Are these specs good for a gaming computer under $500?

[Necrocajun]

Greetings everyone, I was shopping around on Ebay for a gaming desktop computer. I found this one for $464 including shipping:

AMD A8 Quad core cpu

AMD HD 6550D Graphics

Slim Micro ITX Desktop Case

Western Digital 500GB HDD

G.Skill 8GB DDR3 1866MHz

Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit

MS Office 2007

Is this honestly a bargain if I intend on playing games like Diablo 3 and other modern games? Or should I continue to shop around? I'm such a novice when it comes to tech specs on a computer. I appreciate any advice?

 

[nekulturny]

Its not horrid, but no I wouldn't call it a "gaming computer". But yes it'll play Diablo 3, but thats not really fair because Diablo 3 has fairly low requirements, it'll do MMOs like WoW, Runescape, League of legends with ease. Its not going to be great for higher powered games like Battlefield 3.

This computer would be more like a semi-powerful laptop than anything.

 

[ddan49]

Um. No. Not really. Are you open to building it yourself? This is what this subforum is for... HOMEbuilt

 

[Necrocajun]

Hmm...apologies. The mods have my permission to reroute this thread. I'm just treading though Ebay to look for a relatively good pre-built homemade gaming rig. Obviously, I'm a noob when it comes to understanding computer specs; especially good current standards for CPU and graphics cards. I know very little about the topic and just want to make sure I get a lot of bang for my buck. I suppose I had better start learning since I just started IT classes for college...

 

[nekulturny]

If you want to build your own, its a good place to start for taking tech classes. My advice would be to fill out the form here, and maybe we can help point you in the right direction.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

 

[ddan49]

What's your budget? I can take it from there

 

[Necrocajun]

$600 max. $500 would be more ideal, but I don't mind sacrificing a little more if it makes such a drastic difference. I prefer a processor with quad cores if it makes a vital difference in performance over dual cores. I have a PS3 already, I just need a decent gaming computer that will perform games that I can't get on my console (Diablo 3, Witcher 2 in particular) with good efficiency. So I don't necessarily need stellar performance as I don't really want to sink $1,000 into a computer.

 

[nekulturny]

Well, I'm going to assume you have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, (You still need Windows7, thats going to add another 100 bucks to this build)

CPU- $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

Mobo- $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280&Tpk=asrock%20970%20extreme%203

Video card- $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161389

RAM- $46
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220558

Power- $50 with Mail in Rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

Hard Drive- $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

Case- $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119227

Optical Drive- $17
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Total: $598

My advice is to set the multiplier on the CPU to 18x or 18.5. You should be able to do this safely on the stock fan. This will effectively give you a Phenom II 980 at the price of a 965 (3.7GHZ) they both ship with the same stock cooler, so it should be adequate.

 

[nekulturny]

I just need a decent gaming computer that will perform games that I can't get on my console (Diablo 3, Witcher 2 in particular) with good efficiency.

Pretty much any modern CPU on the market can handle those games, the video card is a bit stronger than it needs to be, but for gaming, thats where you really want to focus on.

As far as duals vs quads, most games only use 2 cores, BF3 multiplayer is pretty much the only exception to this at this current point in time, but quads do have an advantage in other things one might do on a computer such as multitasking.

 

[ddan49]

GPU > CPU until you get fairly high (about $800+ in budget). AMD is fine for this CPU because it'll give you more to put on the GPU. Please take a look at some Pentiums, though.