help me build a budget gaming pc

[ibetan]

I need some help trying to build a buget gaming pc to play GTA 4, Nba 2k9, Dead space, Fallout 3 etc on high settings. I will be using a 19" monitor. My budget is around 800$ (excluding monitor)

i was thinking of something like:
amd 7750 x2 processor
4850/4870

or

amd phenom 2 940
4830

I dont know whether the games will be GPU dependant or cpu dependant since ill be playing on a 19" monitor. which would give me the best gameplay? the better cpu or gpu. Please help would be appreciated.

As well, would it be better to build it now, or wait a few month for price cuts (since i missed boxing week sales). thanks in advance

[coriolis]

E8400 + P5Q + 4850 is a good start. RAM is cheap, you can grab a Antec 300 with a Corsair v550w to round that off.

[Shaftasaurus]

Mobo/CPU -> http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/s...d.php?t=691491

[flyz]

E8400 $200
EP45-UD3R $148
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 4GB $50
XFX HD4850 512MB $190
LG GH22NS30 $26
WD Caviar Black 640GB $90
Antec Sonata III $120

Subtotal: $824, price match everything with NCIX

Or get the shell shocker combo, it's not a bad deal.

[Brandon]

E8400 $200
EP45-UD3R $148
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 4GB $50
XFX HD4850 512MB $190
LG GH22NS30 $26
WD Caviar Black 640GB $90
Antec Sonata III $120

Subtotal: $824, price match everything with NCIX

Or get the shell shocker combo, it's not a bad deal.

This is good value. What were you looking to spend in total? This is more than fast enough to play those games on a 19" monitor (assuming 1280x1024 or 1440x900 resolution). You can do a bit to save money (like getting a cheaper mobo, smaller HD, switching to AMD setup), but the system as is has a good value/performance ratio.

[flyz]

This is good value. What were you looking to spend in total? This is more than fast enough to play those games on a 19" monitor (assuming 1280x1024 or 1440x900 resolution). You can do a bit to save money (like getting a cheaper mobo, smaller HD, switching to AMD setup), but the system as is has a good value/performance ratio.

There's also cheaper offerings from Sapphire, Diamond, Powercolor etc but since XFX started selling ATI cards as well, nothing can beat them in terms of theirdouble lifetime warranty. The extra is worth it imo.

[ibetan]

thanks for all the responses. i still have a few questions

would it be better to go c2d or amd phenom? which would be more future proof?

[coriolis]

thanks for all the responses. i still have a few questions

would it be better to go c2d or amd phenom? which would be more future proof?

The LGA775 sockets are slowly phasing out since the new i7's are out, but freakishly expensive.

[ibetan]

The LGA775 sockets are slowly phasing out since the new i7's are out, but freakishly expensive.

would it be better to go with the phenoms then?

[CheapScotsman]

While the 775 might not be the latest kid on the block, I don't think it is going anywhere very quickly. Processors for this sizing run from $49 Celery to Quad Cores running at 2.8 GHZ ... and while hardcore gamers, heavy videophiles, etc lust after i7s, the 775 CPUs have more than enough power (and the pricing points) to cover the entire spectrum below that.

In the budget gaming build at the price you selected, fitz's suggestion is a good one.

In a few years when mores games are optimized for quad core then you could pickup a quadcore CPU at the same freq as the one you have and benefit in that regards (or a better GPU).

[ibetan]

damn the shellshocker deal got sold out, would any good deals come up again soon?

[Brandon]

thanks for all the responses. i still have a few questions

would it be better to go c2d or amd phenom? which would be more future proof?

They're both fine for what you're looking for. In any case, being "future-proof" computer wise usually means a 2-3 year old life as your primary computer. Anything over that is stretching it (value/mainstream and entry level products will definately be faster than "good" computer built now in 2-3 years anyway).

Sticking with Intel, socket 775 still offers lots of good CPU's that are similar to and/or faster than the Phenom II's. If you want to upgrade in a year or two, you should be able to find a quad-core Q9xxx series processor for cheap.

With AMD, the new Phenoms support socket AM2+, but you won't be able to use DDR3 (like with AM3 natively). I don't know what else there is, nor how long the AM2+ socket backwards compatibility will last.

Anyway, for gaming you'll really only be looking at upgrading the video card if you want to keep up with things... and PCI-E will probably be around for a while.

[elton5354]

E8400 $200
EP45-UD3R $148
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 4GB $50
XFX HD4850 512MB $190
LG GH22NS30 $26
WD Caviar Black 640GB $90
Antec Sonata III $120

Subtotal: $824, price match everything with NCIX

Or get the shell shocker combo, it's not a bad deal.

That's not a budget build if you're going to spend 200$ on a CPU and 120$ on a case and 150$ on a mobo..

[CheapScotsman]

That's not a budget build if you're going to spend 200$ on a CPU and 120$ on a case and 150$ on a mobo..

The OP has $800 in his post.

[Jon Lai]

That's not a budget build if you're going to spend 200$ on a CPU and 120$ on a case and 150$ on a mobo..

OP's budget is $800, it's very well within the budget if you decide to wait for a few sales to rake things up.

What's a budget build then? A non-budget gaming build can easily rake $2K.