$600.00 Gaming

[jrodfry]

I built my first gaming computer and was wondering how it compares with other builds. All the parts except for the monitor cost about 600.00 from newegg.com.

Monitor: 17" 1280 x 1024 Resolution
CPU: AMD Athlon II x4 640 (3.0GHz)
RAM: 4 GB (2x2GB)
PSU: Linkworld 550 Watt
MOBO: BIOSTAR A770E3 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
GPU: MSI GeForce GTS 450 (overclocked to 900MHz Core, 1800MHz Memory, 1900MHz Shader, stock voltage)
HDD: 750 GB WD Caviar Black 32MB 7200RPM


I played the DiRT 2 Demo, and at the very highest settings I get above 50 fps as a minimum and around 60 fps as an average.
The Nvidia stock GTS 450 got a minimum of 33 fps and an average of 38. The differences are simply
Intel core i3 at 2.933GHz and the frequencies on the GPU.


I play Split Second at the highest settings too. I haven't measured the fps, but it seems to be running slower than DiRT 2. I'll post my fps in the future.

How do other computer builds compare around the $600.00

Thanks

 

[fencer55]

That's great performance for a $600 computer. You can go faster if you spend another $50 on a top notch aftermarket cooler and overclock your quad core. To go faster still, you'd need an SLI capable mobo and a 2nd 450GTS, but that would've upped your cost significantly!

 

[wolfram23]

I like it! At that resolution it's a nice well rounded system, and has upgrade potential.

Although I've never heard of "Linkworld" PSUs... I hope it's decent quality.

 

[jjb8675309]

just get a CM hyper 212+ for the price of around $35 you cannot beat it, PSU does sound a bit suspect but overall your system should be a big draw, looks good to me just OC that CPU... also do you have dual channel ram and is it installed in dual channel mode?

Also try bumping the res down a bit to say 1280X720 and see if that helps, it is 720p after all which is decent quality, imo, lower AA settings>? these are all things that could potentially improve your performance but overall I'd say your number are right, drivers should be little to no issue with a single gts 450....

Now about the Cooler master hyper 212+ :::even though its the most expensive its ever been ( I remember it being 30 with free shipping) its still a great value and bc of its performance the price has increased a bit, still a good deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212_%2b-_-35-103-065-_-Product

 

[jjb8675309]

there ya go, I wish I still lived near a microcenter that used to be my favorite retailer for computer parts but now at least Frys offers price matching for online merchants...

 

[jrodfry]

I like it! At that resolution it's a nice well rounded system, and has upgrade potential.

Although I've never heard of "Linkworld" PSUs... I hope it's decent quality.

It is actually quite a cheap PSU. About 26.99 cheap. It had all the connectors and wattage I needed. It works, but it's cheap.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817165041

I may upgrade to more well known PSU down the road. Maybe a Cooler Master or Corsair.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[jrodfry]

I tested Split Second and I get around 30 fps on average on high settings. There was bit of lag on the higest settings. I also tried to get fast fps on DiRT 2 by changing the resolution to 1280 x 720. I got slightly slower fps. I left the AA on.

What about your computers? I am intersted to see how your computers test on games too.

BTW, Thanks for the replies!

 

[jjb8675309]

dirt 2 I get well over 60 fps not sure exactly bc I have vsync on, I have a 955 at 4.0ghz and crossfire 6870 I probably get around 100fps average Im guessing, never played split second, but I would personally try to OC your CPU

 

[wolfram23]

I tested Split Second and I get around 30 fps on average on high settings. There was bit of lag on the higest settings. I also tried to get fast fps on DiRT 2 by changing the resolution to 1280 x 720. I got slightly slower fps. I left the AA on.

What about your computers? I am intersted to see how your computers test on games too.

BTW, Thanks for the replies!

If you're interested, I made a thread a while back where I posted a bunch of results.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/289809-33-single-5850-furmark-crysis-stalker-dirt

As for your issue, if you lowered resolution but the FPS didn't change then your CPU is bottlenecking. Buy a cooler and overclock to alleviate that. Although I would really recommend running at native resolution and reducing AA to 2x at the most. Your card isn't really powerful enough for much AA, unfortunately, although I'd bet you can get some nice gains by OCing it (I don't know if your OC settings are good or not ).

 

[nforce4max]

Linkworld? That is a generic brand and I Highly suggest that you avoid that mistake. Antec and other make great units that are increasingly cheaper while maintaining reliable quality.

 

[JDFan]

Nice build other than the PSU which I'd consider changing out as soon as you can afford to - and I'd have gone with a different MOBO as the 770 chipset is showing its age and for just a bit more you could get USB 3.0 support and SATA 6Gb\s for future upgrade potential. (Also I avoid BIOSTAR after having problems with several of them so would have gone with Gigabyte or ASUS) but overall decent job of matching the parts together for balance and performance for the $.

 

[jrodfry]

Nice build other than the PSU which I'd consider changing out as soon as you can afford to - and I'd have gone with a different MOBO as the 770 chipset is showing its age and for just a bit more you could get USB 3.0 support and SATA 6Gb\s for future upgrade potential. (Also I avoid BIOSTAR after having problems with several of them so would have gone with Gigabyte or ASUS) but overall decent job of matching the parts together for balance and performance for the $.

Do you have a specific motherboard in mind. I lack a bit of knowledge on the generations of Motherboards. What I do understand is that a motherboard with sata 6.0 g/s is best, along with USB 3.0.
What else would help me determine the quality of motherboards?

Thanks

 

[wolfram23]

SATA3 and USB3 are both useless to most people. Even with my Intel X25M SSD I can't use SATA3 if I had it. Mostly only really high end SSDs can use it right now... it's more of a "future proof" thing but honestly with a budget build it's nothing at all to worry about.

BioStar is a low quality brand, but that's why it's cheap. They're not really bad, just have limited options like you wouldn't want to overclock on one too much. But I bought my gf a BioStar mobo and an E5400 2.8ghz C2D to upgrade her shitty PC and it's totally fine for what it is.

 

[g00fysmiley]

if you go corsair as much as it pains me to say as i've been using them exclusivly in my builds for a long time the new style tx x50w i'm running 2/3 DOA and have had to pay to rma them back to newegg fror replacment... which is never good

so far 1 doa tx750w and one doa tx650w, the one good one was a tx750w note these are all the v2

 

[JDFan]

if you go corsair as much as it pains me to say as i've been using them exclusivly in my builds for a long time the new style tx x50w i'm running 2/3 DOA and have had to pay to rma them back to newegg fror replacment... which is never good

so far 1 doa tx750w and one doa tx650w, the one good one was a tx750w note these are all the v2

Contact Newegg customer support and they will send you (or E-mail you) a shipping label for RMAs you shouldn't have to pay for the shipping on defective units --- you might want to contact them and they'll most likely credit you the charges if you did pay it ! (I've returned a few items in the past and always gotten an RMA label from them that included their info for the fees)

 

[jrodfry]

Best answer selected by jrodfry.