$500 Buld Challenge - Part Duex

[Evolv]

I have an 600w OCZ power supply and I have never had any problems with it.

 

[FailBoat]

Sweet. I just got the money today for my build

So I am basing my build off the AMD build on the first page.

[CPU] Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor - Processors - Desktops - $145

[MOBO] Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards - $75

[HDD] Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives - $50

[RAM] Newegg.com - CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory - $55

[VID] Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100265L Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards - $90

[OPT] Newegg.com - LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - CD / DVD Burners - $24

[CSE] Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases - $35

= $550

A couple problems. Most of the rebates have changed, so prices have changed. The case is not free shipping. Because of this, the case is effectively $55 bucks. The chosen graphics card is also sold out.

If anyone has any ideas about those two I am open to suggestions. I also decided to go with a Different PSU. I am going to get the OCZ StealthXStream 600W PSU. I decided on that one with futureproofing/overclocking in mind. The other one was a 450w corsair.

At about 400 bucks if we remove that case and GPU. Max budget is about 550.

Thoughts?

 

[Evolv]

Here is a good case with free shipping:
Newegg.com - Rosewill R5717-P SL 120mm Fan Pre-Installed on the Top and 80mm Slim Fan Cooling HDD,ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Pretty much the same 4830 if not better:
Newegg.com - MSI R4830-T2D512 Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

 

[FailBoat]

Thanks the the suggestions gt7sanremo. I'll probably snag that case. Some people are saying its not really worth it but I think I will up the GPU to 9800GTX+ / 4850 area. What do you think?

 

[Evolv]

Yea, the 4850 would be a good choice. It's a step up from the 4830, what size monitor will you be gaming on?

 

[FailBoat]

A really crappy 19 inch CRT

But that will upgrade to a Acer H213H bmid Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Full HD 1080P Widescreen 16:9 LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ACM 20000:1 Built in Speakers - Retail in the very near future. Like, within a month of purchase of the computer

 

[Hussein19891]

That monitor is so freaking beautiful :' )

You should have a decent set up, set your games at 1680x1050 when gaming though. 4830 isn't really meant for gaming with resolutions of 1080P or higher.

 

[zedman3d]

Im glad you chose my build. :happy:
Good luck with it all.

 

[Whirlwind]

Ah ok. One of my work friends made an interesting argument. He was arguing that the driving force behind game development is not bigger, better and brighter but rather what can be ported from PCs to Consoles as well. And since consoles stick around for about 4 or 5 years until the next model comes out, many game development companies are less likely to develop and release games that can't run on multiple platforms.

There are obviously games that do not fall under this idea, but meh... Sounds reasonable to me. The last time I was buying computer components, I remember things overall costing a lot more. In terms of price to performance. Overclocking seemed to be more difficult or dangerous to do back then too

Oh another question. What are good brands for 4850s?
I won't be able to purchase this until the beginning of March. That means a lot of those mail in rebate offers will be gone and new ones will be popping up. Going to have to see what new deals come up here in March.

Your friend makes a very valid point about MOST pc games being ported over from the console. It is very sad, but very true.

In pc gaming your video card will be far more important than the cpu, as long as you still have a decent cpu. The ONLY exception may be the RTS games.

I have upgraded my gpu twice without having to upgrade my cpu.....each gpu upgrade was very nice.......this theory holds true for gaming and not benchmarking.

Enjoy your new pc.

 

[SuxoR]

For a 500 dollar build would a 4850/4830 be good? or a 9800?

And what power supply?