Budget Intel+ATI PC for $850

[silentmemories]

I'm planning on building a budget Intel CPU ATI GPU PC for roughly $850. I've compiled a few parts that I can build on, but could I get recommendations? (Would Intel+ATI be better or Intel+nVidia?) How would this perform?

■Intel i5 2500K CPU (Is this good enough to play modern games on max on a 1440x900?)
■Sapphire HD6950 2GB or 6850 1GB (Not sure if I'll use the card to it's fullest potential on a 1440x900 display with max, so if I could save some money, would 6850 be fine?
■GIGABYTE GA-H67A-UD3H-B3 Motherboard (Why is this so expensive? ... Are there any cheaper options?)
■Kingston 4GB 1333Mhz RAM
■WD Scorpio Blue/Black 320GB
■Antec TP-650 PSU
■NZXT Lexa-S

 

[silentmemories]

Any suggestions on how I could improve this build/would a 6850 1GB work fine at max settings for recent games at 1440x900 res?

 

[MannyPacquiao]

At that res 6850 is more than enough. But it is about $5 more than the 460gtx and its better so not a bad idea. Max settings on most games and I like that case. Although if you prefer supererior cooling for a low price check the antec 600, which has a mammoth 200mm fan exhaust, 2 140mm fans, and one 120mm if I can recall at the back.

Also if you ever plan to game on 1080 a 6850 will be alright. Crossfiring in the future would be good, if you just plan to stay at that res 6850 is a good choice.

For that mobo its not a bad price. You do have another slot to add another 6850 if you like in the future. I'm not gonna go look at the specs though but on average its quite hard to find an i5 2500k compatible motherboard under $100.


Antec 600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129079

 

[silentmemories]

At that res 6850 is more than enough. But it is about $5 more than the 460gtx and its better so not a bad idea. Max settings on most games and I like that case. Although if you prefer supererior cooling for a low price check the antec 600, which has a mammoth 200mm fan exhaust, 2 140mm fans, and one 120mm if I can recall at the back.

Also if you ever plan to game on 1080 a 6850 will be alright. Crossfiring in the future would be good, if you just plan to stay at that res 6850 is a good choice.

For that mobo its not a bad price. You do have another slot to add another 6850 if you like in the future. I'm not gonna go look at the specs though but on average its quite hard to find an i5 2500k compatible motherboard under $100.


Antec 600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129079

Ah. What do you mean 'most games' though? I'm a bit worried that I might have to lower my resolution from 1440x900 to 1280x800 or decrease from max to medium if I won't be able to handle it. Is the bottleneck the graphics card or the CPU?

For adding another graphics card, I don't think that'll be an option, so would it affect me a lot?

 

[MannyPacquiao]

Most games as in Crysis 2 and Metro 2033 might be the exception. Besides that I don't see any other game that can't be run smoothly on that resolution especially with that card.

The bottleneck is neither. In fact your cpu is amazing compared to your graphics card. But no worries the card is perfectly fine for your 1440x900. Getting a 6950 is overkill at that resolution and a 6850 could even run games on 1920x1080 just fine so you should be alright with a $165 6850.

 

[silentmemories]

Alright. Thanks for your replies.

What setting should I expect in Crysis 2 and Metro 2033 with this config?

 

[MannyPacquiao]

Well the game isn't out yet. But as far as the demo you'll be able to run the demo on hardcore. From what I've heard Crysis 2 on max will be a bit more sophisticated than just simply choosing Gamer, or Hardcore. But in Metro you can expect to play the game on max minus all the extra stuff like DOF and tessalation, and maybe AA.

 

[silentmemories]

Ah... Alright. Thanks for all your answers.

 

[silentmemories]

Best answer selected by silentmemories.