aaronkupen
Fully Optimized
- Messages
- 1,848
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
Okay first of all, my dad is going to be buying a new computer around this christmas time, and he wants to do some casual gaming with it. Keep in mind he has been using a 2.3 Ghz P4, a gig of ram, and an fx5200 for about 4 years now ... so he is more than content with playing games on the lowest of settings; He just wants to play games.
This is what I have so far...
GPU Hd 3870: Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100225DDR3L Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
It was between this or the 9600GSO, but I figure that the 3870 might have slightly more of a lifetime. It doesn't matter to him that the 3870 might struggle with AA, he wants to play the game and I think this card might be able to play a couple games in the future that the 9600GSO (384 MB) might be struggling with.
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
PSU: Newegg.com - Rosewill Stallion Series Single 12cm Ball Bearing Fan RD500-2-SB ATX V2.2 500W Power Supply 115V/230 V UL, CSA, TUV, FCC - Power Supplies
CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Pentium E2220 Allendale 2.4GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors
I'm probably going to overclock it a few hundred megahertz for a few extra frames and for slightly added longevity. I'm concerned about the cache though for long-term gaming.
RAM: Newegg.com - WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
Ram isn't much of a concern, 2 gigs should be fine for awhile and ddr2-800 is a fine speed.
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075
Improvement from his old 40 gig 5200 rpm hard drive.
Okay, so this build comes to about $460. The budget can't go more than $10-20 over this, and I think that this is about as good of a system as I can get. Things may change by christmas, and I think this list will be updated accordingly.
But as of now, does anyone have any other ideas? Things like a better cpu or gpu for the same price, or cheaper component that performs similar to another. The main thing I'm concerned about is the processor, but at this price range I don't think I have many options.
Any feedback would be appreciated, except comments that entail coughing up some more money for a component that increases the budget $100+. They will be ignored.
This is what I have so far...
GPU Hd 3870: Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100225DDR3L Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
It was between this or the 9600GSO, but I figure that the 3870 might have slightly more of a lifetime. It doesn't matter to him that the 3870 might struggle with AA, he wants to play the game and I think this card might be able to play a couple games in the future that the 9600GSO (384 MB) might be struggling with.
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
PSU: Newegg.com - Rosewill Stallion Series Single 12cm Ball Bearing Fan RD500-2-SB ATX V2.2 500W Power Supply 115V/230 V UL, CSA, TUV, FCC - Power Supplies
CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Pentium E2220 Allendale 2.4GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors
I'm probably going to overclock it a few hundred megahertz for a few extra frames and for slightly added longevity. I'm concerned about the cache though for long-term gaming.
RAM: Newegg.com - WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
Ram isn't much of a concern, 2 gigs should be fine for awhile and ddr2-800 is a fine speed.
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075
Improvement from his old 40 gig 5200 rpm hard drive.
Okay, so this build comes to about $460. The budget can't go more than $10-20 over this, and I think that this is about as good of a system as I can get. Things may change by christmas, and I think this list will be updated accordingly.
But as of now, does anyone have any other ideas? Things like a better cpu or gpu for the same price, or cheaper component that performs similar to another. The main thing I'm concerned about is the processor, but at this price range I don't think I have many options.
Any feedback would be appreciated, except comments that entail coughing up some more money for a component that increases the budget $100+. They will be ignored.