UberBudget Gaming Computer

Darren

Darren

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Staff member
Hey all! Now I'm sure many of you will simply shy away at the title but bear with me. :)

I'm in the market for a computer, preferably built since it seems to be cheaper than buying a complete one. This is what I'm wanting.

Budget 500$

CPU: Quad Core 2.8ghz (thereabouts)

RAM: 4GB and upgradeable later

Graphics Card: A good gaming card that doesn't need a whole lot of power to run and under 125 dollars PREFERABLY. I might be able to squeeze out some more cash but it will take more time.

Hard Drive : 500 GB

DVD ROM Drive

Integrated Audio is fine for now.

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

Ok I have found a barebones kit on Tiger Direct that fits that bill and is $300 USD. I am planning on buying that kit then buying W7 a few weeks later after I get more money and then a graphics card a month or so after that so I can get more money for it.

I don't need uber high resolution gaming but I do want a machine that is upgradeable for the next few years and can play games fairly well. I'm not wanting to play the bleeding edge of the most high-tech games but I do want to play TF2 without it acting like a slideshow like it does on my current dinosaur (Thing circa 2004 0.o)

Any suggestions/help would be great.

Kit from TD: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=356591&CatId=332
 
 
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Underpowered as in an underpower PSU?

The video card I noticed has 2 brackets. Would that fit in a single PCI express slot?

Does DDR3 RAM have that much noticeable difference in performance versus DDR2?

Thanks for the help.
 
yes, as in a bad quality, underpowered PSU.

It takes up 2 slots, as in 2 PCI extensions in the case. Most newer cards with powered aircoolers do. It wont be any trouble getting it in there.

Its cheaper, and better supported. Most of the performance gains are just in benchmarks, but its a gain none the less. Just remember that the CPU spends most, if not all of its uselife waiting on info from other sources. DDR3 will send more info faster than DDR2, thus getting more data processed.
 
Ok. After some consideration I've decided I'm going to wait a couple months before I get anything. I simply don't have enough cash yet to justify buying anything. I'm still needing some info though.

1. Dual Core vs Quad Core

I've researched high and low on the internet about this subject but everything I fine seems to be at least 2 year old. Which is better for gaming? I'm thinking I'm going to get a quad core that's 3ghz of speed or higher. Any suggestions on which one in particular. Also any other thoughts on Dual vs Quad?

2. Power Supply

How many watts do I need? I'm going to be running a single graphics card so I don't need like a 1000 watts. I'm thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-600?

3. Graphics Card

What is a good graphics card that is the best price vs performance ratio. Looking at under 125 but it depends on my money at the time. I was thinking the Radeon HD 5670 or similar. Thoughts?

Thanks guys for the help!
 
1. Neither and Both.
I will explain. Gaming performance, CPU performance as a whole, is based in the CPU design rather than the # of cores. For example, a Pentium D would be out performed by the current Sempron 100 line. And the Athlon x4 is out performed by the i3-2100 dual core.
2. 650 watts of a reliable brand. Silverstone is one of the best out. Dont cheap out on your PSU at all.
3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141116 is a good one in that price range. If you can spare some more, get a GTX460 or GTX560ti.
 
none of this matters until you have the money since the rate at which parts come out and prices drop is so fast that in 1 or 2 months the build we'd be saying will be complately different than what we say now, and without a solid budget we cannot recommend parts.

his showed after i posted, on the watts, no need for 650 for what he wants, 550-600 will be fine, 500 would work but isn't as good, you want some head room and most cards will want a 450w psu, so 550 is safe, 600 is plenty, 650 is beyond overkill, especially since 700/750 is the normal amount for 2 cards.
 
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its a good CPU for gaming, if overclocked.
If your looking for performance, look for socket LGA1155 from intel. They kick everythings but currently.
 
really either the 955 or an i3 2100 will be great, and you will not otice any actuall difference in performance, only in benches really, the question is do you want to be able to get a bulldozer or a i7/5 later on when the time comes to get upgrades.
 
Okay, $500, that's do-able.

CPU: AMD Athlon ll X4 640 (3.0ghz) Quad Core - $99

Motherboard - ASUS M4A78LT-M LE AM3 AMD - $65

RAM - Kingston HyperX 4gb ddr3 1600mhz - $40

Powersupply - OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W - $65 ($45 AFTER rebate)

Graphics Card - PNY GTS450 1gb - $120

Case - Rosewill Challenger Gaming Case - $50

Harddrive - Seagate Barracuda 500gb - $43

TOTAL: $480 (460ish After rebate)

That's pretty much as cheap as I could go, yeah you could cut down further on an Athlon ll X2 240 processor or get a crappy $40 graphics card but IMO it wouldn't be worth it. This computer should be able to do pretty much everything, and play most new games on medium to low settings. Remember to maintain it as well, run CCleaner once a week, defrag your hard drive, don't have to much running in the background. Good luck!

[EDIT:] If you're only playing Team Fortress 2 at the moment, you could cut down to an Athlon ii X2 250 for $55 delivered. That might leave just enough for the OS.
 
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don't forget the 100 buck win7 disk, and i'd swap to these parts

EVGA gts 450 for less:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130679

i just don't like that case and there ore other cooler ones, and the apex vortex 3620 is the same case with a different face plate or whatever, but is less and cooler:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=RATING&PageSize=100

cheaper cpu but still fast enough, and the x2 is fine too for another 10-15 off:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103872

i'd buy window NOW, in 3 hours the 15 off code stops so hurry up and get it if you see this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

And you can get that mbo but this will allow you to upgrade later on to the next gen amd processor without spending another chunk for a new mobo, and this supports newer and better stuff:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767
 
and for the gpu, for what you want you can get a 5670 or similar for nearly half the price and be fine, you don't need anything this powerful anyways, this card is meant to play on good-high settings on newish games.
 
Thanks everyone. I've been doing some calculating and it looks like I'll have more in the neighborhood of 700 dollars. Of course by the time that rolls around (roughly 2 months). I'll have cheaper and faster hardware to work with.

I'll keep an eye out for a deal on Windows 7. I have many older games that I like to play such as Knight of the Old Republic and Age of Empires 1-2. Will these work on Windows 7 or should I save an extra 30 dollars for Professional so I can get XP compatibility mode?
 
actually you can set any program to sun in xp compatibility, the diff is that it puts the entire system into xp compatability, but idk exacts about it or if it's worth it, but any game should run on win7, but i heard it has problems with 32-bit coded games.
 
its not really worth it for games. Most of the ones that needs XP mode are ones that were coded in 16 bit (95 or 98 usually).
 
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