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It's "any good" but not good.
Phenom II X4 is okay. Comparable or a little slower than a $70 Intel processor in most games, but definitely usable in most.
GTS 450 is a budget gaming card from a little over two years ago, a late response to AMD's offerings at the time. It should run pretty much any game, but you will need to lower the settings quite a bit on some. It can run SC2 on ultra with good fps at lower resolutions. For more graphically-demanding games, don't keep up your hopes for "max settings".
The case and power supply are not something I would recommend but definitely usable, should be decent enough. RAM is RAM. The hard drive is a slower 5400 rpm model, but that's just annoying for everyday usage and doesn't impact gaming performance outside of loading stuff.
The motherboard may be considered relatively mid-high end, except that MSI's AM3 motherboards had suspect voltage regulation parts, so even though there's a (undersized) aftermarket heatsink, you wouldn't want to overclock a lot. Actually, the cooling may not be sufficient for that either.
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What are the best gaming graphics cards I can get right now for around $230 (give or take a few tens of dollars)?
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hd 7870 would be the best at that pricepoint with the GTX 660
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On October 07 2012 09:44 Myrmidon wrote:
It's "any good" but not good.
Phenom II X4 is okay. Comparable or a little slower than a $70 Intel processor in most games, but definitely usable in most.
GTS 450 is a budget gaming card from a little over two years ago, a late response to AMD's offerings at the time. It should run pretty much any game, but you will need to lower the settings quite a bit on some. It can run SC2 on ultra with good fps at lower resolutions. For more graphically-demanding games, don't keep up your hopes for "max settings".
The case and power supply are not something I would recommend but definitely usable, should be decent enough. RAM is RAM. The hard drive is a slower 5400 rpm model, but that's just annoying for everyday usage and doesn't impact gaming performance outside of loading stuff.
The motherboard may be considered relatively mid-high end, except that MSI's AM3 motherboards had suspect voltage regulation parts, so even though there's a (undersized) aftermarket heatsink, you wouldn't want to overclock a lot. Actually, the cooling may not be sufficient for that either.
Well, my brother is using similar setup but with GTX 260 as his gpu and he was able to ultra everything (including Skyrim with super ultra textures mods at 60fps no problem) except Borderlands 2 at 1680x1050. That's obviously taking into account the fact that his card can't support DX > 10 and OpenGL > 2.1... I plan on running this on lower resolutions though as I don't really like big screens (I'll most likely be running 19'' monitor at the highest) and I'm not planning on overclocking anything.
I'll think about getting faster HDD though.
About my brother's specs (seeing is believing):
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/30UUI.png)
His GPU is GTX 260, like I mentioned. This settings are for 1680x1050 (and he has dual monitors to boot). So I firmly believe that the specs I posted should handle pretty much every game on high/ultra without much trouble.
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Im getting redirected when I click on that link. Maybe paste the specs here?
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a gtx 260 is better then a gts 450
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On October 07 2012 20:54 Rachnar wrote:
a gtx 260 is better then a gts 450
Oh, I didn't know that (seeing how GTX 260 is pretty old tech). Anyway, I've found a slightly more expensive setup that should be a gazillion times better anyway (different shop, different parts):
Motherboard: Intel DH67BLB3 Box
CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 3,10 GHz BOX
Cooling: Arctic CPU cooler Freezer 11 LP
RAM: Corsair DDR3 2X 2GB 1333MHz CL9
GPU: GeForce with CUDA GTX 560Ti EVGA 2GB 2xDVI&mHDMI (PCI-E)
HDD: WD RE4 500 GB WD5003ABYX 64MB cache SATA-II
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-III Black/Win/USB3.0
PSU: Thermaltake Litepower Black 500W 12cm fan 2xPCIE Active PFC
I think I'll go with this one. Just not sure if 500W PSU will be enough. I might go with 630W one which seems to get very good opinions.
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5930 Posts
You can run that desktop with a good 400W PSU. Also why on earth are you getting an Enterprise hard drive?
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On October 07 2012 22:26 Womwomwom wrote:
You can run that desktop with a good 400W PSU. Also why on earth are you getting an Enterprise hard drive?
It's been some years since I built my own computer for the last time. I'm pretty much out of touch and don't understand some of the nomenclature 
Any suggestions regarding HDD? What are good manufacturers etc.
The same goes for GPU, I went with EVGA even though MSI was a bit cheaper and had 2 fans instead of 1 (but my friend said he had MSI GeForce and it was unbearably loud).
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5930 Posts
Pick the cheapest 7200RPM drive. Doesn't really matter who its from. Hitachi, Samsung, WD, Seagate...basically all the same. If you want to be picky, don't get Seagate Barracudas. That's about it. Hard drive failure is random so back up information you actually care about often.
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you don't need the 2gb model, it's more expensive then the 1gb "standard" and will perform the same for gaming on 1080p or under
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If you can swap stuff...
As noted above, a GTX 560 Ti 2GB model is essentially no different than a 1GB model except that they're more expensive (also slightly better for resolutions far above 1080p with heavy antialiasing, which doesn't apply here). Also as mentioned, a cheaper 7200 rpm drive is okay.
You don't need the Freezer 11 LP. The CPU comes with a cooler already.
Thermaltake has multiple 500W Litepower models, but most ones you can actually find are probably bad, definitely worse than Corsair CX or whatever. Their standard operating procedure is to create a whole bunch of models, send the good ones to reviewers, and stock the shelves with something that's much worse—except for Toughpower models and a couple others, which are more expensive and are actually good. Bait and switch. It's probably not a huge deal, since you'll be using under 250W of it, but you should try getting something else. It's hard to guess what alternatives are available, but anything under these brands: XFX, Seasonic, Antec (other than certain Basiq models, though some Value Power you may not want), Corsair (CX and above), PC Power & Cooling, should be okay. Also: Be Quiet! CM L8, F1; Super Flower Amazon; Chieftec BPS; Thermaltake TR2 ___P (the P is important), OCZ ZS, ZT.
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Computer Specifications
Manufacturer:
Custom
OS:
Windows 7 Home Premium
Motherboard:
ASRock Z77 Extreme6
CPU:
Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge
Memory:
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB
Hard Drive:
Intel SSD 120gb + WD 500gb
Video Card:
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870
Sound Card:
HT | OMEGA Claro Halo w/ AMP
Headphones:
Sennheiser PC350
Monitor:
BenQ XL2410T
Mouse:
Zowie Black EC1
Mousepad:
Steelseries QcK+
Keyboard:
Steelseries 6Gv2 Mechanical
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
What I want to have in more or less 3 months:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=21301846
I know it seems like a waste, because my current pc is good. But I'm planning on giving my current pc to my little brother, so he can play games, as he doesn't work because he is still quite young. I am fortunate to have some money, so I want to spend like no more than 3k on a pc. So if anyone wants to meddle with that build I have linked above and give or take a few things, I have a 3k budget. I want the top of the line stuff, I probably won't overclock and keep everything stock. But I want something that will last me 2 years before I can upgrade and/or add some stuff. Thanks in advance!!
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It looks like you're just throwing money away...
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Currently I play GW2 and Sc2. My fps bogs down during huge fights. Looking to upgrade.
My budget is 800$, but I want to stay as low as possible WHILE getting good production. Value/$ is important.
My current build:
MOBO: Standard Micro board. Nothing special.
CPU: Amd Phenom ii x4 955, Overclocked to 3.0 ghz.
GPU: Nvidia Geforce GTX 460 Cyclone (Overclocked 19%)
Ram: 2x2gb ddr3 1600
PSU: 550w
CDROM: NONE.
Case: Decent enough. 3 fans (200mm front and back, 120mm side panel)
gogogo
I want to make it run well, as cheap as possible, :p
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On October 08 2012 01:52 skyR wrote:
It looks like you're just throwing money away...
That's the plan lol
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On October 08 2012 02:16 NuKE[vZ] wrote:Show nested quote +On October 08 2012 01:52 skyR wrote:
It looks like you're just throwing money away... That's the plan lol
You need better CPU cooling, if you plan to just blow a fortune, I can't imagine not buying high end air, even if you don't want to do a custom loop.
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On October 08 2012 01:30 NuKE[vZ] wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Computer Specifications
Manufacturer:
Custom
OS:
Windows 7 Home Premium
Motherboard:
ASRock Z77 Extreme6
CPU:
Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge
Memory:
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB
Hard Drive:
Intel SSD 120gb + WD 500gb
Video Card:
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870
Sound Card:
HT | OMEGA Claro Halo w/ AMP
Headphones:
Sennheiser PC350
Monitor:
BenQ XL2410T
Mouse:
Zowie Black EC1
Mousepad:
Steelseries QcK+
Keyboard:
Steelseries 6Gv2 Mechanical
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
What I want to have in more or less 3 months: I know it seems like a waste, because my current pc is good. But I'm planning on giving my current pc to my little brother, so he can play games, as he doesn't work because he is still quite young. I am fortunate to have some money, so I want to spend like no more than 3k on a pc. So if anyone wants to meddle with that build I have linked above and give or take a few things, I have a 3k budget. I want the top of the line stuff, I probably won't overclock and keep everything stock. But I want something that will last me 2 years before I can upgrade and/or add some stuff. Thanks in advance!!
SkyR is pointing out that you're throwing money away, as in pulling out $100 bills and lighting them on fire, not as in being willing to spend a lot on something really good. We have no problem with expensive computers here, but there's no reason for most of your choices.
Regarding your wishlist:
No reason to go with x79. Get an ordinary 1155 board (say a Gigabyte z77-ud3h, I haven't looked at prices recently), and an i7-3770k (or no k if not overclocking). Why? Because the i7-3770k outperforms the i7-3930k for most tasks, including gaming. So why pay more for something that does a worse job?
Case is really meh for the price. I'd recommend a Corsair 550d.
Same with the PSU. Very meh for the price. If you want really nice stuff, get a PSU from the Seasonic X-series (more modern - this is pointless, and quieter - this is not pointless).
Same with aftermarket cooler. Get a Tranquillo or HR-02 Macho (quieter fan, not found on newegg) or don't bother since you're not overclocking. If considering an overclock
RAM is pointlessly fast. Also, a mite tall. Get low-profile 1600mhz RAM. There's no performance reason to pay more for faster speed on RAM. If you really want 2x8gb, fine, but you almost certainly will never notice a difference compared with 2x4gb.
Video card is very expensive for the performance. Benchmarks show it only 5% (or less) faster than the much cheaper 670. Generally, I'd say just get a 670, unless you have some technical skills, in which case if you really want the highest performance get two Radeon 7950s (or 670s). If you don't get two video cards, get a motherboard cheaper than the one I recommended above.
Spend any remaining money in your budget on more/better monitors.
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MisterFred: That's his CURRENT build you're critiquing... not the future one. Check the newegg wishlist for the X79 rig.
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EPT
