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[Solved] Budget but durable gaming build

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - [Solved] Budget but durable gaming build

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Best answer from shortstuff_mt.

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Preferably within this month
BUDGET RANGE: <$700 before rebates but including shipping and tax (Can go higher if some parts are not suitable)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Surfing the net, Photoshop and other basic stuff
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Have monitor, mouse, keyboard, monitor and speaker. OS not required
WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Preferably Newegg.com
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Los Angeles, California
PARTS PREFERENCES: None
OVERCLOCKING: No
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Asus monitor with max 1920x1080

For Gaming, I'm going to go for Crysis at low quality, Fallout 3, GTA 4, Mirror's Edge, Far Cry 2, Prototype, Saints Row 2 etc.

LITE-ON 24X CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS324-08 - Retail @ @31.99

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive @ $54.99

SAPPHIRE 100279-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail @ $154.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail @ $72.99

Rosewill Green Series RG530-2 530W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS Certified,Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7, i5" Power Supply - Retail
Rosewill R5601-BK 0.8mm Japanese Cold Rolled Steel Screw-less Dual 120mm Fans ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Combo: -$50 instant and -$10 combo ~~@ $149.98~~ @$89.98

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX250OCGQBOX - Retail
Combo: -$5 instant and -$22 combo ~~@ $160.00~~ @ 133.99

Subtotal: $538.93
Tax: $52.55
Shipping: $10.76
Grand Total: $602.24

Please advise on the parts. This is my first build and I want to get it right. This is my preliminary list of parts and I am hoping that you can improve or disprove some of these.

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I would ditch the Rosewill PSU. Rosewill PSU's are generally crap. The Green line looks like a step in the right direction, but I would still avoid them. The Antec 300 Illusion has free shipping right now.

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $59.95

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7 - Retail $59.99 - $20 MIR

I would step up the CPU a bit since you have a little wiggle room in the budget.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.271972 $197.99 (Phenom II X3 720 + Gigabyte GA-MA785G-UD3H combo)

Those changes would put you at the upper end of your budget, but it would be worth it IMO.

AMD chips take advantage of the extra bandwidth of DDR2 1066 RAM. It would probably be worth $7 to get some DDR2 1066 CAS 5 RAM.

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail $79.99

Best answer

Reply to shortstuff_mt

If you want the graphics card to last longer, consider getting the 5770 (around same price and speed as a 4870) so you have DX11 compatibility when it becomes significant in a year or two.

Rosewill seems to have a bad rep from putting out some really bad power supplies.

Reply to dndhatcher

I woud say avoid AMD at all costs, but since you like AMD, then I would have to say pick the Athlon X4 620 or 630 instead.

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to masterasia

masterasia wrote :

I woud say avoid AMD at all costs, but since you like AMD, then I would have to say pick the Athlon X4 620 or 630 instead.

Nothing you said fits within a $600 budget.

Reply to dndhatcher

masterasia wrote :

I woud say avoid AMD at all costs, but since you like AMD, then I would have to say pick the Athlon X4 620 or 630 instead.

I see we have a new Intel fanboy among us. The X3 720 outperforms the Athlon X4 chips in most applications, especially gaming.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipse [...] i=3638&p=8

Reply to shortstuff_mt

I'm not an Intel fanboy. I just like to piss off people who think AMD is the Shiznit. I have 3 computers at home that are AMD based and they work fine for what their purpose is.

Reply to masterasia

I don't have a preference between Intel and AMD. I just pick what gives the best performance for the price. The mid-upper range completely belongs to Intel, but there are lower-end builds where AMD makes sense.

Reply to shortstuff_mt

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[Solved] Budget but durable gaming build

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - [Solved] Budget but durable gaming build