Hey guys, this is my first post on this forums and my first time building my own computer. I am only fourteen, so I'm going for a less expensive build for a gaming PC. My budget is $400 (I know that I'm not going to get the top of the line with this, but it is something), and I was looking to use the Athlon X4 640. What motherboard and graphics card would go with this? I was thinking of a Radeon 4870, but I'm not exactly sure what would be a proper set up, as I'm extremely inexperienced. Thanks a lot for your help.
Building my own gaming PC, need help.
- Thread starter Takoulya
- Start date
fastdude
Active Member
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=Athlon_II_X2_250-_-19-103-903-_-Product - $59
Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131619&cm_re=Am3-_-13-131-619-_-Product - $50 with rebate
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ill ripjaws series 4gb (2 x 2gb) 240-pin ddr3 - $50
GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...90&cm_re=GTX_460_768MB-_-14-121-390-_-Product - $130 after rebate
PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371023 - $20 with rebate
Optical - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...039&cm_re=Sony_Optiarc-_-27-118-039-_-Product - $20
HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3&cm_re=WD_caviar_Blue-_-22-136-113-_-Product - $43
Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146059&Tpk=NZXT beta evo - $40
CPU cooler (if overclocking) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...186134&Tpk=Arctic cooling Freezer 7 pro rev 2 - $30
Total: 394USD
:good:
Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131619&cm_re=Am3-_-13-131-619-_-Product - $50 with rebate
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ill ripjaws series 4gb (2 x 2gb) 240-pin ddr3 - $50
GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...90&cm_re=GTX_460_768MB-_-14-121-390-_-Product - $130 after rebate
PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371023 - $20 with rebate
Optical - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...039&cm_re=Sony_Optiarc-_-27-118-039-_-Product - $20
HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3&cm_re=WD_caviar_Blue-_-22-136-113-_-Product - $43
Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146059&Tpk=NZXT beta evo - $40
CPU cooler (if overclocking) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...186134&Tpk=Arctic cooling Freezer 7 pro rev 2 - $30
Total: 394USD
:good:
Sorry, this thread was an accidental double-post, but how would your given set-up perform?
fastdude
Active Member
It would be better for gaming than an Athlon II X4/5770 setup.
EDIT: However, the combo Aastii posted in your other thread with the case and the optical drive would save you $15.
I'm sorry for acting like an idiot here, but how does that work out? I know that the GTX460 is much better than the Radeon 5770, but isn't the processor speed much less? I'm just asking because I want to know what affects the overall speed of the computer in the end?
fastdude
Active Member
For a gaming computer, it's more about GHz. The Athlon II X2 will equal the X4 in most games, lose in a few ones that take advantage of four cores (very few) and win a few if due to higher clocks when OC'd (are you OC'ing?) They have the same amount of cache, and run at the same clockspeed. The 4 cores of the X4 will only help in highly multithreaded tasks/games
GTX460 much better than 5770.
BTW, you're not acting like an idiot, everyone's new at some point
Aastii
VIP Member
Graphically it would be better, but in most newer games, the CPU would be a rather large bottleneck, as near all games now use 3 cores, with 4 starting to come in, so you wouldn't be able to use the improved graphical power, so it wouldn't be better than an x4/5770. An x3 set up would perform as well, but x2 is pushing it.
@fastdude, funky had an E6750 + GTX460, which is same performance as Athlon II x2 + GTX460, and he was seeing his CPU being at 100% load pretty much non-stop, and drastically reducing fps, and that was with an overclock to 3.4 I think he said
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Will I be able to play open-world games such as Mafia 2 or GTA 4?
fastdude
Active Member
Play them, yes, plus you can use the 460s PhysX in Mafia 2, but GTA4 craves cores, you'll need to turn some eye-candy down in both games, more so in GTA4 though.
Alright, so not too bad. Thanks.