[quote]Paste42 wrote:
[quote]RSGZ wrote:
[quote]Enders Drift wrote:
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Do you have a screen? Keyboard and mouse?
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x2. The screen can take half of your budget.[/quote]
Or you can just use your TV, my computer monitor is 42"
RSGZ put together a decent build, but that motherboard is an X58 chipset that is a 1366 socket, and the i5 processor there is an 1156 pin processor…that’s a problem.
In my opinion, for a straight out gaming machine, you would be better served with something like an MSI P55-GD65 motherboard (checked newegg $150). You can take the money you save there and put it into a better videocard. The 4850 card that RSGZ listed will play the games you want to play, but it is nowhere near future proofing from a video card perspective. You would be much better served by picking up a 5850 right now, and saving money on other components as necessary.
Another valid question to ask at this point though, is how big is your monitor? You don’t need a very powerful card if you are playing on a smaller monitor at a lower resolution. I will upgrade my own machine soon, hopefully, but I’m currently playing Mass Effect 2 with everything turned up at 1920x1200 with a GeForce 8800GT…and I rarely have performance issues.
[quote]MordredSJT wrote:
RSGZ put together a decent build, but that motherboard is an X58 chipset that is a 1366 socket, and the i5 processor there is an 1156 pin processor…that’s a problem.
In my opinion, for a straight out gaming machine, you would be better served with something like an MSI P55-GD65 motherboard (checked newegg $150). You can take the money you save there and put it into a better videocard. The 4850 card that RSGZ listed will play the games you want to play, but it is nowhere near future proofing from a video card perspective. You would be much better served by picking up a 5850 right now, and saving money on other components as necessary.
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Good point on the mobo/proc - it will allow you to upgrade the processor in the future, but I suppose this will be for games primarily.
Thing is, for an extra $60 will you really be getting that much better of a graphics card? Any “future-proofed” graphics card will cost a hell of a lot more, this one has DX10 support so it should do the job well. A 5850 is going to cost a good $300.
There is no real reason to get a 1366 pin board and processor for a budget gaming build is all…the i5 is a very recently released cpu, and if it is necessary, there will be ways to step up speed on the 1156 platform. I have usually found that upgrading is not a major part of my purchasing decisions for processors. By the time I need to upgrade my cpu, I usually have to invest in a new motherboard/cpu/memory combo anyway.
The heart of a gaming machine is the video card, and the 5850 is the best value out there right now price/performance wise. That having been said, if he is not gaming at a very high resolution, and is not looking to upgrade his monitor anytime soon…then I would still recommend stepping up to a 5770 over the 4850. That will give him better performance and DX11 support. PC games are at an interesting place right now, because there are so many multi-platform games…they need to be designed to run at hdtv resolutions on the consoles, so even with the graphical improvements that are possible porting to the pc…most games can be played at lower pc monitor resolutions with middle of the road graphics cards. It’s only the few pc only titles that push the graphical envelope that really need/use the power of the higher end cards, and then only at very high resolutions or multi-monitor setups.
I’d recommend starting here for a basic idea of what you can get for your money: PC Hardware Buyer's Guide - March 2010 | bit-tech.net
I’ve just rebuilt the majority of my PC using one of the templates listed here, with a few tweaks. I’ve always found it to be a pretty good resource, even if you end up not buying a single thing from it.
My monitor is 19inc its pretty good about 1-2 years old. Like one of those monitors that sell for 150 bucks that arnt HDMI/HD tv i think those are around 300ish right?
I do have plans eventually to upgrade the monitor and Graphics so would getting the 1156 pin set mobo be a good measure in allowing me to upgrade those 2 parts in the future?
[quote]RSGZ wrote:
That’s from newegg.com - which from what I hear is pretty good with prices.
That’ll run pretty well, and it’s got USB & SATA 3.0, a SATA 3 hard drive and a good graphics cards.
Plus a free game. You might need to pay in a bit for shipping.[/quote]
That motherboard won’t work with the CPU you picked. (1366 pin vs 1156 pin).
@OP
where do you live?
Like I said earlier, if you live near Microcenter or Fry’s. It will almost definitely be cheaper than Newegg.
I’d differ from RSGZ in that I’d go with an AMD platform. Honestly I’d prefer intel myself, but at that price point you’ll get something that plays games better.
The savings in the motherboard and CPU go towards getting you a fast quad core CPU and a slightly beefier graphics card, while you still have USB 3.0, Sata 3.0, and the option of throwing in another graphics card down the track (cheaper motherboard options would limit the bandwidth available to additional cards).
So I’d pick this motherboard:
And this CPU:
and this graphics card:
Changed my mind, new recommendation
Everything else would be as per RSGZ’s recommendations
If you wanted to save some money, you could get a 4870 instead of a 4890 for the graphics card. Personally I’d stick with the pricier one as it’s got a good warranty and more overclocking headroom.
And consider picking up a good aftermarket CPU cooler. It’s a world of difference in terms of noise and overclocking potential. It’s not going to make games run any better with the system outlined, even if overclocked, and if you use headphones the noise is a moot point.
Anyhow, check it out. I’m certain it’ll run games really well on a 19" screen, and if you get a bigger screen or just get greedy down the track you can simply drop in another identical graphics card (which would be cheaper at that point in time). Cpu upgrades are generally easier with AMD as well, since they often don’t require a motherboard upgrade. Of course that isn’t guaranteed in the future, but nothing is.
*EDIT: Loaded wrong link for motherboard before. Corrected now. Also changed the graphics card due to availability.
Actually, scratch my graphics recommendation. Availability will be shit if you ever upgrade. Get a 5770 instead.
Just adding my two cents here, but if I was going to spend that much on a motherboard and processor…I would get the Intel i5-750 for $20 more and the MSI GD-65 which is $150…that’s actually $10 cheaper than the AMD option smokotime posted. The i5 performs better in games than the phenom II does, it has four cores plus hyperthreading (it can work as eight logical cores, better multithreaded performance), and it has the turbo mode that ramps up clockspeed automatically. Plus, they tend to be good overclockers if you go that route. I will second the 5770 as I already mentioned before.
Another route would be to go for an i3-530, overclock the hell out of it, and put the extra money towards a 5850 video card.
Cant help too much here, computers are outdated the second you turn them on …
Im using a fully loaded alienware i got maybe two weeks ago, and im already saving for an ssd since a regular hardrive is a bottleneck so far, and praying core i9 isn’t going to be brutally expensive since the overclocked core i7 seems pretty meh…
i use it for photoshop/digital painting which is where a radeon 5970 and 12 gigs of ram just isn’t cutting it… also occasionally crysis/the sc2 beta which get dominated by the pc on highest settings no complaints gaming wise.
[quote]MordredSJT wrote:
Just adding my two cents here, but if I was going to spend that much on a motherboard and processor…I would get the Intel i5-750 for $20 more and the MSI GD-65 which is $150…that’s actually $10 cheaper than the AMD option smokotime posted. The i5 performs better in games than the phenom II does, it has four cores plus hyperthreading (it can work as eight logical cores, better multithreaded performance), and it has the turbo mode that ramps up clockspeed automatically. Plus, they tend to be good overclockers if you go that route. I will second the 5770 as I already mentioned before.
Another route would be to go for an i3-530, overclock the hell out of it, and put the extra money towards a 5850 video card.[/quote]
I ditched that idea because the motherboard doesn’t support two full speed x16 PCI-e lanes. For the less geeky, it means that if you throw a second graphics card in, it won’t be able to interface with the rest of the system at the same speed of the first…
It’s of minimal impact now, but as graphics card get more beastly it’ll limit your options in the future. Given you’re on a budget, leaving yourself the option of cheap upgrades in the future is a plus.
If you don’t want the extra lanes, you can get get the same setup with a 790X instead of a 790FX. It’ll save you $55 over the one I recommended and $25 over the motherboard MordredSJT recommended.
I’ve built an AMD gaming rig before; while there is a difference, you aren’t going to see it without close to $500 worth of graphics hardware. It’s still going to run pretty well. I haven’t heard anyone say the processor I recommended can’t keep up. I’d rather take a system that manages 60FPS in games but I can max out the quality, vs one that manage 70FPS but I can’t.
Having the extra cash from the motherboard and CPU goes towards better graphics, a higher end motherboard, and a much better chance at a simple “drop-in” upgrade of the CPU down the track if it becomes a limiting factor.
Personally I prefer intel, but the price difference with the motherboards and CPU’s is too much at this price point. Plus, having been a broke uni student, cheap upgrades is a good thing. You’re gonna want to eke as much life out of it as possible, which to me means that you MUST have a quad core and flexibility with the graphics. Quad cores are finally getting used better in games, so it’s better future-proofing than a dual core. Even taking into account overclocking.
Like I said, personally I prefer Intel; but that doesn’t mean AMD doesn’t get the job done. Games are one of the things where AMD is still within touching distance of Intel.
If it was me, I’d sell a kidney and get an i7 930 with a 5870 and an aftermarket cooler so large that it’d look like I was compensating for something. But it isn’t me!
[quote]MordredSJT wrote:
Just adding my two cents here, but if I was going to spend that much on a motherboard and processor…I would get the Intel i5-750 for $20 more and the MSI GD-65 which is $150…that’s actually $10 cheaper than the AMD option smokotime posted. The i5 performs better in games than the phenom II does, it has four cores plus hyperthreading (it can work as eight logical cores, better multithreaded performance), and it has the turbo mode that ramps up clockspeed automatically. Plus, they tend to be good overclockers if you go that route. I will second the 5770 as I already mentioned before.
Another route would be to go for an i3-530, overclock the hell out of it, and put the extra money towards a 5850 video card.[/quote]
I completely overlooked the fact that 1156 won’t work with 1366. I’d still stick with the gigabyte boards due to personal preference, but I agree about getting an i5 still. The 2 MSI boards I owned in the past were both major letdowns.
[quote]coolp3ople wrote:
Cant help too much here, computers are outdated the second you turn them on …
Im using a fully loaded alienware i got maybe two weeks ago, and im already saving for an ssd since a regular hardrive is a bottleneck so far, and praying core i9 isn’t going to be brutally expensive since the overclocked core i7 seems pretty meh…
i use it for photoshop/digital painting which is where a radeon 5970 and 12 gigs of ram just isn’t cutting it… also occasionally crysis/the sc2 beta which get dominated by the pc on highest settings no complaints gaming wise.
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Whoa there, I use my i7 for 3D and Photoshop and often have 2-4gb psd files. I find 12gb ram to be plenty, for now anyway.
[quote]coolp3ople wrote:
Cant help too much here, computers are outdated the second you turn them on …
Im using a fully loaded alienware i got maybe two weeks ago, and im already saving for an ssd since a regular hardrive is a bottleneck so far, and praying core i9 isn’t going to be brutally expensive since the overclocked core i7 seems pretty meh…
i use it for photoshop/digital painting which is where a radeon 5970 and 12 gigs of ram just isn’t cutting it… also occasionally crysis/the sc2 beta which get dominated by the pc on highest settings no complaints gaming wise.
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SSD’s are fucking awesome. Got an intel g2 80gig. It’s exactly what an upgrade should feel like; everything is quicker and slicker.
When the next lot of intel SSD’s come out in Q3-Q4 I’m going to buy a couple and throw them in my folks computers. It’s pretty much the only thing I can think of that would make a computer “better” for someone who does email, Office and internet.
The core i9 is called the i7 980X. You’re looking at a cool $1000. What are you running your i7 at? You may find you can get a good boost by upping the base clock from 133 and lowering the multiplier to get the same speed. I’m running a 920 at 3.99Ghz on air and it could go further if I wasn’t anally retentive about the temperature when under extreme stress testing.