Need help building a budgeted gaming system (amateur)  | | | 
December 18th, 2008, 01:16 AM
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#21 (permalink)
| | PC Upgrade Procrastinator
Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Minnesota
Posts: 5,592
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Originally Posted by kenny536  ShyGuy - why do you recommend the OCZ ModStream over the Stealthstream when they are both the same wattage? The stealthstream is 21$ cheaper after all rebates and promotion discounts. | well I didn't necessarily recommend it, just posted it as a suggestion really... I was going through your link of the 20% off PSU's, & was going to point out the PC Power & Cooling one, on that page, but it wasn't listed as 20% off on its page... so I started from Scratch searching PSU's & ran across the ModStream, saw its price & 20% off & that it was 600W, & figured it'd be a good choice, but the StealthStream is fine too.
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Originally Posted by kenny536 However, there is one thing that bothers me. One guy is saying that basically I should pay 50$ more and get the 4850 video card or the geforce 260 because the 9800 GT is not sufficient for a 22" monitor - it may not handle the detailed resolutions on high for some games - is this a valid statement? Should I be concerned about this? I was looking forward to the 22" screen but if the 9800 GT cannot handle it then I guess I will settle for the 20".
Thanks. |
Whoever told you that has no clue what their even talking about, 22" display isn't that big, even with 1680x1050 display, a 9800GT should handle most games perfectly fine. it won't max out Crysis or one or two others with all eye candy, but this is a Budget Build system, not a mid to top end system, if that were the case then the GTX260 would apply to this situation. if you have the spare bucks then grab one, all the more better, but 260's start at around $200 on up... the HD4850 is more in the $150 range on up... the 4850 will be better than the 9800GT & would make more sense to move up to if you can afford it.
it really depends on the max resolution the monitor supports, whether your even running the game at that max res, how many options your enabling, & of course the games that are running...
but in general MOST games should be fine on a 9800GT on a 22" Display, but some like I mentioned with Crysis & one or two others, will bog down with the 9800GT, depending on the resolution run, & settings enabled...
Even better on an HD4850, 9800GTX, or 9800GTX+ for that $150 range +/- a few bucks. GTX260 will put you into the $200+ range though, once there, might as well grab an HD4870 instead, since its better than a standard GTX260 & about the same as the 216 Core/Stream Processor GTX260 (this card is in the $250+ range).
No picture available for it, but Newegg has a Geforce 8800GTS 512MB card for about $135: Newegg.com - PNY VCG88GTS5XWB GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
its a step up from the 8800GT/9800GT, very little difference between it & a regular 9800GTX (some minor difference in features & clock speeds, but realistic game performance is on par with each other)... a 9800GTX+ & HD4850 are better, but not by Huge Amount, both those cards & the normal GTX start at the $150 range & go up from there, so for $15 less you get a card thats as good if not a bit less than those, but lies somewhere between the 9800GT & HD4850 for performance.
I can vouch for the 512MB 8800GTS, as I'm running one, though I don't have a 22" display, my 17" normal CRT Display, goes up to 1600x1200, & I can run most games I play fine at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200, most of them cranked to max setting with little to no lag... though I don't play any of the top end games currently I know it will handle many of those on medium to high settings at displays max resolution just fine too...
about the newest games I have right now that I'm running on that PC, is Test Drive Unlimited & ArmA (both run fully maxed out at VERY good framerates), I have some newer games, but just haven't gotten around to reinstalling them yet, since I just did some System Upgrades & a fresh OS install just over a month ago, so haven't gotten things "back to normal" for my game rig yet. have to Reinstall Elder Scrolls Oblivion, Battlestations Midway, BF2, Supreme Commander, & whole cluster of others... just installed Company Of Heroes the other day.
I have run the COD4 Demo on that rig though, & with the old Dual Core I had in it (now have my Quad in it), & it was running at max settings at a good 70-100fps depending on where I was in the map. COD5 Multiplayer Beta demo ran just as fluid...
haven't had enough income lately to grab some of the games I want, like COD4, Crysis, Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, Space Siege & a whole bunch others that have come out in the last year or so.
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Last edited by ShyguyXPC : December 18th, 2008 at 01:33 AM.
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December 18th, 2008, 03:10 AM
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#22 (permalink)
| | Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 37
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Alright – I’m done ordering everything (except the speakers). Let me know how I did!
Here is the final order: CPU: e8400 WolfDale Motherboard: GIGABYTE UD3R Video Card: ASUS Radeon HD 4830 (I decided to change this from the 9800 GT – some people say they are the same, some say the 4830 is slightly better, so I went with the 4830). RAM: G.Skill 4GB(2x2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 1066 Power Supply: OCZ StealthStream 600W Monitor: SAMSUNG 2233bw High Glossy Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar 500 GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 GB DVD: LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Case: Antec 900 (great case, the blue looks sweet!) Keyboard: Saitek Black USB Wired Standard Eclipse (this has illuminated blue keys – matches the case!). Mouse: Logitech MX518 – I already had this. OS: Vista 64-bit - I got this for free from a student organization that I am in.
The total for all this (minus the last two which I already had) turned out to be 830$ after all promo codes, discounts, and rebates.
Did I spend my money well? What do you guys think?
Thanks to everyone who has helped me – I’ve learned a lot! Now it’s time to build lol – this will not be fun.
Am I missing anything else? I don’t need a cooler unless I decide to overclock – right?
The only other thing I need that I can think of are speakers. Is there anything you guys recommend that isn’t too expensive? Here are the two that I was looking at:
Logitech X-240 25 Watts 2.1 Speaker – Retail
40.99 Newegg.com - Logitech X-240 25 Watts 2.1 Speaker - Speakers
or
LOGISYS Computer SP6000-BK 32Watts 2.1 SOHO MULTIMEDIA SPEAKER SYSTEM
23.99 Newegg.com - LOGISYS Computer SP6000-BK 32Watts 2.1 SOHO MULTIMEDIA SPEAKER SYSTEM - Speakers
I don’t know which one I should get. The Logitech one is great because it’s Logitech… plus the black speakers will match my case… but its 40.99 … on the other hand the other one has great reviews and is supposed to great for gaming but it’s some weird company called LOGISYS.. and the speakers look nice but they are more silver than black and they won’t match my case at all… but they’re only 23.99.
The crappy part is that either speaker will cost me an extra 15$ for shipping … all the stuff I’ve bought so far conveniently had free shipping. Not sure what to do – any other alternatives? Or maybe I should just stick with the monitor speakers? And then maybe just use a headset from the monitor speakers when I game? Or is that not a good idea?
Thanks! | |
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December 18th, 2008, 02:20 PM
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#23 (permalink)
| | SoMuchAnime-SoLittleTime
Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Plymouth, WI
Posts: 14,972
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"Did I spend my money well? What do you guys think? "
Well considering that you had a $600-800 budget, went over it, and still don't have speakers, I'd say no. I hope it wasn't his money you were spending. 
If you'd have looked at the AMD setup I mentioned you would have saved quite a bit of cash and had roughly the same performance. | 
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December 18th, 2008, 03:54 PM
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#24 (permalink)
| | Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 54
| Quote:
Originally Posted by EXreaction "Did I spend my money well? What do you guys think? "
Well considering that you had a $600-800 budget, went over it, and still don't have speakers, I'd say no. I hope it wasn't his money you were spending.
If you'd have looked at the AMD setup I mentioned you would have saved quite a bit of cash and had roughly the same performance. | Ouch... 
You did go over budget. Still ending up with a nice system though. Think of it as an extra Xmas gift to yourself.
Valdeam  | |
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December 18th, 2008, 04:30 PM
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#25 (permalink)
| | Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 37
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Well the question is not really the budget but more of is it a good overall gaming computer for that price. I did go over budget but I decided that it's better in the long run - also the "Bill Me Later" feature of NewEgg helps out a lot, I don't have to pay anything for about 90 days. | |
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December 18th, 2008, 05:32 PM
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#26 (permalink)
| | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 736
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spend the extra $40 and get the 4850 over the 4830
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Originally Posted by pullmyfoot Aha. Well that was a waste of time I feel quite stupid now | Quote:
Originally Posted by Figgey CPU: AMD 64 Pentium 4 (939 Socket) |
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Originally Posted by strjms72 Craysis is more better than COD 4. |
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December 18th, 2008, 09:12 PM
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#27 (permalink)
| | SoMuchAnime-SoLittleTime
Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Plymouth, WI
Posts: 14,972
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What for? 10% better speed? | |
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December 18th, 2008, 09:34 PM
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#28 (permalink)
| | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 736
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December 19th, 2008, 03:19 AM
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#29 (permalink)
| | Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 37
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Thanks for the feedback.
I bought some other stuff on NewEgg today:
Mousepad: steelseries 63005SS QcK mini.
Speakers: Logitech X-240 25 Watts 2.1
Router: LINKSYS WRT54GL IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless-G Broadband
Games: Battlefield 2: Complete Collection and Counter Strike: Source
All I need now are headphones.
The above games are sort of old - I also want to buy a new game that will really challenge my system - but at the same time I want the game to be multiplayer and fun. I think Crysis is the only game that fits that criteria. Do you think my system would be able to handle Crysis? I don't know how to OC and stuff though. | |
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December 24th, 2008, 03:43 AM
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#30 (permalink)
| | Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 37
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Wow I am really mad right now - I spent like 12 hours reading so many websites and manuals and stuff and I think I finally figured out where everything goes.. so I plug the power supply cord in to the wall and flip the switch and try to turn on the computer and what happens? nothing..
I think the PSU is defective or something... sometimes when I'm flipping the switch and I lean in real close I hear a slight hissing sound, not sure if its the PSU or the motherboard, but I'm guessing the PSU.
I dont know if its just because I am new at this.. but I really think I plugged in everything where it belongs.. this really sucks | |
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