Everyone is talking about dual core and quad core... but what
about AMD's Sempron 2.7 GHz Sargas model? It benchmarks
well over the 2 GHz Core2Duo (the old generation, the new
Core2Duo's with virtualization would kill it). The system I'm
using when I go to my friend's house, which I built, and runs
most games quite well at 1680x1050... is...
CPU: AMD Sempron 2.7 GHz Sargas socket AM3. (Single core)
RAM: 2 GB DDR2 1066 MHz memory (2x 1 GB)
VIDEO: eVGA GeForce 9500 GT 1 GB PCI-e
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
320 GB WD Caviar Blue HD
The only game I really have problems with on this computer
is Crysis, but when I turn the resolution down to 1280x800
I can have the settings up pretty high. However, my friend
is happy with it... he can play Modern Warfare 2. lol
Just look at something like that to get, if you're on a budget
those pieces are very cheap and work well together. Just
make sure you get the right motherboard for 1066 MHz
memory to work with the processor. If it isn't compatible
it will run at 800 MHz. I had that problem with the first
board. Sadly, I can't tell you which board worked. I'll reply
to tell you later when I go to his house.
Maybe about 6 years ago, a single core would cut it. By today's games, it would be put to it's knees, and struggle. The Sempron is intended for BASIC functions now. Word, Email, Instant Messaging, Media Playback, ect. ect. Today's games are coded, and optimized for multiple cores, unlike older games that could do very well on a single core platform.
As for playin' Crysis at that resolution and high settings, I'm going to have to call BS, unless you're getting BAD framerate. I was BARELY playable with my setup on high settings, at a higher resolution. (1440 x 900), I was averaging 32FPS, and while it was playable, that would not be acceptable to a lot f gamers these days.
I suggest a Athlon II X4 620 ($100) (You could go with a dual core, if you wanted, and it would save quite a bit, **** even an Athlon II X3 would be accpetable.)
AM3 board ($60 - Biostar A785G3)
4GB DDR3 ($95)
ATI 4850 ($100) (You could hold out on this, and see if the integrated graphics would be suitable for your gaming style, but it won't be nearly as good as a dedicated GPU.)
250GB SATA II hard drive ($45)
Corsair 400W PSU ($50)
Windows 7 Home Premium ($100)
A little over your budget, but you'll be more satisfied with this over most prebuilts for the same price.
Given I am working on a budget, I'd rather try just building it myself if I got all the components. I'd need a lot of help though, do people often get talked through the assembly process here or?
We'll help you as much as you want to. The best thing to remember, is putting together a computer, is just like a puzzle. I piece will not fit where it does not belong.
