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Atom for gaming?

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Looking to build my own system again, this will be my fourth in about 8 years. Every few years I build a new one and give my old one to my wife since she just browses the web and email. So I don't do any killer GPU games, mainly real time strategy WWII stuff and while I like good graphics, I don't need high end stuff.

I see that CPU's Buyer's Guide recommends the Intel E5200 for what I want, but I see nothing on the Atom. I want to stick with Intel this time. Can you guys help me out?

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Wont be playing much of anything on the Atom.

Best game I've had running on one was Unreal which is about 10 years old

Reply to plasmastorm

lol are we talking about those cpus that are on netbooks?? damnn even web browsing is slow on atom

Reply to demonnn

i know u said u want to stick with intel but, i would recommend an Athlon x4, or x3 here, it is a great deal and way better than the e5200

what is your budget?

Reply to Upendra09

I wouldn't even say its the CPU (okay that plays a big role) that is hindering performance. As to not hurt Celeron and Pentium sales, Atoms have worthless motherboards that take 1 DIMM and can support 1 PCI slot. Not ideal for gaming there.

Reply to uncfan_2563

Thanks, I'm going to nix the Atom and probably go with the Athlon 64 X2 5200+. My budget is about $300 for the cpu, ram, mobo, case and hdd. LOL, I know, I know, I am way cheap!

Reply to MiketheWW2guy

i guess ur CPU is fine if u want med settings

RAM go for DDR2 800 RAM the cheapest u can find

mobo get any Am2/AM2+ mobo that is cheap and for the HDD there is a seagate or WD for like 35-30 USD on Newegg

case anything with more than one 80mm fan is good, even a single 120mm would be good eough for u

what is ur PSU?

Reply to Upendra09

Who here remembers when the Atom based PCs first came out and all the tech sites were benchmarking them on games? They'd have all the graphic settings turned down and running at 800 X 600. Left 4 Dead on a netbook? You betcha! As long as you don't mind 800 X 600 at 15 fps.

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Reply to rodney_ws

oh yeah i get liek probably 10 FPS on my 1.2 ghz tualatin celeron

Reply to Upendra09

rodney_ws wrote :

Left 4 Dead on a netbook? You betcha! As long as you don't mind 800 X 600 at 15 fps.

However, that's largely due to the crappy IGP. If you bought an Atom motherboard with PCI-Express and put a high-end GPU in there you could get 1920x1080 with max settings at 15fps...

Of course that would be completely insane.

Reply to MarkG

I doubt it would even be that high some of the newer games are really cpu bound.. like gta 4

modern warfare 2 at 3fps FTL

for a budget system I'd definitely go with a athlon x4, 4gb of ddr2 800, if you could squeeze a few extra bucks a 5750 or 5770 radeon.
hdd a random 500gb

if you want budget intel you will get alot less for the same money.

a socket 775mobo with a wolfsdale dual core

Message edited by rand_79 on 11-03-2009 at 05:09:23 AM

Reply to rand_79

Your thread title gave me a good laugh. Thanks.

------------------------------ Intel Q9550 @ 3.7Ghz 1.25v / Abit Quad GT IX38 CrossFire / 4890 1GB + 4870 1GB Crossfire /
2x2GB Gskill DDR2-1066 / WD Black 640GB / Corsair 750TX
Reply to Raidur

Just passin through.. I bet if you tried to play games on an atom board you would blow out all the capacitors in no time..
The insane mini gamer with a fireworks show at the end when it blows up.. your best putting osx on an atom board..

Hey if you wanna play some older games, like Commandos 2 and Quake 3 , then the Atom would be just fine. If you want to build a cheap gaming system then I would say AMD would be the way to go. Of course in my opinion AMDs problem is that it has too many choices below $100. If you want to stick with Intel then I'd say go with an E6300 and a G41 board. If you want to overclock then invest a little more into a good P45 board.

Stay away from the Intel chipsets and you should be fine. nVidia ION is a nice platform and with PCI-express x16 some 'real' games should be possible.

------------------------------ ...man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.
Reply to sub mesa

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case: $60
(free shipping with Promo Code EMCMMLP22 valid till 11/09/2009)

There is also a free shipping promo code (EMCMMLP24) and rebate on this Raidmax case which would save you $30 over the Antec 300.

WD 320Gb 'Blue' hard drive: $45
(Promo Code EMCMMLP28 valid till 11/09/2009)

If you have a video card and will lower your standards ( ) to AMD I'd snag the Gigabye GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 for $65 after rebate.

That would leave you $130 - $160 for your CPU/RAMs (which should work from the Athlon II x2 240 to the Athlon II x3 435) --- assuming you can find some 2x2Gb DDR3 in the $70-$80 range (which is about right these days).

Reply to wisecracker

Thanks Wisecracker and others for your information. Glad some of you got a laugh out of the post. Wisecracker, thanks for pricing and linking it all out for me!

Reply to MiketheWW2guy

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