500-800$ Game Rig

codhod

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Mar 1, 2011
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After reading pages of posts and confusing myself I decided to make my own post. Please let me know what you think.


Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP

Budget Range: (e.g.: 600-800) 500-800$

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Games, 95% WoW, Web Browsing.

Parts Not Required: Just need the box

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg works great or any other recommendations

Country of Origin: US

Parts Preferences: Potentially AMD (price) open to suggestions, Liking what i read on the Phenom II x4 955 BE

Overclocking: Maybe, probably not a need though

SLI or Crossfire: Wow doesn’t support it so I don’t think so

Monitor Resolution: My whole goal is to play on a 22-32" LCD TV (I have access to pretty much any TV I want) so 1920x1080 would be ideal (any input on this would be greatly appreciated)

Additional Comments: Trying to keep the price to the 500-600$ mark unless it’s a must to go higher, please let me know what you think.

Also if you would have any recommendations on slightly outdated parts I’m not opposed to having them if I can get a good gaming experience for less
 

jey1234

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Dec 18, 2010
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At that price range, AMD is probably your best bet. Choose a gpu like gtx 460. Throw in a 500W PSU and a ~$70 HDD. Buy a decent mobo and 4GB ram at a good price. Good Luck!
 

codhod

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Mar 1, 2011
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No I dont live near a micro center, I currently play on a Dell e6500 Laptop, I am just trying to get a better playing expirence the e6500 is a decent machine just seems to lack in the GPU area.

any other suggestion
 

eloric

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Mar 13, 2010
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Here is a Newegg build for an AMD light gaming machine:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 840 for $110

Motherboard: BIOSTAR A770E3 AM3 AMD for $55

Video card: PowerColor AX5770 1GBD5-H Radeon HD 5770 1GB for $100 After Rebate

RAM: Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 4GB for $35

Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower for $55

PSU: COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus 500W for $35 AR

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB for $50

DVD: LITE-ON Black 24X DVD for $23 after promo code

Total: $463 after rebates, promo codes and including shipping. Substituting Micro Center parts would result in a slightly better build for about $40 less.

Did you need the OS with that? Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM for $100
 
955 + 6870 350$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.593507

Asrock Extreme3 870 (90$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198&cm_re=asrock_Extreme3_870-_-13-157-198-_-Product

Antec Earthwatt 650w 80+ Bronze (75$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044&cm_re=earthwatt_650-_-17-371-044-_-Product

Patriot G Series DDR3 1333 4GB (2x2GB) 44$ (34$ AR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220435&cm_re=patriot_4gb-_-20-220-435-_-Product

Antec 300 Illusion + Win7 Home 64-bit 150$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.590988

Samsung F3 1TB 60$
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-Cache-Desktop-HD103SJ/dp/B001U3S5S0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298950075&sr=8-1

Lite-ON CD/DVD Drive/Burner 18$ + Free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

Total: 773$ AR (Has Win7)

OR


955 (140$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&cm_re=955_amd-_-19-103-808-_-Product
Asrock Extreme3 870 (90$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198&cm_re=extreme3_870-_-13-157-198-_-Product
Ripjaw 8gb DDR3 1333 + HIS 5770 (200$) 170$ AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.604439
Seagate 7200.12 500gb (40$) 388
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395&cm_re=seagate_500gb-_-22-148-395-_-Product
Case of your choice
Antec Earthwatt Green 650w 80+ Brnze (75$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044&cm_re=650w_earthwatts-_-17-371-044-_-Product

515$ AR W/o case. (Doesn't have Win7) This'll allow for upgrade ability in the future. IE Crossfire.

I recommend this case: 40$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147144&Tpk=rosewill%20destroyer

 
$528AR
Untitled-1059.jpg
 

pacific27

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Sep 7, 2009
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This is what I'm running now....playing wow and just downloaded the crysis 2 demo and getting very playable fps.

Phenom II X2 555 unlocked triple core @ 3.76ghz
Cooler master Hyper 212+ CPU cooler
6GB DDR3 Ram 1333
Antec 650tx
Msi GM-E51
Sapphire 6950
Seagate HDD
Asus DVD
Antec 300
(3) 21.5" Asus 1920x1080 monitors in EYEFINITY

My rig started off as a budget rig and recently added the GPU, PSU (upgraded from antec 380), monitors for eyefinity

This is more of a things to think about.....

If you play wow you will want to go with a more powerful video card if you plan on playing at ultra settings. From what I've read WOW does not support crossfire so by getting a 5770 (good card for the price) when/if you decide to crossfire you may see little if any difference from a single card solution. The 6950 gives me playable frame rates even in eyefinity 5760x1080, but is brought to its knees in large battles with tons of AoE. I want to crossfire but not sure its' worth the money for wow as it's been a complete mixed bag on success stories.

I was also looking at the Asrock MB aznshinobi recommended, which is a very good value for what you get. If you bought 5770's the 8x8 bandwith would be fine but if you start with one 6950 with plans for another you will want a board with 16x16 or plan on losing 5-10% performance, but more importantly the cards are big and run warmer so you will want a MB that has decent separation between PCI-e slots for good air flow.

My PSU only has (2) 6+2 pin connectors so while it will power two 6950's in crossfire I will have to buy 4pin molex to 6-pin adapter's to make it work, which it will but would rather have (4) 6+2 pin.

I like Aznshinobi's build it's solid....

To recap...Yoiu may want a power supply that will handle more/bigger upgrades they're gonna happen (you will save yourself money in the longrun)

WOW does not show benifits from Crossfire (yet), from everything i've read A single powerful GPU will handle it much better especially if you raid, bg's etc

If you go with something on par with the 6950 look for a MB with 16x16 PCI-e slots that have good seperation. May even want a board that has 3 or 4 PCI-e
to get that.

 

codhod

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Mar 1, 2011
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So the tables may have turned for me, I have available to me (pre built from buddy)

Core I7 760
Jetway HI05 Mobo
XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770
4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHZ
only some 500w PS but can upgrade
Free Win 7 pro already loaded

for around 600$

Would I be disapointed in this, should i build something new or is this a decent buy?
 
At most that build is worth 500$. The chuck of the build would be the chip (200$), the GPU (120$) and the windows. Which would amount to 400$. However I would think that if you did that, you might as well wait for Sandy Bridge. The i5 2400 is cheaper by about 20-30$ and in fact beats the i5 760.