I have decided to upgrade my current comp or buy a new one for gaming.
It does not have to incredibly high-end. Can run most of the games nowadays decently is enough.Anyway my current specs are:
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Nvidia Geforce 6200 512mb card
The rest not really sure yet lol, not really IT savvy.
Would be best if some of my current parts can reuse like the PSU,Fan and casing all those.
Thanks in advance.
Maybe the casing, maybe the PSU.
But I'd recommend against re-using the PSU unless it's a known brand-name PSU of good quality to start with, and has not been used heavily.
Here's a good rig you can consider that will play most games with aplomb at resolutions 1600x900 or under.
AMD Athlon II X4 640
Biostar A880G+ (Or ASUS M4A88T-M if you want fancy stuff and better durability)
2x 2GB KVR DDR3-1333
PowerColor Radeon HD5770 (Take Sapphire or Asus instead of your budget allows)
WD Caviar Blue 500GB HDD
FSP Aurum AU-400 Power Supply
CoolerMaster 341 chassis
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
I provide assembly services as well, for a small fee.
How much is it for all those stuffs? And windows 7, really? lol Windows XP is fine and its cheaper...
And how much you charge for assembly?
XP is no longer for sale.
Long story short, you don't have a choice.
This would cost an estimated $750 - $800.
Around $850 is a safe estimate if the motherboard chosen is indeed the M4A88T-M and if you wish to have better cooling for the CPU and case in general.
My assembly charge is capped at $35.
This includes the installation of the operating system, adjusting the power plans, installation of drivers and anti-virus as well as a general hardware check to ensure nothing is DOA.
I thought windows 7 64 bit has some issues with games?
And can I be sure and trust the guys at SLS to build my computer? lol
No, not now. Most, if not all games run perfectly fine on 7.
Save for maybe a few extremely old titles.
But heck, the 16-bit colour original Need For Speed Hot Pursuit game runs on my PC running Windows 7 Professional without a need for any tweaking, so yeah.
Well of course you can trust those at SLS to build the computer. But it does cost $10 for them to assemble it, and another $25 on top of that for them to install the OS; and that comes with no frills like anti-virus and other software.
Additionally, I can't guarantee that the quality of a computer assembled there is going to be very good unless you know someone working there.
So if you can't trust them then I'd rather you put your trust in me.
Same price, and I even housekeep the inside of your case.
Hmmm abit over budget.
Can you kindly reccomend me a setup that doesn't overshot $900
Preferbly one that can run the games at high graphics setting with decent FPS.
I do not need one that can play at crazy high resolutions or max graphics since my moniter is'nt that big, 1600x900 is abit overkill.
And also, any other cases that are cheaper? Im on abit of a tight budget actually... have to scrim on the case heh.
Then we'll drop the case down to a Headway MATX casing, and I'll sell you a couple fans. Since the Headway chassis comes with zero fans, and in that kind of a casing you're going to need all the fannage you can get.
I could get the Headway casing for $30, let me check back on that again.
What about the other parts? GPU all those...
Can make out a new, cheaper list that fit my above requirements?
It would help if you can list out the prices for the parts too. Thnx.
And is the AMD Athlon II X4 640 a quad-core processor?
Is a Quad-Core REALLY neccesary for gaming? If not, would a Dual-Core suffice?
Yes it's a quad. A dual-core will suffice but you'll suffer in a year or two.
Games are taking advantage of more cores now. Try playing GTA IV on a dual and see for yourself how it feels.
AMD Athlon II X4 640
ASUS M4A88T-M
2x 2GB KVR1333D3N9
WD Caviar Blue 500GB
Sapphire HD 5770
FSP Aurum 400 Power Supply/Antec Neo ECO 450C
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Go Google for 'PC Themes Price List' to find the price for the above.
Things I can get for you cheap:
Headway MATX Case - $30
LG DVD Writer IDE - $15
2x Case Fans - $5/ea
Ah ok thnx, i have a better idea now.
Err one last question. Whats the difference between Sapphire HD 5770, Power color and the normal Radeon HD 5770?
Which one is better in terms of performance?
And is the FSP Aurum 400 Power Supply enough? Because i read that the Radeon HD 5770 requires 450 Watt or greater power supply...
Sapphire and Powercolor are just board partners. ATI makes the very first cards, i.e. for release or the very first batch. Then once those are sold out, the partners take over manufacturing, and produce cards with better features, or better cooling.
Of course, it's not always like that. Sometimes the brand will cheap out to reduce costs. Powercolor is not a brand I would recommend but since you have to adhere to a budget, I have no choice.
For the card you are buying, it is a bone-stock 5770 with no-frills. Other models like the Sapphire 5770 VaporX comes with a 'better' cooler and a factory overclock which makes the cards run 3-5% faster typically. The performance increase is minimal though.
As for the power supply, 450 watts refers to 450 watt pieces of crap like the CoolerMaster eXtreme Power Plus, which in reality is a mediocre 400 watter.
Many people overestimate power supply requirements. The 5770 merely needs a power supply with 300 watts on the 12V rail to run. I've run an un-overclocked Nehalem Xeon and a 5770 off an FSP 350 watt power supply before.
Here's how it tabulates up.
CPU - 130W (TDP)
5770 - 108W (TDP)
Other items (2 HDD's I have + DVD Writer + Fans) - 50W
All these are nominal ratings and not peak startup ratings.
The computer ran just fine for weeks. Even with stress tests. Should your components not be overclocked, just rely on the ratings from review sites to size your power supply accurately.
If a 300-watt unit can do this, a good 400-watt unit like the FSP Aurum 400 is able to handle any single-core graphics card up to the recent HD6970.
To put things in perspective; here's what you can do with the following power supplies:
Good 300W - 130W CPU and Single 5770
Good 400W - 130W CPU and Dual 5770
Good 500W - 130W CPU and Triple 5770
Good 600W - 130W CPU and Quad 5770
The 5770 is a very energy-efficient card and here's how it is so easily supported by many power supplies.
However, that is not a reason for you to skimp on the power supply and buy a potentially dangerous piece of crap just because 'it can handle it'.
Hmmm Dual 5770? If my budget allows, should i get dual 5770? Or is there a card that is cheaper and better than dual 5770s heh.
I have decided to go by this current set up you have come up with and have it made at some store in SLS. ^^
Dual 5770's is pointless and will set you back at least $300.
At that rate you could get a 6870 instead, which matches the performance of a 5870 (less by around 3%) and will perform better than two 5770's in older games or games that do not support dual cards.
Same goes for games in windowed mode.
If you don't trust me for some reason then I'd advise you get it done an PCThemes. There's a reason why the store is always crowded, and why they're forever busy.
Though if you get it done by them, no VIP treatment, a.k.a cable management, $5 fans and $15 DVD writer.
Buy a new one instead of upgrading.
Haha ok, my friend reccomended me a shop cause he knew someone there so yea :S
I'll just go with 1 5770 and is the ASUS M4A88T-M better or the Biostar A880G+ better cause i have read some negative reviews about the Biostar one ...
Yeah.
And most importantly, the power supply.
AMD Athlon II X4 640
ASUS M4A88T-M
2x 2GB KVR DDR3-1333
Radeon HD5770
WD Caviar Blue 500GB HDD
FSP Aurum AU-400 Power Supply
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Alright this is what i have decided on, im all set and ready to get a new pc heh.
Btw should i take the Antec Neo ECO over the FSP Aurum instead? or is this current setup just find. The case, I'll just see what i can pick at SLS.
The Neo ECO 450C is a clearance item.
There may or may not be stock.
Should there be stock, it will cost $69 as opposed to $85 for the Aurum.
But the Aurum is much more efficient (difference of 10% efficiency is huge) and it counts in the long run. Especially if you plan on keeping this computer untouched for another five years.
Ah... ok im confident in getting this PC made now.
Thnx alot man! Hope it all runs fine :)