Thinking about getting a new gaming PC (Budget, but good)

Gimaru

Gimaru

New member
Intel Quad Core 2.55ghz
G31M Motherboard (I think)
4gb DDR3 RAM
Geforce 9800GT 1gb

All in all, it's going to set me back about 6 grand, which is my budget. Any suggestions would be nice! Do brands really matter all that much, as in a MSI Geforce, or Leadteak etc? All I want to do is play me games on high settings, like the upcoming MW2, AvP3 and so.
 
If I were you I'd go for a cheaper CPU and get a better graphics card. Especially if it's a gaming pc where the graphics card will be more important than the processor.
 
How many cores?

AFAIK, many current games don't make effective use of quad core CPUs.
See Tom's Hardware article How Many CPU Cores Do You Need? http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/multi-core-cpu,2280.html

You may be better off with an overclocked C2D E7XXX, so you can spend more on the GPU as previously suggested.

THW has some CPU gaming benchmarks here http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts/benchmarks,60.html.

THW also has a GPU chart focused on high quality gaming settings - see http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/...ity/Sum-of-FPS-Benchmarks-1920x1200,1344.html for example.

Rectron will sell dealers an Intel E7400, Gigabyte GA-EG31M-S2 mobo, GZ-X1 chassis, Odin 470W PSU, 4GB DDR2-800, 250GB HD and... 4870 1GB GPU for just under 6K incl VAT. No O/S though.
 
Second post...

We aim to please.... :)

Actually, I've going through a variation of this process myself - need to replace an old P4 Northwood box with something general purpose.

I like the Radeon 4770 for all-round value - I'm not an FPS-oriented gamer, and the new PC has to be able to do a bit of everything, plus last for as long as possible (until I win the Lotto...).

Think I'll wait a little longer, for Lynnfield (i5/i7) and Win7, though.
 
i agree with moron51, except if you thinking of running Windows XP. 4Gb won't get recognised in XP. The Ati 4870 is good, (only comes into it's own in very Hi-Res), but 4850 would be just as good on decent settings (1280 x 1024). Prophecy is having a good special on them atm :)
 
Gradius said:
i agree with moron51, except if you thinking of running Windows XP. 4Gb won't get recognised in XP. The Ati 4870 is good, (only comes into it's own in very Hi-Res), but 4850 would be just as good on decent settings (1280 x 1024). Prophecy is having a good special on them atm :)
Click to expand...

Just a slight correction. 4gb won't be recognised in a 32bit OS(only picks up 3.2/3.5gb) irrespective if its XP or Vista or Win 7:) You need a 64 bit OS to utilize all the ram:p
 
Ah sorry, meant 3gb of ram since I'm using XP. So, I would be better off with a C2D than Quad? If so, I suppose I'll look in the range of 2.8ghz to 3.0ghz
 
Thought about this change then:

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8ghz
Geforce GTS 250 1gb ddr3
DDR2-1066 3gb Ram

Any good?? :)

Just checked the prices at the place I'm thinking of buying at. Still works out at roughly 6 g's.
 
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That's a nice rig, I'm not that sure about the graphics card though...

I usually prefer buying older high-end stuff to newer low-end stuff, but thats just me. I would check the benchmarks against the likes of a 9800GTX.

Have you not considered the HD 4850, you can find it for as little as R1300 and I think it eats the GTS 250.

I stand to be corrected here as I never really did much reading up on the 250...
 
GTS 250 = 9800GTX = 8800GT its all the same just different clock speeds and a fine tuned manufacturing process. Best thing to buy would be a GTX260 core 216 you can get them for R2500 these days.

You should pay about as follows:

RAM - 2x2GB DDR2-800 (anything above 800mhz is redundant at this stage) R800 http://www.prophecy.co.za/mushkin-xp996580-ddr2800-2x2048mb-p-40784.html

CPU - E7400 = R1300

GFX - Mushkin GTX 260 core 216 - R2800

Total = R4900 and that there is a mighty fine gaming pc.

*I didn't give you motherboard advice cause i just know my SLI boards...
 
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SpoOkie said:
GTS 250 = 9800GTX = 8800GT its all the same just different clock speeds and a fine tuned manufacturing process. Best thing to buy would be a GTX260 core 216 you can get them for R2500 these days.

You should pay about as follows:

RAM - 2x2GB DDR2-800 (anything above 800mhz is redundant at this stage) R800 http://www.prophecy.co.za/mushkin-xp996580-ddr2800-2x2048mb-p-40784.html

CPU - E7400 = R1300

GFX - Mushkin GTX 260 core 216 - R2800

Total = R4900 and that there is a mighty fine gaming pc.

*I didn't give you motherboard advice cause i just know my SLI boards...
Click to expand...

Intel Core2 Duo E7400
Price: R1,200.00

MSI GTX260 Core 216 Overcloced Edition
Price: R2,350.00

OCZ DDR2 2048MB Value Series
Price: R250.00X2= R500

Total= R4050 :)
 
HI Guys i am new to this site that prices is very good i could do that BUT what about
E7500 = R.1259.00
Zotac GTS 250 512mb = R.1879.00
Let me know
 
SpoOkie said:
GTS 250 = 9800GTX = 8800GT its all the same just different clock speeds and a fine tuned manufacturing process. Best thing to buy would be a GTX260 core 216 you can get them for R2500 these days.

You should pay about as follows:

RAM - 2x2GB DDR2-800 (anything above 800mhz is redundant at this stage) R800 http://www.prophecy.co.za/mushkin-xp996580-ddr2800-2x2048mb-p-40784.html

CPU - E7400 = R1300

GFX - Mushkin GTX 260 core 216 - R2800

Total = R4900 and that there is a mighty fine gaming pc.

*I didn't give you motherboard advice cause i just know my SLI boards...
Click to expand...

Awesome! I'm going to go with then then, cheers mate
 
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