New Build for Playing old game

[Shamgar348]

Hi folks! I'm looking to build a new gaming rig, unfortunately I've not built one in almost 10yrs...so i'm a tad rusty. I would like a build for a system capable of playing the following games at maxed settings X3 Terran Conflict and X3 Albion Prelude. I would like to stay under $ 600 as well. Any suggestions?

 

[MajinCry]

I live in the UK, so I don't know about how things are priced in the US. I'll try and do a sub £300 build to play it safe.

AMD Athlon II x4 750K - £64 inc post

AMD Radeon HD 6570 1GB DDR3 - £39 inc post

MSI FM2-A55M-E33 AMD Socket FM2 Motherboard - £40 inc post

£143

Kingston ValueRAM 4 GB DDR3 1333MHz - £30 inc post

Zalman ZM450-GS 450W - £35 inc post

£203

Sharkoon VS3-V Red ATX Mid Tower - £32 inc post

£235

320GB Seagate Momentus 5400rpm 8MB Cache - £41 inc post

£276

Samsung SH-118AB/BEBE Black 18x SATA - £16 inc post

£292

Linux: Ubuntu. http://www.ubuntu.com/ - Free.

Prices were taken from the highest costing of my usual sites (Amazon.co.uk, Novatech.co.uk, Scan.co.uk, Kikatek.co.uk, Ebuyer.com, dabs.com, cclonline.com)

As a direct currency conversion (£1 = $1.65), that comes out at $482 rounded up.

See if you can get the same components in America; though I don't know the sites to check.

 

[jaguarskx]

Are you planning on re-using any existing parts like the keyboard/mouse, PC case, optical drive, hard drive? A completely new system (excluding the monitor) for $600 will be bit a difficult to achieve especially considering Windows 7 OEM is $100 which leaves $500 for hardware.

X3 TC and X3 AP aren't very old games. X Rebirth is coming November 19th. Below are the preliminary system requirements. Apparently in Rebirth you can actually disembark your ship an walk around space stations. Whether there is any 1st person shooting action I have no idea. I have not really been following X Rebirth. I am actually a bit surprised about the quad core CPU recommendation because from what I remember all the X3 games were single core games if I am not mistaken.

Minimum:

OS: Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit), Vista SP2 (64-bit), XP SP3 (64-bit)
Processor: Intel i-Series at 2GHz or AMD equivalent
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVidia GT400 series with 512MB RAM or better, ATI 4870HD with 512MB RAM or better
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Hard Drive: 6 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Sound Card
Additional Notes: These specs are still being determined

Recommended:

OS: Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit)
Processor: Intel i5 (Quad) or i7 at 2.5GHz or AMD equivalent
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVidia GT500 series with 1GB RAM or better, ATI 5870HD with 1GB RAM or better
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Hard Drive: 10 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Sound Card

 

[MajinCry]

If he is building it mainly for those two games, he doesn't need to buy Windows. They have Linux versions.

 

[jaguarskx]

True. X Rebirth is also expected to be released for Linux as well.

However, most people who build gaming rigs use Windows instead of Linux. Since Linux is free he can always attempt to install it. I personally never used Linux so I can't say how easy or difficult it is to set up. Since I use programs / play games that requires Windows, I never bothered with Linux.

 

[Shamgar348]

Thank you all for the swift responses! Some more details are in order. I do have a keyboard, monitor, and speakers and HDD I plan to re-use. Am not too sure I want to use Linux...i have no experience with it, I've always used windows and currently have Vista. I will probably be adding X3 Rebirth to my collection so the build must be able to play that as well, if not max settings then just a step down i suppose.

 

[MajinCry]

Then the build I devised earlier will not suit your needs.

Agh well. I'd offer up a new one, but I don't know 'bout American retailers an' all that, so I'd rather not attempt it.

 

[jaguarskx]

Assuming your copy of Windows Vista is a retail version and did not come in a system you already purchased (like a Dell or HP), then you should be able to install it on a new computer which means $600 is actually enough to build a decent system. If Windows Vista is on installed on a Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, or whatever brand name PC, then it cannot be used because it will only work with the specific motherboard that the PC has.

I recommend the following part from Newegg which works out to $582. That excludes shipping charges (if any for specific parts) and also taxes (if you live in a state where Newegg is headquatered or where they have warehouses).

An important note a few of them also have promo codes which reduces the price even more. However, most of the promo codes expires today; I supposed by 11:59pm PST. Therefore, you need to decide quickly if you want to take advantage of the promo codes. Some also have rebate cards as well.

AMD FX-4130 = $104 + Free Shipping
+ $10 off w/ promo code EMCXLXT26, ends 9/9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113291

ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 motherboard = $85 + $6 Shipping
$10 Rebate Card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) RAM = $72 + Free Shipping
+ 10% off w/ promo code GSKILLBTSSEP, ends 9/14
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231538

SAMSUNG DVD Burner = $20 + Free Shipping
+ $5 off w/ promo code EMCXLXT226, ends 9/9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151266

Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel Case = $45 + Free Shipping
+ $13 off w/ promo code EMCXLXT43, ends 9/9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023

CORSAIR CX500M 500W PSU = $70 + Free Shipping
$20 Rebate Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139050

SAPPHIRE 100354OC-2L Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition = $185 + $6 Shipping
$15 Rebate Card
+ 2 Free Game
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202025

System Cost Excluding Shipping / Rebate / Promo Codes = $582
Shipping Costs = $14

Total Cost excluding Rebates / Promo Codes = $596
Total Rebate Cards = -$45
Total Discount from Promo Codes = -$35

Net Total Cost = $516

 

[jaguarskx]

If your copy of Windows Vista is actually tied to your Dell, HP, or whatever brand name PC then you need to buy Windows 7. Since the above total cost after rebates and promos works out to $516, paying $100 for Win 7 only puts you $16 over your budget.

However, you can slightly lower your costs by swapping out the Radeon HD 7870 for a Radeon HD 7850, but that will only drop the price down by $10 to $506. In my opinion for the performance the Radeon HD 7870 provides I'd rather be $16 over budget, than $6 over budget.


MSI R7850-2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB = $180 + $6 Shipping
$20 Rebate Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127727

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM = $100 + Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986