Cheap gaming rig advice

[BrooksyX]

So I am slowly building a new rig over the next month as I can gather up the cash and want some of your guys thoughts on the build. I would like to eventually upgrade to a bulldozer chip if my motherboard supports it. If not I would pick up a second hand thuban x6 chip down the road.

Mainly what I will be using this rig for is playing starcraft 2, elders scrolls v: skyrm, and half 2 ep3/half life 3 (if it ever comes out). I also do some microsoft sql and visual basic programs for my college classes.

Here is what I have so far:

-Amd Phenom II x3 720 BE (unlocks to x4 and overclocks): AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB...

-MSI MSI 870-G45: MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard (just bought on ebay for $47 shipped)

-OCZ StealthXStream 500w PSU: Recertified: OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS-B 500W A... (bought for $26 shipped on directron)

-Xigmatek Basic Cpu Cooler (have from old build will eventually upgrade when I have the cash.)

-Old Pioneer ide dvd-rw drive. I have a blue ray on my htpc. I don't need one in this rig right now.


What I need:

-Video card: I was leaning towards a 4890/5770/6770 maybe if a 6850 if I could find an amazing deal. Thoughts?

-Case: I really don't care just want a decent black box that I can throw my stuff in. This seems decent: Xigmatek ASGARD II B/B CPC-T45UC-U01 Black / Black...

-Ram: was thinking either this gskill 4gb set:G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333... or the 8gb set: G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SD....
Eventually I would like to buy both for 12gb total but 4 or 8 would be enough to start with.

-HDD/SDD: not sure, maybe get a cheap 30gb ssd for windows/os drive and pull a 1tb green hdd out of my htpc?


So what do you guys think? Did I forget anything. Also if possible I would like to keep this build to under $300 and maybe upgrade a little while after bulldozer comes out. So far I have spent about $75.

Thanks

 

[Hotobu]

A few point of note:

That motherboard will not support Bulldozer. It's got to be an AM3+ board. Both 8 and 9 series support BD, but of course 9 is preferred.

A 30 GB SSD isn't much overhead. A W7 install is ~ 8GB so that doesn't leave much room.

I don't know what you consider an "amazing deal" but the 6850 goes for around $150, but it's got enough kick to run all of those games well enough especially at sub 1080p resolutions.

 

[BrooksyX]

A few point of note:

That motherboard will not support Bulldozer. It's got to be an AM3+ board. Both 8 and 9 series support BD, but of course 9 is preferred.

A 30 GB SSD isn't much overhead. A W7 install is ~ 8GB so that doesn't leave much room.

I don't know what you consider an "amazing deal" but the 6850 goes for around $150, but it's got enough kick to run all of those games well enough especially at sub 1080p resolutions.

Well I guess if it doesnt support it then I would probably go with a thuban chip when everyone is trying to dump their old ones for bulldozer. As for the ssd its just for a windows drive and most played games. Ill have a second drive for all my programs and stuff.

 

[erocker]

That motherboard will not support Bulldozer. It's got to be an AM3 board. Both 8 and 9 series support BD, but of course 9 is preferred.

It has to be an AM3+ board for AMD to support it. That is not saying a BD chip won't work in an AM3 board. Asus for example has said that some of its AM3 boards will work with Bulldozer. The Crosshair IV with the AM3 socket has a beta bios for BD.

Here's a video with an Asus rep claiming that it indeed will work: (@ 1:18 mark)

 

[BrooksyX]

It has to be an AM3+ board for AMD to support it. That is not saying a BD chip won't work in an AM3 board. Asus for example has said that some of its AM3 boards will work with Bulldozer. The Crosshair IV with the AM3 socket has a beta bios for BD.

Here's a video with an Asus rep claiming that it indeed will work:

Well hopefully MSI will add support for this board. Either way I will be happy with a thuban or bulldozer upgrade down the road.

 

[erocker]

Well hopefully MSI will add support for this board.

Probablly not. It doesn't meet the power requirements for BD. But who knows...

 

[Zen_]

I'd probably avoid that case. It looks ok but has no front intake. Not good for ventilation or keeping your mechanical hard drives cool. With so many good options for cases at just a few dollars more (HAF 912, Antec 300, some of the Rosewill cases, Thermaltake v3, NZXT gamma / beta, Lian-Li Lancool) just spend the extra so you don't throw away a case down the road.

Video card you should be able to find a cheap used 5770...like $80. Much as I like my 6850 I don't think it's really worth twice as much if you're price sensitive.

Ram you should probably just get a 4x2GB 1600 kit for more lifespan since memory is cheap. Bulldozer will support 1866 but I doubt it will really be much better than 1600.

Hard drive I'd probably just get a 1TB WD Black or Samsung F3 and partition part for windows.

ok so...

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS ...
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cac...
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DD...

+ 5770 from feebay or the classifieds for ~$80 = ~$270.

 

[BrooksyX]

I'd probably avoid that case. It looks ok but has no front intake. Not good for ventilation or keeping your mechanical hard drives cool. With so many good options for cases at just a few dollars more (HAF 912, Antec 300, some of the Rosewill cases, Thermaltake v3, NZXT gamma / beta, Lian-Li Lancool) just spend the extra so you don't throw away a case down the road.

Video card you should be able to find a cheap used 5770...like $80. Much as I like my 6850 I don't think it's really worth twice as much if you're price sensitive.

Ram you should probably just get a 4x2GB 1600 kit for more lifespan since memory is cheap. Bulldozer will support 1866 but I doubt it will really be much better than 1600.

Hard drive I'd probably just get a 1TB WD Black or Samsung F3 and partition part for windows.

ok so...

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS ...
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cac...
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DD...

+ 5770 from feebay or the classifieds for ~$80 = ~$270.

Any suggestions on a case and ram?

 

[BrooksyX]

What do you guys think about this case?

HEC Blitz Black Steel Edition ATX Mid Tower Comput...

 

[Anarchy0110]

Yeah pretty good build coming off so far.
I'd go with Core i3 LGA1155 + GTX 460 for a budget gaming system. But hey, you go budget then why would you have an SSD? Just a regular SATA3 HDD is good enough. For video card, go with an HD6850 like the MSI Cyclone OC Power Edition 1Gb GDDR5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127566 That would work well a lot. That case right there is good.
P/S: Washington St. Cougars ?

 

[Syuzeren]

But hey, you go budget then why would you have an SSD? Just a regular SATA3 HDD is good enough

i agree, i don't have a SSD and boot times are around the 30 secs. You can get something to drink while the PC is booting. And you will be more happy with a better GPU or motherboard then with a SSD.

 

[Jetster]

Your PSU is borderline. the 5770 would work but the 4890 or 6850 would be pushing it. You only have 18A to work with and one 6-pin. You would need an adapter for the second 6 -pin. If you want to run the 6850/4890 I would spend a little more on a PSU

 

[BrooksyX]

Yeah pretty good build coming off so far.
I'd go with Core i3 LGA1155 + GTX 460 for a budget gaming system. But hey, you go budget then why would you have an SSD? Just a regular SATA3 HDD is good enough. For video card, go with an HD6850 like the MSI Cyclone OC Power Edition 1Gb GDDR5 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127566 That would work well a lot. That case right there is good.
P/S: Washington St. Cougars ?

Yeah its the Washington state cougars. Its where I go to college.

Your PSU is borderline. the 5770 would work but the 4890 or 6850 would be pushing it. You only have 18A to work with and one 6-pin. You would need an adapter for the second 6 -pin. If you want to run the 6850/4890 I would spend a little more on a PSU

There are plenty of 6850s that only need one 6 pin

 

[Robert-The-Rambler]

I think this case is better to start with

What do you guys think about this case?

HEC Blitz Black Steel Edition ATX Mid Tower Comput...

It already has 3 fans and should work well.

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Com...

And if you need extra cooling Rosewill offers very cost effective 120mm fans in a 4 pack for about $14 after shipping.

Rosewill RCA-1204BK 120mm Sleeve Black Case Fan, 4...

 

[Robert-The-Rambler]

Power supply is not strong enough

So I am slowly building a new rig over the next month as I can gather up the cash and want some of your guys thoughts on the build. I would like to eventually upgrade to a bulldozer chip if my motherboard supports it. If not I would pick up a second hand thuban x6 chip down the road.

Mainly what I will be using this rig for is playing starcraft 2, elders scrolls v: skyrm, and half 2 ep3/half life 3 (if it ever comes out). I also do some microsoft sql and visual basic programs for my college classes.

Here is what I have so far:

-Amd Phenom II x3 720 BE (unlocks to x4 and overclocks): AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB...

-MSI MSI 870-G45: MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard (just bought on ebay for $47 shipped)

-OCZ StealthXStream 500w PSU: Recertified: OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS-B 500W A... (bought for $26 shipped on directron)

-Xigmatek Basic Cpu Cooler (have from old build will eventually upgrade when I have the cash.)

-Old Pioneer ide dvd-rw drive. I have a blue ray on my htpc. I don't need one in this rig right now.


What I need:

-Video card: I was leaning towards a 4890/5770/6770 maybe if a 6850 if I could find an amazing deal. Thoughts?

-Case: I really don't care just want a decent black box that I can throw my stuff in. This seems decent: Xigmatek ASGARD II B/B CPC-T45UC-U01 Black / Black...

-Ram: was thinking either this gskill 4gb set:G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333... or the 8gb set: G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SD....
Eventually I would like to buy both for 12gb total but 4 or 8 would be enough to start with.

-HDD/SDD: not sure, maybe get a cheap 30gb ssd for windows/os drive and pull a 1tb green hdd out of my htpc?


So what do you guys think? Did I forget anything. Also if possible I would like to keep this build to under $300 and maybe upgrade a little while after bulldozer comes out. So far I have spent about $75.

Thanks

You are better off with this model or a similar model with much more power on the 12V rail.

Computer Hardware, Power Supplies, Power Supplies...

Oh, and a good choice right now for a video card is a GTX 465. You can't do much better for the price. I have this Galaxy model.

Galaxy 60XGH3HS3CUD GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB 25...

 

[Robert-The-Rambler]

This 5400rpm drive is awesome

Well I guess if it doesnt support it then I would probably go with a thuban chip when everyone is trying to dump their old ones for bulldozer. As for the ssd its just for a windows drive and most played games. Ill have a second drive for all my programs and stuff.

Despite its 5400rpm speed it manages great scores that match older 7200rpm drives. I ran Atto and got a peak read and write around 120 mb/sec. That could easily be a boot or a gaming drive. In fact I'm using one as my Steam drive in an I7 rig.

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4EG HD155UI 1.5TB 5400 RPM 32MB...

 

[Zen_]

Any suggestions on a case and ram?

I haven't used all the cases mentioned obviously, but if you like the style the HAF 912 offers quite a bit for $60. The Lian-Li Lancool PC-K57 also looks really good for $60 if you can live with only 3x 3.5" bays and newegg ever gets it back in stock.

Ram, just get the least expensive 4x2GB 1600 kit. This Patriot kit looks decent if you do mail rebates.

 

[BrooksyX]

I haven't used all the cases mentioned obviously, but if you like the style the HAF 912 offers quite a bit for $60. The Lian-Li Lancool PC-K57 also looks really good for $60 if you can live with only 3x 3.5" bays and newegg ever gets it back in stock.

Ram, just get the least expensive 4x2GB 1600 kit. This Patriot kit looks decent if you do mail rebates.

Those are all good suggestions I am just not trying to spend that much. Trying to make this build as cheap as possible with the option to upgrade down the line.

 

[kciaccio]

Too bad you bought your motherboard already, if you have a micro center near, they usually have bundles that give you a free motherboard with CPU purchase.

 

[BrooksyX]

Too bad you bought your motherboard already, if you have a micro center near, they usually have bundles that give you a free motherboard with CPU purchase.

Closest microcenter is at least 500 miles away

Plus I already had the cpu from old rig im gonna recycle it until I can get a cheap thuban chip second hand.

 

[JrRacinFan]

EVGA B Stock for GPU(last i looked GTX460 1GB for 109) & Newegg Open Box deals on Gigabyte boards are pretty damn good (then again you already got a board).

Here's some inexpensive ram.
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDR...

My take on the case
NZXT Beta Series CS-NT-BETA-B Black Steel / Plasti...

 

[Sir B. Fannybottom]

If that mobo is good, can you tell me? I was thinking of getting it if the next one I get doesn't work.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

Asgard II case is perfectly fine used them a bunch of builds with any mid range gpu it makes no difference only high end 480 570 580 6950 6970 will heat be an issue

Bogmali has 2x GTX 460s for sale check with him. on the GPU front

Asgard II case is fine will handle a mid range build without issue.

 

[BrooksyX]

If that mobo is good, can you tell me? I was thinking of getting it if the next one I get doesn't work.

sure thing. ill post here how everything is running once its done.

Asgard II case is perfectly fine used them a bunch of builds with any mid range gpu it makes no difference only high end 480 570 580 6950 6970 will heat be an issue

Bogmali has 2x GTX 460s for sale check with him. on the GPU front

Asgard II case is fine will handle a mid range build without issue.

hmm ill have to talk to bogmali. We have done a lot of business and he usually gives me a good deal.

 

[Funtoss]

Go with GTX 560 for graphics card