Need advice on budget parts for gaming upgrade

[arbitt]

Parts Not Required: Graphics card, HDD, APEX 500W PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817154026&Tpk=allied%20d500exp%20power%20supply%20500w)

Budget Range: $300-$400

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com

Country: USA

Additional Comments: So, I mainly want to run SWTOR decently at 1920x1080. Would it be possible to find a decent Mobo, a decent quad core, and atleast 6GB of decent RAM with my $300-$400 budget?

I know I should probably upgrade the PSU too, but I'm going to be using an old GPU for awhile until I can afford a new one. I can upgrade my PSU when that time comes.

 

[blazorthon]

You could fit an Intel quad core with a decent motherboard and 8GB or RAM within a $400 budget (though it's cutting it close) but that wouldn't leave room for anything else unless you got a cheaper H67/H61 motherboard that doesn't support overclocking.

An AMD Phenom quad or six core could fit within your budget but I don't know if an AMD CPU would handicap SW:TOR.

With a budget like that I would recommend either increasing the budget to about $500 or getting an Intel quad core that can't overclock and getting a cheap H61/H67 motherboard so you can fit in a cheap case and peripherals. I'll post a possible build soon.

 

[arbitt]

Thanks so much for the reply!

I could increase my budget, but that means I would be upgrading later rather than sooner. I'm too impatient e_e.

"You could fit an Intel quad core with a decent motherboard and 8GB or RAM within a $400 budget (though it's cutting it close) but that wouldn't leave room for anything else unless you got a cheaper H67/H61 motherboard that doesn't support overclocking."

What do you mean by "that wouldn't leave room for anything else" exactly? I'm a rather casual PC user and I don't know much about overclocking.

"...or getting an Intel quad core that can't overclock and getting a cheap H61/H67 motherboard so you can fit in a cheap case and peripherals"

Mmmm, cheap. ;p

I would like to pickup some games I missed out on because of my crappy PC, like the Witcher 2 and BF3. I understand that with my budget, I wouldn't be able to max out those games, but running them with average performance and medium settings still sounds dreamy.

May I request some recommendations for a decent budget GPU to replace my old 9600GT? Doesn't need to be limited by my 500W PSU as I would replace that as well (would appreciate a recommendation on that too!)

Sorry for all the extra questions! Thanks again for the help!

 

[arbitt]

Best answer selected by arbitt.

 

[blazorthon]

For your budget, I recommend a Radeon 6750.

 

[arbitt]

Seems like an okay card. I might throw a little more money in to get a better one. Hmm.

 

[blazorthon]

You might fit the 6770 into your budget, maybe even the 6790... but then you might need a better power supply and I don't think it can be done anyway.

I think the 6770 has about half the performance of the 6950 but I can not confirm that.

You could wait until the budget Radeon 7000 cards come out and see if the 7700 series is cheap enough for your budget.