Upgrade - Best bang for my buck?

[Lord Ned]

So after two very long years of running a less-than-ideal rig, I think it's finally time to upgrade.

My orginal budget was $250, and I was going to upgrade my CPU and GPU.

My current rig's specs are:

• 2 x 1GB DDR2 RAM
• Geforce 8500 GT (256mb)
• Intel C2D E6320 (1.8Ghz)
• Asus P5NSLI Motherboard
• A 500w Powersupply
• And a case

So my friend talked me into spending $440, for this rig:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Publi ... r=12962148


Excess: Will I be able to max out stuff like L4D, TF2, COD4, with Anti-Aliasing and Antistropic Filtering?
I've never been able to run those for my entire gaming career.

And I still need to fit all the new parts into my existing ATX Midtower case.

[cdxx]

depends on your resolution but even at 1650 x 1080 I think you should be able to run maxed out on source games. (probably not crysis though =P)

[Lord Ned]

Both monitors I own only do 1440x900 (17" and a 19")

And yes, I plan to run dual monitor.


Also: I find the concept of a Tri-Core intriguing.
What they are is quad cores with one core disabled due to a lower clock speed. Smart move on making Tri-Cores.

[TicTac]

Well, I know that with my 2gb of RAM, and my 8800GTS I can max out TF2, all the HL games, and probably COD4. Don't have L4D on my PC, so i can't say, (tho TF2 is the most demanding OB game, and that runs at a smooth 60fps maxed out). You should, probably, buy some of the top-of-the-line parts so you wont need another upgrade for a while though.

[Lord Ned]

User from another site built this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128392
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817171038
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820161302
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDeal ... mbo.206782
720X3, 4870, 3gb DDR3 1333mhz, 550watt psu

1gb more Ram, better video card... And a buck less.

[whiffen]

System looks pretty good, as for performance I have

Athlon 6000+ 3.1Ghz
M3N-78 Pro
4GB DDR2 PC8500 1066Mhz
HD 4850
650 PSU

I can run all the games on max settings, filterings, anti aliasing @ 1680X1050

L4D around 60-80
TF2 about the same but some areas I will admit like in 2fort by the bridge will bring it down.
HL2 Flys
Crysis can run on high - very high at native resolution also but fps isn't great in some areas.

This system will be about the same as anything you can get got that price. Things I would mainly consider are Phenom X2 - Phenom X4, Core 2 Duo, HD 4850 and HD 4870's.

System above mine looks good. Memory could be better though, who buys it in 3GB pairs XD

The antec PSU you have in your OP is great and antec has a good track record with PSU's but for your system and budget that's a steep price just for the PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131381
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102801
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817171038
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227267

Processor pick any really, to fit the budget.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103680 Total: $434.95 2 core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103649 Total: $453.96 3 core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103650 Total: $473.96 4 core

EDIT: There is a mobo+pro combo for $479.96
Only a few bucks more then the X4 above but its at 3.2 Ghz!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDeal ... mbo.212715

[Lord Ned]

I do because it's cheaper then the 2gb one and I don't have the $$ for 4.

[whiffen]

Hehe I'm just kidding, but it does seem unusual for a mobo that has 4 slots. It would be hard to upgrade since most come in pairs for better deals.

Another interesting thing is phenom dualcores are quadcores with two cores disabled XD

You can unlock these cores but sometimes you'll get a really unstable CPU. I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that some phenoms X4 with defects in one or two cores are the ones that get disabled, that's why some CPU's have trouble being unlocked because of the defects.

[Lord Ned]

They are usually locked down because the other two cores don't preform as well. I dunno if I'd unlock them but my mobo supports it.


My question is: Will tri-channel ram work in a dual channel mobo? I trust the guy who built this but that seems a little odd.


Google answered my question, yes.

[mrfranswa]

Thank god you are going with AMD. They build the best high-end budget pc's. As long as you aren't working for a gaming company, there is no reason why you should waste the extra money.

If you are looking at gaming, you can "honestly" go with dual core. Games don't utilize the quad core technology just yet. Even a dual core 3ghz processor can run crysis on max specs. The thing which holds you back is the video card.

As for your list, you can definitely find a cheaper power supply on newegg. Since you probably won't be overclocking your pc, (really no need), I would suggest finding a good 500 watt ps. Here is a good 580 for under 20$. You only need 700 watts if you are overclocking or running sli cards, (which you aren't)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817709011

I also suggest getting at least 3gb of memory, especially if you are running vista. It will help on load times and hammer. Try finding memory with a heat spreader. It will increase the efficiency of your memory. If you are trying to build a gaming pc the difference between ddr2 800 and ddr3 1066 is really negligible.

Lastly, I am more of a geforce guy, (the 260 is a good budget gaming card), however I honestly never used the 4850. It is probably a fine card.

All and all, not a bad build. I have a lot of experience building budget gaming pc's for people. I don't mean to knock whoever built it, but if you focus on exactly what you want you could probably shave 50-100$ off of that price.