Selecting a Computer

cc170

Ello, 

I am helping my girlfriend select either parts for a computer a pre-built machine. I am looking for suggestions. 

She just plans on playing WoW, ToR, and possibly GW2. Along with the occasional steam game, but nothing too hardcore. We currently have a 500 dollar budget. Any help will be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you, 

Cody. 

Quizzical

You're not getting a prebuilt gaming computer for $500.  Either it will be a piece of junk, or it won't be a gaming computer at all.  Probably both, actually.

If you build it yourself, you could get something decent enough on a severe budget that doesn't go far over $500.  But it's a lot easier to avoid having to cut corners on a $600 budget than a $500 budget.  I'd also hope that you're planning on keeping old peripherals, as if you have to buy new peripherals, too, then the only option I can think of that will even make most games playable at moderately low settings is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Gateway-NV55S03u-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Ebony/dp/B0051OLCH0

And that's not what you want in a gaming system.  I'm also not certain if that's two 2 GB modules or one 4 GB module; if the latter, then you'd have to spend another $30 or so to upgrade the memory yourself.

cc170

I wouldn't mind building one, but could you possibly suggest some parts for the 500-600 dollar range? 

It would be greatly appreciated 

JerYnkFan

http://www.gamersnexus.net/pc-builds/46-pcbuildupg/566-budget-gaming-pc-july-11

 

Or what I usually do is buy parts second hand from a place like AnandTech.  I just picked up an i3-2100 and MSI Motherboard from Microcenter for 125.00 and 8GB DDR3 for less than 50 on a Newegg Shell Shocker.  That would give you around 300 to build the rest of the components

gkb3469

I could probably work in the $800 range for a computer. You say you want "parts", what parts are you looking for. it takes more than a few.

start with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128458

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103809

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

Then you will need:

• 
  Hard drive
• 
  software
• 
  Graphics card
• 
  Power supply
• 
  Monitor
• 
  Mouse and Keyboard
• 
  Speakers(?)
• 
  RAM

Pretty sure thats it although something always slips my mind.

Quizzical

JerYnkFan, that build also comes with no OS.  Have fun trying to play games on Linux.  It also comes with a cheap junk power supply of the sort that no computer should ever be saddled with.

-----

Motherboard:  $60

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131728

That's a cheap, feature-barren motherboard.  But it's also Socket AM3+, so if you decide you need a faster processor in the future, you'll be able to upgrade just the processor.

Processor:  $75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103872

Three cores at 3.1 GHz should be functional for quite some time to come.

Power supply:  $40

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033

That's good enough for the original system.  Don't try hooking up a video card that needs multiple PCI-E power connectors, though.

Memory:  $30

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231396

Memory sure has gotten cheap, hasn't it?

Optical drive:  $19

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151233

Case:  $55 before a $15 rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129098

Two big case fans will be ample cooling.

Hard drive:  $60

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795

Even on your budget, I just can't bring myself to recommend a slower hard drive.

Video card:  $117, before a $30 rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500187

How do you feel about big rebates on old products that Nvidia made too many of at uncompetitive prices and is now trying to get rid of?

OS license:  $100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

That comes to $556, before $35 in rebates.  If you won't do rebates or want to stay strictly inside a $500 budget, then try this video card instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102871

I hope you already have a keyboard, mouse, monitor, surge protector, and speakers from a previous computer that you're going to keep, rather than needing all new peripherals, too.

cc170

I was personally thinking something along the lines of:

AMD Phenom 2 X4 945 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103809

ATI 5670 1gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125360

WD 500gb HD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

Patriot Gamer 8gb of RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220557&cm_sp=Cat_Memory-_-Featured_Brand-_-20-220-557

530W Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182199

 

Gigabyte Ga-880GM Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128458

Thermaltake Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

Then of course W7 

A total of $574.92 

Anyone think I could cut back a little bit?

Like I said, she will mainly be playing WoW and ToR when it releases. 

 

Quizzical

1)  You don't need 8 GB of system memory.

2)  Don't get a Rosewill power supply.  Just don't.

3)  That case only comes with one fan.  Once you add another, it will be more expensive than the Antec case linked, even before the rebate.

And you still need an OS license and optical drive.

cc170

Originally posted by Quizzical

1)  You don't need 8 GB of system memory.

2)  Don't get a Rosewill power supply.  Just don't.

3)  That case only comes with one fan.  Once you add another, it will be more expensive than the Antec case linked, even before the rebate.

And you still need an OS license and optical drive.

Thanks, Quizzical. 

I didn't see your post before I posed. Sorry, about that. 

I am looking over everything currently. I will post a finalized list of what I am planing in a minute. 

Thanks again for your help. 

Ridelynn

Quiz will have exact links to buy from, but just in general. (*Edit* - he posted his while I was still typing, and my guesses were pretty close on all accounts to his actual Newegg links)

That budget is almost certainly an AM3 AMD Phenom II setup. Nothing wrong with that at all, and has a good bit of upgrade potential as well (AM3+ motherboards will be Bulldozer compatible). I recently saw a special for a Phenom 2 X4 955 for around $80, and the motherboard is probably around another $100.

Power supply, 500W - around $50

Western Digital Caviar Black, 500G or so - around $70

Case - around $50

DVD Drive - around $20

4GB DDR3 1333 RAM - around $40

Windows 7 Home - around $100 (can be found much cheaper on student discount though, if you have a .edu email)

And really, that's the bare bones of any gaming computer right there, not really any corners cut, but I don't think you can drop much lower on anything and really come up with a good viable machine to do any gaming with.

That comes to around $510 right there just ballparking it, and you still need to pick out a GPU. GPU will make the most difference, and most people that are looking at gaming, I recommend no lower than a 460 nVidia side, or a 6700 series on the ATI side (around $100). You can find cheaper GPUs, but your going to want to upgrade sooner than later with them, and that really cuts the wind out of any money you save now.

gkb3469

Quizzical did a great job on his reccomendations. kudos

cc170

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151233 - Optical Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129098 - Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769 - HD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131728 - Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125360 - Graphics Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033 - Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231396 - Ram

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103872 - Processor 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 - Windows 7

Mostly Quizzical's suggestions with one or two of my own. 

The thing is, it only comes out to 488.91

I feel like I am missing something.

JerYnkFan

Sorry didn't see the no O/S part in the other link.  I was just trying to give him a general idea.  I'd go for this PSU rather than the Rosewill

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371047

 

I've seen a ton of deals on DDR3 4GB kits and that should be plenty and save you a few bucks.

Quizzical

The computer will work, and will probably be quite a bit nicer than your girlfriend would have reasonably expected to get for $500.  But there are some things that you should be aware of.

First, the hard drive is going to be fairly slow.  Well, all hard drives are slow.  But the reason why I linked the WD Caviar Black earlier is that it's less slow than most consumer hard drives.  It is an extra $18 for the same capacity, but it will mean that you wait maybe 10%-20% less time whenever you have to wait for your computer to do something.  That includes big things like booting, loading programs, loading screens in games.  It also includes lots of little things, like the computer responding quicker when you tell it to do something.

Next, don't get that video card.  DDR3 memory will hamstring the card, and you might lose 20% of the performance that the card would have had with faster memory.  The Radeon HD 5670 that I linked above will be a lot faster, because GDDR5 memory gives it 2 1/2 times the memory bandwidth.  The one I linked is also $1 cheaper.  You might be thinking, 512 MB of video memory versus 1 GB.  But if you're running high enough settings to need more than 512 MB of video memory, then the GPU chip probably won't be able to run the game smoothly, anyway.

You should also be aware that the Redwood GPU chip of the Radeon HD 5670 is meant for a budget gaming card.  If you don't mind turning graphical settings down a ways, and having to run many games at moderate settings, then maybe that's fine.  Pretty much every game that launches in the next few years should be playable with pretty smooth frame rates on that card.  But in some cases, you'll have to go with moderate or even low graphical settings to make the game run smoothly.  Don't expect to max settings on that card.

The power supply is very much a budget power supply.  It's not bad, and with the hardware that you're getting, it will work nicely for you.  But it will limit your upgrade path.  The Antec High Current Gamer 520 W that JerYnkFan linked above is a much nicer power supply for only $10 more, and will let you do whatever upgrades you might realistically want to do in the useful life of the machine without having to worry about whether the power supply will be adequate.  The Antec EarthWatts Green 380 W doesn't offer that.  It's not just the wattage.  The High Current Gamer line is of higher quality, too, and $50 for that power supply is a great deal.

The basic theme of the motherboard is that Asus said, we're going to make the cheapest Socket AM3+ motherboard that we can without it being complete garbage.  There are only four rear USB ports, only two memory slots, no SATA 3, no USB 3.0, and only a four phase power supply.  Overclocking on that motherboard is completely out of the question, and a lot of processors won't work with it because they'd take too much power.  If you wanted a Phenom II instead of an Athlon II, for example, you'd have to pick a different motherboard that can handle the higher power consumption.  On a larger budget, it would be nice to spend $30-$40 more on a better motherboard.

If you had a $600 budget rather than $500, then those are tthings I'd change, plus maybe a faster processor.  But your budget is what it is, and at some point, you have to say, this is good enough and I'm not going to spend more, as you can always get something better for more money, at least up to about $1500, at which point, it takes a lot more money to get something a little better.

Phry

Originally posted by gkb3469

Quizzical did a great job on his reccomendations. kudos

he does.. i've been building my own systems for years.. but whenever i read his posts i feel like im getting an education

psyclum

Originally posted by Phry

Originally posted by gkb3469

Quizzical did a great job on his reccomendations. kudos

he does.. i've been building my own systems for years.. but whenever i read his posts i feel like im getting an education

hehe it's like he works for newegg and always knows what parts are on sale or has rebates:D   he's like a living fatwallet.com link for newegg:D

JerYnkFan

If you want to get a better processor and live near a Microcenter (They are currently OOS online), I just purchased an i3-2100 Sandybridgeand MSI MB for 125.00.  You have to add both items to cart for discount.  It's 10 bucks less than what you currently are speccing and will be a much better performer.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0359807

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0359809

 

Also like I stated before if you go to the Anandtech boards you can get some sweet deals as well.  For example this guy is selling a GTX260 which will hammer the 5670 for 70 bucks.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2174999&highlight=gtx260