Tom's Hardware: Topic Will this make for a good gaming PC?
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Hey, Im new to these forums, and this is my first post ( so please excuse any mistakes 
). I don't know much about what I would need to buy to create a good gaming PC, and I was wondering if these specs would make a good one. Feel free to leave tips on how this could be altered (without a ton of cost) to improve performance, and I'd like to thank you in advance 
Mainboard :Acer EM61SM/EM61PM
Chipset :nVidia 6100V
Processor :AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ 2.80GHz / 1MB Cache / 1000MHz (2000 MT/s) FSB / Dual Core (Windsor) / Processor with Fan
Physical Memory :4048 MB (4 x 1024 DDR2-SDRAM ) Will only max out at 3.5GB (32 - bit Vista)
Video Card :Visiontek Radeon HD 4850 Video Card - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, HDMI Support, VGA Support
Hard Disk:Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM
DVD-Rom Drive :HL-DT-ST DVD-RW_GSA-H41N ATA Device
Monitor Type :AOC International AOC Spectrum - 18 inches
Network Card :Marvell Semiconductor (Was: Galileo Technology Ltd) 802.11b/g Wireless Controller
Network Card :Marvell Semiconductor (Was: Galileo Technology Ltd) Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit
Ethernet Controller
Operating System : Windows Vista (TM) Home Premium Home Edition 6.00.6000
DirectX : Version 10.00
Please leave your opinion
Alright, I'll look into that, thanks for your help 
Anything else?
| Jamessm5 wrote : Alright, I'll look into that, thanks for your help |
Not sure about that MB. Acer? Nvidia chipset... Doesn't sound good!! Stick to AMD chipsets and go for DFI, Gigabyte, or ASUS mainboard. Gigabyte do some good boards near the budget end...
Also personally I would get an Opteron 1210 and overclock it for the AMD route. It 1.8Ghz stock and 2Mb cache. It will easily clock up to 2.8 Ghz on air. Just get decent Ballistix ram sticks and a better mainboard. The sucker (CPU) is only about $40.00 USD just now!! Other AMD processors are overpriced since the C2D will walk over them. The extra 1Mb cache (in the Opteron) will help big-time for gaming use. The faster FSB from overclocking will also help speed up the system a little. 
You should really be getting the gigabit network card and Wireless controller builtin into the MB these days... Saves the hassle - keep those expansion slots free for TV cards, etc.!!
I think you've forgotten a PSU or you don't think it is important... Either of these options is a bad mistake!! 
Bob
| Jamessm5 wrote : I've gotten a PSU already, sorry forgot to mention it, its 650W, also is this the sort of motherboard you guys are talking about?
|
Too many DOAs with that board on the New Egg reviews.
Hows about saving up for this DFI board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813136044
$120.00 USD
- You pay more for a Crossfire board (which you probably don't need) but the build quality will be way higher and it will OC much better. I would never trust a cheap MB again. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. It was a build for someone else and he had endless problems with crashes and the MB would never pass RAM checks, etc., etc. 
With an Opteron 1210 (inc. heatsink):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819105219
$54.00 USD
- Don't spend more than this on an AMD processor. If you do than you might as well have purchased a decent C2D!!
With 4Gb of this RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820161063
$90.00 USD (4Gb)
you'll be flying to a big OC on a budget!!
That MB will work without a discrete graphics card if you want to stagger your purchases...
What make is your PSU BTW??? You need to watch out for budget crap there... You need quality not quantity for a stable system. Here is a link for Power Supply tiering based on component and build quality:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=108088
If your PSU is not in Tiers 1-3 you will probably be in for problems at some point... SOON!! 
Just a thought!!
Bob
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