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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Systems > New Build > Final <$400 gaming build before purchase - help check please

Final <$400 gaming build before purchase - help check please

Forum Systems : New Build Final <$400 gaming build before purchase - help check please

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Hard Drive and Optical Drive have already been bought. Looking for reviews/opinions/advices on the rest before I purchase them today. I'm from USA. I don't plan on upgrading parts unless it's broken.

CPU: Intel Pentium G630 Sandy Bridge 2.7 GHz LGA1155 Dual-Core 32nm Processor, Model: BX80623G630 - $65
Motherboard: MSI H61M-P21 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - $60
Video: Not buying this until Diablo 3 comes out, which will be this summer or fall. It would be a card in the $70-$100 range, Radeon 6670 or better.
RAM: G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNS - $23
Harddrive: Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 500GB SATA2 Hard Drive 7200RPM 16MB Cache 3.5IN OEM - $60 by 2/1/12
Case: Coolermaster Elite 370 Black Mid Tower ATX Case 3X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS - $32
Power: OCZ ZS Series 550W 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom - $45 after rebate - $20 gift card by 2/5 = $25
Optical: Liteon IHAS124 24X DVD Writer SATA Black OEM - $16 by 2/1/12
OS: Windows 7 Home 32-bit, already own a copy.
Desktop Resolution: 1920x1080
Gaming Resolution: 1024×768, 1280×720 or 1280×1020 is fine with me
Total: $351 - $381 depending on how much I spend on graphics card.

The only game this thing needs to be able to run is Diablo 3 at medium settings when it's released. Here are the game specs:

MINIMUM SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
OS: Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Latest Service Packs) with DirectX® 9.0c
Processor: Intel Pentium® D 2.8 GHz or AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 4400+
Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800 GT or ATI Radeon™ X1950 Pro or better
HD Space: 12 GB available HD space | Memory: 1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®
Windows® 7 users, 2 GB for Mac® users) | Drive: DVD-ROM drive | Internet: Broadband Internet
connection | Display: 1024x768 minimum display resolution

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
OS: Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Latest Service Packs) | Processor: Intel® Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 5600+ 2.8 GHz | Memory: 2 GB RAM | Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® 260 or ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 or better

This comp will get used like 4hrs/day on gaming, 3hrs/day watching anime/surfing internet, 17hrs/day sleep mode.


Message edited by opqpop on 02-02-2012 at 11:35:04 PM
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It's a low-powered gaming system, so don't expect huge things (especially before you get your GPU!!) but should be reasonable. When you get your GPU, I'd go for something a bit more powerful like a 6850 or 6870. I'd also not get the OCZ PSU...not entirely convinced they're the best out there...go for XFX, Corsair, Be Quiet!, Enermax or Silverstone.

------------------------------ Main PC: i5-2500K / P8P67-Pro / Corsair Force GT / 1GB MSI GTX 560Ti (Kuhler 620 Mod) / 2x4GB Vengeance / XFX 750W Pro Core / H100 / 700D
HTPC: G620 / P8H61-M LE / 2x2GB Ripjaws X / Be Quiet! 480W / Corsair Nova / HD 6450 Passive / GD06B
Reply to diellur

Forget the 6670 video card, for $120 you can get a 6770 which is the absolute bare minimum anyone should get for a system that does any sort of non-flash gaming (even if you play on medium details). Try to save an extra $20 to get the 6770.

What resolution will you be playing at? If it is 1920x1080, you will have to move up to the 6850. At 1024x768, a 6770 would suffice.

------------------------------ CPU: core i7 2600K @ 4.5Ghz, Video: GTX580 1.5GB, Mobo: ASUS P8P67 Pro, RAM: 8GB Corsair 1600Mhz, PSU: Corsair 1200AX
Reply to kulmnar

my resolution will be 1920x1080, just edited that in there

Reply to opqpop

opqpop wrote :

my resolution will be 1920x1080, just edited that in there



At 1920x1080, seriously consider going for an HD6850 video card. They can be bought new for $140 - $170.

------------------------------ CPU: core i7 2600K @ 4.5Ghz, Video: GTX580 1.5GB, Mobo: ASUS P8P67 Pro, RAM: 8GB Corsair 1600Mhz, PSU: Corsair 1200AX
Reply to kulmnar

Your DESKTOP resolution will be 1920x1080, but your gaming resolution...?

DESKTOP resolution at 1920x1080, no problem for any modern GFX AFAIK.

Like kulmnar said, you would be way better off with a stronger card if you're gaming at that resolution. Then again, you could lower it in the game's settings and get along alright with a 6770.

Reply to Quicksand10

With 4GB of RAM and W7 32-bit, only 3.3 GB will be recognized and usable. I suggest 64-bit.

Reply to azeem40

Quicksand10 wrote :

Your DESKTOP resolution will be 1920x1080, but your gaming resolution...?

DESKTOP resolution at 1920x1080, no problem for any modern GFX AFAIK.

Like kulmnar said, you would be way better off with a stronger card if you're gaming at that resolution. Then again, you could lower it in the game's settings and get along alright with a 6770.



oh oops, gaming resolution will probably be 1024×768, 1280×720 or 1280×1024 because I'm not sure if I can afford a card that lets me play at 1920x1080 when the game releases, but yeah since I'm not buying the card now, I'm not too worried about that aspect. Once a release date is known, I'll be back here asking about what graphics card to buy.


Message edited by opqpop on 02-02-2012 at 11:48:20 PM
Reply to opqpop
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