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Gaming on a budget

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - Gaming on a budget

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rook   07-19-2008 at 04:32:23 PM

My brother-in-law is looking for a new system. Been out of the loop for awhile and just want to double check what I've come up with. He does plan to game with it, but compared to his current P4 Compaq anything will be am improvement.

CPU: E8400 $180 or would it be better to bo with a Q6600? $200
MB: ECS P45T $110, $95 after rebate. He will not be overclocking at all.
Video: HD 3870 $130 , $100 after rebate or HD 4850 $180, $160 when combo'd with the E8400, $130 after rebate. I'm thinking if I go with the E8400 then the $30 dollars will be well worth it to go with the 4850.
Memory: G.Skill 2 GB DDR2 800 $45
PS: Seasonic 430W $80
HD: Seagate 500GB $85
DVD-RW: Liteon 20X $28
CD-ROM: Liteon 52X $14 His request to have the dual drives.
I will be using my old antec case, and his existing monitor, 20" LCD, maybe 22".
Total is around $677 +S&H for the 3870 and $707 for the 4580.
Only place I'm really seeing to save money is drop the CD-ROM and drop the HD to a 160/250/320 and just addiing another one later when needed

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jerb   07-19-2008 at 04:43:44 PM
- 0 +

Good build, but at the specified mobo price get this : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128337 or this if u insist on a p45 chipset: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128345

Gigabyte FTW:) and get the 4850, as for psu. id get a corsair/enermax or pc power and cooling in the price range.

Here is a good power supply for the build id highly recommend: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817194003

~jerb


Message edited by jerb on 07-19-2008 at 04:47:57 PM
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jpdykes   07-19-2008 at 05:07:29 PM
- 0 +

I like the above.

I paid the extra for a quad. Depends on usage - to run the latest games a dual will suffice, if you don't want to change the computer over time then a quad might suit better as more programs are multi threaded.

Have you included an OS? If you have the disk you can reuse the old one.

Jeremy

Reply to jpdykes
homerdog   07-19-2008 at 05:14:39 PM
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I'd stick with a P4x chipset. If your friend never plans to use Crossfire he could downgrade to a P43 like this.

Get the HD4850, it's definitely worth it.

The PSU looks good, SeaSonic is one of the best if not the best PSU OEM right now.

There isn't much point in moving down to a 320GB HDD, the 500GB drives are only ~$10 more. Anything less that 320GB isn't even worth considering in my opinion.

Hope that helps and good luck on the build :sol:

Oh yeah if he's looking for an OS, Vista 64 of course.

Reply to homerdog
shadowduck   07-19-2008 at 05:21:31 PM
- 0 +

ECS are pieces of trash that should not be allowed to be called motherboards.

For the same money you can pick up an MSI or Gigabyte board. jerb has great links for you.

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ate-modode <-- Computer Builds
Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."-John Wooden
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rook   07-19-2008 at 05:35:19 PM
- 0 +

I've built 2 systems with Gigabyte, first was nothing but problems and second was DOA. Not saying they don't build quality MBs, just that they are off my list.
You can't go wrong with a Seasonic PSU. As far as the recomended Enermax, I used that in my dad's PC. Not a fan of the "Eternity" conectors. Whole point of modular is to eliminate extra wires, but with those you have the extra power connecters for no reason.

Will most likely use his old XP

Reply to rook
shadowduck   07-19-2008 at 06:02:59 PM
- 0 +

Look at Asus then.

ECS is one of the worst manufactors ever.

------------------------------ http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ate-modode <-- Computer Builds
Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."-John Wooden
 Reply to shadowduck
homerdog   07-19-2008 at 08:26:37 PM
- 0 +

shadowduck wrote :

ECS are pieces of trash that should not be allowed to be called motherboards.

For the same money you can pick up an MSI or Gigabyte board. jerb has great links for you.


I can't speak for the quality of ECS boards, but the cheapest MSI and Gigabyte P43 boards are $20 more expensive on Newegg. If it were my money I'd spend the extra $20 for the Gigabyte EP43-DS3L, given that my EP35-DS3L has been nothing but awesome.

Reply to homerdog
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