Budget Gaming Computer, Wow, UT3

[RussellOrtego]

Hey,
Well, me and my bro have been using anandtech for a long time, and i decided to create an account for myself.

Anyways, i need help building a budget gaming computer, and so far i have an OCZ StealthXStream 500 watt psu, http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811133074 case, both from newegg, and an athlon 64x2 5600+ at 2.81 ghz without overclocking. I also have 2x1g sticks of OCZ reaper, pc2 6400 800mghz dual channel, 4-4-4-15 timings. I already have a dvd/cd reader and writer. What i am looking for is a decent hard drive (i.e. 7200 rpm, 320g's or less etc.) mobo, and graphics card. Like i said, i don't play intense games, but i do play moderate games such as wotlk, Unreal Tournament 3, Driver 2 Parallel Lines, and some old shooters.

My first concern is whether to keep the 2 gigs of reaper, and possibly buy 2 more if you guys think i will need it, or get different ram. Second is i would like to run my games at full or close to full settings. I was also looking at a http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822148261.

Curently i have a small 17 inch monitor, but will be upgrading in a month or two to probably like a 22".

Oh, also i was wondering, i have window vista home premium 64 bit system builders, and xp pro vienna edition, 2008-2009 32 bit system builders, which should i use.

I am trying to spend as little as possible, i.e. less than $200 for the mobo, graphics card, and hard drive. If newer ram is needed, i will get it later.

If there are quality parts that will be less than $200, let me know.

Also, if you would like to look up more or my ram, the product number is OCZ2RPR8002GK, here's a link from OCZ.com. http://www.ocztechnology.com/p...400_reaper_hpc_edition

Any suggestions and comments are much appreciated, thanks,
Russell.

 

[SunSamurai]

1. Download Windows 7 64bit.
2. ATI Radeon HD 4850 <- <100$. You'd of paid 600$ for the performance it gives just 3 years ago.
3. RAM is cheap. Get 4+GB
4. When you get a monitor, make sure its 19xx by 1xxx. Not 1680by1050. Its much nicer.

 

[RussellOrtego]

First, where can i download windows 7 64 bit, and what are the benefits of windows 7 over what i have.
And, if i can find a decent motherboard and hard drive and get the graphics card for under $200 total, then i will be very happy, i have heard alot about the 4850.
Thanks alot,
Russell

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

UT3 will tap out that dual core. I play UT3 and it benefits from a Quad core more so. I went from an FX60 to a Q9300 and it was a nice upgrade. Now using a Q9650 which is very nice with UT3

 

[SunSamurai]

Basically for WinXP->Win7.

If youre old enough if you remember going from Windows 2000-> XP. Its like that, except 'XP' in this case is much more secure and polished. Dont even consider Vista.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

that totally sucks cause i have 2 retail copies of Vitsa Ultimate 64

 

[heyheybooboo]

Asus M4A78 Plus AMD 770: $70 AR

or

Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3: $70 +shipping

The MSI HD 4850 is $75 but you have to wait out a $60 rebate to get there. If the upfront cash is a problem take a look at some of the Radeon HD4830s.

Can't really help you with your RAMs - probably have to set the timings manually in the BIOS ... OCZ Reaper can be finicky on some mobos.

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
UT3 will tap out that dual core. I play UT3 and it benefits from a Quad core more so. I went from an FX60 to a Q9300 and it was a nice upgrade. Now using a Q9650 which is very nice with UT3

You probably noticed such a large difference not necessarily because of moving from dual to quad, but moving from an old slow dual core to a new fast quad. A C2D would have plenty of power for those games

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Originally posted by: yh125d

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN
UT3 will tap out that dual core. I play UT3 and it benefits from a Quad core more so. I went from an FX60 to a Q9300 and it was a nice upgrade. Now using a Q9650 which is very nice with UT3

You probably noticed such a large difference not necessarily because of moving from dual to quad, but moving from an old slow dual core to a new fast quad. A C2D would have plenty of power for those games

BZZT - Wrong

 

[yh125d]

Um, ok. Worthless bump much?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

no, someone replied to this thread and their post didn't show up - which is a first i've seen here; but WOW and UT3 benefit off the extra cores. I forgot to mention an e8400 was my first chip after switching back from AMD and yes, I did play UT3 on it. The Q9300 couldn't clock that high because of the 7.5 multi and the 8400 did feel faster at 3.6Ghz, but @ 3.6 the Q9650 did feel better. I've had UT3 as the solo game in my gaming machine since around December and it's all i've played and am playing; this is not to even mention WOW as a big CPU bound game which i'm sure this worthless bump sheds no light on that fact where as a dual core suggestion with these 2 games seems like a suggestion from someone lost in a cave :thumbsup:

EDIT: phantom post

 

[n7]

Sorry, but BTRY B 529th FA BN is absolutely right.

UT3 is going to struggle on the OP's stock Athlon X2.

To really run the game at higher settings without big fps dips & with constant smoothness, you need a very high clocked dual, or basically any quad.

I have an Opteron 165 @ 2.5 GHz i've used with an 8800 GTX vs. an E6600 with an 8000 GTX, as well as with all my quads since.

The game wasn't what i'd call playable with the Opty 165 OCed, which is very near the OP's chip.
It was a massive improvement going to even a stock E6600.
OCed E6600 to Q6700 i didn't see as big of a difference, but minimum fps was better.

Contrary to the majority of the mistaken posters in CPUs who never have even played the game or tested this, UT3 runs better on quads...duals are not nearly as ideal.


All this said, the OP needed upgrades for $200, so CPU upgrades aren't really an option when he still needed mobo/gpu/RAM