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New Gaming PC. $650 budget. Help.. Details inside!

ajbrown85

Junior Member
Hello,

I wanted to see if I could get some help with purchasing components for a new PC. I have experience building myself - but I only upgrade about every 4 years so I never know whats the best value/whats good at the current time.

I'm not looking for some crazy top of the line i7 or anything like that. For example, about 4-5 years ago I bought an 80GB HD. AMD 3200 dual core. 1.5 GB ram. 7600 GT Geforce. 430w Power supply. This is what I'm still using and I run almost everything fine. I mainly use it for games, playing somewhat competetively in QuakeLive (running at constant 125 fps currently), played WoW fine, and I also do some minor movie making/sound editing/recording. Everything runs/works great. I still have 35-40gigs left even though I download/watch tons of movies. Basically I don't need a 800GB Hard drive, not even close. I keep my PC very minimalist like with very few programs running and always optimize my games for best performance.

What I've been looking to get is possibly an Intel Quad Core. I saw a bundle on newegg, didn't know much of the chipset - but it was basically:

Intel Quad core w/ gigabyte mobo 2.3ghz
2x2gb DDR2 800 ram corsair
580W Power supply
Geforce 9600gt 512mb pci-e
new ATx tower
300GB WD 7200RPM

This total'd me like $750 or so... is this a decent price for that setup? I have all the remaining components...

My budget is supposed to be about $600-650.. is there anyway to cutdown on anything? Maybe cheaper mobo/cpu combo or ram... I'm not sure - thats why i'm here!

I don't think I need a better video card then that...My geforce 7600GT has lasted me this long so as I said not really trying to get top of the line, just something current.

One thing I've been heavily interested in is the
Veloca raptor Drive 10k RPM from WD. It's a bit pricey ... I saw 150GB 10k RPM on newegg for like 170$. I wouldn't mind spending that much as long as it was worth it... anyone have any experience/feedback on this?

So - basically what I'm asking is
1) Can I get a good upgrade with 650$?

2) Is a quadcore worth it? I don't want to upgrade for another 4 years probably so i'm thinking a dualcore may be a bit behind the times... But I have 0 idea about quad core technology.

3) If possible, could I get some links from newegg/other sites of good components somewhat similiar to the ones I listed? Looking for

-Intel chip/mobo
-power supply 550w+
-geforce 9800GTX ? some video card around the $100-120$ range thats good..
-Ram.. Don't know anything about the current DDR's.. but probably 4GB or so...
- ATX Case. Something that fits all this crap in it, don't care.
-Hard Drive. Don't need anything more then 300gb, hell even 150gb. I just want it fast. Is 10kRPMS worth it? Help!


REALLY appreciate any help. Thank you.

*edit* - just read that info thread. sorry If i asked some of the same questions. I'm not totally set on quad core anymore If a GOOD dualcore can give me a better performance/value especially if I don't have more then 3-4 programs at any given time. all suggestions are welcome.
 
After reading through the system builder 2.0 thread these items intersted me

Case with 500/w PS included. 120$
Geforce GTX 250 - 129$
Amd Phenom II x3 - what motherboard goes well with this?
 
AMD CPU's are currently cheaper than their Intel counterparts. The Phenom II X3 is a nice CPU, if you want to shave some money, you can get the ATi HD 4850 512MB for 94.99 after rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127414 which will trade blows against the GTS 250 and has better video acceleration and more advanced features like DX10.1, Blu Ray acceleration and PIP support. Just make sure that you have a nice Power Supply in that unit, if it's a no name unit, swap it for a better one, just in case.

I found a better deal, an HD 4850 at $84 after rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102824

Link reference posted here: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2300590&enterthread=y
 
I pretty much figured out some good components from the 2.0 thread..

The last thing I need to make sure is power supply.. I have no idea about rails and amps and all that...

Can anyone reccomend a good power supply (Assuming 500-550) that will power a geforce GTS 250? I saw it reccomended 450w but I want to be safe..
 
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