gaming computer for 700 dollars?

vistakid10 said:
No stick with the i3 2100. It's a much better processor and the OP can always upgrade to aftermarket cooling later on if he wants to. This is a gaming computer, everybody knows the i3 2100 is a pretty powerful gaming CPU for the price. I would not use a Pentium for a gaming computer.
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If one is going to spend $136 on a Dual-Core processor I would just spend another $61 and go with a Quad-Core.

Core i5 2310 (2.9 gigahertz) 3.2 gigahertz Turbo Boost LGA 1155, 95 Watt Quad-Core Processor - $197 Canadian currency
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115089


I also had a junk power supply go out on me once. I was almost electrocuted. I hate junk power supplies.
 
2048Megabytes said:
If one is going to spend $136 on a Dual-Core processor I would just spend another $61 and go with a Quad-Core.
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You say the i3 2100 is a dual-core, and you're correct, but don't forget it also has two hyper-threaded cores, meaning that it has 4 threads. It really is one of the best value CPU out there at the moment. Seriously, don't use a Pentium, get the i3 - the OP would definitely regret using a Pentium.
 
vistakid10 said:
You say the i3 2100 is a dual-core, and you're correct, but don't forget it also has two hyper-threaded cores, meaning that it has 4 threads. It really is one of the best value CPU out there at the moment. Seriously, don't use a Pentium, get the i3 - the OP would definitely regret using a Pentium.
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I think HyperThreading is overrated by Intel. If software does utilize it you will maybe see a 25 to 30 percent gain (and that is a big if with the software utilizing HyperThreading). $61 more for two more real cores is worth it in my opinion.
 
I agree that the HT is overrated. I really saw very little difference in it and just 2 cores on a i3-380m using a program (encoding) that allows you to choose the cores to use. 2 ran well, and 4 only netted about 2 seconds less time.

Go quad, or go pentium. The difference between the Pentium and the i3-2100 is not worth the money.
 
which pentium should i get then, i dont know anything about cpus.
also bf3 is really cpu heavy so i need to make sure its enough
 
looks like i have 800 dollars to spend and maybe more but thats all for now and it needs to cover tax (15%)
 
scott wants to build me a pc supposedly for cheap, what do you think of this
To: [email protected]
Subject: adam's new pc
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:43:43 -0400


ok that gives me an idea of what you're looking for. so here's what i put together for you. now remember this is just an initial qoute and we can change anything on here until you're happy with the configuration and the price.

motherboard: MBGA001500
Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3H-B3 Socket 1155
$109.88

processor: CPUI002248
Intel Core i5-2500K Quad-Core Socket LGA1155, 3.30Ghz
$229.99

RAM: RAMC001232
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz
$44.99 (regular $54.99 on sale for $10 off)

hard drive: n/a (you told me you didnt need a hard drive. if you are interested in a new one though, a 1000 GB SATA 3 drive is $119.99)

video card: VCSA002295
Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7750 - Chipset - 800Mhz, 1GB GDDR5 (4500Mhz) Memory, Dual-Link DVI/HDMI/Display Port PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card
$119.99 (x2 = $239.98) (this is the cheapest gaming card available and it's super kickass. the radeon 7000 series are fairly new)

power supply: PSTT000554
Thermaltake TR2 600W Power Supply
$54.99
or
power supply: PSOC000413
OCZ ZX-Series 1000W Fully Modular 80 Plus Gold Certified Power Supply
$164.99 (regular 199.99 with $15 off and a $20 mail in rebate)

optical: DVLG000845
LG Black SATA 22x DVD-Writer
$17.88 (you might not even need a new one if you have a sata dvd drive you can use)

case: CSCO000703
Cooler Master Elite 371 Black Mid Tower Case
$39.99

so that would come to $617.71 with a single video card and the 600 watt power supply, and $847.70 with dual video cards and the 1000 watt power supply. these motherboards made by gigabyte are absolutely awesome and i'm using them pretty much exclusively right now because they've proven to be so good. this processor is super fast, and it's actually designed for overclocking. 8 gigs of corsair 1600 MHz RAM, more than enough for any game. the video card is somkin fast and i think that with just one of these you'll be able to run seamless gaming. for the power supplies, if you want to go with the dual video cards you will need the higher powered one, but for a single card the 600 watt is plenty of power.

so feel free to give me a call with any questions or if you'd like any changes made and we can go from there!

regards,

scott
 
Sounds all right to me Adam, but I would remove your email address from the post.

The motherboard looks OK but you could probably afford a better one. Your budget is $700 right and the total there is $617? You could get yourself a Gigabyte Z77 board. Using this board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128546 the total comes to $652.82, so there's still just under 50 bucks to spare. That's a nicer board, and it's going to be faster than an H67 board, and you can upgrade to Ivy Bridge to this should you want to.

Not entirely set on the Thermaltake power supply either, go for a Corsair CX600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028 yes it's a bit more expensive but spending more on your power supply is never a bad thing.

You may also want to get some sort of aftermarket cooling for your 2500K, especially if you plan to overclock. If you don't plan to overclock, then you can probably use the stock cooler quite happily, but if you want to overclock, I'd pick one of these up http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 - it'll keep your 2500K nice and cool.
 
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it will be getting to of those video cards in xfire and im not getting the optical drive which would put it over 700, also i plan on overclocking put probably not by much. so i could always pick up the fan later on if i fell like i need it. do you really think i need a new mobo? for better performance? and do you think this will run bf3 on ultra at 60+fps?
 
The Z77 board may be nice as it is the "latest and greatest". It's your call on the board at the end of the day, but here's a cheaper Z77 board from Gigabyte http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128543

Not sure about the two cards in CrossFire, I'd just go for one bigger card such as a 6870 and save yourself a bit of money there. This 2GB 6870 looks good http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150563 but you can save money by going for a 1GB model.

Doubt this system would be able to run BF3 on ultra at 60 FPS I'm afraid unless you're playing on a really low resolution. Graphics cards are not strong enough. With the 6870 you'd be able to play at high I reckon at a decent resolution and probably about the same with the two 7750s in CrossFire.
 
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