$550< Budget PC For LoTRO And Web Surfing

This topic has been moved from the section Opinions and Experiences to section Systems by Buwish

hey. Welcome to tom's forums. We have a sorta 'standardized' new build questionnaire to help you find parts.

How to Ask For New Build Advice


We can recommend parts for you, but most of us are in the USA, bit we'll try some Aussie websites if you give them to us.

Hmm lets see
http://www.lotro.com/getting-started/211-system-require...


So something like

Rana 440
cheap 770/785G
2-4GB DDR3
500w 80+ psu
HD 4850/GTS 250

Thanks ScrewySqrl, i have updated it so it looks like that template  
And thanks batuchka, but as i said in the post, i don't know to much about computers so the only thing i really understood in there was the RAM part and the PSU part lol, sorry for my lack of knowledge D:

Ohh and another thing lol, i'd rather build the pc but if there is a decent pre-built system i`ll be happy with it  

ok, Batuchka is saying:

CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 440, which is a 3-core processor running at 3.0 GHz and runs US$72-75. You could also go up a step to the 445, at 3.1 GHz, which runs $80-85

a cheap AMD 770 chipset or 785G Chipset motherboard, but make sure its DDR3, not DDR2. DDR 3 models run $60-80 for the 770, and $70-90 for the 785G

4 GB of DDR3 ram in the form of 2x2GB Dual Channel can be had for about $80

a HD4850 video card with 512MB of DDR5 memory runs $85-95
a GTS 250 with 512MB of DDR5 is around $90


A 380 to 500W power supply should be all you need. Reliable brands include Cooler Master, Silverstone, Sea Sonic, OCZ, Thermaltake, Antec. If you can get one from them that is 80+ Bronze certified, you'll be fine. Cost runs from $40 (at 380W) to $70 (500)

Ohh haha, well i was looking on TigerDirect, and with the info Batuchka and yourself gave me i found this. Any good? Can i go Cheaper? (If i can that would be great!) Any more parts i need? I'm also not sure if all the parts are compatible with each other lol, as i said, sorry for my lack of knowledge i don't know to much about computers. I'd really like to shave off as much as possible off the price, whilst still having a decent pc for LoTRO and surfing the web.

AMD Athlon II X3 440 Triple Core Processor ADX440WFGIBOX - 3.00GHz, Socket AM3, 1.5MB Cache, Retail w/ Fan
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

ECS A785GM-AD3(1.0) Motherboard - AMD 785G, Socket AM3, USB, PCIe, LAN, DDR3, DVI, HDMI
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

Patriot PGV34G1333ELK Sector 5 4GB PC10666 RAM - DDR3, 1333MHz, 2x2048MB, 9-9-9-27
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

EVGA 512-P3-1153-TR GeForce GTS 250 Video Card - 512MB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0, (2) Dual Link DVI, SLI Ready
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

XION XON-160P ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - MicroATX, 500W PSU, Blue LED, USB, 5x 120mm Fan Ports
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

Samsung TS-H663B Internal DVD Writer - DVD+R 22X, DVD+RW 8X, DVD-RW 6X, DVD-RAM 12X, CD-R 48X, OEM
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

Seagate ST3250318AS Barracuda 7200.12 Hard Drive - 250GB, 7200, 8MB, SATA-300
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT Operating System Software - OEM DVD, English
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

Subtotal: $$558.30
Total (inc S&H) $572.44

that look alright except for one glaring issue. The case with included power supply. Xion is not reliable power supply company.

This cooler master case includes a 420W cooler master supply
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

t is more expensive by $15, but very much worth it.

add 2 more 120mm fans (front and side)

Okay sweet! I'll probably purchase this by the end of the week. Are there any ways I can go cheaper though, i'm a little bit over budget.

can't get cheaper with Tiger Direct.

newegg combos would probly knock 40-60 off. Try hunting diwn Aussie sites and see wher stuff is cheaper

Kay   Thanks for the help !

Lol im back! I was using an Aussie site and i made this, it has integrated video though, what do you think? Cheaper than the other build and if the integrated video does fail i can always get a graphics card i guess.

CoolerMaster Elite 341 with 420W
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_i...

AMD Athlon II X4 635
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_i...

ASUS M4N68T-M Motherboard
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_i...

Western Digital Green 500GB WD5000AADS
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_i...

Mushkin 996768 Silverline PC3-10666 (2x2GB) DDR3
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_i...

Samsung SH-S223C SATA DVDRW Drive
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_i...

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_i...

Total(USD) $489.77

I have worked with many an MATX build and simply love the CM 341 but that bundled 420W PSU i would ditch hehe IGP is a nice failsafe/back up plan if your discrete goes AWOL but u still need a discrete outside 1024 x 768 gaming

Okay   Other than that is it okay?   Or a waste of money ):

Integrated Graphics are a very bad idea for gaming. If you really need to save money you could drop to 2gb RAM and buy another 2gb later on

With 2gb of ram i can only have Win7, will it make any major difference ?

oops, ment Win7 32-bit lol

Nah, you can do 64 bit. I built my new system and was stuck with only 2gb for over a month due to RMAing one of the 2gb modules which took awhile. It is not ideal but runs well enough while you get another $50 together for another 2gb

a note: your motherboard is only HT 2000 instead of HT 5200. I'd try to gt an HT 5200 (or 2600MHz) board.

I've hunted around for about an hour, and no sign of an AU site with lower prices  

what you might consider is stepping down to an Athlon II X2 instead of X4, which is $69 instead of $129 AU$, then stretching your budget out to get a Geforce 240GT for $99, it ups your cost by AU$30, but its much, MUCH better than onboard graphics. You could try a 220GT but its a really weak card.

Still a 2000 HT, but there is a $55 ASRock board you might consider, which is $10 cheaper:
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_i...

Sorry lol but whats the difference between them ? Is there a major performance change in the HT 5200 ?

I've gone with everything else you've said though and the price is looking pretty good, thanks heaps !

Even if a cheap motherboard is advertised as"AM3"capable essentially the following

GF6XXX
GF7XXX
690G
740G

are actually AM2 mobos/tech with HT Limitation when used with an AM3 socket CPU. Also these are still on PCIe gen 1.0/1.1 lanes with all true AM2+/AM3 mobos on PCIe gen 2.0 as of 2008

Ohh okay, thank you everyone! Really helped me!

Yep you are welcomed ^^

Jeremy,
How did it work out for you?

I guess I don't know if I should hijack your post or start a new one. At the least, I thought I would tell you what I have been using successfully for years in case you still what to know more (haven't bought yet). I have two rigs that only play LOTRO and browse. They are almost identical. My question to the forum will be whether to upgrade or build new to give me ALL of LOTRO's eye candy. It will be my first post, as well.
(Coming here and searching forums for LOTRO, I found you).

Here is what has been giving me very high graphic settings up to 1920 x (I forget) 720p HDMI 22" resolution. Though they differ, both rigs perform VERY similarly. I should say the described graphics settings (with that monitor) are the UPPER limit! In 21st hall or Bree there is heavy load lag and in heavy battle there is lag (I don't know how to monitor frames per second). Also, I can't get detail very far out in front of me, but it does work and is pleasant to play. Well, here is what I have now (both built 2005/06 with a card upgrade since):

RIG 1:
K8 Triton series, Model GA-K8N Pro-SLI, Logic board:
nVIDIA nFORCE4 SLI / 2 PCI-E*16 Socket 939 / ATX / 2 PCI-E*14 DDR Dual-CH / 8-CH Audio GbE / 4SATA II / 1394b / 10 USB 2.0
AMD Dual Core 4400+ / 2.2 Ghz - Socket 939 Processor (I think the model is Athlon 64 x2 64 FX, the box is a lil' confusing).
G-Power Cooler BL Super Silent (GH-PDU21-SC)
Enermax Liberty PSU 650W; DUAL 12V RAIL with 12 cm silent fan (ELT620AWT)
2G RAM (Not sure what kind of ram)
Western Digital Raptor x2 in a mirror RAID (WD74gb)
NEC DVD_RW (ND-3550A)
EVGA nVIDIA GF7800GTX x2 SLI (256-P2-N527-AX) <---- When we moved the 7800 cards together, the resolution available went up, but the play experience didn't change otherwise. By that I mean, had we left the resolution down where it was, we probably would have found faster town loads and further horizon draw. We went for resolution and found greater detail with a little more pep. Make sense?
abs Computer Technologies STEALTH all aluminum Tower
GIGABYTE CPU fan 21" (GH-PDU21-SC)
Windows XP Home Edition (this is forcing us to play DX9).

RIG 2:
K8 Triton series, Model GA-K8N Pro-SLI, Logic board:
nVIDIA nFORCE4 SLI / 2 PCI-E*16 Socket 939 / ATX / 2 PCI-E*14 DDR Dual-CH / 8-CH Audio GbE / 4SATA II / 1394b / 10 USB 2.0
AMD Dual Core 4400+ / 2.2 Ghz - Socket 939 Processor (I think the model is Athlon 64 x2 64 FX, the box is a lil' confusing).
G-Power Cooler BL Super Silent (GH-PDU21-SC)
Enermax Liberty PSU 650W; DUAL 12V RAIL with 12 cm silent fan (ELT620AWT)
3G RAM (Not sure what kind of ram) <---- More ram than rig 1
Western Digital 7200 rpm drive <---- No RAID here
NEC DVD_RW (ND-3550A)
ATI Radeon 48XX 1G Video Card <---- An upgraded card. Better, but only in that it got us to here.
Creative Technology, Ltd. Creative Audigy2 ZS 24-bit 192khz/108db SNR Sound Processor is also in the rig with the 48xx card. <--- an extra
abs Computer Technologies STEALTH all aluminum Tower
GIGABYTE CPU fan 21" (GH-PDU21-SC)
Windows XP Home Edition (this is forcing us to play DX9).

Well, that is what has been working LOTRO at about 3/4 horse power for years. I want Ultra high across the in every way and at maximum distances.

We do not run anti aliasing and I guess I could run without that, though i wonder even about that.

We want:
-MINIMUM 60 FPS everywhere (even RAIDS).
-FAST load times (we can go to the bathroom while initial load takes place, currently.
-MAX graphic settings at 1080P (22-24").

We are on 14G Broadband.
We wonder about Windows 7 (and the implications of DX11 on these rigs or other).

We understand that LOTRO is a single core app (not sure if they have plans to dual core).
We hear LOTRO doesn't take advantage of SLI (not sure if that is not much or not at all - it seemed to give us res advantages...).
We think LOTRO uses DX11.

Anyone have a little love for me out there? Can these rigs work harder
(what else can I tell you)?

Tura