$500 Budget Entry Level Gaming Build

[Sevillian273]

After hours upon hours in front of my CRT burning my eyeballs out, I've finally planned out my new build. I want to be able to play games like FarCry and Crysis at least on medium settings, plus some racing games. I just want to get things running for now but be able to upgrade in the future. Going with AMD due to the cost of Intel. Any comments or recommendations would be appreciated.

Parts that I'm going to re-use:

PSU: CoolerMaster 650watt SLI/CF ready http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171014

Case: Custom built full tower. Four 80mm fans in front, two in back. 4 drive bays,2 3.5 bays

Optical: Samsung CD/RW (will upgrade to DVD later)

Floppy: Generic

Monitor: 19" Viewsonic A90f (I love this thing!)

KB: Dynex USB (no frills!)

Mouse: Logitech Optical

Speakers: Logitech X530 5.1

O/S: XP Home. Gonna stay 32bit for compatibility reasons. Will upgrade when W7 'matures'

New stuff:

MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P socket AM2 plus others, up to 16gb 1333ram, two PCIx http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128387 109.99

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400 Brisbane 2.8GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103289 64.99!!

CPU cooler: Zalman 9700 (because it looks cool!) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118019 44.99

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 1066 One pack for now, another later if I decide to go Vista or W7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231166 58.99

Video: EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ Best rating on Newegg. Will add another when funds permit. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130339 129.99

HDD: Good 'ol WD 320gig 7200rpm (Will add another later) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136098 49.99

TOTAL - 458.94 Shipping - 19.72

[quartet-man]

All I had to read was AMD to know that GLC will have a recommendation.

[Khalil]

Not bad at all, the AMD 5400 is a great performer. The Kuma however will out perform it for the less money.
ATI video cards are better but for $130 the 9800GTX is ok However I think this ATI Card will out perform it for about the same money.

I wouldn't rely on newgg.com customer reviews, most have no clue what they are talking about, and most problems reported are user error.

[glc]

Originally Posted by quartet-man All I had to read was AMD to know that GLC will have a recommendation.

Nope - staying out of this one.

[Sevillian273]

Originally Posted by Khalil Not bad at all, the AMD 5400 is a great performer. The Kuma however will out perform it for the less money. ATI video cards are better but for $130 the 9800GTX is ok However I think this ATI Card will out perform it for about the same money. I wouldn't rely on newgg.com customer reviews, most have no clue what they are talking about, and most problems reported are user error.

Im too new at this stuff to be very objective. Its been a toss up between the brisbane and the kuma. Looking at the ATi card, I see it has more memory to work with plus it comes with an HD to VGA adapter which I will need for my beloved CRT. The nvidia doesnt come with any accessories but I do like the way it exhausts out the back of the case..

[Khalil]

The 9800GTX is a decent card, it was very problamatic with driver issues when it came out but then Nvidia stabelized it. That 790 chipset on the motherboard is an AMD, I believe if you are going with the AMD option, the ATI card will perform better for you.

There is always the option to go with an Intel, I will say it since glc is staying out of it.
Intel E5200 $69.95

Asus P5Q Pro $115

I am only showing you this so you are aware of the Intel option however I don't believe the Intel option will outperform the AMD option. With AMD you always have the forward compatiblity which gives you better future proofing.

[Sevillian273]

Future proofing is a big factor in this build when it comes to the motherboard. Then again, so is cost... The one I chose supports a ton of cpus and has a huge list of tested ram configurations. I think Im going to go with the new 2.8 Kuma that just came out. I never considered AMD before until I started comparing prices.

[David M]

It's going to be real tough building a computer that can play Crysis at decent frame rates for 500 bucks. You are going to have to turn the screen resolution way down and run at minimum settings in order to get playable frame rates.

It may be better off by saving up your money in order to build a faster computer. An alternative would be to build a fast computer now and put in a really cheap graphics card. When you do have the money sell the cheap card and buy a much faster graphics card.

Be sure to include a PSU that can handle the greater power draw of faster graphics cards. Even a true 650 watt PSU is cutting it close these days if you want to be able to run SLI...and your PSU is approved for SLI but not for the faster cards in SLI.

[Khalil]

Crysis will play well with the rig he is proposing. I have several customers with similar hardware who play Crysis and the expansion and they seem to be doing just fine. He should be able to play it at medium resolution and settings with good enough frame rate, after all he is on a 19" monitor not a 24.

[David M]

Ok... "playing well" is a matter of what is acceptable to the individual.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by David M Ok... "playing well" is a matter of what is acceptable to the individual.

I thought OP said he wanted to spend $500

[glc]

A $500 box is going to play it a lot better than what he has now.

[Sevillian273]

Yes, if were to buy a case and an acceptable PSU in addition to everything else I'm re-using, the cost would be closer to $800. My first goal is to get an 'acceptable' machine up and running as quickly as possible. I plan to go SLI after the fact, maybe vista 64 and 8gigs RAM, quad core CPU, etc etc... If the new setup can play FarCry on high at 1024x768 I will be very satisfied. My monitor goes up to 1600x1200 actually but my current setup can only play FC smoothly at 800x600 on LOW. Ive never played Crysis anyway so that can wait if need be. My standards for gaming are pretty low due to lack of experience so its easier on the wallet. What I dont know wont hurt me.....

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by David M It's going to be real tough building a computer that can play Crysis at decent frame rates for 500 bucks. You are going to have to turn the screen resolution way down and run at minimum settings in order to get playable frame rates. It may be better off by saving up your money in order to build a faster computer. An alternative would be to build a fast computer now and put in a really cheap graphics card. When you do have the money sell the cheap card and buy a much faster graphics card. Be sure to include a PSU that can handle the greater power draw of faster graphics cards. Even a true 650 watt PSU is cutting it close these days if you want to be able to run SLI...and your PSU is approved for SLI but not for the faster cards in SLI.

The 9800GTX+ and HD4850 are very good cards and can handle Crysis at High Settings with resolution up to 1920x1200 with no lag. My backup rig (see sig) can play Crysis Warhead at medium settings with resolution of 1920x1200 and no lag (avg of 30 fps); that cost me about $400 CAD for everything.

[Khalil]

Your coolermaster 650W unless it is dying will be just fine. Enjoy your rig!

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Sevillian273 Yes, if were to buy a case and an acceptable PSU in addition to everything else I'm re-using, the cost would be closer to $800. My first goal is to get an 'acceptable' machine up and running as quickly as possible. I plan to go SLI after the fact, maybe vista 64 and 8gigs RAM, quad core CPU, etc etc... If the new setup can play FarCry on high at 1024x768 I will be very satisfied. My monitor goes up to 1600x1200 actually but my current setup can only play FC smoothly at 800x600 on LOW. Ive never played Crysis anyway so that can wait if need be. My standards for gaming are pretty low due to lack of experience so its easier on the wallet. What I dont know wont hurt me.....

I wouldn't bother with SLI, the best thing to do is get a pretty fast card now and upgrade the card in a year or two when something a good bit faster comes along for a similar price. Also note that motherboards with AMD branded chipsets do not support SLI. You'll be able to handle most games at high settings at 1600x1200 with the rig you spec'd out above.

[Sevillian273]

Originally Posted by Masaki 7-11 Also note that motherboards with AMD branded chipsets do not support SLI.

Maybe its crossfire that I'm talking about? Whatever the dual card deal for AMD is I was only gonna do that if one wasnt cuttin it. I didnt take into account that my CRT has a low native res by todays standards. I dont have any plans to go LCD in the near future. I love the way colors come out on the CRT. LCD's look kind of cartoon-ish to me.

[andper10]

For $5 more upfront, you can get a 9800GTX+ with a faster core clock, free Call of Duty: World at War Game, and a $25 mail in rebate making it $20 less than your pick in the end. The brand is XFX, which has a lifetime warranty (same warranty period as the EVGA you picked).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150314

You can save $15 after MIR ($5 more upfront) if you get 4GB Corsair DDR2 1066 & if you don't mind waiting a few months for the mail in rebate card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145215

This 320GB Western Digital hard drive has 16MB of cache (double the 8MB cache on the drive you picked) for $5 more. I don't know how much noticeable real world difference there actually is, but I have heard that hard drives with more cache tend to be faster.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136074

Also, when you are ready to order, add all your items to your cart, open a new internet window, sign up for live.com cashback, and use it (click through the cashback link to newegg, then your items should still be in the cart in your new window) You will get 2.5% cashback for newegg purchases, which will be about $12 cashback. https://cashbackaccount.search.live....owsLiveId.aspx

I have an ATI HD 4870 512MB video card (one notch above the 9800GTX+ you plan to get based on this chart: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...tx,2270-6.html ) and I was able to play Crysis with maxed out DX9 settings at 1280 x 1024 at a playable framerate (don't remember exactly what it was, probably around 30fps average). I think your PC will be able to play Crysis on high settings if you keep your resolution at 1280 x 1024 (or maybe one notch below, i.e. 1024 x 768).

I agree with you on your CRT monitor prefrerence. I have a big desk, and used CRTs are way cheaper than LCDs, so it makes sends to spend the money you would have used for a LCD monitor on better PC components.

Enjoy your new PC!

EDIT: Need For Speed Undercover averages between 35 & 55 fps on free roam with my video card at 1600 x 1200 resolution, 6x anti-aliasing, & anisotropic filtering, so you should be fine playing the latest racing games.

EDIT 2: Crysis got between the upper 20's fps and 35fps most of the time (on a randomly selected mission) at 1280 x 1024 resolution, 2x anti aliasing, and all graphics settings on high.

[Khalil]

XFX is Junk. Lifetime warranty must be nice when they never honor it. They have zero customer support. A year ago I made the mistake of buying 60 xfx cards, more than half of them were no good, it took me 4 months to get them RMA through the distributor who replaced them with PNY since they couldn't get XFX to honor their warranty. Never again!

[Sevillian273]

I appreciate the recommendations, guys. I'll definately go with the 16mb cache HDD! I didnt even see that one. Wish I could afford a 10k drive, but they seem to have long-term reliability issues. As for the VGA, Im going to stick with ATi since Im using AMD components just for peace of mind. I'd like to get thru this build without any RMA's. Unfortunately the Sapphire card that Khalil recommended went up $25 overnight! As did the zalman cooler that I was going to get. WTH, Newegg? So it looks like I'll have to make the final choice when I'm ready to order. Im waiting on some case accessories at the moment. MoBo and CPU will be next. I guess it'll be a few weeks before I order a video card.

[andper10]

Wow Khalil, I had no idea. I will keep that in mind next time I am shopping for a video card.

PNY has a 9800GTX+ with a faster core clock for $10 more upfront and a $40 mail in rebate making it $30 cheaper after rebate. It has a 3 year warranty. I've never had a PNY video card before, so I can't comment on their quality compared to the brands I have owned [EVGA (Nvidia), Sapphire (ATI/AMD), & HIS (ATI/AMD)]. Personally I would probably get the PNY card because of the price difference, but I would probably upgrade to a different video card before the 3 year warranty ended. The length of time you plan to keep the video card is an important consideration.

If you are comfortable ordering from a lesser known company (a good company from what I have read, 8.55/10 reseller rating: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/eWiz; newegg has 9.77/10 reseller rating for comparison), you can get a 500GB Western Digital hard drive for $55 shipped: https://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=HD-W50AAKS

Originally Posted by Sevillian273 As for the VGA, Im going to stick with ATi since Im using AMD components just for peace of mind.

I have used 2 ATI video cards and one Nvidia video card on my intel chipset motherboard without any problems. Personally I don't think there is enough preformance gain between the $100 9800GTX+ 512MB and the $165 4850 1GB to justify buying the 4850 1GB.
See this chart for a ranking video cards from best to worst: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...tx,2270-6.html

EDIT: If you want to get a 4850, this 512MB version for $120 looks good: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102824

The 4850 was originally designed to have 512MB of memory, so you probably won't see a huge preformance increase by getting a 1GB version, unless you are playing at high resolutions. Your monitor's max resolution of 1792 x 1344 starts to enter high resolution territory, but games will probably look similar at lower resolutions since the screen size is always the same no matter what resolution you use.

[glc]

Andper, he is not getting an Intel chipset - he is getting an AMD chipset.

[Sevillian273]

Im going to stick with newegg because they have the fastest shipping times Ive ever seen, their customer service is outstanding, and their RMA process is renowned and speedy. I'm willing to pay a little more for that. Things change so quickly in this industry that even a few weeks ahead of time seems too early to make purchase decisions. Whatever card I get will be either a 4870 or a 4850, no less than 512mb. FPS will be very important since half of the games I play are racing games. I'll be leaning toward a card that exhausts out the back of the case rather than recycling warmer air from inside. I will have 4 72cfm fans in the front of my case and I want the positive case pressure to force air through the card and out of the case.

[glc]

You will get better cooling with slight negative pressure rather than positive pressure.

[andper10]

Originally Posted by glc Andper, he is not getting an Intel chipset - he is getting an AMD chipset.

I was just saying that I have had both Nvidia and ATI/AMD cards work well on my Intel chipset motherboard, and I would expect the same to apply for his AMD chipset motherboard. ATI/AMD video cards would allow crossfire on his motherboard, but generally you can get better preformance for less money if you sell the old card and put that money towards a newer single card when upgrading instead of buying another identical card for crossfire after a year or two.

Originally Posted by Sevillian273 Things change so quickly in this industry that even a few weeks ahead of time seems too early to make purchase decisions. Whatever card I get will be either a 4870 or a 4850, no less than 512mb. FPS will be very important since half of the games I play are racing games. I'll be leaning toward a card that exhausts out the back of the case rather than recycling warmer air from inside.

I was able to get my 4870 512MB for $135 after MIR bundled with a free 16GB flash drive and a free game. If you watch for good deals in the next few weeks you will probably be able to find a similar deal.

[Sevillian273]

My vga budget will be no more than $150. Im not taking mail-in rebates into account because they are a hassle and they take way too long. You have to read the fine print on those things too cause there is usually a very small window between the time of purchase and the rebate postmark. I'd rather not count on it.

As for the CPU, Fast dual-core or slower quad-core? I plan on a 2.8 Kuma dual core but I can make the jump to a 2.3 agena quad for $25 more. Choices, choices.... Prices have to stay low initially so I can get up and running quickly.

[glc]

Andper, Khalil says that ATI cards perform better and are more stable on AMD chipsets than Nvidia cards, and I take that as gospel - he's a big AMD fan and has built more computers than you and I will ever see in our lifetimes. I only do Intel on Intel, and I'll use Nvidia or ATI without worrying. I actually prefer Nvidia right now simply because the drivers and software are better - I hate Catalyst.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by Sevillian273 My vga budget will be no more than $150. Im not taking mail-in rebates into account because they are a hassle and they take way too long. You have to read the fine print on those things too cause there is usually a very small window between the time of purchase and the rebate postmark. I'd rather not count on it. As for the CPU, Fast dual-core or slower quad-core? I plan on a 2.8 Kuma dual core but I can make the jump to a 2.3 agena quad for $25 more. Choices, choices.... Prices have to stay low initially so I can get up and running quickly.

Sevillian273 If I may recommend, don't go with the Agena 2.3, the Kuma will outperform it in gaming. The only Phenom 1 worth anything was the 9950 but that is a lot more money.

glc thanks for the kind words.

[Sevillian273]

Originally Posted by Khalil Sevillian273 If I may recommend, don't go with the Agena 2.3, the Kuma will outperform it in gaming. The only Phenom 1 worth anything was the 9950 but that is a lot more money.

Well then Kuma it shall be. Gaming is the priority on this one. Hell, other than playing games, my current processor does everything I need it to do. Also, I've read that the ability to make full use of 4 cores is application-specific anyway. Is this correct?

[Khalil]

Some games claim to utilize quad core but dollar for dollar the Dual Cores manage games much better. Remember the most important part for a gamer is the GPU, the CPU does play a part but I always recommend spending more money on GPU than CPU.