A decent gaming computer

[cheezdue]

Ive been looking for decent gaming computer that sells less than $1,500. But the things is, I dont seem to know much about computer hardware, will it be better if I just upgrade it? What do you guys recommend for me?

[beele]

I think it would be better to buy an all new system, since you have an on-board gpu. The porblem is I can't give you any product pricing, since the shops we have here (europe) don't exist in the us :). I can say though, that you can get a decent gaming system for 1500 USD.

[Hotrod]

It's much less expensive to buy all the parts, and putting it together yourself. That way, you can get a pretty good gaming computer for under 1000$, if you already have a monitor. Do not go and buy pre-made stuff, since, most of the time, they come with bad video cards, or are way too overprices, at least double the cost that it would be if you put it together yourself.

[beele]

It's much less expensive to buy all the parts, and putting it together yourself. That way, you can get a pretty good gaming computer for under 1000$, if you already have a monitor. Do not go and buy pre-made stuff, since, most of the time, they come with bad video cards, or are way too overprices, at least double the cost that it would be if you put it together yourself.

Hotrod is right, building your rig youself is so much cheaper, you just need some knowledge about putting computers together :).

[cheezdue]

Hotrod is right, building your rig youself is so much cheaper, you just need some knowledge about putting computers together :).


Can you recommend me some parts that are decent priced? Much appreciated.

[beele]

I'll look up some parts later today, since I'm just about to leave for work.

[Bodzilla]

Ive been looking for decent gaming computer that sells less than $1,500. But the things is, I dont seem to know much about computer hardware, will it be better if I just upgrade it? What do you guys recommend for me?
mine cost me 1600 and you'll be able to play many games including crysis Well.
1600x1200 rez with x4 AA and i average about 30-40 frames.

Save money by re-using older parts such as monitor, mouse, case, Hard drive, CD drive and focus your money on core components such as the cpu, gpu motherboard and ram and you'll get a great computer cheaply.

but also take note that i'm an australian and i got this computer for a hell of alot more then you'd have to pay in the state ;)

[beele]

Allright, here are some parts, all the prices are in €.

BUDGET 1500,000 USD = 954,750 €

MOBO: Asus P5N-E SLI,s775,2xPCIe ATX,n650i,DDR2 (8gb max),Glan,SATA,RAID,... (http://www.forcom.be/?product=301799)
COST = 76,1€
CPU: Intel Quad Core Q9450 s775,2.66GHz,1333MHz,12MB L2cache,BOX (http://www.forcom.be/?product=302712)
COST = 259,0€
MEMORY = Kingston DDR2 1GB 800MHz PC6400 CL5(http://www.forcom.be/?product=301477)
COST = 4 x 21,4€ = 85,6€
GPU = Asus ENGTX280 (HTDP/1G DDR3,HDTV,2xDVI-I,HDMI,PCIe) (http://www.forcom.be/?product=303686)
COST = 527,8€
PSU = Coolermaster PSU Real Power M520 ATX 520W (http://www.forcom.be/?product=302602)
COST = 66,7€
HDD = assuming you use the one from your previous computer
CD/DVD = assuming you use the one from your previous computer
CASE = If you need a new one. Antec Three Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case (geen voeding) (http://www.forcom.be/?product=303312)
COST = 44,9€TOTAL = 1060,1€ = 1.665,515 USD

Just a little over your budget, but you can play with the components like CPU en GPU a bit. This would be a machine I would actually buy if I had some spare money :)

[Anton]

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042
329.99
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036
269.99

MOTHERBOARD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024
259.99

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145197 4 GB
136.00

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009 750 WATT
159.99

CASE:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
119.99

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150287
219.99

Cooling:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134
31.99


If you chose the Quad core for the processer it would be around 1,258 USD.

I'm pretty sure all of that was compatible, I was just going through picking things I wanted :p

Just double check, but I'm 99% certain it all is. Also, I might have missed an important component.

I'm assuming you are using your old HDD, CD/DVD Drive, and Monitor/kb/mouse.

[Mr Buckshot]

Are you American? If you are, order a bunch of hardware off www.newegg.com - the parts Timo recommended are excellent, although if you are strapped for cash you can go down to a Geforce 9600 GT and a C2D E8100 and a budget mobo (those are bad for OC'ing, but will serve the everyday needs of a computer).

Also Timo, if you re-use the hard drive you can only access the data I believe, not boot from the operating system as the OS would be locked to the original computer right? So he would have to spend at least $100 on another OS. I might be wrong, I've heard of people using (illegal) methods to circumvent this, but I refuse to support piracy so I won't say any more on this OS thing.

[Warsaw]

Just curious, if he's strapped for cash, why not go for the HD4850 instead of the 9600GT, or the HD4870 instead of the 9800GTX/GTX280? He did say decent machine, not uber machine.

[Amit]

Just curious, if he's strapped for cash, why not go for the HD4850 instead of the 9600GT, or the HD4870 instead of the 9800GTX/GTX280? He did say decent machine, not uber machine.

Maybe buckshot means...really strapped for cash.

[alby]

Just curious, if he's strapped for cash, why not go for the HD4850 instead of the 9600GT, or the HD4870 instead of the 9800GTX/GTX280? He did say decent machine, not uber machine.Whats funny about that is the 4870 is better than the 9800GTX and the 4850 is just about the same. the GTX280 costs a lot and doesn't give that much more than the 4870 does. I would say get a 4870 and a decent dual/quad core CPU, like an E8400 or Q6600 for really good performance.

Edit:
GPU:ATI 4870 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+1305520549+106792627+1067940678&name=Radeon+HD+4870)
CPU:Intel Q6600 CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017) Or Intel E8400 CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037)
MoBo:ASUS P5E Deluxe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131317) I don't really know what the best motherboard for CF is, but I made sure that if you wanted to CF you can.
RAM:Patriot Extreme Performance DDR2 1200 (2x 1GB) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220241)
PSU:Thermaltake 700W modular (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153039)
HDD:Seagate Barracuda 250GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262) You might not even want a new Hard drive.
Case:Lian Li Armorsuit P60 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112160)

Total price is $1,302.93 with the Q6600, or $1282.93 with the E8400.

[Mr Buckshot]

I think it would be better to buy an all new system, since you have an on-board gpu.

If the integrated GPU is a Nvidia card, 99.9% of the time, there will be a 16x PCI-e slot as well since this should be an nForce motherboard. His processor is not cutting edge these days but it gets the job done fairly well. He has 2 GB of shared RAM (the GPU steals RAM from the system, bringing it down to 1.9 GB), which is standard in most gaming machines.

All he really needs at the moment is a video card upgrade. The only potential limiting factor is the physical size of the case. If it's one of those silly HP slimline cases (his specs only say HP case), then the good video cards won't physically fit in there and a full-on upgrade may be necessary.

[Xetsuei]

Tomorrow I'll pick you out some :awesome: parts.

[alby]

If the integrated GPU is a Nvidia card, 99.9% of the timeWhat? Intel is the leader in the integrated GPU market, and has been for some time. The list I gave you has one of the best Graphics cards for the price.

[Mr Buckshot]

What? Intel is the leader in the integrated GPU market, and has been for some time. The list I gave you has one of the best Graphics cards for the price.

By 99.9%, I mean that 99.9% of mobos with nvidia IGPs have PCI-e slots. You misunderstood

[Warsaw]

Pretty much any motherboard manufactured between 2006 and now has at least a PCI-e x16 slot. PCI-e 2.0 is harder to find.

[ExAm]

What exacly are the advantages to PCI-e 2.0 over standard?

[Amit]

What exacly are the advantages to PCI-e 2.0 over standard?

Basically, just a bandwidth upgrade.

[Hotrod]

Can any other hardware that uses non-PCI-E 2.0 (ie PCI-E 1.0) work on PCI-E 2.0? I'd think that they can, but not get any better performance than on a 1.0, but I just wanted to make sure.

[Warsaw]

PCI-e 1.0 will work in PCI-e 2.0, and vice versa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#PCI_Express_2.0

[Amit]

Can any other hardware that uses non-PCI-E 2.0 (ie PCI-E 1.0) work on PCI-E 2.0? I'd think that they can, but not get any better performance than on a 1.0, but I just wanted to make sure.

They'll work, obviously, but I think if they had a boost, it would defeat the purpose of PCI-E 2.0 cards.

Hey, maybe they'll make a PCI-E 2.1 and only new ATi cards will support it :haw:

[Warsaw]

If that's a reference to DX10.1, that was Microsoft, not ATi. nVidia just refuses to integrate it because it is essentially the same as DX10, with some anti-hack tweaks so it can't run on XP. We all know how lazy nVidia is, so of course they won't implement it...it's extra work.

Also, PCI-e 3.0 is slated to come out sometime in 2009.

[Amit]

If that's a reference to DX10.1, that was Microsoft, not ATi. nVidia just refuses to integrate it because it is essentially the same as DX10, with some anti-hack tweaks so it can't run on XP. We all know how lazy nVidia is, so of course they won't implement it...it's extra work.
quote]

It was a reference to DX 10.1 but where'd you get the idea that I thought ATi got licensing to extended Microsoft's API? I'm not sure who invented PCI-E but that's who I was talking about.

[quote=Warsaw;271896]Also, PCI-e 3.0 is slated to come out sometime in 2009.

That's retarded because you can't even find a PCI-E 2.0 compliant motherboard.

[Warsaw]

Welcome to the world of technology, where everything advances faster than you can press F5. :downs: Though I agree, they need to hit the brakes for a year or so.

Also, PCI Express is Intel tech, just for the record.

[343guiltymc]

If that's a reference to DX10.1, that was Microsoft, not ATi. nVidia just refuses to integrate it because it is essentially the same as DX10, with some anti-hack tweaks so it can't run on XP. We all know how lazy nVidia is, so of course they won't implement it...it's extra work.

Also, PCI-e 3.0 is slated to come out sometime in 2009.
I've heard DX10.1 makes AA better than normal DX10.

[Con]

What's the best GFX card for under 300 bucks? The guy at the comp shop said the 8 series > 9 series. Has anyone found good solid comparisons between those and the HD4870?

[Amit]

What's the best GFX card for under 300 bucks? The guy at the comp shop said the 8 series > 9 series. Has anyone found good solid comparisons between those and the HD4870?

In the unofficial video card thread, the first half contains many benchmarks of the the HD 4850 beating the shit out of everything except the GTX 280 and HD 4870. Still, for $400 you can get two HD 4850s that outperform the GTX 280 most of the time. The HD 4870 as I'm sure you've heard before, doesn't have enough juice in it to justify the $100 extra.

[Bodzilla]

4850 for you con. stay away from nvidia atm.

[Warsaw]

The 4850 stomps anything from the GeForce 8 series, and does the same to the 9 series with the exception of maybe the GeForce 9800 GX2, but that one doesn't count. :p

[cheezdue]

Thanks guys, this information is very useful