Is This Buy Good?

I wouldn't recommend a sempron processor if you will be gaming or a jetway motherboard or the power supply as you are getting a 5670 video card. You should get at least a 500 or 550 watt corsair power supply for that card with some headroom available.

What is your budget?
 
Not so much. I hate to shoot you down, but I'm going to be honest:

The case, for $40, is pretty crappy. You can do a LOT better. That one has pretty low build quality, no cable management, and mediocre airflow. Probably has sharp edges on the inside, too...most of the ones build with bare galvanized steel do.
edit: It's also out of stock

The motherboard is a piece of junk. There's a reason it's so cheap.

The CPU is pretty underpowered if you're planning on gaming.

Most people shoot for 4GB of RAM nowadays, though 2GB should at least be functional.

The PSU, while not a bottom-of-the-barrel unit, is still not particularly high quality either. It probably won't meet its rated specs. you can definitely do better, even for $40.

The hard drive could also be better for the price, though it's not "bad".

You could save a bit on the DVD drive by finding one with free or very cheap shipping with the same specs.

The video card is seriously overpowered for this rig. That CPU will definitely be a bottleneck for it...you won't be able to use its full potential.
 
^ There's only one common reason to buy a graphics card like that...

Still, if it's an HTPC or work computer or or something, then I'll revise my analysis by saying that the GPU is way overkill. Spend less on it and more on parts that won't explode. (OK, they probably won't explode, but you get the idea)
 
^ There's only one common reason to buy a graphics card like that...

Still, if it's an HTPC or work computer or or something, then I'll revise my analysis by saying that the GPU is way overkill. Spend less on it and more on parts that won't explode. (OK, they probably won't explode, but you get the idea)

imma game
 
Yerp, this will give you problems, then. A single core CPU will be woefully underpowered for today's games.

That build costs $358 shipped. Can you stretch it any higher or is that the limit?


edit- try this on for size:

CPU- Athlon II x2 250- $61
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103903

Mobo- Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3- $69
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128451

RAM- 2GB Mushkin Silverline DDR3 1333- $23 (you can add a second one later on)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146736

GPU- Powercolor Radoen HD4830- $67 (No DX11, but it's much more powerful than the 5670.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131381

PSU- Earthwatts Green 380W- $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033

HDD- Spinpoint F3 500GB- $45
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=HD-HD502HJ (That's a good site, no worries...I got mine from there.)

DVD- HP 24x DVD burner with Lightscribe- $21
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827140041

Case- HEC Blitz- $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121096

Total- $366 shipped. There's only an $8 difference for tons more performance. Take it up to $400 and you can add a little performance and a lot of upgrade potential.
 
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For a halfway smooth COD: Black Ops experience you're probably looking to spend around $500 to be able to play online with acceptable quality. In my experience, the PS3 or Xbox 360 is a much better environment to game online anyways. There is much less cheating and it's a more-or-less "fair" playing field. I have both, and Xbox is much better online and for video games as a whole, while the PS3 fares much better as a streaming media player/Blu-Ray player throughout the home. If you play PC exclusives however, disregard that.

Don't worry yourself with getting a lot of space on your hard drive, you'll need one that is fast. Look for a better performing one, in a smaller size to save money. Try to get SATA II or better yet III. Your motherboard will have to be compatible.

You need 4GB of RAM on a gaming rig, and you need to make sure your motherboard will run it in Dual Channel. I would look for a motherboard/CPU combo deal on NewEgg or TigerDirect with all the features you want/need, then buy the RAM accordingly.

Try for a motherboard with PCI Express 2.0, two PCIE x16 slots, and SATA II for your drives, SATA III would be better. Whatever you get, match your hard drive to the same standard. Make sure it is configured for Dual Channel RAM.

Grab a Soundblaster Audigy PCI card for some 7.1 surround sound if the motherboard you end up getting does not have it. They are cheap nowadays and work well.

At least a dual core CPU is a must for almost anything beyond surfing the web or using office programs these days, especially gaming. Better work on that, you definitely won't be happy with the CPU you've selected.

I think you could do all of that for about $400 and be able to play some online FPS games pretty respectively, with the option to upgrade it slowly over time and make it better.
 
^ The rig I put together should run any CoD game just fine. They're all console ports at this point, so they're designed for hardware that's several years old. 2 gigs of RAM, an Athlon II x2, and that 4830 should be able to run any of them on max, unless he's got a ridiculously high-res monitor.

A dedicated sound card is not necessary...the onboard chips are usually perfectly fine.

Even in single channel, I doubt memory bandwidth will be a problem here. I posted a single 2GB stick so he can add an identical one later on and have a standard 2x2GB setup like most people, instead of being stuck with two 1GB sticks and having to fill up all of his slots to upgrade. That can kill an overclock...

Also, Sata III is useless on a mechanical hard drive. AFAIK there aren't any 7200RPM drives that are bottle-necked by SATA II.
 
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