About time for an upgrade.

[DirtyGnome]

I think my system specs pretty well cover how hopelessly obsolete my system is. I've been "gaming" on $300 Compaq refurb with $250 worth of upgrades put in over the past 5 years. I'm looking to spend no more than $600(shooting for <$550) in parts to make a computer that will keep me gaming until I'm out of school(3-5 years). I've been searching the web for the best cost/performance parts, and came up with this list, which seems good, but never having built my own system before, I came here to see if the vets could find better places to cut corners, or save me from an expensive newbie mistake.

I already have an Antec 300, and an optical drive(16x IDE DVD Writer), so I think I'm set there, but my 5 year old PATA hard drive and crappy PSU, not so much.

CPU: Phenom II X4 940 AM2+ - $189.99 from newegg
Mobo: BIOSTAR TA790GXB $20 with combo from newegg with $20 MIR
GPU: Sapphire 100259l Radeon 4870 512MB - $139.99 from newegg with $10 MIR
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 Kit - $49.99 from newegg
HD: WD 500gb Caviar Black - $63.89 from zipzoomfly
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w - 69.99 from zipzoomfly with $20 MIR

Total comes to $543.91, with shipping, $493.91 6 months later when/if I get my rebates.

Just as a recap, I'm looking for a system with moderate gaming potential, that I plan to upgrade a little when necessary with more ram, or a better graphics card in a couple years.

 

[erocker]

Looks spot-on to me. You could possibly save a little cash by going tri-core, but really that will be a great system.

 

[CDdude55]

Its a nice system, Remember to buy a case with it tho.

Should be great for gaming.

 

[Darren]

The system looks good, it would definitely breeze through games, 5 years is a bit unlikely, you might get 2-2.5 initially and then find that you'll need to upgrade the video card to keep up with those demanding Direct X 11.0 games.

If you can get hold of an x64 operating system it might be worth getting 8 GBs straight up. DDR2 memory is at its cheapest right now and you'd need all the ram possible to make that system stretch 5 years.

Edit:

I would remove the G-skills ram and go OCZ, they tend to overclock further and are priced the same. (I recommend getting 8 GBs total)

OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) $49.99


Edit 2:

Also remove the Sapphire 4870, and put in the "His 4870" as it has 1 GBs of ram which will help it at higher resolutions - its the same price too

His 4870 1 GB DDR5 $139.99

 

[MKmods]

or just pay $10 more and get the 1 gig card with the better cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

good deal on the PS, I just paid the same price for the 500 watt version at Newegg.

thats an amazing comp for that $$$

 

[CDdude55]

And remember to buy a case.

lol

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Its a nice system, Remember to buy a case with it tho.

And remember to buy a case.

he's said he already has a antec 300

I already have an Antec 300, and an optical drive(16x IDE DVD Writer), so I think I'm set there, but my 5 year old PATA hard drive and crappy PSU, not so much.

I agree with Darren and MK Mods, get atleast a 1 gig video card if you want it to handles games for the next few years.

 

[CDdude55]

he's said he already has a antec 300



I agree with Darren and MK Mods, get atleast a 1 gig video card if you want it to handles games for the next few years.

Oh i didn't see he already had a case. Just making sure he didn't order the parts and end up leaving it on a table instead of a case.

 

[LittleLizard]

get the pII 720. Hell cheaper and almost same performance.

 

[DirtyGnome]

Thanks for your help, I think I'll go with the OCZ ram and the HIS 4870. I would go with the Phenom II 720, but with the combo the 940 + mobo comes out cheaper, though the ASUS combo board is pretty sweet.

 

[Darren]

Thanks for your help, I think I'll go with the OCZ ram and the HIS 4870. I would go with the Phenom II 720, but with the combo the 940 + mobo comes out cheaper, though the ASUS combo board is pretty sweet.

If the Phenom II X4 940 works out cheaper get that instead, also its the faster processor plus you'll stand a better chance of it lasting 5 years due to the extra core.