Decent gaming PC?

[Joker85]

Alright I think the time has finally come to get a new PC. I've had my old one for 4 years and even when I bought it it was nowhere near top of the line.

What I'm running now is a celeron 1.2g 512mb ram and a radeon9250. I've suprisingly been able to play RTW on medium settings pretty easy with large units and play most other games (not bf2, oblivion etc obviously) but enough is enough.

Anyway I've been doing some research and my budget is pretty tight so what I settled on was the following:

Athlon 3500+
Geforce 7600 GT
Asus A8N-VM CSM
2gb Ram
350w PSU

So it's cheap, fits in my budget, and looks like it will be able to take anything I can throw at it (I hope). But seeing as I'm not an expert I thought I'd get second opinions. Do you think this is decent enough to be able to play any games out there (including MTW2 eventually) on atleast high end medium settings and maybe even high)? Or will I find myself right back where I am right now in a year or so when new games are coming out?

Thanks.:2thumbsup:

[fatsheep]

Go for a good name brand 500 watt PSU. It might cost more but it'll be well worth the investment! Besides that it looks like a very nice gaming rig. :)

[Beirut]

That will be a nice rig. Though I would try to get a 7800 series card if at all possble. Cancel one of your Gigs of RAM and see if that allows you some money space for the 7800 card.

Granted, you want and need 2 Gigs of RAM in some games, but IMHO, you'll have more fun with the better video card than with the extra memory. You can always add to the RAM later. It's easier and cheaper than changing video cards.

[orangat]

Alright I think the time has finally come to get a new PC. I've had my old one for 4 years and even when I bought it it was nowhere near top of the line.

What I'm running now is a celeron 1.2g 512mb ram and a radeon9250. I've suprisingly been able to play RTW on medium settings pretty easy with large units and play most other games (not bf2, oblivion etc obviously) but enough is enough.
........

If you are on a budget, its all the more reason to wait until the Conroe arrives. Prices will drop on both Intel and AMD lines.

[Ibn Munqidh]

Hello Joker,

Go for that rig, its perfect. You wont need more than 350w in my opinion, thats all Ive got, and I play play BF2, RTW on ultra, full-high settings. If increase your budget a bit, get 3gb RAM, OR, get the 7800 GTX.

[Beirut]

Don't want to disagree with Ibn Munqidh too much, but I think getting a third gig of RAM instead of using the cash to up your video card would be less than the most efficient use of your money.

Two gigs of RAM should be plenty to run anything.

[Ibn Munqidh]

Don't want to disagree with Ibn Munqidh too much, but I think getting a third gig of RAM instead of using the cash to up your video card would be less than the most efficient use of your money.

Two gigs of RAM should be plenty to run anything.

I agree with you Beirut. I also think a graphics card is more important than increasing a gig of RAM. Ive got the 7800 GTX, with a 3.2 AMD processor, and 3gig RAM. When I only had 2gigs, running RTW on full high settings and huge units was a bit choppy, the extra gig was worth it to me. But still, the 7800 GTX is much better than the 7600 GT.

[Beirut]

Ibn Munqidh,

Wow. Nice system. Didn't know that R:TW could benefit from 3gigs of RAM over 2. Interesting.

I'd like to have 2 gigs but I have 2x512 and only one slot left. I was told by more than several smart people that adding another 512 could cause problems. Better to get rid of the 2x512 and get 2x1024 they said.

But... $$$. At least for now.

Glad we agree on the 7800 series card. I have the 7800GS AGP model and I'm loving it. Hope Joker85 gets one.

[Ibn Munqidh]

Ibn Munqidh,

Wow. Nice system. Didn't know that R:TW could benefit from 3gigs of RAM over 2. Interesting.

I'd like to have 2 gigs but I have 2x512 and only one slot left. I was told by more than several smart people that adding another 512 could cause problems. Better to get rid of the 2x512 and get 2x1024 they said.

But... $$$. At least for now.

Glad we agree on the 7800 series card. I have the 7800GS AGP model and I'm loving it. Hope Joker85 gets one.

Beirut,

Yes, installing another 512 chip would not help your system in any way, best thing is to install 1024x2.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I'm curious- what is the price for such a system, Joker85?

I've got a 1.3 P4 with somewhere between 256 and 400 MBs ram, and A geforce2 MX, and want to upgrade.

Crazed Rabbit

[Joker85]

I'm curious- what is the price for such a system, Joker85?

I've got a 1.3 P4 with somewhere between 256 and 400 MBs ram, and A geforce2 MX, and want to upgrade.

Crazed Rabbit

Well I'm ordering it from a custom PC shop so it's a bit more expensive than if I ordered all the parts and built it. But I've never done that before and I'd rather experiement when I'm able to affrod new stuff if I screw everything up. I don't want to be stuck with this pos any longer heh.

So my total price for the stuff listed up there and accessories/os etc is 1200 from the place I am ordering. I could probably get it for around 1000-1050 from places like cyberpowerpc but I've read some horror stories about them on resellerratings.com and I'd rather just spend a little more to ensure better service.

I think if I built it from scratch it would be even less in the 900 range. But if you are interested in the place I'm buying from it is pugetsystems.com They seem to have almost unverisal praise from people who have bought from them, in fact I can't find a single complaint. I'm ordering this friday so if you're still looking around at different places I'll let you know how they work out.

I have a question Beirut/IBN. If I were to upgrade to a 7800GS would 350W still be enough or would I need to bump up to a new power supply?

[Geezer57]

If I were to upgrade to a 7800GS would 350W still be enough or would I need to bump up to a new power supply?

A conservative 350W rating from a really good quality power supply would probably be enough, but power supplies are really inexpensive considering their importance to proper system function and reliability. I'd buy a new one, which you can get for about $50 (4-egg rated 500W Aspire here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817148027 ), or for about $80 you could have this Thermaltake (5-egg rated 500W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153028 ) with very high customer satisfaction.

I've built custom PC's for myself and friends, several hundred of the things. The most common coponent failure, by far, is the power supply. So I almost never do an upgrade or rebuild without replacing them, and don't recommend the cheapest brands. New power supplies are inexpensive insurance.

[orangat]

Aspire is a very spotty brand. Just a notch above crap like x-connect imo.
Fortron is a much better buy for those on a budget.

Newegg reviews used to be marketing device with vetted and censored feedback. They promised not to vet bad reviews very recently but it'll be some time before I bother placing some stock in newegg reviews.