Getting back into gaming with my 1st build

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krebstar

New Member
Just to start off this post I want to build my own entry-level gaming system. I don’t need max resolution and detail to enjoy a game but I like the idea of building a PC with lots of potential and upgradeability. Furthermore, I thought of purchasing a pre-built PC from Vigor Gaming: the Hornet AE. After doing some research, building a system appealed to me because I love to tinker and build stuff. List compiled with guidance by PC Gamer mag and Tom’s Hardware, all items found on Newegg.

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW

PSU: CORSAIR 450VX ATX12V V2.2 450W

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2

Motherboard: ASUS M2N-E AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD

Memory: mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

Optical Drive: ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 250GB

Video Card: Radeon HD 3850 512MB

Any compatability/stability issues with this setup? I plan on using XP for this rig as of current. Thank you for your time and input. Budget for this build is under $700.
 
Nice little system you've made their. After reading your post it sounds as if you've got another computer. Why not use some parts from it to save costs and put more attention to the video card and processor?
 
City, cannot use parts from my Dell 4500S, it was my dorm comp that has integrated parts out the wazoo. Also, it seems there's a trend to use an AMD CPU for budget gaming rigs. I'll look into the Intel Core 2 Duo but, I was checking the CPU charts on Tom's and the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ came out serveral places higher than a Intel Core 2 Duo E4300.
 
krebstar said:
City, cannot use parts from my Dell 4500S, it was my dorm comp that has integrated parts out the wazoo. Also, it seems there's a trend to use an AMD CPU for budget gaming rigs. I'll look into the Intel Core 2 Duo but, I was checking the CPU charts on Tom's and the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ came out serveral places higher than a Intel Core 2 Duo E4300.
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But when you taking account of the overclocking ability. 4600 x2 can't compare with Intel.
 
Building the PC within a $700 budget. I agree with you Daisy about the overclocking but, I would like to just get my feet wet with this entry level build. Thanks for the help by the way! One last thing, anyone out there know of a "quiet" optical drive under 50 bones? Did a search and haven't found much on it.
 
krebstar said:
Building the PC within a $700 budget. I agree with you Daisy about the overclocking but, I would like to just get my feet wet with this entry level build. Thanks for the help by the way! One last thing, anyone out there know of a "quiet" optical drive under 50 bones? Did a search and haven't found much on it.
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the samsung writemaster product line are pretty quite. average pricing.
 
After giving it some thought I have changed the build to the following specs:

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW

PSU: CORSAIR 450VX ATX12V V2.2 450W

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4500

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P31-S3G

Memory: mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

Optical Drive: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 250GB

Video Card: Radeon HD 3850 512MB

Build total comes to $626.04 Calculated the psu w/ eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite v2.5 and it came right under 500w which comes a little close. But... I'd really like to put a 8800GT 512 MB in! I am thinking I'll need at least a 600w psu right? Maybe a OCZ StealthXStream 600w?
 
Quote:the samsung writemaster product line are pretty quite. average pricing.

Have one, greatest DVD Burner of my life [so far].
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can't life without samsung anymore, got a samsung 22inch screen, 3 samsung hd's and 2 samsung dvd-r's
 
The HD3870 looks excellent for my build, seems to be getting rave reviews. What about the PSU 450w, it seems weak after adding the HD3870.
 
8800GT 512MB cost the same or sometimes less than HD3870 and it performs better

Either get HD3850 or 8800GT because those are the best for performance/price
 
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