Budget gaming PC questions

[IhateHP]

I've been looking to upgrade from my crappy 5 year old compaq and recently came across an article suggesting parts to build a budget PC. I will use the computer for daily tasks like browsing, watching movies, etc. I game, but I'm not looking to run everything on the highest settings with 60fps. I just don't want to run newer games on low anymore. Would the computer built with these parts fit that bill? For now my budget is 600 dollars tops and won't be able to upgrade for another 6 months or so. I'll be buying my parts from the US, don't plan on overclocking, will game at 1024x768 ().

Last question...with the parts below, would it be a huge upgrade from a 2gig, 4650 radeon HD, 2.2ghz AMD duo core? Thanks in advance.

AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz Triple-Core AM3 95W

ASRock M3A770DE: Socket AM3, 770 Chipset, ATX

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333

XFX Radeon HD 5750 1GB

Samsung F3 500GB SATA II 3.0Gb/s

LITE-ON Black 24X SATA CD/DVD Burner

SILVERSTONE ST50F-ES 500W 80 PLUS Certified

Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX 2 x 120mm + 1x 140mm fans

 

[mfenn]

The only big upgrades there are the GPU and RAM. You could easily add those to your current system (assuming it is PCIe and uses DDR2 or DDR3).

 

[BladeVenom]

The video card will be a huge improvement, the CPU and memory won't be as noticeable most of the time.

Do you have a Microcenter or Fry's near you. You can get a good deal on a CPU motherboard combo. At Microcenter you can get an Athlon II X4 635 with a free motherboard for $99.99.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

at least spring for the 5770, but at that price point, might as well go GTX460 768MB.

 

[IhateHP]

Thanks for the advice guys. So just adding GPU and RAM will increase my performance in games? Since this is a compaq comp the mobo really restricts me as to what processors I can buy, so I would have had to buy the mobo just for the CPU upgrade.

Blade, sadly I live in a very crappy city and it looks like I don't have either of those stores anywhere near here.

Is there an "estimate" as to how newer games would run with the 2.2ghz amd duo core, GTX460 and 4gigs of RAM?

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the advice guys. So just adding GPU and RAM will increase my performance in games? Since this is a compaq comp the mobo really restricts me as to what processors I can buy, so I would have had to buy the mobo just for the CPU upgrade.

Blade, sadly I live in a very crappy city and it looks like I don't have either of those stores anywhere near here.

Is there an "estimate" as to how newer games would run with the 2.2ghz amd duo core, GTX460 and 4gigs of RAM?

Oh yeah, on more thing. You'll need to buy a new PSU to power that GTX 460. As long as your Compaq uses a standard ATX supply, you can just get something like a 650TX.

As for how much improvement you'll get, that depends on the game. You'll definitely be able to crank the graphics up to ultra though! The nice thing about these parts is that if you later decide that the CPU is holding you back, you can always carry the RAM, GPU and PSU over to a new build. You won't have lost any money be upgrading your current build.

 

[IhateHP]

Oh yeah, on more thing. You'll need to buy a new PSU to power that GTX 460. As long as your Compaq uses a standard ATX supply, you can just get something like a 650TX.

As for how much improvement you'll get, that depends on the game. You'll definitely be able to crank the graphics up to ultra though! The nice thing about these parts is that if you later decide that the CPU is holding you back, you can always carry the RAM, GPU and PSU over to a new build. You won't have lost any money be upgrading your current build.

Yeah, I really need a cpu upgrade. It's only 250 watt lol...I'm actually surprised it didn't burn out after I upgraded the graphics card and CPU on this piece of crap.

When I decide to upgrade mobo/CPU, would I be able to put my DDR2 RAM on a mobo that supports DDR3? OR would I have to buy a mobo supporting ddr2 specifically?

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, I really need a cpu upgrade. It's only 250 watt lol...I'm actually surprised it didn't burn out after I upgraded the graphics card and CPU on this piece of crap.

When I decide to upgrade mobo/CPU, would I be able to put my DDR2 RAM on a mobo that supports DDR3? OR would I have to buy a mobo supporting ddr2 specifically?

You would need to get a DDR2 mobo, which is not a problem since current AMD processors support DDR2 and DDR3 with the appropriate mobo. If you end up buying a new CPU/mobo further out (say another 18 months so), you would probably need to get new RAM since everything will have moved to DDR3 by then.

 

[IhateHP]

You would need to get a DDR2 mobo, which is not a problem since current AMD processors support DDR2 and DDR3 with the appropriate mobo. If you end up buying a new CPU/mobo further out (say another 18 months so), you would probably need to get new RAM since everything will have moved to DDR3 by then.

Alright sounds good.

Looking for RAM and choosing video card now...Would this be good RAM to buy or do you have any suggestions? Also, what's your opinion on the best video card between 100-150 dollar range.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104019

 

[Sp12]

The motherboard you have listed is DDR3.

 

[mfenn]

Alright sounds good.

Looking for RAM and choosing video card now...Would this be good RAM to buy or do you have any suggestions? Also, what's your opinion on the best video card between 100-150 dollar range.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104019

Here's some quick recommendations:
G.Skill DDR2 800 2GB $39 - cheap and it works, the Kingston is good too, but a bit more expensive
Radeon 5770 $135 AR - best value in your price range

 

[IhateHP]

Here's some quick recommendations:
G.Skill DDR2 800 2GB $39 - cheap and it works, the Kingston is good too, but a bit more expensive
Radeon 5770 $135 AR - best value in your price range

SP12, for now I am not getting that motherboard. I will be using the one I have now which supports DDR2.

Looks good. It's nice to save a few dollars!

I ran CPU-Z to look at the specs of all the stuff I have now and it says the max bandwith of my RAM is 333mhz. Could it be my motherboard doing this? The RAM I have is 1 gig 667mhz DDR2! Both of them show up as 333mhz though

 

[mfenn]

SP12, for now I am not getting that motherboard. I will be using the one I have now which supports DDR2.

Looks good. It's nice to save a few dollars!

I ran CPU-Z to look at the specs of all the stuff I have now and it says the max bandwith of my RAM is 333mhz. Could it be my motherboard doing this? The RAM I have is 1 gig 667mhz DDR2! Both of them show up as 333mhz though

DDR stands for Double Data Rate, which means that data is sent twice per clock cycle. So DDR2 667 only actually runs at 333Mhz. CPU-Z reports the actual frequency before doubling so your reading is normal.

 

[IhateHP]

DDR stands for Double Data Rate, which means that data is sent twice per clock cycle. So DDR2 667 only actually runs at 333Mhz. CPU-Z reports the actual frequency before doubling so your reading is normal.

Ohh, ok thank you very much. I'm glad you were not annoyed by all my questions and were very helpful.

 

[electroju]

A good gaming processor is AMD Phenom II X2 555 or 550. Windows does not utilize multiple processors compared to other operating systems.

Stay away from Samsung hard drives because they have the worst latency. Hitachi and Western Digital are the best. On a budget Western Digital Blue series are great. Do not buy the Black series because do not perform well compared to the Blue series.

ATI is OK if you do not mind crashing. ATI software is pathetic compared to nVidia. nVidia is better all around. At the resolution you going to use, I suggest nVidia GeForce GT250.

Enermax and Seasonic are better at the lower wattage compared to Silverstone. Another power supply that makes power supplies for Zalman is FSP.

If this is your first time build, do not go with ASrock motherboards because there is no warranty besides from the store. The motherboards that I recommend for first time builders are Gigabyte and MSI. I do not like ASUS because some of their motherboards might be refurbished, so you could have problems. I strongly recommend buying the processor, memory and motherboard from a local store like a family own business or any professional computer store. They will be able to test the parts and make sure they are working.

Lite-on optical drives are OK. They are noisy and the quality is not great. ASUS and Plextor are better brands for optical drives.

The following list is what I suggest if you want quality while being on a budget.

ASUS 24x DVD Writer SATA Model DRW-24B1LT
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB
MSI 870A-G54 or MSI NF750-G55
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 X 2GB) DDR3-1333 F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH
PNY XLR8 VCGGTS2501LXPB GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit GDDR3
ENERMAX Tomahawk ETK500AWT 500W
AMD Phenom II X2 550

The list totals $594.92 at newegg.com. The MSI NF750-G55 has on-board graphics that can handle 1024 by 768, so you can hold on buying a dedicated video card. First time builders should go with retail instead of open box for the motherboard.

A new faster computer will not fix the issue about quality settings in a game unless you are CPU limited. That is the video card. It is best to buy a new video card like a nVidia GeForce GTX 280 or 285. A GeForce GT480 will be a lot better.

 

[mfenn]

Sigh.. Time to go point by point again.

A good gaming processor is AMD Phenom II X2 555 or 550. Windows does not utilize multiple processors compared to other operating systems.

Wrong. Windows has been an SMP OS since NT.

Stay away from Samsung hard drives because they have the worst latency. Hitachi and Western Digital are the best. On a budget Western Digital Blue series are great. Do not buy the Black series because do not perform well compared to the Blue series.

Wrong. The WD Black is faster (marginally) than the WD Blue and the F3 hangs with both.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/10/06/samsung-spinpoint-f3-1tb-review/3

ATI is OK if you do not mind crashing. ATI software is pathetic compared to nVidia. nVidia is better all around. At the resolution you going to use, I suggest nVidia GeForce GT250.

Both sides have put out crappy drivers from time to time. Remember when Nvidia put out drivers that killed cards?

Enermax and Seasonic are better at the lower wattage compared to Silverstone. Another power supply that makes power supplies for Zalman is FSP.

All you listed are good, though I would put Seasonic and Silverstone over FSP. Enermax is hardly relevant anymore because of their terrible bang for buck.

If this is your first time build, do not go with ASrock motherboards because there is no warranty besides from the store.The motherboards that I recommend for first time builders are Gigabyte and MSI. I do not like ASUS because some of their motherboards might be refurbished, so you could have problems. I strongly recommend buying the processor, memory and motherboard from a local store like a family own business or any professional computer store. They will be able to test the parts and make sure they are working.

ASRock boards DO have a one-year warranty. It is simply serviced through the retailer instead of through ASRock directly.

As for ASUS motherboards, if it says New, it's New. Have open box motherboards been accidentally shipped out instead of a new one? Sure, accidents happen.

Lite-on optical drives are OK. They are noisy and the quality is not great. ASUS and Plextor are better brands for optical drives.

All of the $20 drives are pretty much the same these days.

The following list is what I suggest if you want quality while being on a budget.

ASUS 24x DVD Writer SATA Model DRW-24B1LT
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB
MSI 870A-G54 or MSI NF750-G55
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 X 2GB) DDR3-1333 F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH
PNY XLR8 VCGGTS2501LXPB GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit GDDR3
ENERMAX Tomahawk ETK500AWT 500W
AMD Phenom II X2 550

The list totals $594.92 at newegg.com. The MSI NF750-G55 has on-board graphics that can handle 1024 by 768, so you can hold on buying a dedicated video card. First time builders should go with retail instead of open box for the motherboard.

I agree that you probably shouldn't get an OB mobo. However, some of your suggestions are just whack.
Why would you recommend and old 320GB-platter drive, when $10 more gets you a 1TB 500GB-platter drive?
Why would your recommend a GTS 250 when $25 gets you a 5770 that is significantly faster?
Why would you recommend a 635 or 445 are around the same price, yet have more cores? They are very close in clock speed and core count is becoming more and more important for games.

A new faster computer will not fix the issue about quality settings in a game unless you are CPU limited. That is the video card. It is best to buy a new video card like a nVidia GeForce GTX 280 or 285. A GeForce GT480 will be a lot better.

Pretty sure we've already established the bolded.

Also, are you seriously recommending a GTX 285 when a cheaper GTX 470 completely outclasses it?

OP, I think what you're currently planning to do makes the most sense, IMHO. Just upgrade the GPU and RAM to see how much improvement that gives you. If you're still not happy, you haven't lost anything and because you can reuse those parts in a new build.

 

[mfenn]

Ohh, ok thank you very much. I'm glad you were not annoyed by all my questions and were very helpful.

No problem. I never get annoyed by earnest questions.