$500 Gaming PC needs reviewed

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globalwar

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Jan 30, 2011
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18,510
Hello everyone and thank you for any help you can offer.


Approximate Purchase Date: this week


Budget Range: $500 - $520


System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming


Parts Not Required:
OS, PSU, keyboard, mouse, monitor

**Include Power Supply Make & Model If Re-using**
500W Antec earthwatts

Preferred Website for Parts: newegg.com


Country of Origin: US


Parts Preferences:
I would like to use an AMD CPU & ATI GPU, but I'm open for change if it makes for a better PC at the right price.


Overclocking: No


SLI or Crossfire: No


Monitor Resolution: 1440x900


Additional Comments:
The most important thing for this PC is gaming performance! I would also like for it to play some new games in the future. If the PC will run games well, everything else i do on it should be a snap.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I plan to order this from Newegg this week, I just need a second opinion to make sure everything is in order (I'm unsure if there will be bottlenecking). After alot of time and research this is what I've come up with for the price.

Case:
Antec TWO HUNDRED S Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Motherboard:
ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU:
AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor

RAM:
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory

GPU:
HIS Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

HDD:
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
 
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ScrewySqrl

ScrewySqrl

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Aug 2, 2010
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that looks pretty good. You could get a slightly more modern chipset with the AS Rock 880GM at $59.99 (same price).

Get the Mushkin DDR3 CAS9 1.5v memory for $38, use the $17 you save to get a DVD burner. the difference between CAS9 and CAS7 is almost unmeasurable, and only matters in benchmarks.

did you remember a PSU? If not, I suggest an Antec 500W model.

You might need to cut back to a HD6850 to get a PSU.
 
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G

globalwar

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Jan 30, 2011
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First off, thank you very much for your input!

I already have a Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU and a DVD burner.

If i go with the Mushkin DDR3 CAS9 1.5v memory, what would you suggest i use the $17 to upgraded?

Edit:
After looking at the ASRock 880GM, It only has 1x PCI Express 2.0 x16 and 2×240pin memory slots. Although I have no plans to crossfire right now, the option in the future is nice to have (yes i know the 2nd PCI Express 2.0 x16 only runs at x4), same with the extra 2 memory slots.
 
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G

globalwar

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Jan 30, 2011
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I have a bit of a problem with my budget and I'm not sure how to go about fixing it. Newegg has changed prices in my cart 4 times in the past 3 days, and all for the worse (so I've had to keep making changes). With the latest change they upped the price of my GPU and I'm not sure how to go about fixing it.


This is my $5 over budget Build at this point. I have $520 to spend and I plan to make my order later today (I'm really hoping no more prices increases before then).

Case:
Antec TWO HUNDRED S Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $49.99, $4.99 shipping

Motherboard:
ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard $59.99, Free shipping

CPU:
AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor 79.99, Free shipping

RAM:
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit $39.99, Free shipping

GPU:
HIS Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card $224.99, Free shipping

HDD:
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $64.99, Free shipping

For a total of $524.93 shipped, $5 over budget (I already have a Antec Earthwatts 500W PSU and a DVD burner).

So i have a few options, first i could borrow $5 (i really don't want to do that, i hate borrowing money!) or i could downgrade the build.

The main goal of this build is to run games as best i can get it too!

The downgrade options I'm thinking about....

CPU:
AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core 71.99, Free shipping
Note: i really don't want to do this as i feel the CPU is already weaker then i want it before the downgrade.

OR

GPU:
MSI R6850 Cyclone PE/OC Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 $189.99, $7.56 shipping
Note: the GPU is the last thing I want to downgrade, but I'm not sure how much of a performance drop this is, or if i will even tell a difference. The plus side to this option is it will give me extra money to tweek the build a bit more.

I'm not sure where to go with it, I guess i could always try too borrow $5.

Any input would be great and thank you for your time.
 
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WR2

WR2

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Nov 18, 2005
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Well, it seems the rebate may have gone 'missing in action'.
It shows up on the listings but is missing from the detail page. Contact NewEgg and see if you can get the rebate anyway.
ss032.jpg

It's probably worth $10 to them to have you point out an error on the website.
 
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G

globalwar

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Jan 30, 2011
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The build i have now does have $30 in mail-in rebates ($10 on the case), that will put the build under $500 in the end. The problem is i only have $520 in my account to spend.

The Thermaltake V3 Black Edition only saves me a couple dollars (I'ed still be a small bit over budget). The Antec case i have selected does have a $10 rebate, plus an extra 120mm fan and air filters on everything. Plus, NO NEON!

I'm unsure about that HDD, it seems like alot of space I'm losing over such a small amount of money. I was really set on a 1TB HDD, but I'll keep that in mind as an option.

Thank you for your input!
 
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G

globalwar

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Jan 30, 2011
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After the partition for my OS 100GB or so, i could fill the remaining space in a week. Then its back to deleting stuff i don't really want to in order to make room for new stuff. Thats why i "was" so set on the 1TB HDD.
 
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G

globalwar

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Jan 30, 2011
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Your right, No amount of space is enough for me (i like to keep what i get, and i get alot). But it would have been nice to have that extra 500GB to start with. It looks like I'm just going to add another HDD at a later date.

Thanks WR2, you've been very helpful
 
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G

globalwar

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Jan 30, 2011
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I'm not really sure where to go with this....

The Xigmatek ASGARD II VS. Antec TWO HUNDRED S

The place I'm going to be using this PC is not going to be very cool (meaning temps) in the summer (i live at the beach, no AC where it will be used), and could get a bit dusty.

The Xigmatek ASGARD II is cheaper from the start but has 1 less 120mm fan and no air filters (and what the hell where they thinking to put orange on the front? just my opinion).

The Antec TWO HUNDRED S will be the same price AFTER mail-in rebate, and i get the extra 120mm fan and air filters, BUT have to downgrade something else.

But getting the Xigmatek ASGARD II would let me keep the 1TB HDD in my build.

As for dropping down to the AMD Athlon II X3 435 and OCing it a bit, i worry about temps in the summer.

I'm honestly just thinking about trying to borrow the $5 and keep the build as i got it, I'll just have to wait and see if i can. I won't be placing my order till later today (5-7 hours from this post), so i still welcome any info you guys can add. Thanks
 
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ScrewySqrl

ScrewySqrl

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Aug 2, 2010
11,199
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53,540
an extra fan is about $5, so it still saves quite a bit

here are some other $29.99 cases with 1 120mm fan:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811226019

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147073

These two Rosewills are micro-ATX boards only (just swap out the AS Rock 770 for an ASRock 880GM, same cost)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147111

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147112

and here is a single 120mm fan:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835168006

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048
 
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Solution
Akaza

Akaza

Honorable
Dec 22, 2013
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10,540

You know you can cut back to cardboard box and get some more RAM.








lol............... JK

 
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