Is you're budget inclusive or exclusive of taxes and shipping cost? Search around the forum a bit, I think Why_me recently posted a couple of i5 configurations that'd be around $800 before tax and SH. It might be a bit cheaper (~$15 or $20 depending on vendor & rebates) if you decide to use MBs that doesn't support crossfire, like MSI P55-CD-53.
For regular gaming, a 4870 would be sufficient for most games.
I would get Vista only because it's the cheapest way to get windows 7 right now. For a $600 budget, I would lean more towards an AMD build, $800 would be a core i5 build.
I don't need to run Crysis on high. Just a relatively cheap gaming rig with a good enough graphics card that can handle 1920x1200. Considering I'm using a 5 year old AGP Pentium 4 anything I get will be a major step up. Right now I just play older TBS/RTS/CPRGs
Games I intend to play: Fallout 3, Dragon Age, Stalker, Divinity 2, the Witcher. And Blu-ray.
Message edited by Claudius on 09-14-2009 at 06:47:30 PM
Is you're budget inclusive or exclusive of taxes and shipping cost? Search around the forum a bit, I think Why_me recently posted a couple of i5 configurations that'd be around $800 before tax and SH. It might be a bit cheaper (~$15 or $20 depending on vendor & rebates) if you decide to use MBs that doesn't support crossfire, like MSI P55-CD-53.
Well go ahead and post those configurations. I'd like to keep the budget around a 800 cap, maybe slightly above. But if there is a cheaper configuration like 600-700 I'd prefer that if it would allow me to do some specific upgrades a year or so down the line. No idea where the technology is headed right now.
I get free shipping through Amazon.com. Not sure if should use them over a place like Newegg though.
Message edited by Claudius on 09-14-2009 at 06:53:39 PM
The build above looks solid and within your budget.
Or alternatively, you can swap the CPU and mobo for a Phenom II X3 + Gigabyte GA-MA770T combo, which would bring the total cost to under $600. It's not as powerful as the I5, but it should make for a decent gaming rig nonetheless.
Message edited by build on 09-14-2009 at 07:36:23 PM