Budget Gaming Computer Build (help)

[Regnak]

I just need some help with my friends computer I am building. His budget is 600 dollars. This is just for the computer, not including monitor, he has separate money for that.

So far i've got this (not purchased just researched):

Processor: AMD Athlon II X2 7850 Black Edition Dual Core Processor AM2+ 2.8GHZ 2MB Cache 95W 65NM Retail

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 ATX AM2+/AM3 AMD770 PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 RAID 1394 HD Sound GBLAN Motherboard

Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7200RPM 32MB Dual Proc 3.5IN SATA Hard Drive OEM 5YR Mfg Warranty

Ram: Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4GB DDR2 2X2GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 5-5-5-18 240PIN Memory Kit

Case: Thermaltake SopranoRS 101 Mid Tower ATX Case Black 4X5.25 2X3.5 5X3.5INT No PSU Side *IR-$8*

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E Video Card

PSU: OCZ FATAL1TY 550W ATX12V 20/24PIN Active PFC ATX Modular Power Supply 120MM Fan 80PLU *IR-$15*

If you know of something better price/performance wise let me know, I am willing to wait until the next NCIX deal with the gift card and free shipping for whole order.

I want to order this computer in a weeks time line.

The stuff that he is looking to do on it is mostly game, he wants to be able to play all games that are out now (excluding crisis) on decently high quality. No over clocking will be done

Alright Thanks in advance for your help.

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Ok thats the computer so far, I am waiting on a few price matches and then I will order. If you guys know of any other better deals let me know.

[mr_raider]

Options for a budget GPU include an ATI 4770, or a slightly more expensive 9800gtx+.

For PSU, I recommend a quality 500W unit.

[^*^BATMAN^*^]

there are alot of deals on cases that come with PSU, check it out. Most of the time its cheaper then the PSU alone.

[bahasad]

CC has a sale until May 31st for the OCZ ModXstream 600W modular PSU. It's built by seasonic, and I personally have had good experience with OCZ Psu. It is $85 + tax - $25 MIR. It is the best PSU i saw in the 50-75 price range.

Good CPU. I had one for about a week until I upgraded to a quad core. It is pretty fast, and it has real good overclock potential, even with the Stock Heatsink Fan I was able to push it to 3.3GHz with no noticeable increase in Temps.

Try to get a WD Black. They are better performing than the Barracudas.

What inch is the monitor? I had a Radeon 4830 which I was fairly satisfied with as it played every game (Bioshock, Fallout 3, COD4, GRiD, Left 4 Dead) on High/Max with above >40FPS average. For Crysis and GTA IV, I took the settings down to Gamer and High/Medium and it did right about 30-32FPS average. This was all it 1440*900 which is the max my monitor supports.

I personally do NOT recommend the 4770. This is simply because pricewise, I haven't seen it lower than $130, at which point you can get a Radeon 4850, Nvidia GTS250 for either same price or $10-20 more, which are better performance wise.

If you can pony up about $223 (- $20 MIR) with taxes, free shipping, and insurance, you can get an EVGA GTX260 Core 216 Superclocked, which beats the 4830, 4770, 4850, GTS250, 4870 512MB, GTX260 stock, and matches/beats the 4870 1GB, and is close to the GTX280. This is on sale by NCIX.

So in conclusion, vid card wise I either say:
- cheap out and get a 4830
- spend about 30-50 bucks more to get a 4850/gts250.
- spend 80-100 more (from 4830 price) to get a 4870/GTX260

[Regnak]

Thanks everyone for the input

I was thinking of going 4850, and if i can really squeeze the buck out of everything maybe even 4870. Thanks for the deal from CC, I might just pick that Power supply up, it'll be good for later if he decides to upgrade.

The monitor size will probably be 19" with 1680 x 1050 resolution.

[terrybear]

I personally do NOT recommend the 4770. This is simply because pricewise, I haven't seen it lower than $130, at which point you can get a Radeon 4850, Nvidia GTS250 for either same price or $10-20 more, which are better performance wise.

If you can pony up about $223 (- $20 MIR) with taxes, free shipping, and insurance, you can get an EVGA GTX260 Core 216 Superclocked, which beats the 4830, 4770, 4850, GTS250, 4870 512MB, GTX260 stock, and matches/beats the 4870 1GB, and is close to the GTX280. This is on sale by NCIX.

I TOTALY disagree with this view IF you get 2 4770's as in this review & crossfire them its more value & preformance.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...re,2288-3.html

[Regnak]

I TOTALY disagree with this view IF you get 2 4770's as in this review & crossfire them its more value & preformance.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...re,2288-3.html

Yes but that means I would have to spend more money on a CrossFire motherboard which would put the cost way up then.

[terrybear]

Yes but that means I would have to spend more money on a CrossFire motherboard which would put the cost way up then.

Sorry thought you had a 790x board

That being said 4770 still trumps 4830 & when tweaked up to max speads on a card will = a 4850 from all the reviews I've read while consuming less power & generating less heat.

[Regnak]

Sorry thought you had a 790x board

That being said 4770 still trumps 4830 & when tweaked up to max speads on a card will = a 4850 from all the reviews I've read while consuming less power & generating less heat.

Yah I've also read that somewhere, the video card will be the final decision in my case, cause depending on how much everything else costs I wanna just put the rest of the money towards video card.

The 4770 is an awesome budget card, agreed, and we'll see if the next NCIX sale has it there.

Does anyone know when the next NCIX sale is btw?

[terrybear]

Yah I've also read that somewhere, the video card will be the final decision in my case, cause depending on how much everything else costs I wanna just put the rest of the money towards video card.

The 4770 is an awesome budget card, agreed, and we'll see if the next NCIX sale has it there.

Does anyone know when the next NCIX sale is btw?

My guess possibly tonight if not tomorrow night for shure, ususaly there sales are only 1-2 day gaps between them.

[bahasad]

The 4770 is a good card, don't get me wrong. It is better than the 4830, has good overclock potential, and its power consumption and temperatures are pretty low. But:
1) at the price point it is at right now ($133 + tax from CC), I don't see it as being good value. Crossfiring them will cost 266 + tax, which is horrible value, because you can get a 4890 for 250 + tax at some places (or even a 4870 1gb, gtx260, gtx 275). A single 4890 beats it no? Crossfiring benefits are only seen at high resolutions and with AA. Plus it takes up an extra slot, thereby reducing upgradeability, is buggy in some games, and it requires more power than a single high-end card, right? Far better to get a single card that performs as good as two cards, imo.
2) At $133, I would skip right past the 4770, and have a good look at a 4850 or a GTS250. They are better performers, and although people say if you overclock the 4770 it'll be almost as good - well my rebuttal, is why don't you overclock the 4850? The gap between them will be preserved.

If you have a lot of components, and I don't know, a crappy PSU, maybe the 4770 makes sense because you want low power consumption. But a 600W PSU is plenty for the best single cards out there - why spend the extra ... $20 bucks (for a 4770) from a 4830 for a 3-4 fps increase in performance?

My final recommendation is the 4850. And someone this forum told me something that I thought was a good point: in 2 years time, the 4830, 4770, 4850, 4870, GTX260 will all be obsolete pretty much. The difference between them will be minimal - why not get the one that is the least impact in your wallet now? Why spend so much for a 4870 when it will be just as obsolete as a 4830 or a 4850? This especially applies for gamers who are prone to change cards every year.

It made me really question my GTX260 purchase.

[Regnak]

I agree about the obsolete comment, but you also have to think that no matter what the 4870 will always still be better than a 4850. Even though they will both be obsolete soon. I know the 4850 can handle pretty much any game on high settings, but i just have a feeling that when diablo III and starcraft II come out the 4870 will be a better card to have.

[terrybear]

I agree about the obsolete comment, but you also have to think that no matter what the 4870 will always still be better than a 4850. Even though they will both be obsolete soon. I know the 4850 can handle pretty much any game on high settings, but i just have a feeling that when diablo III and starcraft II come out the 4870 will be a better card to have.

If anything maybe a used 4870 from the fs forum from a repuable seller might be a "better" buy. I know I've been told that if I was to put mine up I'd be looking to get around 200 shipped in province for it. But that was a month & abit ago.

And yes when you think of it THAT way .... ALL cards are prettymuch EOL'ed & ineffective after one years time if we want to be realistic about it. With Win 7 being built to preform better with multi cored / multi treaded cpu's & games also already being in that stage from this point forward a multi threaded / multi cpu/gpu system is where its going to be at going into 10'.

The other big advantage of 4770 besides the well stated ones is that it & 4890 will be fully supported & install instantly when you install your retail copy of Windows 7 when it launchs in Oct.

[Regnak]

The used 4870 is a good idea, ill look around. I also think that the 4850, 4870 cards will be quite fully supported in Windows 7, just as much as the 4770 and 4890. Even though they are newer cards with newer technology I don't think that changes the fact the older ones will be supported as well.

as for multi GPU's, id definitely suggest that to anyone, but with a 600 dollar budget there is no way.

[joepinchpenny]

My guess possibly tonight if not tomorrow night for shure, ususaly there sales are only 1-2 day gaps between them.

It's usually up on Wednesdays at 6:30 PST.

I'd have to recommend 4770 too. You mentioned your friend will be gaming on 19" 1650x1080. At that resolution, this has great performance / dollar. Also, I've seen the 4770 as low as $110 after MIR. At that price and with his $600 budget, its a perfect fit.