Hardware Rate my "to be" BUDGET Gaming PC?

[SavageWaffle]

Ok, im sorry for posting "to many" topics lately.

Case ( Tuniq Symmetry I Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply Black )

Case Lighting ( Cold Cathode Neon Light Blue )

Power Supply ( Standard Case Power Supply )

Processor ( AMD Athlon™ X2 5000+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology )

Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )

Motherboard ( [SLI] Asus M2N-SLI NVIDIA nForce 560 SLI Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, IEEE 1394, USB 2.0, Dual PCI-E MB )

Memory ( 2 GB [1 GB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand )

Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 1GB w/DVI + TV Out Video )

Video Card Brand ( Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA )

Hard Drive ( 320 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache] )

2nd Hard Drive ( None )

External Hard Drives [USB 2.0/eSATA] ( None )

CD/DVD Drive ( None )

CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )

Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )

Speaker System ( 600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System )

Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) )

Floppy Drive ( None )

Monitor ( None )

2nd Monitor ( None )

Keyboard ( Logitech Deluxe Keyboard Black )

Mouse ( Logitech Optical Internet Mouse Black )

USB 2.0 Accessories ( Build-in USB 2.0 Ports )

Meter Display ( Thermal Temperature LCD Display Blue )

Flash Media Reader/Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Black )

Operation System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) 32-Bit )

Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner ( None )

USB Flash Drive ( None )

MP3 Player ( None )

TV Tuner ( None )

Video Camera ( None )

Headset ( None )

Power Protection ( None )

Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )

Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) No Rush, Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )



So, i know you must be like "Why would you choose Windows Vista as your OS?". It's because its the cheapest/cheaper option for a OS.

This is all from the iBuyPower Custom. PC build thing.

The Sub-Total comes too: $631.00
And the shipping method(i chose the cheapest option): $79.
TOTAL: $710.

I wana see if this is "good" But i dont like how its 2 GB's. Im pretty sure Vista will jam up 1 GB. So basically i have 1 GB left for everything else?

 

[Mewgia]

It's alright. Try to get an Intel Core 2duo instead of that processor, they are quite a bit better and I'm sure there's one that wouldn't jack the price up.
Try to get an 8800GT or a 9600GT as the video card instead of the 8600, you don't need 1GB of ram in the video card since no games you will be running (especially with those specs) will use over 512 or even close to it (good to get 512MBs of video card ram though).

As for the ram - 2GBs should be good, Vista doesn't hog that much and I ran it on 2GBs of ram for about a month, didn't notice much of a gain when I installed another 2GBs but task manager shows that Vista is currently using 2.1GBs of ram. This is because Vista will use free ram while still leaving a lot to do some prefetching thing that speeds up the system (also, I have folding@home running, which is made to use up free ram and processor cycles anyway). In short - 2GBs will be fine, upgrading to 4GBs might help though. If you upgrade to 4GBs, get Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit, since it will use all 4GBs and is faster as well.

Vista is actually really easy to pirate, so I'd recommend against buying an OS if you're budgeting. For Vista 64bit, I got an OEM disk from thepiratebay that doesn't require activation or anything, just install it any you're set. I recently installed Vista Service Pack 1 (downloaded automatically by Windows) with no problems.


No rating given to your budget PC, assessments are better anyway.

 

[xcalibur]

double post~

 

[xcalibur]

It's alright. Try to get an Intel Core 2duo instead of that processor, they are quite a bit better and I'm sure there's one that wouldn't jack the price up.

Get the E1200. Its an inexpensive dual core processor which overclocks like crazy.

Try to get an 8800GT or a 9600GT as the video card instead of the 8600, you don't need 1GB of ram in the video card since no games you will be running (especially with those specs) will use over 512 or even close to it (good to get 512MBs of video card ram though).

Try to expand your budget to a HD4850, you won't regret it.
Alternatively, because of the release of these new cards, the 8800GT should have some great price cuts making it a viable option.

As for the ram - 2GBs should be good, Vista doesn't hog that much and I ran it on 2GBs of ram for about a month, didn't notice much of a gain when I installed another 2GBs but task manager shows that Vista is currently using 2.1GBs of ram. This is because Vista will use free ram while still leaving a lot to do some prefetching thing that speeds up the system (also, I have folding@home running, which is made to use up free ram and processor cycles anyway). In short - 2GBs will be fine, upgrading to 4GBs might help though. If you upgrade to 4GBs, get Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit, since it will use all 4GBs and is faster as well.

2 Gigs is enough. I actually ran on 1 gig for a while and I used a 1gig flash drive for ready boost which does help quite a bit.

QUOTE

Vista is actually really easy to pirate, so I'd recommend against buying an OS if you're budgeting. For Vista 64bit, I got an OEM disk from thepiratebay that doesn't require activation or anything, just install it any you're set. I recently installed Vista Service Pack 1 (downloaded automatically by Windows) with no problems.

The OP was a bit of a mess so I took Mewgia's post instead.

I have a few other gripes with your budget system. You're making a budget gaming PC yet you're wasting so much on useless extras like case lighting etc. Get rid of them and use the extra cash for better parts.

Also, don't use an unnamed power supply. Its always better to pay a little extra since a bad PSU can be the cause of many problems in a PC.

As for the motherboard. I don't see why you would by an nforce SLI board when;

a) You won't use SLI
b) Intel chipsets are far superior.

I'd go for a EP35-DS3L, its a great mobo and should me easy to overclock your CPU with.

As for the mouse and keyboard, why not get the Logitech media 600 keyboard and the microsoft intellimouse explorer as a mouse. They're nice and cheap.

Also, you may want to have a look at this; http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1822644,00.asp

Final rating : 5/10
Theres nothing "budget" or "gaming" about this PC.
You buy many pointless extras and as a result of that, the PC is too underclocked to be considered a gaming PC.

 

[CockroachMan]

Get a 9600GT or 8800GT instead of an 8600.. a 9600GT is the best cost/benefit IMO..

And if you're using Vista, get at least 3GB of RAM. A lot of games are already asking for 2GB minimum on Vista..

 

[fischju]

Have you priced the parts yourself on newegg?

 

[Samutz]

Also, don't use an unnamed power supply. Its always better to pay a little extra since a bad PSU can be the cause of many problems in a PC.

Agreed. I learned the semi-hard way (several returns/replacements) that a "standard" PSU may not give you enough juice, even if your only using a single GPU. Also, do you have any other details on the PSU provided? Mainly the wattage?

I also agree that 8800GT is better than almost anything else. I'm told that a single 8800GT will out perform two 8600s in SLI mode. In fact I had 2 8600s myself and swapped them with 2 8800s and saw a massive performance increase.
Edit: Check out: Tom's Hardware GPU Benchmarking

I recently posted the specs of the new computer I built a few weeks ago on my blog if you're interested in seeing what else I got and my thoughts on the parts. I don't have any prices or total costs listed though (didn't want to do the math again). However, I know it didn't end up being "budget".

 

[fischju]

The 4850 blows the 8800GT away, and is the same price with this MIR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121253
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/atirade...45208/17134.png

 

[SavageWaffle]

It's alright. Try to get an Intel Core 2duo instead of that processor, they are quite a bit better and I'm sure there's one that wouldn't jack the price up.
Try to get an 8800GT or a 9600GT as the video card instead of the 8600, you don't need 1GB of ram in the video card since no games you will be running (especially with those specs) will use over 512 or even close to it (good to get 512MBs of video card ram though).

As for the ram - 2GBs should be good, Vista doesn't hog that much and I ran it on 2GBs of ram for about a month, didn't notice much of a gain when I installed another 2GBs but task manager shows that Vista is currently using 2.1GBs of ram. This is because Vista will use free ram while still leaving a lot to do some prefetching thing that speeds up the system (also, I have folding@home running, which is made to use up free ram and processor cycles anyway). In short - 2GBs will be fine, upgrading to 4GBs might help though. If you upgrade to 4GBs, get Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit, since it will use all 4GBs and is faster as well.

Vista is actually really easy to pirate, so I'd recommend against buying an OS if you're budgeting. For Vista 64bit, I got an OEM disk from thepiratebay that doesn't require activation or anything, just install it any you're set. I recently installed Vista Service Pack 1 (downloaded automatically by Windows) with no problems.


No rating given to your budget PC, assessments are better anyway.

Well, there is no 3 GB option in iBuyPower, at least for this computer. There is a 4GB option but jacks the price $100 more.

 

[Neko]

Buy the CPU as the Black edition and overclock it to 3GHZ. (The black edition makes it easy and even noobs can do it!

)

Oh and take a 9600GT as the GPU.
You are going to be able to play Crysis on high then and other games will run smoother too!

 

[fischju]

Here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128078 mobo (I have this one, is great) $69
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115038 E8200 CPU (again, I have, is a great overclocker and has a large L2 cache) $175
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...-154-_-Homepage Optical drive $29
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231112 4GB of RAM $87
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817341001 PSU $109 (-25 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811156063 Case $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121253 Radeon 4850 $195 (-30 MIR)
= $743 including shipping, - $55 mail in rebate = $688 + $65 for 320GB HDD if you don't have one that you can use = $753

This PC will perform twice as well, and you will have it in 3-5 days.

 

[xcalibur]

Here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128078 mobo (I have this one, is great) $696820231112 4GB of RAM $87
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817341001 PSU $109 (-25 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811156063 Case $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121253 Radeon 4850 $195 (-30 MIR)
= $743 including shipping, - $55 mail in rebate = $688 + $65 for 320GB HDD if you don't have one that you can use = $753

This PC will perform twice as well, and you will have it in 3-5 days.

GA-EP35-DS3L - I'd recommend this mobo over fischju's and its the same price.

Other than that its a great system.

 

[Mangofett]

I used a generic 350W PSU to power 2 hard drives, a q6600, and an 8600gt

As long as its brandname, to build a budget PC, you don't really need a lot of watts.

lets see... for the OS, just pirate XP. The pirated copies are perfect now, no difference between retail.

You want an intel cpu, and an intel mobo. For graphics I would get a 4850, definitely.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814161235 175$ after MIR...

now, under the pretense that you're building a BUDGET pc, this mobo is all you need. a lot of people will argue this but i have played heavy games on crappier mobos and this whole post is based on my experience
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813121336 - 100$

then for cpu, you can get this and overclock it tons
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819116064 - 50$
http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/330000...king-e1200.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820146673 - ram 36$ after MIR

you dont need more than 2GB, especially under xp

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136098 - 65$ HDD

around 430$ so far, all you need is a case and a PSU.

 

[fischju]

I used a generic 350W PSU to power 2 hard drives, a q6600, and an 8600gt

As long as its brandname, to build a budget PC, you don't really need a lot of watts.

lets see... for the OS, just pirate XP. The pirated copies are perfect now, no difference between retail.

You want an intel cpu, and an intel mobo. For graphics I would get a 4850, definitely.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814161235 175$ after MIR...

now, under the pretense that you're building a BUDGET pc, this mobo is all you need. a lot of people will argue this but i have played heavy games on crappier mobos and this whole post is based on my experience
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813121336 - 100$

then for cpu, you can get this and overclock it tons
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819116064 - 50$
http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/330000...king-e1200.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820146673 - ram 36$ after MIR

you dont need more than 2GB, especially under xp

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136098 - 65$ HDD

around 430$ so far, all you need is a case and a PSU.

There is nothing wrong with Vista SP1 now, and he may want to use DX10 in the future. The 4850 requires a massive amount of power, and generic PSUs are very unreliable (my old generic output over 13v on the +12v rail) which can fry components. Just because the CPU is a good overclocker doesn't mean it is good, have you seen that 512k of L2 cache? It doesn't have the instruction sets of the newer CPUs either. The E8200 can hit 3.7ghz easily, has 6mb of L2, and SSE4. You can see in this overclock chart http://www.cpubenchmark.net/overclocked_cpus.html that the E2140 (different, close enough) at a higher overclock than the E1200 performs much worse than a stock E8200. A matx mobo is $40 less and unless you are going SLI, there is almost no difference besides size. Add a PSU and case to your list, and it costs $100 less than mine.

 

[Mangofett]

i just picked components for a "budget" box, not like games use much cpu, since most gfx cards do all the physics

he can substitute the 4850 for a 4650 if he desires and he wont need a +12v rail, at the cost of performance

i only said xp because you really need more thna 2 GB of ram to take advantage for vista, and xp can run some older apps too

 

[fischju]

Here is my horrible paint job of 2 different graphs for Crysis on medium quality (Same site, same tests, I cut out some CPUs in the middle because they were the same on both) The first goes to 80, the second 70, so the bars are too long, just look at the numbers >_<

 

[Mangofett]

Those aren't overclocked speeds, the e1200 is clocked at like 1.6ghz or something, overclockable easily to 2.4

And he's not gonna be playing crysis on a budget PC

even then... he could just spend a few more dollars on a better CPU. Its up to him on how much he can spend.

 

[fischju]

'Celeron DC 3.4Ghz' is the E1600 overclocked. He could play Crysis on Very High with a good $700 custom-built budget PC

 

[Joe88]

due yourself a favor and get a E7200

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115052

you can push it to almost 4ghz for $130

 

[Sick Wario]

for a little more $$ get the ATi HD 4850. awesome card check any benchmarks