Three PC build for family gaming.

[ensada]

Okay guys, I think I've got it. It sounds like mnewsham's 1GB graphics cards are a good idea, so I went with them. I grabbed 1 TB hard drives for each system because they aren't much more expensive, and I picked out a different keyboard and mouse set that I like very much.

I do have a question about the power requirements. The product details for the single video cards states that a 450w power supply is required. The SLI setup requires a 700w setup, but I assume that's to run both. Neither of the suggested power supplies meet the 450w requirement. These meet that requirement and both seem to have the necessary connectors and a decent rating: APEVIA ATX-CW500WP4 500W ATX Power Supply or APEX AL-D500EXP 500W ATX12V Power Supply - The price is right... are either acceptable?


Anandtech Build - Everything except the power supply, my changes and additions towards the bottom:

Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

ASRock 880GM-LE AM3 AMD 880G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Galaxy 60XGH6HS3HML GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) GC Version 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video ...

Galaxy 60XGH6HS3IMZ GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) SLI Kit 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX

Patriot 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model PSD34G1333K

Acer G235HAbd 23'' WideScreen LCD monitor

LG DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH24NS50 - OEM

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 3-Pack for System Builders - OEM

My changes and additions:

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

BYTECC 18" Serial ATA-150/300 Cable w/Locking Latch Model SATA-118C

Logitech MK200 Black USB Wired Slim Mouse and Keyboard Combo

SONIC HP-259 3.5mm Connector Circumaural Stereo Headset

Zonet ZEW2500P MINI USB / USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter

 

[BoomerD]

Oh hell no. Stay as far away from the Apevia power supplies as possible. Apevia is/was Aspire...better known as Perspire because you always sweat when you fired them up...and hoped they didn't blow up.

This is the cheapest I'd recommend:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371034
While it's still a bit lower powered than most video card companies recommend, it SHOULD be plenty. Odds are, your rigs won't draw more than 200-250 watts MAX while under load, and should idle around 100 watts. (beware, they don't include the power cord...you have to provide that yourself)

If you are willing to spend a bit more...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817256061

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817256071

I understand that you're trying to do this on a budget...but your power supply is the wrong place to try to shave a few dollars.
The power supply is basically the heart of any PC. A cheap one can blow and take many of your components with it...and your hard earned $$$ go up in smoke.

 

[mnewsham]

Your rigs shouldn't pull over 300 watts maybe 350 at a spike. A 430 watt would be fine.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The EarthWatts Green EA430D, is a decent PSU, but it lacks the necessary number of PCI-E power connectors to drive a GTX460 (requires two 6-pin PCI-E). So for that reason I would avoid it.

The SilverStone 500W is a decent PSU, so I would probably go with that one. It has one 6-pin and one 6+2-pin. The SilverStone 600W, might be a touch overkill. You could probably run two GTX460s (non-overclocked) on that one. It has three 6-pin, and one 6+2-pin.

I'm running Antec EarthWatts 650W PSUs with my GTX460s myself. They work good, but due to lack of airflow, they run a bit hot. Kinda worried that will shorten their lifespan.

 

[mnewsham]

The EarthWatts Green EA430D, is a decent PSU, but it lacks the necessary number of PCI-E power connectors to drive a GTX460 (requires two 6-pin PCI-E). So for that reason I would avoid it.

The SilverStone 500W is a decent PSU, so I would probably go with that one. It has one 6-pin and one 6+2-pin. The SilverStone 600W, might be a touch overkill. You could probably run two GTX460s (non-overclocked) on that one. It has three 6-pin, and one 6+2-pin.

I'm running Antec EarthWatts 650W PSUs with my GTX460s myself. They work good, but due to lack of airflow, they run a bit hot. Kinda worried that will shorten their lifespan.

The gpu's usually come with 4pin molex to 6pin pcie conversion cables.

 

[mfenn]

One thing to keep in mind is that many rebates are "limit one per household" so don't count on getting rebates for all three systems. Beyond that, I think that Blackmage's build with some MC Athlon II + mobo combos are the way to go.

As for tri vs. quad core, the 450 and 640 are about the same clock speed (3.0 vs. 3.2 GHz) and the price is fairly linear with respect to core count, so I'd go with the quad if it's within the budget but the tri is fine as well.

 

[mnewsham]

One thing to keep in mind is that many rebates are "limit one per household" so don't count on getting rebates for all three systems. Beyond that, I think that Blackmage's build with some MC Athlon II + mobo combos are the way to go.

As for tri vs. quad core, the 450 and 640 are about the same clock speed (3.0 vs. 3.2 GHz) and the price is fairly linear with respect to core count, so I'd go with the quad if it's within the budget but the tri is fine as well.

The SLI pack i recommended has no rebate (i dont think )and if it does then it is 2 with one rebate so that is fine, and the other single card i recommended has a limit of two per household, so that should work on the GPU end. with the other components OP needs to start reading some fine print

 

[mfenn]

I do have a question about the power requirements. The product details for the single video cards states that a 450w power supply is required. The SLI setup requires a 700w setup, but I assume that's to run both. Neither of the suggested power supplies meet the 450w requirement. These meet that requirement and both seem to have the necessary connectors and a decent rating: APEVIA ATX-CW500WP4 500W ATX Power Supply or APEX AL-D500EXP 500W ATX12V Power Supply - The price is right... are either acceptable?

Hell no. Both of those are absolute crap and cannot output as much power as the Corsair 430W originally suggested.

One thing to be aware of is that both Nvidia and AMD heavily pad their PSU "requirements" in an attempt to cover their asses from people with crap "500W" power supplies. You will be perfectly fine with a good quality ~430W unit.

 

[B-Riz]

Of the games listed, why go with a 1920x1080 monitor?

Would a 1440x900 work or is a 1680x1050 a good compromise?

Then you could go with an HD 5750, save a few dollars.

Even an HD 5570 or HD 4670 would be more than fine for less demanding / older games.

A dual core cpu would work just as well too. Microcenter has the Athlon II X2 250 or Pentium E5700.

Any PSU with a single 12V rail and some kind of 80 Plus certification. Antec NEO ECO 400C looks to be the cheapest right now. I have had good luck with the Rosewill Green Series also.

Microcenter has cases on sale now, you could get some cheap, less than $20, or something a bit nicer, around $35.

 

[Zap]

Since the OP seems to live near a Micro Center, I'll recommend one of their bundles. As for actual build and pricing, some of this might change depending on daily deals, etc.

ensada, do you do rebates? Do you have existing systems with Windows XP? Do you overclock?

Here are my suggestions based on right now pricing. YMMV come March 1st. I put some price ranges on items because price is variable on rebates/sales, with higher price as normal pricing.

Windows 7 Home Premium Family 3-pack upgrade $125 with free shipping ($42 each)

20" 1600x900 monitor $100+shipping

4GB dual channel DDR3 kit $35-45

good quality 430-500W PSU $35-60

Cooler Master Elite 341 micro ATX case $32 at Micro Center

random WiFi card/dongle $15-25

random optical drive $20 give or take

Samsung F3 1TB HDD $55-65

Micro Center CPU/mobo bundle $100 no rebates
AMD Phenom II x2 560 Black Edition
Asus M4N68T-M V2 micro ATX motherboard (core unlocker, supports 125W CPUs)

GTX 460 768MB graphics card $90-150

This should total around $640 per system using the higher prices, with lower pricing depending on sales/rebates. That leaves $110 per system for shipping/tax and keyboard/mouse/headphones. The motherboard chosen has more robust CPU VRMs than most other micro ATX boards, plus the board supports core unlocking as well as overclocking. The CPU is merely a dual core, but might be unlockable up to a quad core. The stock MHz is higher than an Athlon II, plus it has 6MB L3 cache that the Athlon II doesn't.

 

[Sephire]

 

[mnewsham]

^^^^ spending way too much on the case (a very sexy case but still too much) this is cheaper, that is an upgrade pack NOT 3 licenses (which OP would need), not spending enough on GPU something like this would be better, spending too much on HDD the Samsung F3 1tb performs about the same for same price with an extra 360 GB. The monitors are nice but you can get better, such as three of these. 23 inches, 1920x1080, $149.99 each, and good reviews.

 

[Sephire]

I tried hard to get to the pricepoint without too much compromise on look and function. I assume the OP has Windows CD lying somewhere so he can use the family pack upgrade. Never had Samsung so no experience on that one.

For the LCD for a little bit more he can get this instead:

Full 1920 x 1080 resolution.

 

[mnewsham]

if he can get in on the sale then that would be good.

 

[Sephire]

For me when I do builds for friends and family I love it when they give me a reasonable pricepoint. The moment they say 1K with gaming and 24" HD widescreen monitor I send them to Dell. Dont bother me :|

Last year my brother saw my Eyefinity setup and wrote me a check for 5K " I want what you have but bigger and faster". To this day I still haven't spent all of it. This summer I will be replacing his OS drive to SSD hopefully an affordable 1TB size

 

[mfenn]

I tried hard to get to the pricepoint without too much compromise on look and function. I assume the OP has Windows CD lying somewhere so he can use the family pack upgrade. Never had Samsung so no experience on that one.

Just because he has a Windows disk laying around does not make him eligible to use the family pack. He would need 3 machines with Windows licenses that he intends to retire/upgrade.

 

[mnewsham]

Just because he has a Windows disk laying around does not make him eligible to use the family pack. He would need 3 machines with Windows licenses that he intends to retire/upgrade.

He would need 3 different windows licenses to upgrade

 

[mfenn]

He would need 3 different windows licenses to upgrade

Yeah, that's what I meant.

 

[Sephire]

wha?! three?!

 

[mnewsham]

wha?! three?!

.....yes

 

[Ensign]

You should consider finding windows 7 off the forums or going with a lower OS to save...

I'm not sure what this means. Does this mean buying a used copy of Windows 7? What type of lower OS could be used to still play all these games?

Just curious.

Thanks!

 

[mnewsham]

I'm not sure what this means. Does this mean buying a used copy of Windows 7? What type of lower OS could be used to still play all these games?

Just curious.

Thanks!

There are certain types of people who do not like to pay for windows, these people will sometimes find an illegal copy of windows and a key-gen to create a product key and a patcher to authenticate it. If you are thinking about doing this, i urge you not to as it is illegal and really, W7 is only 100 bucks, if you are spending money on a new build just go ahead and buy it.

 

[Ensign]

There are certain types of people who do not like to pay for windows, these people will sometimes find an illegal copy of windows and a key-gen to create a product key and a patcher to authenticate it. If you are thinking about doing this, i urge you not to as it is illegal and really, W7 is only 100 bucks, if you are spending money on a new build just go ahead and buy it.

Exactly. I was just curious about strictly legal options and what the poster meant.

Thanks.

 

[gregoryvg]

For me when I do builds for friends and family I love it when they give me a reasonable pricepoint. The moment they say 1K with gaming and 24" HD widescreen monitor I send them to Dell. Dont bother me :|

I think you exaggerate or have extreme expectations. It would be easy to build a good gaming system for $1k that could handle 1080p. Heck I built a nice system for ~$700 that a $1k PC from Dell wouldn't even come close to touching.

 

[BoomerD]

I think you exaggerate or have extreme expectations. It would be easy to build a good gaming system for $1k that could handle 1080p. Heck I built a nice system for ~$700 that a $1k PC from Dell wouldn't even come close to touching.

Hell...that's not hard to do. Dell uses lower quality components in their builds...and charges a premium price to build them.