cheapest and most upgradeable gaming build

[jgcecg]

My son age 12 just bought a new game called Dragonage Origins that won't run on our old self built system.

I wanted to spend about $300-400 for a new cpu, mobo, ram, and video card. I was looking at a amd 785 Asus mobo and Phenom II 550 black edition.

What ram should I use?
What about an intel based system instead.
I would like this system to last about 3+ years.

Thank you
http://detonator.dynamitedata.com/c...com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

 

[mpilchfamily]

Go witht he cheapest motherboard, CPU and RAM you can. There is no need to spend the extra money on a Black edition. Unless you plan to OC the system. Keep as much of the money as you can to go for a good video card and PSU. Don't try to reuse the existing PSU. Especially if the video card you select requires the 6 or 8 pin PCI-e connector. Chances are you'll want a good video card that will need the added paower that an older PSU may not be able to support.

What PSU do you have in the old system?

 

[johnnydrinkawater]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.303840
+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227316
+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102866
____________________
$440.97
- 30.00 (rebates)
____________________
$410.97 shipped

OR

for $15 more, get the 4870:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161292

Then you can crossfire another video card down the road when you need to.

OR

You could just buy a PS3 for $360 with the game.

 

[alyarb]

god there are some good callisto combos. good unlock rate too.

 

[jgcecg]

What PSU do you have in the old system?
I have an old generic 250w one. I was thinking of getting the Corsair 400w for $50 on New Egg

Go witht he cheapest motherboard, CPU and RAM you can
what would you suggest?

 

[jgcecg]

What PSU do you have in the old system?
I have an old generic 250w one. I was thinking of getting the Corsair 400w for $50 on New Egg

Go witht he cheapest motherboard, CPU and RAM you can
what would you suggest?

 

[JimKiler]

I would also recommend Gigabyte motherboards and Patriot RAM but find something cheap on newegg and read the reviews and you should be fine.

For PSU I have that Corsair 400W and I like it for my secondary PC, I would say you should get 500 or 550 watt but I think most PSU's are underrated and should be able to handle your needs.

 

[jgcecg]

I would also recommend Gigabyte motherboards and Patriot RAM
any specific suggestions?
what cpu would you get?

 

[jgcecg]

after reading this article on Tom's hardware.com
I am leaning toward the Radeon 4650 $60 because the monitor is 1280x1060 native resolution.

regarding the cpu, I want one that can be unlocked to 4 cores for video editing, like the calisto. Does any motherboard support unlocking the 2 other cores?

My thinking now
mobo amd 740 based $50 with 2gb ram $50 for now on xp professional
corsair 400w ps $50, or as combo with corsair 400w $80 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.309385
ram Gskill
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-785g-chipset,2381-16.html

 

[Denithor]

I would suggest a higher end GPU than the 4650. A GTS 250 (1GB) or a 4850 would be much better and are still reasonably priced.

Athlon X4 620 + Asus 785G combo for $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.304701

Corsair 4GB DDR2 for $75AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184

BFG GTS 250 for $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143211

Corsair 400CX for $40AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139008

This gives you a quad-core setup with a solid GPU and plenty of RAM for just over $400 after rebates.

 

[johnnydrinkawater]

I would suggest a higher end GPU than the 4650. A GTS 250 (1GB) or a 4850 would be much better and are still reasonably priced.

Athlon X4 620 + Asus 785G combo for $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.304701

Corsair 4GB DDR2 for $75AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184

BFG GTS 250 for $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143211

Corsair 400CX for $40AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139008

This gives you a quad-core setup with a solid GPU and plenty of RAM for just over $400 after rebates.

But then he can't crossfire down the road... however if he needs a PSU (probably), then that looks like the best bet - I'd still go for a mobo with more features though.

Maybe he can see the PSU as a capital investment excluded from his budget :awe:

 

[JimKiler]

I would also recommend Gigabyte motherboards and Patriot RAM
any specific suggestions?
what cpu would you get?

You really cannot go wrong with whatever you buy brand wise but here is my recommendations:

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $80 (Pre $10 rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128392

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail $100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103706

Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV34G1333ELK - Retail $90 (pre $10 rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220435

MSI R5750-PM2D1G Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail $145 (pre $20 rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127460

Total 413.97 less $40 in rebates = 373.97

You could downgrade to a 4000 series ATI video card and save money. Or go Nvidia, but i am not familiar with Nvidia cards anymore, the last 3 cards I had were ATI.

For a PSU:

Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply - Retail $55 (pre $25 rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153052

I do not have experience with this brand of PSU but the reviews are overwhelming positive on Newegg.

 

[ElliotGraham94]

just get a reallll cheap mobo and cheapish CPU (like £50) and then bang in 4gb ram and a semi decent Nvidia 8600GT or something and it'll run the game fine

 

[jgcecg]

Thank everybody that contributed.
Since my son doesn't do that much video editing, I ended up getting the following on sale yesterday at my local Microcenter, prices not includeing CA 8.5% tax.
The prices with tax were a little less than new egg.
1 Asus M4A785TD-M EVO Mobo $89
2 Corsair 1600 DDR3 4gb $89
3 Phenom II 550 cpu $93
4 OCZ StealXStream 500W PS $43 which I plan on upgrading for a Corsair 450VX on Amazon for $65, which Anandtech tested to 570W

Without a video card it runds Dragonage Origins fine on my son's 1280x1024 17 inch LCD. I will get a video card in a year or so and look at unlocking the other 2 cores when and if needed.

 

[betasub]

Impressive. You've managed to meet your criterion (son's gaming experience) without needed for an add-in graphics card. HD4200 onboard, with the possibility of hybrid crossfire if you buy a compatible graphics card.

 

[johnnydrinkawater]

Thank everybody that contributed.
Since my son doesn't do that much video editing, I ended up getting the following on sale yesterday at my local Microcenter, prices not includeing CA 8.5% tax.
The prices with tax were a little less than new egg.
1 Asus M4A785TD-M EVO Mobo $89
2 Corsair 1600 DDR3 4gb $89
3 Phenom II 550 cpu $93
4 OCZ StealXStream 500W PS $43 which I plan on upgrading for a Corsair 450VX on Amazon for $65, which Anandtech tested to 570W

Without a video card it runds Dragonage Origins fine on my son's 1280x1024 17 inch LCD. I will get a video card in a year or so and look at unlocking the other 2 cores when and if needed.

Sounds like a solid build, good luck!

 

[RaistlinZ]

Wow, your post makes me want to upgrade my CPU ASAP. I'm running a GeForce 8800GT and Dragon Age slows to a slideshow on my computer quite often. Granted, I'm still running this P.O.S. Athlon 64 3500+. If you're able to run DA:O with on-board video I guess my CPU is severely limiting me worse than I thought.

 

[jgcecg]

Can Corsair Intel I7 memory be used
with my AMD Asus M4A785TD-M EVO
No problems with system. It is running fine.

Asus M4A785TD-M EVO
Phenom II 550, which is now unlocked to 4 cores showing x4 B50

Corsair CMX4GX3M2A 1600C9
on Corsair website it says for Intel I7

under CPU-Z Utility
It shows as single rather than dual channel
and it shows the speed as 700, when it should be 1280

on Newegg on person said to increase the voltage to 1.65. I tried that but it didn't work.

I purchased everything 3 days ago so it can be returned

System seems to running very fast, but the memory is not working at full potential

-------------------------------------

Dragonage runs 29% faster with 4 cores, my system is running it fine with 2 cores.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...Tuning-Top-article-of-November-2009/Practice/

 

[HarlanPepper]

Shouldn't your DRAM frequency be 800 with those sticks? Have you tried each separately?

 

[jgcecg]

is there any good website for how to for set up ram?
or should I just use Asus recomended ram?

 

[johnnydrinkawater]

Can Corsair Intel I7 memory be used
with my AMD Asus M4A785TD-M EVO
No problems with system. It is running fine.

Asus M4A785TD-M EVO
Phenom II 550, which is now unlocked to 4 cores showing x4 B50

Corsair CMX4GX3M2A 1600C9
on Corsair website it says for Intel I7

under CPU-Z Utility
It shows as single rather than dual channel
and it shows the speed as 700, when it should be 1280

Check your motherboard documentation for bulk settings - my Asus has settings in the bios for "Optimal" and "Aggressive" performance - the latter being the only setting for dual channel mode.

It shows the speed in single data rate, I believe - someone correct me if I'm wrong with new mobos. Multiply by two and that should be your memory speed.

 

[jgcecg]

I SPENT 3 DAYS OR 25 HOURS LOOKING
BUT IT WAS FUN
WHEN I SHOULD HAVE CHECKED THE OBVIOUS FIRST

When I was updating the bios and had to wait while doing the CPR step, I looked inside my computer and saw that the ram was in the wrong slot.

I put the 2nd ram stick in the 3rd slot instead of the 2nd slot.

It was the last thing that I did when doing the build and i was tired.