Budget Gaming Solution

C

Comedian

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 15, 2005
Messages
107
My friend is getting the next gen Nvidia card, and is giving me his Geforce 7800 gt 256mb pci express for free. Well I was planning on upgrading my computer way back when, but I never really had too much money. I might have a small budget, but nothing too fancy.

I need to get a new:
1) Motherboard
2) Processor
3) Memory
4) Power Supply

Right now those are the important things and I can get everything else later on. I might not be doing too much overclocking, but I want to keep it open. I want to keep it as budget as possible, but still be able to run games like Quake 4 and Fear. Maybe later even upgrade further yet in a year or 2.

What should I get. Ive gotten a comple ideas here and there, but ultimately I want something suited for me.

THanks all!
 
First, you have good friends :) and second, a 7800GT for budget gaming.. Things go fast ;)

Ok, knowing that this is a budget box without knowing your actual budget does not help us making recommendations. Anyway, here is what I would buy for a budget gaming computer :

Processor : AMD Athlon 64 3500+
Motherboard : Asus A8N-E
Memory : 1gig G.Skill PC3200
PSU : Nothing el cheapo, please. Maybe Antec, Enermax. Something at least 450W (reknowned brand)

Memory is rather cheap these days. If you can afford it, get 2 gb instead. G.Skill is good stuff and I believe that 2 gb of PC3200 CAS 2325 sells for 160$.

These are my personnal preferences but for what you are aiming for, I believe that it would fit the bill nicely.

Para
 
Make sure you go for the Venice cores on A64s. Those things really scream when overclocked.

An A8N-E is a really stable board if you're not going to SLi.

G.Skill is good too, but if you have to money, up it to 2GB. Newer games are more RAM dependant and 2GB would really help alot.
 
Thanks for the replies. Yeah that sounds like a good idea all the way. As for the psu, I have 9x 120 mm fans to be powered and some other things. I might later do serial ata also. I usually do upgrades gradually. My roommate just dumped $4000 for a new comp and monitor straight out.

Ill start looking at prices tonight though.

Also what is the difference between the AMD 64 3500 Venice and the AMD 64 3700 San Diego?
 
IF you play BF2 go for 2GB of ram. BF 2 sucks ram. With the sliders on high and the eye candy on the game wants to eat 1.4gb by itself. Check it in task mangler.
 
Comedian said:
Also what is the difference between the AMD 64 3500 Venice and the AMD 64 3700 San Diego?
Click to expand...


3500+ has 512K level 2 cache while the 3700 has 1mb. it does helps and it gives about 7-10% performance more. People reports that it helps the system to feel a bit snappier.

Para
 
Well I knew physically what the difference is, but like the difference in price isnt that bad, only a few bucks actually. So should I just go with the 3700?
 
sure you would be better off if the price difference is only a few bucks to go with the 3700 and the 1meg of L2 cashe.the venice cores are great and i wouldnt trade mine for a faster chip as my 3200 e3 o/clocks like mad even on stock voltage.
i can go all the way up to 2500mhz on 1.38v and its prime stable and any bench you throw at it runs great and no lock ups .my friend has the 3700 on the same mobo as me the asus a8n-e and using his computer i see no real world difference but in games it mite give you a little bit more with faster load times.its hard for me to say as im not a gamer,i just like having a fast rig and have great benches.its kinda wierd i have a cpu o/clocked to 2500mhz and an asus a8n-e with corsair xms 3200c2 ram at 1t = 1 gig, and a video card powercolor x800gto all running stock voltage and not 1 game on my computer.i run a business off it and im on the internet constantly reading and teaching myself.i build computers for a living and i install games for customers on their new rigs but i dont have time really to run games for hours on end.i get the thrill of designing my next system in my head for months before i actually build it.as long as i know i have the fastest rig i can afford to build and its the fastest of all my friends then im happy for a while,6 months or so,i finish 1 build and my thoughts turn to what ill use for my next build.
well good luck with you build and really you cant go wrong with either of the cpus your looking at so there isnt a wrong answer for your question.buy the fastest one you can afford.................................
 
Sure, if you can swallow the price difference, then get the 3700+. If you manage to overclock it to 2.60GHz, then be happy with a FX-55 :) Ok ok, not a real FX but at least the performance.

Para
 
My 3700+ SD is 24 hour+ Prime95 stable at 2.816ghz at 1.45V, 38-40 degrees C load with stock AMD HSF. I love my budget FX-57!
 
I say get the cheapest single or dual core processor you can find that is a recent stepping on the used market. Best bang for the buck.

The ASrock Dual SATA2 is cheap, decent and maximizes future compatibility with support for AM2 through an inexpensive daughter card to be available later.

It also has AGP and PCI-e 16x, not that you need that with the 7800 GT, which is a great card.

Memory is up to where you want to make your compromizes. 1GB vs 2GB is really dependant on to many factors and will be a personal choice. BF2 will run fine on 1GB despite popular belief. Not as well as 2GB but more than playable, especially if you know how to tweak your OS.

I say get value RAM as timings and bandwidth are not so important on the current AMD platforms. This might bring 2GB into your budget. Look for an Opty 144 used. Even OEM Optys have a one year AMD warranty. Even on the ASrock board at 1.45v that chip will do 2.4 to 2.6GHz which for $150 used is pretty good bang for the buck.

Generally I aggree about the PSU comments already made, but here are a couple ideas to consider as far as saving a few pennies.
1. Look for an XCleo PSU, they are made by the same company that maks Antec's PSUs and you can get essentially a TP2.0 550w for pretty cheap.

2. There is this supper cheap brand Skyhawk that so many people say are good, that I'd really considder looking for one. Again this is with seriouse budget restictions in mind.

Also consider BFG is now making powersupplies. They also have BFG's famouse lifetime warranty. A PSU with a lifetime warranty is prety unheard of, have not heard much about them though, so its a bit of an unknown, and I'm not sure you want to be in on the first generation, before they work the inevitable kinks out.

Personally I always skimp on the PSU last, and alwyas go for something I trust will be solid for years. Thats why I have a OCZ Powerstream 600w. OCZ has great support and a 5 year warranty.

Good luck.
 
Comedian said:
Thanks for the replies. Yeah that sounds like a good idea all the way. As for the psu, I have 9x 120 mm fans to be powered and some other things. I might later do serial ata also. I usually do upgrades gradually. My roommate just dumped $4000 for a new comp and monitor straight out.

Ill start looking at prices tonight though.

Also what is the difference between the AMD 64 3500 Venice and the AMD 64 3700 San Diego?
Click to expand...

Nine fans? Wow.
 
They are really good fans. They are quiet, and have a good enough airflow. The only thing right now that is making noise is my old Volcano 9 HSF. All in all i have the PSU with 2 fans, 1 system blower, 1 fan on vid card, Volcano 9 HSF, 9x 120mm case fans, and a fan on a 5.25 hard drive cooler bay. The only ones that make noise are the volcano 9 which is 90% of the noise, and the 5.25 cooler bay which is another 5%, the PSU is 4% and the system fans are about 1%... the math is off but thats what it sounds like without the use of a dB reader.

Edit: And the reason I have 9 fans?
U2UFOBO.jpg
 
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