Value set for gaming

Hi guys,

I've been a bit out of hardware since C2D "golden age".
Now I need to build some nice but inexpensive gaming PC for my fiancée.
Budget will be about ~1k$ with some LCD screen (currency in my country sux badly and taxes are high).

Anyway could you please post some set proposals just to bring me back on track again? ;)

Please specify only main components: CPU, GPU, MOBO.
Other components like RAM, LCD, HDD, CASE, cooling are also welcome but not crucial. I will choose them easy after platform selection but the main components need to save some budget for them.
Stuff like DVD drive, keyboard or mouse are meaningless for this thread.

For the beginning: what CPU family would be best: C2D, i5 or something from AMD? :rolleyes:

Hi again,

Don't be shy, please reply ;)

I choosed some base for the rig.
It's already a bit out of budget but I'll tinker some with taxes.

1st proposal:

• CPU: AMD Phenom X2 550
• MOBO: Gigabyte 870A
• GPU: Radeon HD 5850 (don't know the exact one yet - any recommendations?)
• RAM: DDR3 Corsair 2x2GB 1600MHz CL9
• HDD: HDD SEAGATE 1TB ST31000528AS SATA II 32MB
• PSU: OCZ StealthXStreme 500 WATT
• CASE: SilverStone Precision PS-03B Tower
• LCD: DELL U2311H

I know it's quite far from "xtreme" but come on comment and recommend, please :D

PS. Do I need better cooling for CPU than stock? It won't be OCed (but I try to unlock additional 2 cores).

Is your fiancee going to game? If not, you can scrap that 5850 for something a lot cheaper. Does she also REALLY need a 1TB drive or will 500GB be plenty? I would build something along these lines;

Mobo: Asrock 880GX Extreme3 (has onboard HD4250)
CPU: Athlon II 600e X4 2MB Cache
RAM: G-Skill 2x2GB DDR3 1600MHz Ripjaw 7-8-7-24 1.65V
HDD: 500GB Western Digital Caviar Black
PSU: Anything thats not crap around 600w
Case: Something that looks good but cheap, no name stuff is perfectly fine here

Thanks for reply :)

Yes she going to game. That's why she wants to buy desktop PC in the first place, hint: topic name ;)
I understand this can be confusing: pretty girl playing games :shock2:
Integrated GPU definitively is not a solution. I'm oscillating between HD 5850, GTX 465 and HD 5830.
What do you think, which one is nicer/better now?
At the beginning she will play in some older games like The Witcher for example but it's necessary the GPU stay playable in good detail level for newer productions at least in next 1-2 years.

Smaller HDD probably will be enough although she said she wants a biiiiig one, you know girls :D 500GB still will be really big compared to 80GB in her laptop right now.
Difference in price between 500GB and twice as this is like ~25$ so not much saving here can be done. Anything special about WD Caviar?

CPU you recommended is more expensive, has less cache and is slower or am I missing something? Of course it has 4 cores but it's not crucial in games, is it? Well, at least it wasn't some time ago hehe - still there is possibility to unlock additional 2 inactive cores in x2 550.

RAM, I like G.Skill too and I can get some but I'm afraid the timings lower than 9 will increase price quite o lot, won't they?

About PSU, this OCZ one I wrote will be ok? It's quite cheap and hopefully will do the job. I can get 600 WATT instead 500 but don't think this will be necessary (unless I get GTX 465).

I agree about the CASE. The one I posted is quite cheap and pretty much simple as no-names. Other one I'm considering is Cooler master 334 Elite even cheaper and simpler. In Silverstone PSU is located at the bottom which I prefer.

I haven't been in game rigs for some longer time.
Any tips, hints, recommendations are welcome. Come on xtreme members!
I need more data :scope:

I want to address the two biggest issues here.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tamashumi

I'm oscillating between HD 5850, GTX 465 and HD 5830.
What do you think, which one is nicer/better now?

About PSU, this OCZ one I wrote will be ok? It's quite cheap

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The nvidia GTX 460 (NOT 465) is the best at that price point. It kills the 465 and 5830.

The PSU is junk. It will work but will probably not be reliable. Look at these manufacturers: Seasonic, Corsair, XFX, Antec

Don't buy Corsair ram. It's overly expensive for lower grade stuff. Check out this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226075
G.Skill is a good alternative as well.

The CPU if she's going to game you will benefit from the L3 cache of Phenom II processors.

For the HDD, the Samsung F3 500GB (or two in RAID 0) is a great value.

Thanks for the tips :)

GPU - According to this chart 460 seems to be less powerful than 465, but still it's interesting alternative. What are major differences between them?

PSU - I'll check for Antec, I know it's solid stuff and I like it (I had CASE from them). XFX isn't popular in my country so it would be probably hard to buy/expensive but I'll check it, Seasonic too.
I'll look also for PCPower & Cooling PSU which are most solid I know (most USA government and biggest companies use them for enterprise stuff). I had it once. Seems normal - no modular cables, only one 80mm fan but voltages was rock solid and it was really quiet. Strange but even 120/140mm fan PSUs often are louder than PCP&C with 80mm. Now this company is somehow in fusion with OCZ but it's totally different piece of PSU.

RAM - Mushkin and G.Skill are my favorite memory but those marks also aren't popular here (because they rather are - and for sure was - quite expensive). If the rig would be for me the choice would be obvious but this time the budget is pretty much limited. Besides I prefer to get all stuff from 1 max 2 sellers to avoid warranty issues (still no problem for me, but I don't want to worry my fiancee or make her wait to RMA something by mail). This is even harder when one selects not common stuff.
Newegg is out of my range - different continent, probably I can't even order anything from them (no such option in web shop). Besides shipment cost would be overkill. At least I couldn't order from Newegg a couple years ago when I was trying buy Mushkin DDR1 RAM for myself. Friend of mine who was in USA for season job brought me some :) At this time there was basically no Mushkin in my place at all (most of ppl thought that Kignston is top brand o_O ). Now Mushkin is rare but available, same about G.Skill.
Anyway I'll check for prices and availability.

CPU - so the X2 550 will do the job, yup? It's Phenom and has quite a lot of cache.

HDD - I was wondering about raid0. Will see what will fit in budget but still I don't have much trust in Samsung HDDs (bad experience).
Is this F3 model reliable and anyhow better than Seagate/WD?