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[Hazaro]

I'm pretty sure you can. I dont see why not.



You didnt include a mobo, HDD, DVD drive, monitor (if you dont have one), case, heatsink (for OC'ing), and accesorries.

I'm a big PC head, but consoles have many exclusive games and most people are afraid of building a PC. Alot of people dont see much potential for PC gaming, I know I used to.

$200 + $50, $40, $20, $20, $20, $20, $50
$160 on the monitor
______________
$580 for something that can max almost every game on the market.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Well, I've nearly convinced myself to upgrade to a Core i7 920...but I have to start from scratch. The big problem I'm trying to figure out right now is; what's a good, reasonably quiet mid-tower ATX case?

...okay, more specifically, is there a mid-tower case capable of holding the Thermalright Ultra 120 (and I mean fully sealed, not leaving the side of the case open. :lol )

I'm looking at a pretty light loadout; probably an HDD, an SSD, and a two-slot videocard. But I need a loadout that isn't going to get really noisy; LEDs and quintuple fans aren't my thing.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Well, I've nearly convinced myself to upgrade to a Core i7 920...but I have to start from scratch. The big problem I'm trying to figure out right now is; what's a good, reasonably quiet mid-tower ATX case?

...okay, more specifically, is there a mid-tower case capable of holding the Thermalright Ultra 120 (and I mean fully sealed, not leaving the side of the case open. :lol )

I'm looking at a pretty light loadout; probably an HDD, an SSD, and a two-slot videocard. But I need a loadout that isn't going to get really noisy; LEDs and quintuple fans aren't my thing.

Cool Master 690 my friend..... fits mine perfectly. :lol

HOLY F***! It's 1:33am!?!?! :lol

Wife is going to kill me. :lol

 

[ProfessorLobo]

4GB RAM ($40), 4830 ($90) and an E5200 ($70) is about all you need really. You can ofcourse spend more but the choice is yours, those compoents will run all games at great settings and framerates for a very low entry cost. Those are the components at the sweet spot of price and performance and will net you the most performance per dollar. Overclocking that E52000 is HIGHLY advised, all you need is a $20 aftermarket cooler and a few hours spent reading up on the topic. Its a very simple and risk free process, and basically nets you around $100 worth of free performance.

If you want to run Crysis at max settings you're going to need a hell of a lot better computer than that. I think if you ran everything at medium it would be fine.

 

[Hazaro]

If you want to run Crysis at max settings you're going to need a hell of a lot better computer than that. I think if you ran everything at medium it would be fine.

It'll run on high decently.

 

[Open Source]

Cool. I'll look around the Dell site and see what I can come up with. Also, how would I go about recovering my information?

A lot of times, the hard drive platters themselves aren't bad, just the PCB on top of the drive. You can buy another drive of the same model and swap the PCBs to get it working again if that's the case.

If the drive suddenly stopped being recognized in BIOS, that is probably what happened. On the other hand, if it made funny noises and then died, or had a bunch of bad sectors and then died, it's probably the internals, and you'll be paying $500+ for (partial) recovery.

 

[Tenks]

So BigDownload.com contacted me yesterday saying that iBuypower gave me a free graphics card upgrade for the computer I won from them. After reading some reviews/benchmarks I squealed like a little school girl. Maybe one day I'll run Quad-SLi

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_295_us.html

 

[JudgeN]

I just added those and it comes out to 200 dollars.... why are people still buying consoles??????

Because all that stuff isn't going to max out every game on the market at 1680x1050. That stuff is cheap but the low cache on the E5200 will hurt performance, and the 4830 isn't good at higher resolution. And if your a 60 FPS whore like I am (which I imagine is why most people PC game) that setup isn't going to get you there.

 

[funkmastergeneral]

I need a new desktop and this one is one clearance for 455 dollars. Will it run WoW decently? I don't play any other PC games and really would just be using it for World of Warcraft, and downloading movies and music and perusing the internet.

AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4450E
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Service Pack 1
No Monitor
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
16x DVD+/-RW Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE Integrated Graphics GPU
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
No Floppy Drive Included
No Modem Option
Internal PCI 802.11g Wireless Network Card
My Software & Accessories
No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
No Subscription (only 30-day protection)
Microsoft Works 9.0
My Service
1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year

 

[Cheeto]

Because all that stuff isn't going to max out every game on the market at 1680x1050. That stuff is cheap but the low cache on the E5200 will hurt performance, and the 4830 isn't good at higher resolution. And if your a 60 FPS whore like I am (which I imagine is why most people PC game) that setup isn't going to get you there.

Does any of that really matter when consoles don't even reach half that resolution (or even 720p for that matter), or keep steady 30fps? Point is, you spend less and get more with PCs...and if you want more, you can spend more.

 

[Amneisac]

Resolution doesn't matter when you're sitting 8 feet away from your TV playing a console game, you corksniffing PC gamers!

 

[godhandiscen]

It'll run on high decently.

You overestimate ATI's performance on Crysis. I might be too demanding with the fps, but even a 4870 1GB doesn't offer me a decent fps on Crysis on high/gamer @ 16080x1050. I heard the 8.12 CCC fixed this, but I would be cautious.


Anyway, so I replaced my 4870x2 with a GTX295+. For all those who called me an ATI fanboy, well, what now? The new card will arrive most likely on Monday. I mostly game, at 1680x1050, so I opted for the change (the GTX295 is superior at this resolution), however, I found out the GTX295 chuckles at high resolutions due to its limited video memory in comparison to the 4870x2. So most likely I will hold up on a monitor upgrade until the next generation, when I have a fast dual card that can handle high resolutions.

Aso, I got a EVGA branded one, so I guess I have the option to step up for 90 days. If Nvidia hurries with the 300 series, I might be able to nag one at an unbeatable price.

edit: I think I fucked up. I've been reading 750W isn't enough to power this card. If I have to buy a new PSU, I am fucked.

 

[desertdroog]

Finally put my rig together. Started at 10 pm ended a little bit after 3 am. Will load up Vista 64 Ultimate SP1 when I get off of work.

I hope I did everything correctly, had to reseat my 97000 Zalman, because I had the orientation of the fan blowing to the top of the case instead of to the back. Used Arctic Silver 5, just a little bit came off over the side of the chip, nothing too scary, reseated and twisted the heatsink and then tightened it back down.

I am useing the CM 690 NT case, all fan areas are full. I hope I did not esd anything during my install, had a ground strap, so barring any DOA components from new egg, I should be up and running this evening.

Lots of good info in this thread, it helped me get up to speed after 10 years of being out of date.

Any recommened software I should load up before I go off into game land?

 

[Chris Remo]

I've been reading 750W isn't enough to power this card

Holy shit that is frightening

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Well, I've nearly convinced myself to upgrade to a Core i7 920...but I have to start from scratch. The big problem I'm trying to figure out right now is; what's a good, reasonably quiet mid-tower ATX case?

...okay, more specifically, is there a mid-tower case capable of holding the Thermalright Ultra 120 (and I mean fully sealed, not leaving the side of the case open. :lol )

I'm looking at a pretty light loadout; probably an HDD, an SSD, and a two-slot videocard. But I need a loadout that isn't going to get really noisy; LEDs and quintuple fans aren't my thing.

Check out the Antec 300.

Ceiling fan off 140mm, rear fan of 120, just set the speeds on the lowest and you wont notice em. The stock cpu fan for the i7 will probably be louder.

You have the option of installing a side fan and 2 front 120mm fans too if you want and you could always run them at the lowest possible speed.

 

[JudgeN]

Does any of that really matter when consoles don't even reach half that resolution (or even 720p for that matter), or keep steady 30fps? Point is, you spend less and get more with PCs...and if you want more, you can spend more.

That's not exactly true someone who has zero PC parts and wants to build one from scratch will spend far more then $300 (360). So of course it will do more but you damn sure aren't spending less money. My point was consoles still exist because most people I know who play PC play on resolution much higher then 720p, most of them play at 1400x900 or 1680x1050 and want a full 60 FPS with max settings (aka graphic/FPS whores) and whose parts while cheap aren't going to give that kind of performance. IMO there isn't really a point to playing on a PC if you going to be playing with console settings/resolution anyway. But you are correct PC gaming let you do things whoever you want, depending on your budget. But I'm a dirty rotten elitist when it comes to PC, its why I'm not going to play crysis until I can get an affordable video card that will play it at 60 FPS :lol

 

[Anticitizen One]

4830 is a (radeon) videocard, and the E5200 is a (intel) processor.

Thank you

 

[ahoyle77]

OK, I recently got a new (refurbished) PC and am trying to find out if going to 4 gb of ram is a waste of money (even though its cheap) or if I should. I asked this in the Total War release date thread, since that game apparently requires a minimum of 2gb, seems like I should get more.

Anyways, right now I have...
Athlon dual core 4600 (2.4 ghz)
8600 gt overclocked (256 ddr3)
2 gb ddr2 ram
Vista 32 bit

Only game I have now is Company of Heroes. I can play it ok in DX10, but with no AA on. Will extra ram help with this at all? Will I need more ram for Dawn of War 2 and Total War? Online a lot of people seem to think that anything over 2 gb in Vista 32 bit is overkill. Opinions?

 

[Chris Remo]

OK, I recently got a new (refurbished) PC and am trying to find out if going to 4 gb of ram is a waste of money (even though its cheap) or if I should. I asked this in the Total War release date thread, since that game apparently requires a minimum of 2gb, seems like I should get more.

Anyways, right now I have...
Athlon dual core 4600 (2.4 ghz)
8600 gt overclocked (256 ddr3)
2 gb ddr2 ram
Vista 32 bit

Only game I have now is Company of Heroes. I can play it ok in DX10, but with no AA on. Will extra ram help with this at all? Will I need more ram for Dawn of War 2 and Total War? Online a lot of people seem to think that anything over 2 gb in Vista 32 bit is overkill. Opinions?

It seems like you'd probably be best served by a video card upgrade at the moment. More RAM always helps but 2GB isn't deficient or anything. You'll also need a 64-bit operating system if you want to fully take advantage of 4GB of RAM or more.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Well, I've nearly convinced myself to upgrade to a Core i7 920...but I have to start from scratch. The big problem I'm trying to figure out right now is; what's a good, reasonably quiet mid-tower ATX case?

...okay, more specifically, is there a mid-tower case capable of holding the Thermalright Ultra 120 (and I mean fully sealed, not leaving the side of the case open. :lol )

I'm looking at a pretty light loadout; probably an HDD, an SSD, and a two-slot videocard. But I need a loadout that isn't going to get really noisy; LEDs and quintuple fans aren't my thing.

I have an i7 and TRUE120 and it fits with plenty of clearance (that meaning, enough to close the case wihtout issue, but not enough to mount a fan there.)

 

[Ysiadmihi]

OK, I recently got a new (refurbished) PC and am trying to find out if going to 4 gb of ram is a waste of money (even though its cheap) or if I should. I asked this in the Total War release date thread, since that game apparently requires a minimum of 2gb, seems like I should get more.

Anyways, right now I have...
Athlon dual core 4600 (2.4 ghz)
8600 gt overclocked (256 ddr3)
2 gb ddr2 ram
Vista 32 bit

Only game I have now is Company of Heroes. I can play it ok in DX10, but with no AA on. Will extra ram help with this at all? Will I need more ram for Dawn of War 2 and Total War? Online a lot of people seem to think that anything over 2 gb in Vista 32 bit is overkill. Opinions?

2GB is fine for most games really. Company of Heroes runs fine for me on 2. Like Chris said, look into upgrading that video card or try overclocking a bit. Games were nearly unplayable for me with an 8600GT 256MB unless I overclocked.

 

[Caesar III]

I've been reading 750W isn't enough to power this card. If I have to buy a new PSU, I am fucked.

I don't think this is true. You need a powerful noname PSU but if you have a decent one with enough A on the 12V line you should be fine.
My girlfriends 9800GT package states it needs 28A here.

 

[Cheeto]

That's not exactly true someone who has zero PC parts and wants to build one from scratch will spend far more then $300 (360). So of course it will do more but you damn sure aren't spending less money. My point was consoles still exist because most people I know who play PC play on resolution much higher then 720p, most of them play at 1400x900 or 1680x1050 and want a full 60 FPS with max settings (aka graphic/FPS whores) and whose parts while cheap aren't going to give that kind of performance. IMO there isn't really a point to playing on a PC if you going to be playing with console settings/resolution anyway. But you are correct PC gaming let you do things whoever you want, depending on your budget. But I'm a dirty rotten elitist when it comes to PC, its why I'm not going to play crysis until I can get an affordable video card that will play it at 60 FPS :lol

I'd say they aren't that far off. I remember that $400 PC challenge thread awhile back...and that wasn't even counting on sale prices and whatnot. Nowadays I'm sure you can do much better...

 

[ahoyle77]

2GB is fine for most games really. Company of Heroes runs fine for me on 2. Like Chris said, look into upgrading that video card or try overclocking a bit. Games were nearly unplayable for me with an 8600GT 256MB unless I overclocked.

Well, I'm pretty limited by my PSU at the moment, its only 300w. So I dont want to update that and the card right now. Will probably do that later in the year. Also, its already overclocked.

 

[godhandiscen]

I don't think this is true. You need a powerful noname PSU but if you have a decent one with enough A on the 12V line you should be fine.
My girlfriends 9800GT package states it needs 28A here.

Yeah, it doesn't make sense, the 4870x2 consumes more power according to benchmarks, but all PSU calculators are telling me I need a 850W PSU. I have a Corsair 750XT btw.

 

[Ranger X]

GeForce 9800 GT

It's very cheap right now. What it is worth?

 

[dasupremeone]

GeForce 9800 GT

It's very cheap right now. What it is worth?

best budget card on the market right now

 

[ProfessorLobo]

I need a new desktop and this one is one clearance for 455 dollars. Will it run WoW decently? I don't play any other PC games and really would just be using it for World of Warcraft, and downloading movies and music and perusing the internet.

AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4450E
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Service Pack 1
No Monitor
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
16x DVD+/-RW Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE Integrated Graphics GPU
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
No Floppy Drive Included
No Modem Option
Internal PCI 802.11g Wireless Network Card
My Software & Accessories
No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
No Subscription (only 30-day protection)
Microsoft Works 9.0
My Service
1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year

Video card is older than hell, I'd say no.

 

[Caesar III]

Yeah, it doesn't make sense, the 4870x2 consumes more power according to benchmarks, but all PSU calculators are telling me I need a 850W PSU. I have a Corsair 750XT btw.

btw My girlfriends psu is 250W only and under load the pc needs 215W.

We are thinking about replacing it but it should be fine, right?

 

[FoxSpirit]

I don't think this is true. You need a powerful noname PSU but if you have a decent one with enough A on the 12V line you should be fine.
My girlfriends 9800GT package states it needs 28A here.

28Amps on a single 12V line?? That sounds crazy.
That would equate to a roughly 800W PSU :lol :lol :lol

If it's 14x2 that would mean 400W
*looks up NV's homepage*
Yup, 400W PSU minimum, the GTX would already be at 450W.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Cool Master 690 my friend..... fits mine perfectly.

Will take a look, thanks.

Check out the Antec 300. You have the option of installing a side fan and 2 front 120mm fans too if you want and you could always run them at the lowest possible speed.

Not really interested in mucking around with extra fans; I know how to put together a PC but airflow is not exactly my major. I plan on just doing the dummy overclock on the EVGA X58 to hit 3.6 and leave it like that (AKA: not that interested in stress right now.) Was thinking I'll probably need the Ultra 120 to make that happen without turning the case into a vacuum cleaner?

I have an i7 and TRUE120 and it fits with plenty of clearance (that meaning, enough to close the case wihtout issue, but not enough to mount a fan there.)

What's your case?

 

[FoxSpirit]

You overestimate ATI's performance on Crysis. I might be too demanding with the fps, but even a 4870 1GB doesn't offer me a decent fps on Crysis on high/gamer @ 16080x1050. I heard the 8.12 CCC fixed this, but I would be cautious.


Anyway, so I replaced my 4870x2 with a GTX295+. For all those who called me an ATI fanboy, well, what now? The new card will arrive most likely on Monday. I mostly game, at 1680x1050, so I opted for the change (the GTX295 is superior at this resolution), however, I found out the GTX295 chuckles at high resolutions due to its limited video memory in comparison to the 4870x2. So most likely I will hold up on a monitor upgrade until the next generation, when I have a fast dual card that can handle high resolutions.

Aso, I got a EVGA branded one, so I guess I have the option to step up for 90 days. If Nvidia hurries with the 300 series, I might be able to nag one at an unbeatable price.

edit: I think I fucked up. I've been reading 750W isn't enough to power this card. If I have to buy a new PSU, I am fucked.

NVidia recommends... holy hell... 680W PSU minimum!
That's not a graphics card, that a small stove

 

[Caesar III]

28Amps on a single 12V line?? That sounds crazy.
That would equate to a roughly 800W PSU :lol :lol :lol

If it's 14x2 that would mean 400W
*looks up NV's homepage*
Yup, 400W PSU minimum, the GTX would already be at 450W.

Its on the front of the package. Like stated above, she has a 250W PSU (can handle 300W peaks it says) and it works just fine (tested with furmark)

 

[Caesar III]

NVidia recommends... holy hell... 680W PSU minimum!
That's not a graphics card, that a small stove

Thats my main point in not upgrading right now. I have a 8800GTS320 and I don't want such a energy sucker. I hope they can handle this with the next generation

 

[Nemo]

QQ, are there mobos supporting both Dual Core and AGP videocards?

 

[Hazaro]

You overestimate ATI's performance on Crysis. I might be too demanding with the fps, but even a 4870 1GB doesn't offer me a decent fps on Crysis on high/gamer @ 16080x1050. I heard the 8.12 CCC fixed this, but I would be cautious.

8.12 boosted, plus the CCC Tweak option for Crysis I would put it in good standing to run it.
You only need 24 fps for Cryis to feel fine

 

[Hazaro]

Thats my main point in not upgrading right now. I have a 8800GTS320 and I don't want such a energy sucker. I hope they can handle this with the next generation

Faster, cooler, uses less power.

Wattage is a big thing on some people's minds. You can't help power needs if you slap the highest end cards you have together.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Ok I finally got almost all my parts for my build! Took me alot of choosing and research but I think I'll be happy with what I get:

Phenom II 920 @ 2.8ghz
ASrock 790gx mobo
4 gigs of DDR2 800 Ballistix
Seasonic M12 700W
Antec Three Hundred case (1x 140mm fan, 3x 120mm fan)

Gonna change out all the 120mm fans for Yate Loon fans.

 

[FoxSpirit]

So I decided to simply upgrade my 1950pro to a Gainward HD4850 Golden sample. Did quite some research my, PSU seems fine:
http://www.chieftec.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=107&Itemid=305&lang=EN

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

changing topics slightly, but I noticed on the first page that cyberpowerpc wasn't included on the list of buyers. i've bought from them and I've had nothing but great experiences with them. and their prices really can't be beat (well i'm sure if you hunt hard enough i guess...)

 

[Hazaro]

Ok I finally got almost all my parts for my build! Took me alot of choosing and research but I think I'll be happy with what I get:

Phenom II 920 @ 2.8ghz (I don't know anything about AMD)
ASrock 790gx mobo (I don't know anything about AMD)
4 gigs of DDR2 800 Ballistix (I told you to swap these)
Seasonic M12 700W (Good)
Antec Three Hundred case (1x 140mm fan, 3x 120mm fan) (Good)

Gonna change out all the 120mm fans for Yate Loon fans. (Good)

Just swap the Ballistix out for the $40 set of G.Skill 3 people suggested.

So I decided to simply upgrade my 1950pro to a Gainward HD4850 Golden sample. Did quite some research my, PSU seems fine:
http://www.chieftec.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=107&Itemid=305&lang=EN

14A/15A rails.

Should be ok, if you get odd performance it could be your PSU though.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Will take a look, thanks.



Not really interested in mucking around with extra fans; I know how to put together a PC but airflow is not exactly my major. I plan on just doing the dummy overclock on the EVGA X58 to hit 3.6 and leave it like that (AKA: not that interested in stress right now.) Was thinking I'll probably need the Ultra 120 to make that happen without turning the case into a vacuum cleaner?



What's your case?

I was referring to a post asking about a CM 690.

 

[Caesar III]

Faster, cooler, uses less power.

But not enough for me in each part to spend 100€

Wattage is a big thing on some people's minds. You can't help power needs if you slap the highest end cards you have together.

I want some significant improvements over my card (8800GT/9800GT is not enough) in performance without needing more watts. Even less watts would be great.

I don't need the state of the art card but a decent one. So perhaps there will be another nvidia 2xx revision this year with less power consumption.
that would be the performance improvement I'm seeking.

 

[Hazaro]

But not enough for me in each part to spend 100€


I want some significant improvements over my card (8800GT/9800GT is not enough) in performance without needing more watts. Even less watts would be great.

I don't need the state of the art card but a decent one. So perhaps there will be another nvidia 2xx revision this year with less power consumption.
that would be the performance improvement I'm seeking.

The GTX 260 currently uses 10 more watts than your GTS at load, but idles 30w less. (TechReport)
Not sure if the 55nm version is only the 216 core.

Not to mention you can use stuff like SpeedStepping or undervolting your processor to reduce your power usage even further.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

Because all that stuff isn't going to max out every game on the market at 1680x1050. That stuff is cheap but the low cache on the E5200 will hurt performance, and the 4830 isn't good at higher resolution. And if your a 60 FPS whore like I am (which I imagine is why most people PC game) that setup isn't going to get you there.

oh no, i agree. but i think for console gamers that are "scared" of PC gaming (for many reasons, not too many of them valid IMO) these components would be a great starting point.

 

[AFreak]

A lot of times, the hard drive platters themselves aren't bad, just the PCB on top of the drive. You can buy another drive of the same model and swap the PCBs to get it working again if that's the case.

If the drive suddenly stopped being recognized in BIOS, that is probably what happened. On the other hand, if it made funny noises and then died, or had a bunch of bad sectors and then died, it's probably the internals, and you'll be paying $500+ for (partial) recovery.

I had taken mine to Best Buy and just wanted a 13GB file with most of my music/movies(nonporn). So, I figure if they could do it that easily it shouldn't be too hard for me(crosses fingers).

 

[Fredescu]

Because all that stuff isn't going to max out every game on the market at 1680x1050. That stuff is cheap but the low cache on the E5200 will hurt performance...

I thought I'd read that CPU cache had little effect on gaming.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Just swap the Ballistix out for the $40 set of G.Skill 3 people suggested.

I'm gonna take my chances and besides its only $20 after rebate so if they piss me off I'll just buy a new set and sell off the Ballistix.

 

[Labombadog]

$200 + $50, $40, $20, $20, $20, $20, $50
$160 on the monitor
______________
$580 for something that can max almost every game on the market.

Then a year or two passes then you must upgrade again. One of the downfalls in PC gaming..shit PC period. I personally dont mind, but this is answering to "why do people still buy consoles??".

Next topic: I am buying 2 monitors for dual monitoring (sp?). Using two monitor tax the GPU much? Or not much? I have a 4850, and was wondering if I would need to upgrade to another card by then.

Thanks.

 

[Anticitizen One]

What about the Nvidia PhysX card? Is it worth it?