Little bit of old, little bit of new: Gaming for<$600

[brettitonius]

Greetings all,

My situation isn't unique. I had a pretty nice Area-51 back when Alienware was Alienware and I got some good years out of my desktop. However the teeth are growing long now and I'm looking for some strategic upgrades to breathe some life into some older games. I'm casual so I want to play ROME TW & COD:UO but would like to spool up Crysis once in a while and maybe try out Bioshock and others at a decent framerate.

I care more about future upgradability and less about having the best o the best right now.

Currently I have a P4 3.2 / LGA 775 / DDR2 Ram so I know that all goes in the garbage.

Have a servicable Dell 20' 1600 x 1200 monitor that I like for a 2nd monitor but would like to get some better resolution.

I will be reusing my Area-51 case, I have a Corsair 750W modular PSU relatively new and a Asus GTX 460 ENGTX TOP as soon as it comes back from servicing. Also don't need OS, have Win 7. No need for keyboard or mouse either. Also have 2x DVD/RWs that are fine.

So its obvious I need new CPU, MOBO, RAM. Need new harddrive and I like the idea of the SSD cache idea with the newer mobo chipset. Also its time for a new monitor.


What might you recommend for me based on that budget, for a bit of a shot in the arm for gaming and a future upgrade path when I cash in my Iraqi Dinar?

[glc]

Can't get both a SSD and a monitor into that budget.

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz (3.1GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52300

Newegg.com - ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD7502AAEX 750GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Newegg.com - ASUS VS Series VS228H-P Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 50000000:1 (ASCR)

[brettitonius]

Thanks for the reply glc. I especially like that Asus monitor for $153. Your recommendations are always appreciated even though this is a little out of the budget (I calculated $695 for your build). But like you said, can't have it all for that price...

I'm going to take a stab at this to see if I can part together something in the similar range and try to include everything. Please feel free to let me know if something is retarded or an utter piece of shizzle.

CPU: I-3 2100 ($120)
NCIX US - Buy BX80623I32100 - Intel Core i3 2100 Dual Core Hyperthreading Processor LGA1155 3.1GHZ Sandy Bridge 3MB - Intel - Great price and fast delivery

MOBO: Asrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen 3 ($125)
Newegg.com - ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM: ($40) G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

SSD: ($90) OCZ Vertex 3 60GB 2.5IN SATA3 6Gbps Sandforce SF-2281 Solid State Disk http://http://us.ncix.com/products/?...y&promoid=1368

HD: ($60) Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Monitor: ($169) Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor Newegg.com - Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1

So with this configuration I was able to come in at budget ($604), 2 inch bigger monitor and able to include a SSD. Now I know you guys like WD Caviar, Asus MOBOs etc so brands are easily interchanged, but my main question with this build is would you rather do the I-5 2300 chip but negotiate out of the SSD or the I-3 2100 including similar to what I had in my cart?

In a way, I'm hedging the price/performance of the SSD to be of better value than the CPU in the reasonable future but I wonder if an I-3 would be a good stopgap with SSD, and then I can upgrade the CPU to what I REALLY want which is the I5 2500K with an aftermarket cooler for Overclocking. Down the road say in 6-9 months.

[Force Flow]

An i3 is a bit weak for gaming.

Samsung is notorious for drive failures. Western Digital is the top HDD brand we recommend around here these days. If you just want a HDD for storage, go with the blue series. If performance or a boot drive, go with the black series. WD drives also have a 5-year warranty, as opposed to other brands with a 3-year or 1-year warranty.

Geil is acceptable, but again, not the top recommended brand around here: RAM, Memory brand rating

Overall, I'd go with glc's hardware suggestions, and drop the SSD to get everything under budget (the monitor size is up to you). There's no sense in going with lower quality parts just to save a few bucks. You can always upgrade to an SSD at a later time (and the prices will probably be lower too, since they seem to have been steadily declining). The performance hit would be negligible.

[Katreat]

I would recommend staying with the top notch brands and just holding off on either a new monitor or the SSD for a few months. Both can be easily upgraded without throwing anythinig out. Either just live with your old monitor for a couple of months, or add the SSD down the road. The WD black GLC recommended is plenty fast enough until you come up with some extra cash. It makes no sense to me to by bargin brands when your building something you hope to upgrade down the road.

Kat

[brettitonius]

Thanks Force, I identify and agree with your reply. My main gist was the perpetual tale of upgrade paths for futureproofing while getting servicable performance during the accumulation period.

Case in point: I assume the I3 is not my end all CPU, but the strategy I was looking at was - I'm going from a P4 3.2 which needs to take a dirt nap, to a Sandybridge chip (or ANY Dual or Quad-core chip for that matter) and introducing myself to LGA 1155 mobo. Do I get a I5 2300 for $180 when the I3 is $125 and the one I really want is $220 with OC. Clearly the best move is to wait and gather the extra resources and just get what I really wanted (I5 2500K) in the first place.

You have helped me decide that the SSD is not essential to this build so I will definitely use the funds I save on that to buy the more quality components such as described by glc.

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by brettitonius Do I get a I5 2300 for $180 when the I3 is $125 and the one I really want is $220 with OC. Clearly the best move is to wait and gather the extra resources and just get what I really wanted (I5 2500K) in the first place.

Yep, to get the i3 knowing you'll upgrade to the i5 is a waste of money, considering that after the upgrade, the i3 would just be kicking around gathering dust.

The i3 is perfectly fine for a PC meant for web surfing and word processing, but doesn't quite have the necessary power for modern gaming.

[jdeb]

follow glc's lead. If you want to cut costs, go with Biostar board and crucial or Kingston memory. I am looking at 2 of those boards right now (Asrock Z68 Extreme3).

[glc]

I wouldn't cut anything on my list except the SSD, that will get you under $600.