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$500 - 600

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I am just gettting into PC gaming but have decent aspirations, I have a laptop capable of games that were multiplat on original Xbox like Doom 3 on high and I can also play SC2 on medium with some program aides, but I want to play some more advanced games like L4D2 and GTA IV and maybe GW2 I mean to play these on multiplayer on a 720p Plasma through an hdmi preferably but it has a vga input and I could just also use an hdmi for the audio (I have a killer system ). So my needs are for the game ultra to max on older games at least mid on newer games ( not bf3 or crysis2, I understand I'm on a budget ) Also, I'm a noobie so go easy on the acronyms. Also Windows 7 can be had at many different prices so don't factor that in because I should be able to get a student discount being in highschool and taking dual credit so I have a college ID ( taking IT essentials YAY ).

So, to summarize.

Budget: $500 - 600
Date of Purchase : Some time after late October ( I estimate )
Uses: Gaming, maybe a bit of video, and not for surfing as my laptop allows this with much more mobility and ease.
Wants: 2 hdmi ports, Wifi, optimization for 720p, upgradability ( lack of Wifi means some attic crawling and wiring for me )
Needs: at least 1 hdmi, Playable framerate on the games listed above and most more modern titles on multiplayer ( single player gets boring )
Please don't recommend: Overclocking, or things that involve risky technical things as I am not equipped with the knowledge to fix problems that might occur, I will mostlikely use anything I order or buy stock and unmodified.

More about : 500 600

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655 is probly over the OPs budget though.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2400 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H61M-P23 (B3) Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($47.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($40.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card ($166.60 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 500W ATX12V Power Supply ($53.78 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $606.31
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

batuchka said:
This is actually good to go for 1080p gaming and is $626AR Simple stock/NO OC mATX build
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q205/batuchka/Untitled-222.jpg

The budget is more or less a guideline as I'm getting it in the near to far future and the funds I accumulate could differ by a lot depending on my hours so the budget I posted is more of something to shoot for (700 is too much to spend though ) and as I said I'm not a big fan of getting a new tv or monitor so the 720p part is a pretty strict guideline ( but hell, maybe one that is good on 1080 will downscale with even better res on 720 )
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Ghouldude said:
The budget is more or less a guideline as I'm getting it in the near to far future and the funds I accumulate could differ by a lot depending on my hours so the budget I posted is more of something to shoot for (700 is too much to spend though ) and as I said I'm not a big fan of getting a new tv or monitor so the 720p part is a pretty strict guideline ( but hell, maybe one that is good on 1080 will downscale with even better res on 720 )



actually, LCDs always look their crispest at native (maximum) resolution, there is one LCD diode per pixel, so a 1920x1080 monitor looks its best at 1920x1080, at lower resolutions, unless you're at exactly a power-of-2 fraction (1/2, 1/4, 1/8 etc) resolution, you have pixel pf resolution spread across at least one 'partial' pixel of actual resolution, making it blurry.

1920x1080 on a 1920x1080 screen: 1 display pixel per resolution pixel.
1600x900 on a 1920x1080 screen: 1.2 display pixels per resolution pixel, thus blurry.

ScrewySqrl said:
actually, LCDs always look their crispest at native (maximum) resolution, there is one LCD diode per pixel, so a 1920x1080 monitor looks its best at 1920x1080, at lower resolutions, unless you're at exactly a power-of-2 fraction (1/2, 1/4, 1/8 etc) resolution, you have pixel pf resolution spread across at least one 'partial' pixel of actual resolution, making it blurry.

1920x1080 on a 1920x1080 screen: 1 display pixel per resolution pixel.
1600x900 on a 1920x1080 screen: 1.2 display pixels per resolution pixel, thus blurry.

:o  You just blew my mind. All I know is my 42" plasma is 720p and I figured money would wasted on a new monitor when I'm not going to be reading any text or fine print on it. Granted, sharpness would be great and I'm unsure how something optimized for high graphics would look on 1280 x 720.

Long story short : you can get by with a far less beefier GPU for 720p gaming :p  Since u stated late October - there could be price/performance shifts from now till then i guess ^^

So I should put more towards a good processor and get a low or mid range gpu? So in light of that what would be a good price to pay for a gpu and what kind of money for a good cpu?

Also, incredibly off-topic but what is the command to invert B&W on the computer as these forums are killing my eyes, same reason I hate itunes, it's so bright.

Have any of you played GTA IV or L4D2? Just wondering because I'm 100% going to be playing these games, and metro 2033 looks cool I'd like to play that on the PC as I hate my Xbox ( I refuse to pay for MP when PS3 and PC offer it for free ). Anyways I need a GPU and CPU match that will at least be able to play these games at high to mid at 720p and I am wondering if those I5's will cut it, also they both are at different ghz why is this? Also which of these GPU's should I go with batuchka's or squirrel's basically the radeon hd 7850 2gb or the radeon hd 6870 1 gb?

I read up on the video cards you two posted and decided the msi 7850 one would be the best I can see due to the 6870 getting bad reviews for noise and it's a bit older and I want longevity, and read up that squirrels processor is the newer of the two (I think ) so that's my processor graphics combo but the mobo is where I'm lost.

CPU
Intel Core i5-2400 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor $184.99
GPU
MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX $209.99 (with Rebate)
MEMORY
Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $40.99
CASE
Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case $29.98
STORAGE
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $64.99
PSU
Corsair 500W ATX12V Power Supply $41.98

My plans so far thanks to you two. Gotta be somewhere, back in hour and a half.

Cross the case off the list just visited a computer bits and bobs recycling place and got a Raidmax ARES midtower atx with a bit cosmetic issues and dust bunnies for $10 came with two fans installed but no PSU. In addition to that I was shown an Intel I3 ( unsure of Sandy Bridge or not ) along with a mobo of a brand I didn't see, so my next question is will this case work with these components? (not the I3 I'm still pretty sold on 4 cores) also, what are your opinions on this case? Also which of your two mobo's would you recommend as I've heard MSI was good for mobo's a few years back but a little risky these day's.

Phew. I think I'm finally finished compiling a list, I picked the things I liked from those other two lists and just need double checking on compatibility, also I know the case is old so I'm wondering how it would work with these new parts and I f it would need to be modified or scrapped.

Edit: Oops forgot to put this on
CPU
Intel Core i5-2400 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor $184.99
GPU
MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX $209.99 (with Rebate)
MEMORY
Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $40.99
CASE
Raidmax ARES midtower ATX $10
STORAGE
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $64.99
PSU
Corsair 500W ATX12V Power Supply $41.98
MOTHERBOARD
ASRock H61M-DGS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $44.99
DVD/CD WRITER
LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer $16.99
All of this totals to $614.83 not too bad and if I grab all these as they go on sale through the course of a few months I oughta come in even lower in the end.
So just need a final check and I'm set.

Thanks Squirrel and Batuchka for all the help, once it's all assembled I thik I shall name it ... EL BATU SQUIRREL! Also in a less capitalized note I think I will enjoy my time on this forum and my class in IT.
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