click to expand...
Yes.
 
I have the m4a88td-v evo/usb3 and it's a great board no problems at all with it.
 
Danny Bui said:
I recommend the Gigabyte mobo and the last two Asus mobos listed.
Click to expand...

munkle said:
I have the m4a88td-v evo/usb3 and it's a great board no problems at all with it.
Click to expand...

Okay, does this Asus M4A88TD-EVO/USB3 support Crossfire down the road? Says "Hybrid Crossfire support" http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0334891

On the other hand, this board http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0330615 says it does support Crossfire (Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3)

Confused, but I think it's between these two boards, especially since the M488TD-EVO comes recommended by you both :)
 
hyt3k9 said:
Okay, does this Asus M4A88TD-EVO/USB3 support Crossfire down the road? Says "Hybrid Crossfire support" http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0334891

On the other hand, this board http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0330615 says it does support Crossfire (Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3)

Confused, but I think it's between these two boards, especially since the M488TD-EVO comes recommended by you both :)
Click to expand...

I think you can do crossfire on it but the second slot is limited to 4x when you do so, it impacts the performance but not by much.
From asus website
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 , support ATI® CrossFireX&#8482; Technology (blue @ x16 mode,gray @ x4 mode)
Click to expand...

The board you linked does 8x to both slots instead so it might be better if you want crossfire later on.
 
On a whim..

What about this board? ASUS Crosshair IV Formula 890FX
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0334888
Thinking that if I planned to go with the $140 Gigabyte or the $140 Asus M4A89GTD PRO boards, only $60 more gets me:

X-Fi 7.1 onboard sound
x16 for (2) way Crossfire
(3) way Crossfire (upgrade path if 6850's become dirt cheap over next year or so)

I know this started out as a budget build, and it still is compared to most rigs on this forum. I know I've blown the hell outta my $600 budget - O well :D
 
hyt3k9 said:
On a whim..

What about this board? ASUS Crosshair IV Formula 890FX
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0334888
Thinking that if I planned to go with the $140 Gigabyte or the $140 Asus M4A89GTD PRO boards, only $60 more gets me:

X-Fi 7.1 onboard sound
x16 for (2) way Crossfire
(3) way Crossfire (upgrade path if 6850's become dirt cheap over next year or so)

I know this started out as a budget build, and it still is compared to most rigs on this forum. I know I've blown the hell outta my $600 budget - O well :D
Click to expand...

Personally I have never liked dual card gaming too much can go wrong and really isn't all that economical or efficient. I would say save the money go with a cheaper mobo when you feel your video card isn't enough sell the old one use the saved money on the mobo to buy a new better one.
 
No. Spending more than $150 to $160 for an AMD motherboard is a poor idea since it effectively defeats the major AMD advantage of cost effectiveness. In fact, if you can't get the mobo and AMD Phenom II1090T as part of a MC combo deal, return the CPU and just go for Intel. Reason being is that the significantly faster Core i5 2500K can be had for $200 from Microcenter. In addition, a P67 mobo will cost around $110 to $180. So for the same cost as that Phenom II 1090T CPU + any non-combo deal motherboard, you can get a significantly faster and easier to OC Intel setup.
 
Danny Bui said:
No. Spending more than $150 to $160 for an AMD motherboard is a poor idea since it effectively defeats the major AMD advantage of cost effectiveness. In fact, if you can't get the mobo and AMD Phenom II1090T as part of a MC combo deal, return the CPU and just go for Intel. Reason being is that the significantly faster Core i5 2500K can be had for $200 from Microcenter. In addition, a P67 mobo will cost around $110 to $180. So for the same cost as that Phenom II 1090T CPU + any non-combo deal motherboard, you can get a significantly faster and easier to OC Intel setup.
Click to expand...

Got it, thanks for that perspective.
I'm going with either the Asus M4A89GTD PRO or Gigabyte whichever one qualifies for the $40 bucks off. :)
As always, appreciate what you guys do!!
 
Just got done building my system tonight, loading Windows on it now.

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T w/ Hyper 212
8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600
Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H
VisionTek Radeon HD6870
1.5TB Seagate Barracuda ES.2
Seasonic X-760
Cooler Master HAF912

Thanks again for all this info. Really pleased with how it all turned out.
 
hyt3k9 said:
Just got done building my system tonight, loading Windows on it now.

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T w/ Hyper 212
8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600
Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H
VisionTek Radeon HD6870
1.5TB Seagate Barracuda ES.2
Seasonic X-760
Cooler Master HAF912

Thanks again for all this info. Really pleased with how it all turned out.
Click to expand...

So how did the $600 budget go? :p
 
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