Did I make a mistake?

jonadam23 · Oct 24, 2013

I had a really strict budget of $350 for my first build and I was hoping that I would be able to do some decent gaming with it (BF3 720p @ Medium Settings preferably). I wound up going with...

CPU- AMD Athlon x2 370k (4.0 GHz)
GPU- Radeon HD 7770 (Powercolor GHz Edition)
MOBO- MSI FM2-A75MA-P33
RAM- 4 GB DDR3 1600 x1 (Crucial Ballistix Tactical)
HDD- 1 TB HDD (WD Caviar Green)
PSU- 500w PUS (Lepa N Series N-500SA)
Case- NZXT Source 210 case

I know getting 2x 2GB RAM sticks would preform better than a 1x 4GB but I will likely upgrade with another stick in a few months. The case and the GPU are refurbished from Newegg so that saved me a combined $35-40. My major concern I guess is if the CPU is decent enough to not completely bottleneck the GPU. I got the CPU for $44.99 which is about half the cost of the Athlon x4's. Do you think it would be wise for me to upgrade to a x4 in the future or would the x2 be enough for medium gaming?

All in all I spent (Including buying Windows 8.1, a DVD drive, and Keyboard/Mouse) about $450.

rolli59 · Oct 24, 2013

It will do fine with that GPU.

Azn Cracker · Oct 24, 2013

yea i think it is worth it to get the athlon x4. the one you currently have is pretty weak.

$35 more
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113328&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Processors+-+Desktops-_-AMD-_-19113328

BF3 effectively takes advantage of all 4 threads so you will see a jump in performance.

But since you already bought the anthlon 2x it would be a hassle to switch it.

sammyssb · Oct 24, 2013

it should be fine but the 750k is only $25 more. If you can't spring for that than you can't but it isn't a whole lot more. Just skip your water bill for a month

Azn Cracker · Oct 24, 2013

If money is really that tight, you shouldnt be building a computer.

also the 7770 can run BF3 on high easily if you play on 720p

Outlander_04 · Oct 24, 2013

Have you bought this already?

jonadam23 · Oct 24, 2013

Seeing as this is going to be my first build I didn't want to spend a lot of money in case I messed something up so that is why I restricted the budget so much. I already have a decent ultrabook (Acer Aspire S7) So I was just looking to build a computer for the fun of it but also have it be somewhat practical. To answer the last question I did buy everything already but I just started this thread to see if the machine as it is will work well but also to see if it is worth it to upgrade to an x4 down the road.

rolli59 · Oct 24, 2013

Yes it will be worth while upgrade down the road to go X4. As a start it is fine as is.

clutchc · Oct 24, 2013

At 720p you should be able to play with med/high settings. The 2gb system memory might hold you back a bit. Most games are still written in 32 bit code and thus limited to 4GB of address space. (I'm not sure if BF4 for the PC is still written in 32 bit code or not.)

Azn Cracker · Oct 24, 2013

clutchc :

he has 4gb of memory.

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Also OP, if you are planning on playing on multiplayer then i highly recommend getting a better cpu because it is cpu heavy.

clutchc · Oct 24, 2013

Azn Cracker :

clutchc :

he has 4gb of memory.
I know. Typo.

----

Also OP, if you are planning on playing on multiplayer then i highly recommend getting a better cpu because it is cpu heavy.

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