My budget gaming combo - bang-for-buck emphasizing the bang

[kmmatney]

I spent quite a while deciding how I could make a budget gaming system that would kick some butt. My goal was to have a system that could comfortably game at 1280 x 1024, with the possibility of using some AA/AF in most games. I think this is a common goal for many others as well. Here is what I came up with.

AMD Sempron 64 2800+ Palermo 800MHz FSB Socket 754 Processor Model Retail
$75.50
SAPPHIRE 100130 Radeon X800GTO2 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - OEM
$209.00
Track 1 ABIT NV8 Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce4-4X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$69.50

Subtotal: $354.00
Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $7.49
Total: $361.49


For this setup to kick some butt, I'm assuming the cpu will overcock to at least 2.2 Ghz (About the same power as a Athlon 64 3000+), and that the video card will get to X850XT speeds. Both of these are pretty safe bets. I should get the cpu up to 2.4 Ghz (equivalent to an Athlon 64 , and the video card to X850XT PE speeds. Then it should just about keep up with the big boys.

I report how things turn out when I get the parts on Friday. Just thought I'd post, as there has to be other people who were in my same delima - trying to get the best bang for buck system for a 19" LCD.

I really wanted to get a S939 processor, but couldn't justify spending an extra $100 for the cpu, when most games are gou bottlenecked. The Sempron will do.

 

[Scouzer]

case? memory? lol and others

 

[Reapsy01]

That seems like a good budget system. I've found with my system virtually no noticable difference between it at stock and a modest overclock of 300mhz for gaming. So I just leave eit at stock.

 

[phaxmohdem]

Looks good to me, though I really hope you're getting AT LEAST 1GB of RAM to compliment that setup.

 

[Icepick]

An overclocked Sempron is a good choice for budget gaming. The X800GTO2 is a great choice for a mid-range card and will complement the Sempron well even at stock settings.

Be warned that this video card isn't gauranteed to unlock and overclock to x850xt speeds. In fact, unlockable x800gto cards are getting much more rare now. If you really need a faster product then you might be better served spending a little extra and going with a 6800GS.

Just read this thread if you don't believe me about the video card:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=1747442&enterthread=y

 

[Meuge]

It's not the Connect3D GTO, it's the Sapphire GTO2. The GTO2s ALL unlock to 16p. Their overclock range from X800XT to X850PE+... but generally 520/600 is possible with good cooling.

 

[kmmatney]

I have 1 GB of Crucial Ballistix PC3200 RAM. Not the best stuff, but should work well. My case is an ancient Enlight beige case - sturdy but not much cooling. I will probably need at to put in a fan in the back. Right now I have no case fans whatsoever.

From what I heard this GTO2 should unlock.

My power supply is definately ready for the job.

 

[Chappie]

kmmatney,

Hey bro,
Are you going ahead with the upgrade you mentioned?? If you are please let me know how it turns out.

I'm thinking about doing the same type of upgrade with my ancient machine. I'm curious to see how it goes.

thanks!!

Chappie

 

[kmmatney]

The parts arrived today, but I'm out of town (in Sunnyvale, CA) . I get back to Denver tomorrow, and then should have everything installed by tomorrow night. Woohoo! I will report how things go, specifcally how this budget setup overclocks.

 

[kmmatney]

Finally got the cpu overclocked. I had many miserable failures until I figured out what you have to do to get a successful overclock. I'm running at 2.4 GHz right now (up from 1.6 GHz!). A 50% overclock is not too shabby.

1) Set the HTT multiplier to x3

2) Upped the voltages on the cpu core (up to 1.52 V), and a little on the memory (2.65 V).

2) Reduced the memory speed to 266 MHz (down from 400 MHz).

3) Increased the FSB to 300.

4) Reduced my memory CAS# latency to 2.5 (it was 2.0).

This seems to produce a stable overclock. After all that, the cpu is running at 2.4 GHz, the memory is running 200 MHz, and the HTT is running at 3 * 300 = 900 MHz.


The main problem I have to sort out is that the motherboard will not boot if I have 2 sticks of RAM installed, even at normal speeds. his sucks as I'm current;y stuck with only a 512 MB stick.


Next test - the video card.

 

[kmmatney]

a little later here, but the video card unlocked to 16 pipes with no issues, and the video card overclocks stable to 520 MHz on the core, and 580 MHz on the memory. My standard setting is 530 core/540 Memory to make it into an X850XT.

Overall very happy with the system.

In the end I had to reduce the CAS latency to 3 in order to get 2 memory sticks to work, and reduce the timings a bit. I would suggest to others that you use a single 1 GB memory stick with the Abit NV8 motherboard.