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$450 Budget Build

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Approximate Purchase Date: March 25th
Budget Range: $450 before rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming [shogun 2 total war], videos
Parts Not Required: Monitor, OS, [ Maybe: DVD drive and Power supply]
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg, microcenter
Country of Origin:United States
Parts Preferences: None
Overclocking:Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: no
Additional Comments: Need help bringing down the price, I bought a Smilodon back in 2007 it came with a 500w power supply and ran strong. I have also the cpu cooler, and the cd/dvd drive. All the parts are relatively old. Im dying to have a computer again but have a short budget to work with.


More about : 450 budget build

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Power supply Expert

grimeybeast said:
Approximate Purchase Date: March 25th
Budget Range: $450 before rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming [shogun 2 total war], videos
Parts Not Required: Monitor, OS, [ Maybe: DVD drive and Power supply]
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg, microcenter
Country of Origin:United States
Parts Preferences: None
Overclocking:Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: no
Additional Comments: Need help bringing down the price, I bought a Smilodon back in 2007 it came with a 500w power supply and ran strong. I have also the cpu cooler, and the cd/dvd drive. All the parts are relatively old. Im dying to have a computer again but have a short budget to work with.


I like the $450 build suggested above. There are a few nice units from Antec in the $50 500W range. I wouldn't skimp on the PSU, you can cut corners elsewhere.
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Thats exactly what I have for my PSU of course its about 4 years old. And Ive seen the $450 siggy, but i just dont approve of the GPU. I want something a little more. I dont know the maximum resolution of my monitor but its a Dell Ultrasharp 17in. from like 2005. :??: 

Then the 4830 is more than enough for that resolution. Your sitting on a really low budget currently and that PSU isn't exactly the best PSU.

Your looking at 1280x1024. The 4830 will handle that resolution for sure. It also isn't about your graphics card. You want to play an RTS game, you should mostly be concerned about your CPU. If your CPU can't handle Shogun (which it may not because my 955 struggles on the demo) then obviously the GPU isn't of the main concern.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/811/5/
Power supply Authority

You need to get another PSU.

If you want to change your monitor later with a bigger one:

AMD Athlon II X3 450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
BIOSTAR TA890GXB + SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB + CORSAIR Builder Series CX500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...
Team Elite 4GB (2 x 2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

$452.94

If you will keep that monitor:

AMD Athlon II X4 640
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 + GIGABYTE GV-R577SO-1GD Radeon HD 5770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...
Same HDD/PSU combo, same RAM

$452.94

Is there any way I could salvage my Psu for lets say a month?
Or I shouldn't risk it? I wanted to save the psu for the time being so I can afford a case in this build. I have until this friday to raise more money, maybe I can find an extra $50 for a Rosewill Challenger or something. Im not planning on keeping the current monitor in the future but for the time being its the only thing I got.
Power supply Authority

If you'll get a new monitor in the first list that Biostar mobo has onboard video, you can use that for a while. Your PSU can't power a HD 6850. If you drop the RAM to 2G and add a case (see below) the total is $483.93.

In the second list if you drop the RAM to 2G (you can add one more stick later)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
And change the CPU to that Athlon II X3 and get this case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
the total is $463.93





^ Do not drop the Phenom. The Athlon II X3 may be good enough for most games. But Total War Shogun 2 is defiantly not your average game. It uses a LOT of CPU power, and so does the other newer Total war games. Shogun uses practically 75% of each core on my 955 while running it. If the 955 handles it just barely, what makes the Athlon II X3 handle it well too? Your better off with a cheaper GPU for a better CPU. Just saying.

I'd recommend this combo from Tiger Direct,

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

Our Price: $319.99
Asus M4N68T-M V2 Socket AM3 Motherboard - Qty: 1 $54.99
AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor - Qty: 1 $109.99
Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 XMS3 4GB DDR3 RAM - Qty: 1 $59.99
Seagate Barracuda 1TB Low Power Hard Drive - Qty: 1 $54.99
Lite-On Internal 24X DVD Writer - Qty: 1 $19.99
PowerUp G54-8019 Executive ATX Mid-Tower Case - Qty: 1 $29.99
Sparkle PSPS-500 PS Series 500W Power Supply - Qty: 1 $24.99
‡You Save up to $34.94
*Before $20.00 Rebate

And you can get a gtx 460 768mb version video card to go with it.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite...

Comes out to $459.98 before $20, and it might cost $15 for shipping. Also Tiger Direct says,
"(We only charge tax in FL, IL, NC, TX, GA, SD and ID) ".

^ I'm not feeling that combo at all, mainly because that PSU is garbage imo. Plus the ram is just a single channel stick for 60$? You could practically get dual channel 8gb kit for that price. Still it is a DECENT combo, but that's all I'm giving it, decent.

aznshinobi said:
^ Do not drop the Phenom. The Athlon II X3 may be good enough for most games. But Total War Shogun 2 is defiantly not your average game. It uses a LOT of CPU power, and so does the other newer Total war games. Shogun uses practically 75% of each core on my 955 while running it. If the 955 handles it just barely, what makes the Athlon II X3 handle it well too? Your better off with a cheaper GPU for a better CPU. Just saying.


All along I was thinking that sacrificing the CPU with a Athlon II X3 and getting a GTX 460 768mb would have done the trick to play Shogun 2.

But if you're saying that I should think differently then the $450 build in your siggy would do me justice, Right?

@grimey Yes, but that's just me.

@mosox Hmmm, even Napoleon? I mean I ran Medieval TW really well but Napoleon and Shogun 2 my 955 was struggling to keep up in some instances, there was also many cases of stuttering.

mosox said:
You only play strategy games? I've run total war series on a dual core, not that last one though.


I'm a huge RTS gamer. Its like chess to me. :na:  I only play counter strike source as a shooter. This build that I want is me not wanting to wait to save upwards of $750-$1,000 for a rig. This is I cant wait to play Shogun 2 and spending my next check on it, ya know? :pfff: 

The 4830 iis good enough for most steam valve games while the 925 would give you the multi-tasking and performance power for RTS games. You can always stretch for a 450 GTS and that'll be good. But if you really think the 4830 isn't enough I suppose just go for the rana/6850 combo

aznshinobi said:
The 4830 iis good enough for most steam valve games while the 925 would give you the multi-tasking and performance power for RTS games. You can always stretch for a 450 GTS and that'll be good. But if you really think the 4830 isn't enough I suppose just go for the rana/6850 combo



My main concern is just running the game fluidly ( No lagging, most of all). I intend on getting a better gaming rig further into the year, But for now I want to fit everything into a $450 build. If the hd 4830 can sustain good framerates and a little eye candy, while the Phenom II 925 can handle the In-game clashes without making the game seem unbearable to play. I would gladly build the $450 build in your siggy Aznshinobi.
s

aznshinobi said:
I suppose it's really your decision. Personally I don't know how the Athlon performs in games like Shogun, which is why I say go Phenom. Reason being the 955 is only a "few" bucks more than the Athlon II X4 640.
130$ w/ Discount currently.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


I don't mind getting whatever is suggested. If its a proven fact that the phenom is better than the athlon when it comes to Shogun, then I'll get it. But it has to fit within the set budget.

^ Well you should save on the motherboard and get the Phenom 955. So basically just drop the mobo down to something of 50$ or so. Then you'll be able to afford the 955 AND the 450 GTS.

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM $18.99

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer $54.99

ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 $99.99

PowerColor AX4830 512MD3 Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card $59.99

Team Elite 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10660) Desktop Memory Model TED34096M1333HC9DC $40.99

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX $79.99

COMBO DEAL

CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 (CMPSU-500CX) 500W ATX12V v2.3 Active PFC Power Supply
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $91.98 ($15.00 mail-in)

Total: $455.68


Any objections?



aznshinobi said:
^ Unlocked cores are not a guarantee. And Open box items are a very bad choice in my opinion.

Open box items are the best budget item that you can buy due to them being scared, and why would it matter with newegg you can just keep sending them in to get new ones

^ Have you ever shipped one back? It's not free. You have a restocking fee if you returning it and you have a shipping fee of most of the time 10$. That is from many reviewers and people who HAVE RMA'd from THG.
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