$500 budget gaming rig that would max these 'medium demand' games:

[Zeze]

I currently have a 'decent' previous budget system from 1.5 years ago:

AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 2.8Ghz
(4th core unlocked and OC'd to 3.4Ghz)
Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB PCI-E
ASUS M4A78T-E Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Cooler Master 212 Plus Heatsink
Seagate 1.5TB
Some DVD drive which I never use


1. Unfortunately it struggles to play Dota 2 (I'm in Beta) and SC2 only in medium setting. I merely want to play them at max and smooth (60-80+ fps).

2. Range is $450-550.

3. Buy from USA, I'm in NYC.

4. No brand preference, anything that gets the most bang for the buck.

5. I'm going to sell that system entirely on CL to aid in helping the budget. So, I just need a new tower. I have KB/Mouse/Monitor/Speakers/etc.

6. I haven't yet. I will soon.

7. If I can OC it with minimal investment ($20-30 cooling), why not- just like my current system. But it has to be worth it like unlocking additional core and yielding real-world improvement.

8. Games will be played in 1080p.

9. Build now and next few weeks, willing to wait if a big price break is on horizon.

Additional info: The previous budget system was cheap because I got a nice case for $20 and power supply was free. So I'm gonna need to really trim the fat...

Also I'm under the impression Dota 2 (Source engine) and Starcraft II focus more on CPU, not GPU... can anyone confirm?

Thanks for your help!

 

[ElFenix]

best bang for buck is probably pick up a quad core nahelem (i5-750, i7-860, or i7-920) and motherboard from the forums here and a 6870 on newegg and then reuse the rest of your stuff. if your PS can power your current computer it can power the stuff i just listed. probably cost you about $300 to pick up those parts, and you can sell your other parts on here.

 

[Zeze]

best bang for buck is probably pick up a quad core nahelem (i5-750, i7-860, or i7-920) and motherboard from the forums here and a 6870 on newegg and then reuse the rest of your stuff. if your PS can power your current computer it can power the stuff i just listed. probably cost you about $300 to pick up those parts, and you can sell your other parts on here.

Well, I actually plan on selling the system as whole on CL to some sucker for $400-500, making it a near $0 upgrade (which is impossible if I sell by parts to geeks). I've done this before with previous build.

So in a way, it's a free upgrade. Sorry.

 

[ElFenix]

windows alone is $100, i dunno how you're going to get a halfway decent gaming experience that's a genuine upgrade for $400. especially with how much hard drives cost right now.

 

[lehtv]

With the HDD prices so high, you might want to keep the HDD while selling the rest of the system.

Do you live near a MicroCenter? NY should have several. Could pick up an i5-2500K for $180 with a $60 discount on selected mobos.

SC II definitely is very CPU intensive, the faster the better. As for GPU, on Ultra settings, a 6850 should max out the fps easily, if Techspot's July '10 testing bears any relevance.

windows alone is $100, i dunno how you're going to get a halfway decent gaming experience that's a genuine upgrade for $400.

Not sure why you think he'd be selling Windows as well?

Well, I actually plan on selling the system as whole on CL to some sucker for $400-500, making it a near $0 upgrade (which is impossible if I sell by parts to geeks).

:\

FWIW I think a good upgrade is doable on your budget... but...

 

[ElFenix]

Not sure why you think he'd be selling Windows as well?

how many suckers on craigslist are going to want a computer without windows on it?


edit: microcenter:
i5-2500k
Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 LGA 1155 Z68
Micro Center 4GB DDR3-1333
Antec Three Hundred
Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 6850 1024MB
Corsair Builder Series 500 Watt
Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000 1.5TB

that's $600 before taxes and $70 in rebates. call it $580. does not include windows.

edit: just realized that's a 5400 rpm drive. not many 7200 rpm drives available right now. amazon may still have that one available for $75.

edit: might as well get a 6870 for the same price

 

[lehtv]

how many suckers on craigslist are going to want a computer without windows on it?

How many suckers are going to notice it's missing? ;P

EDIT:
I like the build, but not everything needs to be bought from microcenter. Suppose you get at least the 2500K and mobo from there, that's $210AR.

Add:

ncix: MSI GTX460 Hawk $150 ($130 AR)
ncix: Mushkin 4GB $24
ncix: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM $100 (will probably go OOS soon ;P)
newegg: CX500 V2 $60 ($40 AR) (or microcenter, same price?)
microcenter: CM Elite 371 $30

= $534 AR

EDIT: and to trim the fat, you really need to keep the HDD you have now. Really. You can't trim the GPU, RAM, PSU and case really any more than that, and you can't get a good upgrade over your current CPU with less than $210AR.

 

[Zeze]

how many suckers on craigslist are going to want a computer without windows on it?


edit: microcenter:
i5-2500k
Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 LGA 1155 Z68
Micro Center 4GB DDR3-1333
Antec Three Hundred
Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 6850 1024MB
Corsair Builder Series 500 Watt
Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000 1.5TB

that's $600 before taxes and $70 in rebates. call it $580. does not include windows.

edit: just realized that's a 5400 rpm drive. not many 7200 rpm drives available right now. amazon may still have that one available for $75.

edit: might as well get a 6870 for the same price

Thanks, but we really need to trim the fat. I mean I found a perfectly good $20 ATX case on Newegg, why spend $60 on it? $550 Max with tax and shipping.

 

[ElFenix]

How many suckers are going to notice it's missing? ;P

who's going to miss someone stabbed and floating in the east river? :hmm:



edit: that case is $30 shipped on newegg. get the $18 case from microcenter rather than the antec.

 

[Zeze]

Guys, no Microcenter near me in NYC. 🙁

 

[lehtv]

Guys, no Microcenter near me in NYC. 🙁

In that case,
i5-2400 $190
Biostar H61ML $50. You end up with about the same price before rebate as with microcenter 2500K+Z68. No biggie

 

[ElFenix]

Guys, no Microcenter near me in NYC. 🙁

you have a car? a friend with a car? there's one in yonkers and one out on LI, and another in paterson nj


my concern is that even a dual core sandy isn't much of an upgrade from your current quad as far as gaming goes. and there is no where that will sell you a quad core sandy for cheaper than microcenter. you can get an unlocked 2500k and z68 board there for what newegg would sell you a locked 2500 for.

 

[Zeze]

On a side note, is the PC building truly dying?

Even a year ago, there were so many PC components on sale (Slickdeals, Fatwallet, etc). Now you see ZERO parts, all laptops or entire systems. :\

It'd be great if some components happened to be in sale.

 

[lehtv]

It's the economy ;/

 

[Zeze]

In that case,
i5-2400 $190
Biostar H61ML $50. You end up with about the same price before rebate as with microcenter 2500K+Z68. No biggie

HD6850 or GTX 460 seems to be the sweet budget card, both at $150~

If I get spend $200 on CPU, there's no room for HDD, DVD, RAM, PS, etc...

 

[lehtv]

There is if you keep your current HDD [and Windows]. Selling a system atm with a HDD in it is a bad idea given how much you have to pay for a new one.

 

[mfenn]

I see no reason to upgrade anything in that system other than the GPU. While a Phenom II X4 @ 3.4GHz wouldn't be my recommendation for a new system, it is hardly "slow". Since you're having trouble raising the detail settings in games, that indicates that you're not CPU-limited anyway. Just get one of the 6850/6870's that've been recommended in this thread and call it a day.