Low-Mid Gaming system

[r4mark]

So I have a limited budget and I've come up with this so far (don't need hdd)

CPU: Intel Core i3-2120, 3.30GHz, 3MB, LGA1155, 32nm, 65W, BOX

GPU: Gainward GeForce GTS 450, 1GB DDR5 (128 Bit), DVI-I, HDMI, VGA

PSU: CORSAIR CXV2 PSU 500W 12CM ATX12V2.3 80+

Rams: CORSAIR DDR3-1333 4GB DIMM UNBUFFERED

Motherboard: I have really no idea what motherboard I should get, so help here would be appreciated, obviously lower price is better, but better brand is prefered.

So the first question is would I be able to play games like crysis 2, gta 4, witcher 2, bf3 etc on medium settings with atleast 40+ fps?

Second, do these parts synergise well together and maybe there are better alternatives to them that cost (+-20$) same.

 

[nekulturny]

I would suggest a better quality video card. The CPU is sufficient, but the video card is dismal.
You can go a little cheaper on the power supply to compensate and get a better video card.

This one is sufficient:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

And at bare minimum from least to greatest, I would be looking at a GTX 460 or possibly a 550 TI, 6850, 6870. Actually the GTX 460 is probably a little better than the 550 TI. but The GTX 460s are fairly cheap.

Decent, cheap motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236

 

[r4mark]

I would suggest a better quality video card. The CPU is sufficient, but the video card is dismal.
You can go a little cheaper on the power supply to compensate and get a better video card.

This one is sufficient:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

And at bare minimum from least to greatest, I would be looking at a GTX 460 or possibly a 550 TI, 6850, 6870. Actually the GTX 460 is probably a little better than the 550 TI. but The GTX 460s are fairly cheap.

Decent, cheap motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236

The difference in those psu's is around 10$ maybe even less depending where you buy, so I tought I'll rather be on the safe side.

And the GTX 460 is twice as much as gts 450 in someplaces even more, while being only ~ 30% faster, so even if I had the money it wouldn't be that good of an investment.

Also, I just need it to run the games I mentioned in first post, on ~medium and rather low resoliutions, cause My monitor isn't the best either, so I tought gts 450 would be sufficient as I have seen it run every resource heavy game I could think of at high and some older ones at ultra. Also I've read that gainward one is great for overclocking.

 

[nekulturny]

Well, where are you from? And where are you shopping at? and 30 percent is a pretty substantial difference, maybe I can find something else to fit your budget range. Even overclocking, theres no way a GTS 450 will measure up to a 460. Yes, you can probably get medium detail on most games, but honestly, I'd bear with me a bit and see what we can find you, you may not have to settle for low-mid settings.

 

[r4mark]

Well, where are you from? And where are you shopping at? and 30 percent is a pretty substantial difference, maybe I can find something else to fit your budget range. Even overclocking, theres no way a GTS 450 will measure up to a 460. Yes, you can probably get medium detail on most games, but honestly, I'd bear with me a bit and see what we can find you, you may not have to settle for low-mid settings.

I am from lithuania, I prefer local e-shops and prices are pretty much the same as newegg, amazon or w/e, altough if prices somewhere else is indeed lower by a substantial amount (>10%) I could ship it from abroad it's no problem. Also I said my monitor is really old and native resolution is low, so high end cards would probably be an overkill anyway.

Just for the reference at my local shop gts 450 cost would cost around 103$, while gtx 460 would cost 200-240$, same as newegg pretty much.

 

[nekulturny]

Newegg actually has GTX 460s for .. well no, nevermind, they're all sold out finally lol.. They were around $120 though. They were $200-240 when they were brand new, but that was a couple years ago.

Even with an older monitor, I'd still like to find you a better card. What do 550 TIs cost where you live? How old of a computer monitor are we talking? Big CRT monitor or LCD flat screens? If you're still running a CRT monitor, than you're right it probably won't be worth it to get anything more powerful than a 450. But.. I guess to answer your main question, yes everything you have chosen is compatible, and it will work.

 

[r4mark]

Gtx 550 ti is 20-70$ more then gts 450, depends on brand, the monitor is LCD syncmaster 730 bf. I could deffinetely get the 550 ti, but it doesn't seem like much of an improvement over gts 450.

Video Card LEADTEK GeForce GTX 550 Ti GDDR5 2GB/192bit, 900MHz/2050MHz, PCI-E 2.0 x16, HDTV+HDCP, HDMI, 2xDVI, Dual Slot Fan Cooler, Retail

Here's the cheapest I could find, is it any good, is the brand reliable?

 

[nekulturny]

I've never heard of Leadtek, but I'd say if it has at least a 2 year warranty, you're good to go. I found a website on it, physically it looks pretty decent to me.


I just want you to be happy with your investment, get what you feel comfortable with, but I will say for gaming, you want to get the best video card you can.

 

[DarkOutlaw]

You can look at the $500 rig in my sig to get an idea of lower end parts. It is based on the LGA 1155 i3 and should be able to play most all games, including possibly skyrim on ultra / BF3 on medium.

 

[r4mark]

Okay so I'll probably take this
Palit GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB DDR5 (192 Bit), HDMI, DVI, CRT

Now, is the i3 processor a bare minimum to fully utilize this vga or I could go lower like pentium 640-860 or something similar from amd?

Also would this motherboard:
MB H61 S1155 MATX/H61M-HVS ASROCK
be good?

Oh, and also when I shop for rams what should I look for besides brand/GB.

 

[nekulturny]

Now, is the i3 processor a bare minimum to fully utilize this vga or I could go lower like pentium 640-860 or something similar from amd?

I've heard people keep talking about how great the Pentiums are for gaming computers, but I'm sorry, theres no way I'm calling anything with a Pentium processor a "gaming PC" :lol: Thats like calling a Geo Metro 3 cylinder with a turbo a "race car".

As far as AMD CPU equivalents, Phenom II 965 is the only CPU from AMD sadly that I would seriously consider for a gaming machine.

That board wouldn't be terrible, but it wouldn't be my first choice, but I understand your budget is limited.

As far as shopping for RAM. Make sure that its DDR3 1.5V. the 1.5V is important for Intel CPUs. I would suggest getting 2 sticks of 4GB giving you 8GB total. Brand and model generally is not important. As long as you stick to brands like Corsair, Gskill, Cruicial, Samsung, PNY, and Kingston, its really hard to go wrong.

I run VGA monitors btw still with my computers, you'll be pretty surprised how good the gaming quality will be even on such a low end system.

 

[r4mark]

Okay, Final build:

CPU: Intel Core i3-2120, 3.30GHz, 3MB, LGA1155, 32nm, 65W, BOX

GPU: Palit GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB DDR5 (192 Bit), HDMI, DVI, CRT, BOX

PSU: CORSAIR PSU 430W 12CM ATX12V2.3 80+

MB: Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2, H61, DDR3-1333, PCI-E, GBLAN, mATX

Rams: CORSAIR DDR3-1333 4GB 1,5v DIMM UNBUFFERED


Case only left, what do I want to look at, when shopping for one?

Also, does HDD affect anything else then load times in gaming?

 

[nekulturny]

Looks good to me. Uhh as far as cases, just look for something solid, preferably something good enough quality that you can use again. Cheap plastic is usually bad sign. You want something with good ventilation.

CoolerMaster Elite 430s would be a good cheap model to look at.

 

[r4mark]

Probably gonna go with this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119227 Just because it looks awesome

Anyways, thanks for the help, saved me alot of headache.

 

[nekulturny]

You're welcome. Oh on the hard drives, your answer is no and yes.

If you're transferring files it can have an impact on time required, but thats under the same logic as loading games. SSDs are nice, but I'd wait for em to come down in price a bit, especially since this is a lower end computer anyway. I wouldn't even consider em unless you've got a budget in the $1000 range.

 

[r4mark]

Sorry for another late question, but would this HDD: http://reviews.cnet.com/system-hard-drives/excelstor-callisto-j880-hard/4505-9989_7-32450009.html and gtx 550 ti be compatable with this MB: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4095#ot

 

[nekulturny]

The hard drive, no. The video card yes.

That hard drive is an old IDE hard drive its trash. No modern motherboards will have support for them.

 

[r4mark]

The hard drive, no. The video card yes.

That hard drive is an old IDE hard drive its trash. No modern motherboards will have support for them.

Hmm is there a IDE > Sata converter or something? I really don't need more space in my HDD so I'd rather spend that cash on better Video Card.

 

[nekulturny]

They do exist, I have a couple of them, but they're junk. They're really not appropriate for daily use, they're very unreliable. Basically, they're good enough to get your files off an old IDE hard drive before you toss it in the garbage where it belongs.

 

[r4mark]

They do exist, I have a couple of them, but they're junk. They're really not appropriate for daily use, they're very unreliable. Basically, they're good enough to get your files off an old IDE hard drive before you toss it in the garbage where it belongs.

Man do I hate having enough money only for budget PC.

Anyway, I will have to take http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103945 instead of i3 then, to compensate for HDD. I also decided to take http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121399 question is will that cpu bottleneck the card?

Also does playing games on higher resolution than your monitors native make it better or worse graphics wise, because if I'll be playing only at native then that cpu would surely be enough.

 

[nekulturny]

The 6850 is actually better than a 550 TI. The Athlon II while not terrible, isn't the best choice. You might consider a Phenom II 965 if they're still available.

Don't forget you need a different motherboard for an AMD processor. And you don't want to get a trashy one. I don't know why but that Athlon II apparently is an FM1 socket. (most normally are AM3)

Playing higher than the monitors native resolution isn't ideal for a good playing experience no.

 

[r4mark]

The 6850 is actually better than a 550 TI. The Athlon II while not terrible, isn't the best choice. You might consider a Phenom II 965 if they're still available.

Don't forget you need a different motherboard for an AMD processor. And you don't want to get a trashy one. I don't know why but that Athlon II apparently is an FM1 socket. (most normally are AM3)

Playing higher than the monitors native resolution isn't ideal for a good playing experience no.

Yes I tought about getting phenom instead, but if my native is 1280x1024 and I don't really plan to upgrade any time soon won't that card and especially the CPU be a bit of an overkill even if I play newest games maxed out?

 

[nekulturny]

No it wouldn't be "overkill", depends on the game. Battlefield 3 maxed out, likely the 6850 will have trouble doing that, but it would probably handle mid settings just fine. World of Warcraft, Diablo III? Easily maxed out with a 6850.

The Phenom II isn't bad, its about equal to the i3, so if its cheaper for you, thats what I'd get. Honestly its better than the i3 at certain things too, it starts big arguments on these forums, but I'd take a Phenom II over an i3 any day of the week.. Basically the Athlon II is a Phenom II, but the Athlon doesn't have an L3 cache, in certain things that can affect performance.