Budget Gaming pc

[Roninnico]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next couple of months

BUDGET RANGE: 60,000-80,000 yen (~$650-$850)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (not big FPS like crysis or anything, but Mass Effect 2, Half life ep 3, various mmo etc), movies, internet etc.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor, speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: TwoTop (Japanese) prices seem reasonable and have dealt with them in the past, but open to suggestions

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan

PARTS PREFERENCES: This is my current idea:

CPU: AMD Phenom PhenomⅡ X2 550 BlackEdition OR

AMD Phenom PhenomⅡ X4 955 BlackEdition

GPU: GIGABYTE ATI Radeon HD 4770 1gb OR

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5770 1GB OR

玄人志向 ATI Radeon HD4870

MOBO: ASUSTeK M4A785TD-M EVO

HDD: SAMSUNG HD103SI

RAM: Corsair DDR3 2GBｘ2 1333MHｚ CL9-9-9-24

PSU: No idea really, i'm not good with the voltages and what have you but maybe: Scythe CORE POWER3 500W

DVDDRIVE: LG GH22NP20BL-B/K

Case: Again note sure but maybe: GIGABYTE GZ-M1

OS: i'm thinking of getting the oem version of Windows 7 HP, but twotop only seems to sell it with something? are they just ripping people off? Windows7 Home Premiun 64bit + USB2 Hub For example.

Keyboard and mouse currently no idea.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: sorry its all a bit vague, trying to find a balance between power and price is proving difficult, this current build ranges between about 75,000-90,000 yen which I can stretch to maybe, but if I can play current games well with a cheaper system, with the option of cheap upgrades at a later date that might be the best option.

Anyway hope the links are ok. Thanks very much in advance for any advice.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I have no idea on the actual products you linked too, but here's some things to look for.

CPU: Both are very good. If the PC is just being used for gaming, I would consider sticking with the X2 for the cheaper price. You might also want to check out some triple core X3s.

GPU: I highly recommend the 5770. It's much more future proof with DirectX 11. Also, if you ever add a second card in Crossfire, it will be much better than the older cards in the same price range.

Mobo: That's a good one. Might also want to check out the Asus M4A79XTD EVO. It might be a little more expensive, so either one would be good.

HDD: You really should get the Samsung Spinpoint F3 (HD103SJ I blieve). It's the best drive out there right now. It comes in 500 GB or 1 TB.

RAM: Get some CL 7-7-7-x sticks. They'll be faster. Check other brands besides Corsair (OCZ and G.Skill are also great), they'll probably be cheaper.

PSU: Stick to the major brands. Corsair, OCZ, Antec, SeaSonic, PC Power & Cooling and FSP are all very quality brands. If you're only going with one GPU, you should probably get a 550W at least. If you want the ability to add a second card, a 750W (at least) would be needed.

Case: That's really tiny and one has 1 fan. I highly recommend you look at the Antec 300, Antec 300 Illusion or Coolermaster's low priced lines.

OS: The OEM version has typically only been sold with a piece of hardware in the past. It was a way that they could claim that only builders were buying it. Here in the US, that's no longer the case. See if they sell it with any of the parts you're considering. If not, look around for a copy that's by itself. If you still can't find one, buy it with the cheapest item you think you might use (cables, HDD, whatever(.

 

[Roninnico]

Thanks for the advice, that helps a lot, especially with the case, psu and memory.

Just a couple of questions, with RAM I understand that faster MHz is better, but what do the numbers after CL mean? lower is better? I can only seem to find ones that are CL 8-8-8-x are they ok?

Also about the case, the mobo I have is microATX right? whereas for example the antec case you suggest is ATX, but they should fit together ok? and I suppose the space will provide better cooling etc? or would it be better to select a ATX mobo?

Sorry for all the questions, very much appreciate the help.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Actually, speed doesn't really matter too much for RAM. The most important thing is the CAS Latency. Check out some of the stickied threads at the top of the forum for more info on what the numbers actually mean.

CL 7 would be perfect, but CL 8 is good. You should also get some 1600 mhz sticks, as overclocking requires you to adjust the speed of the RAM.

ATX cases will fit both ATX and microATX boards. ATX will have better cooling, and are typically easier to build in. I typically do recommend ATX boards, mainly because the bigger size gives a lot more options for upgrading. If you want the option of adding a second card in Crossfire later on, it might be hard to find a microATX board with 2 PCIe 16x slots.

 

[Roninnico]

Best answer selected by roninnico.