WHAT SHOULD I BUY?!?! PLEASE HALP ME!

[Mr 420]

Hey guys first post on here.. basically i have 800 (AUD) (750 USD) or so dollars to spend on upgrading my computer...

i really want to be able to run Battlefeild Bad Company 2 flawlessly, however i understand with my budget it might not be possible. First of all i have to upgrade to a quad core (from duel), because aparently you have to have that...

after researching my motherboard it appears as though mine doesnt support quads which is rather disappointing, so i guess this mean im going to have to upgrade that too.

to make things easier ill just put what ive got here:

CPU Type DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo E6400, 2133 MHz (8 x 267)

Motherboard ID 04/20/2007-LakePort-Leonite-00

ATI Radeon HD 4850 (RV770)

22" moniter

1TB hard drive + 300 gig

2 sticks of:
DIMM1: Qimonda 64T64000HU3SB 512 MB DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz) (3-3-3-9 @ 200 MHz)

and 2 sticks of:
DIMM3: Aeneon AET760UD00-30DB97X 1 GB DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz) (3-3-3-9 @ 200 MHz)

(3 gig DDR2 RAM)
and windows 7 home premium.



So orignally i wanted to upgrade my video card, but i read somewhere that with my current set up it wouldnt be worth moving from say a 4850 to a 5850, as i wouldnt actually get anything with the duel core or whatever. now considering that bad company 2 reccommended requirments is a quad core, i guess i dont mind upgrading to that either... but then ofcourse i have to upgrade my motherboard too.. (sigh)

so can anyone give me a good set up that would be in my price range???? thanks heaps for your help in advance

 

[mfarrukh]

750USD is perfect.
You won't need more.
Here you go.
Core i5 750 --------$200

Radeon 5770 HD-------$160

4 GB RAM A-DATA Gaming Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 ---------$91

Motherboard Gigabyte P55-UD4P ----- $185

If you have a PSU of, say, 500W, you are good to go.

(((Motherboard and CPU combo saving $49
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ [...] ngeItem)))

 

[hallowed_dragon]

CPU + GPU Combo: Phenom II x4 955 3.2ghz + XFX 5850

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.314273

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227448R

MOBO: ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402

PSU: Corsair 550W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

Total: $776.95.

Keep the rest.

 

[jyjjy]

I'd go for a AMD based system as they offer more value for the money right now and it's necessary to fit an HD5850 in that budget. This is based on US prices. I'm sure the prices over there are higher so I left a good chunk money to account for it;

Phenom II x4 955 3.2ghz - $160
A good motherboard for it should be $100 give or take a bit(gigabyte and asus make some nice reasonably priced AM3 boards)
4gb DDR3 1600 - $90
HD5850 - $300

Total - $650 with $100 to spare to account for price differences. Hopefully that's enough. The HD5850 actually uses slightly less power than your HD4850 so your current PSU should be fine. This should kick BF:BC2s ass and even make Crysis reasonable at max settings even with some AA(assuming your resolution is 1680x1050, probably wanna skip the AA if it is 1920x1080.)

 

[hallowed_dragon]

I'd go for a AMD based system as they offer more value for the money right now and it's necessary to fit an HD5850 in that budget. This is based on US prices. I'm sure the prices over there are higher so I left a good chunk money to account for it;

Phenom II x4 955 3.2ghz - $160
A good motherboard for it should be $100 give or take a bit(gigabyte and asus make some nice reasonably priced AM3 boards)
4gb DDR3 1600 - $90
HD5850 - $300

Total - $650 with $100 to spare to account for price differences. Hopefully that's enough. The HD5850 actually uses slightly less power than your HD4850 so your current PSU should be fine.

That is exactly what I suggested, only I added a new PSU to the combination.

 

[jyjjy]

True, but newegg links don't really help someone in australia nor does ignoring the currency exchange/pricing differences associated. Apart from the more expensive than necessary HD5850 and the unnecessary PSU they were good suggestions.

 

[hallowed_dragon]

True, but newegg links don't really help someone in australia nor does ignoring the currency exchange/pricing differences associated. Apart from the more expensive than necessary HD5850 and the unnecessary PSU they were good suggestions.

As I haven't seen any PSU in the OPs post I recommended a good one to go with the card. The 5850 is for future proofing and sorry I have ignored the currency exchange, but since I don't know any Aussie online store then I chose the lazy-mans site: newegg. I am sure that he will get close to the prices in Australia.

 

[jyjjy]

I really doubt he'll get close to the same prices in Australia actually. If his current PSU can handle an HD4850 it should be fine for the new card. I agree on the HD5850 just not one that's more expensive than necessary because of a factory OC.

 

[hallowed_dragon]

I really doubt he'll get close to the same prices in Australia actually. If his current PSU can handle an HD4850 it should be fine for the new card. I agree on the HD5850 just not one that's more expensive than necessary because of a factory OC.

Yes, you are right about the OCed card. He can buy a reference model and OC himself. And regarding the PSU, I still think that the Corsair model is very good, and since the OP didn't mention the PSU, I can't see if I am right or not. Believe me that I've seen the 4850 being run on generic 500W PSU so nothing will surprise me.

 

[jyjjy]

Well yeah, the Corsair PSU is very nice. I just doubt it will fit in his budget. The HD5850 really does use less power than his current card so whatever PSU he has in that thing will probably be ok.