First time builder, $600 budget, gaming

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newbuilder

New Member
Hello, I want to try to build a desktop with a budget of $600 at the maximum (tower only). I intend to use this computer for gaming and schoolwork. I do not mind using mid-settings as long as the games run smoothly enough (games such as Guild Wars, SCII, TF2, Portal 2, and maybe bf3).

This is what I have come up with so far, and it goes a little over my budget. Please tell me what you think and provide some suggestions.

Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727 $135

Motherboard: ASUS M4A87TD EVO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131647 $105

Graphics Card: Evga GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625 $130

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277 $46

PSU: Corsair 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 $90

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233 $60

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 $60

DVD Drive: ASUS 24X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 $20

Total comes to $645.92, without shipping


Notes/questions:

  • Do I need to buy a sound card with this setup?
  • I am having the most trouble with deciding what video card to buy.
  • I need to bring the price down!
 
Benny Boy

Benny Boy

Active Member
Same thing (cost), only different. So, yeah, it's over $600, but AM3+, CL8 for $5, and 6950.
newbuilder said:
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727 $135
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 $60
DVD Drive: ASUS 24X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 $20
Click to expand...
ASUS M5A88-V EVO AM3+ AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

XFX HD-695X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-4GBXM

SILVERSTONE Strider Essential series ST60F-ES 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC ...
 
thesam101

thesam101

New Member
Hi newbuilder

Your card looks like overkill to me.

Try this instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161315

Will easily run the games you mentioned on high if not max, especially if your playing on a normal resolution. :)

This will bring the price down a bit also.

As for the sound card, that all depends on what your gonna use it for. Normally the onboard audio on a mobo will be enough for normal comercial usage. And anyway, you can always add that later, especially if your looking to keep the price down atm. :good:

Also, I couldnt help noticing, no expense allocated for OS? Did u miss it, or already got it?

Final point. I appreciate your looking for a decent CPU and mobo, but if you want to keep the price down, and you are confident with it, you might wanna look into a single core processor which you can unlock the other core of easily, the sempron 140 being a good example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698
:D

any mobo with UCC should do it, i'm sure some are recommended if you search around.
 
Benny Boy

Benny Boy

Active Member
thesam101 said:
I appreciate your looking for a decent CPU and mobo, but if you want to keep the price down, and you are confident with it, you might wanna look into a single core processor which you can unlock the other core of easily, the sempron 140 being a good example:
any mobo with UCC should do it, i'm sure some are recommended if you search around.
Click to expand...

Unlocking locked cores is a hit and miss proposition. Even if you get lucky and get one to unlock, it still has to pass stability test(s). The best thing to do is just buy the number of cores you need, esp at todays prices.
 
thesam101

thesam101

New Member
Benny Boy said:
Unlocking locked cores is a hit and miss proposition. Even if you get lucky and get one to unlock, it still has to pass stability test(s). The best thing to do is just buy the number of cores you need, esp at todays prices.
Click to expand...

Yes, normally i would agree, and I do really. Its just the success rate for this processor seems to be unusually high. That is not to say, obviously, that its a sure thing. Just trying to help him reduce costs ;)
 
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