Super budget gaming for wife

[Yuriman]

I'm looking to put together a super-budget system that can run modern games for my wife. Max settings are not needed, resolution will likely be ~1440x900. I don't need a high end system, she's quite happy with her Core2 Duo laptop, but the GMA is pretty pathetic.

My first idea was to find a Llano combo deal, but I can't seem to find any decent A8's + motherboard deals. I already have a case and an old power supply that should suffice, and some hard drives floating around. I know the i3 is a better chip but I dunno if I can justify the extra cost, she's not a hardcore gamer and a Radeon 65xx is probably plenty. Is the A6 any good or should I pony up for the extra GPU power of the A8?


EDIT:

1. Role/use:
Light gaming. Minecraft, Diablo 3, maybe something like Guildwars 2. Needs to be able to run recent and upcoming games playably at least avg ~30fps with medium/low settings @ 1440x900 - something a GMA950 can't do. Will probably not be playing any shooters, more likely RPGs. May use it for media center purposes occasionally.

2. Budget:
I can probably swing $250 for a motherboard / processor / ram / video card, but the less the better. I'm not opposed to getting something used, but ideally it'll look something like this: i3-2100 on sale or AMD A8, preferably bundled motherboard or entry level, 4gb ram. I haven't tried the HD2/3000 graphics yet so I have no idea if Diablo 3 would be playable at lowish settings on one - the A8 is attractive because I can hopefully put off buying a video card for a while. I don't know if the A6 is worth looking at.

3. Will be bought in USA, but I don't have a Microcenter nearby.

4. Brand preference - I tend to pick AMD cards of nV cards if they're both equally capable at a price point, but not a strong preference.

5. Current parts:
PSU, case, OS, interface stuff. Only need mobo/ram/cpu/video I think.

7. Overclocking:
If I can, but it won't be an aggressive one.

8. Res:
~1440x900

9. Planned build time:
Within a month.

 

[DesiPower]

What kind of games are you talking about, can you give some examples?

 

[DSF]

You'll be better off answering the questions in the sticky that Blain wrote.

We don't even know how much money you have to spend. That makes it hard to make any recommendation at all.

 

[Yuriman]

Fair enough. Updated first post.

 

[richaron]

have you looked at other recent threads for ideas? here or maybe here.

 

[Yuriman]

Useful, I hadn't considered the SB Pentium, but I'd like a little feedback on the value of the Llano APUs.

I'm fascinated by these chips and the reviews seem to suggest they're pretty strong for my price range. I suppose a Pentium + discreet would give lower CPU performance and better graphics horsepower at my pricepoint than a Llano, while the i3 + discreet would likely be a lot faster cpu-wise but wouldn't leave me enough budget for much of any video card.

Is Intel a better value and the pricepoint Llano sits at, or is it asking for me to spend more?

 

[winston9t4]

Personally, I think you'd be better off doing an SB Pentium build, and picking up a used video card. To me the Llano only makes sense if space and power is an issue. The SB build will give you a nice upgrade path to a faster SB or even an IB CPU, plus you can upgrade the video card independently.

I'm pretty sure an Intel build with a Radeon 4850 (have seen them for $35-50 shipped here) or a Geforce GTS 250, also in the $40-50 range, would easily outperform a similarly priced Llano build.

 

[richaron]

Yeah I also like the idea of Llano, but it's main advantage (as far as i'm aware) is in onboard graphics.

Unfortunately it's CPU is outclassed by most cheap Intel's. If you've got the space (and coin) for a discrete GPU, then that's probly the way to go.

 

[DooKey]

You can build an H61 rig with a SB Pentium, 4gb RAM and a new 6770 for pretty close to $250. I'd go that route.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125396

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231396

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157241

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116397

$260 after $20 rebate card.

 

[NTMBK]

Have you considered holding out for Ivy Bridge? It's going to have considerably upgraded graphics. You could get the i3-3225, which will combine 2 hyperthreaded cores with the top end integrated graphic (HD4000). This should give a pretty well balanced gaming system, with respectable graphics performance as well as a Llano-busting CPU.

 

[Yuriman]

I might well, but I'd be sorely tempted to put the i3 in my main rig to replace my aging Q6600 and then I'd still need a new video card.

Granted I'd get a lot of value, but it's pushing my budget up.

This originally started out with finding my old Athlon 5050e in the closet and looking up motherboard prices, and then realizing I'd sold my spare PCI-E video card a few weeks back. I suspect I could get decent performance from the Athlon, but my logic was - is AM2 motherboard + video card going to be significantly cheaper than AM3 motherboard + Llano apu?

 

[Pia]

I don't think you'll be happy with the results if you try to resurrect the Athlon.

What graphics do you have now and what kind of games are you running yourself?

IMO, the obvious effective solution seems to be to upgrade your own comp and give her the Q6600. Otherwise you will be left with useless parts after the next upgrade. Graphics-wise, if you already have a nice GPU then buy her something (used?) for $40; otherwise give her what you have and suffer the IVB's HD4000 yourself until you can afford to pick up a new card.

You might go a little bit over budget initially, but I think you'll win in the long term if you do this.

 

[Yuriman]

I'm running a Q6600 + HD4870 and it runs Starcraft 2, Elder Scrolls V, and the occasional WoW binge at high or max settings @ 1920x1200. I expect it to run Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2 perfectly well too, but you might be right, the 4870 is closer to the end of its effective lifetime.

Reading Anand's IB preview, it looks like the i3 would be better for my purposes than an i5 anyhow- I would be happier with 2 cores/4 threads clocked higher than 4/4 at lower clocks. Only the i5 and i7 k-series will be overclockable, right?

Maybe I'll do that - entry level IB board, i3 3225 and 4gb ram, live with the onboard graphics for a few weeks while I look for a deal on a used card, and retire the Q6600 to the wife. I could probably sell my watercooling too, the i3 would probably be next to silent with air cooling anyway and the Q6 won't be on all the time.

 

[mfenn]

You can build an H61 rig with a SB Pentium, 4gb RAM and a new 6770 for pretty close to $250. I'd go that route.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125396

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231396

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157241

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116397

$260 after $20 rebate card.

I like this. You can even go completely under budget with a G620. The CPU side of Llano just isn't that fast in games and general usage and the discrete will completely blow away any IGP.