Building a budget gaming system

[Kronos121]

Hello,

I'm planning on building a budget gaming system (I don't really play games above 1280x1024) but I'm new to this and not sure if I have made the correct choice.

After a couple weeks of research I've decided to go for the following:

Dual Core E2160 (1.8Ghz) - $81 or C2D E4500 (2.2Ghz) - $124 (planning to OC to 3Ghz)
Abit IP35-E - $95
HIS HD 3850 256MB - $184

That should cost slightly less than $370 if I go for E2160 and around $400 for E4500.

Do you think I should go for the more expensive E4500? From what I have read, an E2160 performs roughly equal to an E4500 when both are OC to 3Ghz. If that is indeed the case wouldn't an E2160 be the better choice?

Also would a 450W PSU be adequate for this system? Which brand of PSU would provide the most while being affordable?

And lastly a newbie question: would overclocking severely reduce the life of the processor and motherboard?

Thanks.

MOD EDIT: Crossposted in General. Forgiven for being a noob. Locked this one because the other thread is longer. - Zap

 

[Xvys]

Seems like you are on the right track. The e4500 has 2mb cache which is a bit better for gaming than the e2160 with 1mb, but having a good graphics card is more important and the 3850 is a good choice. 450W is plenty for your system. I built a similar system using a Sparkle 400 watt (the one with the 120mm fan) which is fairly highly rated and can usually be found for $40. Heat is the enemy which will shorten the life of your components. As long as you have adequate cpu cooling (like the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro for $20) an overclocked system can run for years with no problems.

 

[jdkick]

You may have wanted to post this in the general forums... may attract more responses.

The ABIT boards have a good reputation. As for the CPU, I don't think you'd see a big difference between the E2xxx/E4xxx once OC'd.

The 3850 is a decent card for the price... a 3870/8800GT would give you a little more power but would cost over $200, don't know if that's in your budget.

What memory are you planning to use? This could affect your room to OC.

You should be fine with a <500W PSU. I'm a fan of Enermax.

And yes, overclocking can decrease the life span of the components involved. The primary concern is heat. You may need to invest in a better CPU cooler and some case fans to keep things in check. Keep your voltages within spec and as low as possible to maintain a stable OC. There's a good C2D OC post at the top of this forum. Give it a read.

 

[Kronos121]

Thanks for the replies! I've been reading this and the graphic cards sub-forums all the time and forgot about the general forum. Now I am going to post it in the General Hardware forum.

By the way, I'm planning to use 2x1GB Kingston DDR2 800 RAM.

Thanks.

 

[chuckm]

Here's your power supply, best price I've ever seen on it;
http://www.buy.com/prod/Corsai...loc/101/205466485.html

 

[Conroy9]

Antec EarthWatts should be good as well; the 430 watt is $30 after rebate on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817371006

 

[hans007]

if you just want 2mb cache, i'd just pick up a e4400 m0 core.


earlier e4400s were L2 core, but almost all retail ones now are m0. its a bit cheaper, plus assuing your board is anything decent it should be able to do 300 x 10 easily (if not 333 x 10)