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Computer Build

N

nickarmadillo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 24, 2003
223
0
St. Louis, MO
I have been looking into selling my old Powermac G5 and buying a new PC gaming desktop (I will, of course, continue to use my Macbook Pro as my day-to-day computer) and stumbled across the following site:

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/computer-systems/gaming-pc/700/

Any opinions on the $700 build? Are these good components? I'm unsure about the AMD processors though. What would be an equivalent Intel core processor?
 
nickarmadillo said:
I have been looking into selling my old Powermac G5 and buying a new PC gaming desktop (I will, of course, continue to use my Macbook Pro as my day-to-day computer) and stumbled across the following site:

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/computer-systems/gaming-pc/700/

Any opinions on the $700 build? Are these good components? I'm unsure about the AMD processors though. What would be an equivalent Intel core processor?
Click to expand...

It looks like a good one. E8500 is almost equal to the AMD one.
 
nickarmadillo said:
Really? An E8500 (C2D 3.16) isn't as fast as a Phenom II X2 3.1GHz? AMD must have really improved since the Phenom I if this is true.
Click to expand...

I meant that there's 0.06GHz difference, almost stands for that. Personally I like Intels a lot more. Build it yourself and put Intel instead of AMD and select other mother board as well. AMDs are cheap crap IMO.
 
I've heard good things about the Phenom IIs. They seem to offer better performance per dollar. However, they still benchmark slightly slower than the C2D and nowhere near the core i7. Anyone have realworld experience with the Phenom IIs mentioned in the article?
 
I've found a new deal on at Tigerdirect that seems to have a great set of components. Any thoughts on this build?

Total Price: $799

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Socket AM2 CPU - $189.99
Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply - $79.99
ASUS M4A78-E Motherboard - $139.99
Corsair 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 - $46.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 750GB HD - $69.99
XFX Radeon HD 4890 Xtreme Video Card - 1GB - $209.99
Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE DVDRW Drive - $29.99
Thermaltake Element S ATX Black Mid-T Case - $119.99

Link:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4960636&CatId=332

I was thinking about getting another iMac, but I already have the iMac and Macbook Pro in my sig and was looking for something I could game on.
 
Not Available said:
If you have the dough, go for an Alienware, as you can't go wrong :)
Click to expand...

For less, he can build a higher quality Gaming PC.

Build looks solid, but I've preferred intel systems for the last 2 years. I say get yourself in on some of that sweet sweet i7 action (maybe in a few months... prices are still high) and game to your hearts content.
 
Looks like a nice build but I would go faster than a 7200rpm; I would look at storing most of your data on an external 1tb or something, with regular back-ups and run a couple X-25 or other comparable SSDs in RAID 0 config. I reckon that'll improve the system much more than increased processor speed and ram given what I've seen with many high end system and their benchmarking results.
 
Great ideas, but right now, cash is tight. I'm a grad student and looking to build a budget gaming system. So right now, i7 processors and SSDs are out of the picture. I personally prefer Intel, but the new Phenom IIs are a great improvement and offer greater performance per dollar at this time.

In total, I am willing to spend $1000 (which includes the monitor) so if anyone else has some build ideas that would be wonderful.
 
A strong Intel core 2 duo, 4GB of RAM, and an HD4870 or so should fit the bill well, I think.

And, just to interject...buy a quality PSU. Not the Ultra one suggested above.
 
frozenlead said:
A strong Intel core 2 duo, 4GB of RAM, and an HD4870 or so should fit the bill well, I think.

And, just to interject...buy a quality PSU. Not the Ultra one suggested above.
Click to expand...

For the same price as a 3Ghz C2D 8400 I can get a 3Ghz Phenom II 940 Quad, not to mention that the motherboard would be cheaper for the AMD as well. I would prefer, as you said, to buy an Intel processor as Intel offers greater overall performance right now, but AMD has them beat on the price/performance ratio and price is a key issue on this build.

I'm having second thoughts about that earlier build as 1) the PSU isn't up to spec and 2) I'd like some faster RAM

Here is another build I've come up with:

Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P $110
CPU - Amd Phenom II X4 940 3.0GHz Black Ed $175
Video Card - XFX Radeon HD 4890 1GB $196
RAM - OCZ 4 GB DDR2 1066 MHz PC2-8500 $46
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar Black 500 GB $68
Optical Drive - SAMSUNG 22X SATA DVD Burner $27
Case - Antec Nine Hundred $100
Power Supply - Antec EA750 750W ATX12V $110
Cooling - 120mm Scythe case fan $9
Monitor - ASUS VH236H 23in Widescreen LCD Monitor $155

Total $996
 
The i7 rig looks nice, but it doesn't include a video card. It also has a lower-quality case and power supply. I am tempted though. It seems like a good deal.
 
im going to point u to a maximum pc article that i saw. it has gaming computers for any budget. its pretty new since its in their latest magazine

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/dream_machine

they start at 700 but u can get a better deal on the parts if u shop arround

btw that overclocked phenom would be bad ass for a budget computer. but im still paying for my iMac so no computer build till 2010 for me
 
If you're not looking to spend a whole lot, AMD is the way to go. Sure, the intel will get you the fastest speed, but you have to pay for it. Otherwise the AMD seem to be the best bang for the buck.... my "gaming" pc (which I use for wow and a few other 3 gen old games) has an AMD CPU that cost me $20. At the same time, I couldn't even find an intel CPU for under $50.
 
I'm also considering building a Windows PC, mainly for gaming and video encoding. I'll be waiting for a month or so for Intel's Lynnfield procs. The lack of QPI will allow cheaper mobos in the LGA775 price range. DirectX 11 video cards should also start appearing soon, driving down prices on the current gen.
 
nickarmadillo said:
The i7 rig looks nice, but it doesn't include a video card. It also has a lower-quality case and power supply. I am tempted though. It seems like a good deal.
Click to expand...

sorry i did not see it dident have a video card or a lower end psu but would you be willing to upgrade theese if you have 1k to spend?
 
Remember you need to budget for Windows, keyboard, mouse and shipping charges, about $175 with Vista Home Premium OEM, cheap keyboard, moderate mouse and shipping. Does the $1000 include that?

Looking at the system you found that is about the best you will manage, since Tigerdirect cuts the price a lot if you buy the bundle rather than pick and choose parts. The CPU is more than powerful enough, likely the video card will become a bottleneck before the CPU does. Unless you wanted it to also be a Hackintosh there really is no need for a more expensive Intel System.

But if you want the system, decent monitor, keyboard, mouse, Windows. You will need to go over your $1000 budget some. For a GPU like that I would buy a 1920x1200 24" display. Otherwise drop down to a 4870 and 1680x1050 20 to 22" to hit the $1000 mark.

Asus M3N72-D SLI Barebone Kit $509

XFX Radeon HD 4870 Video Card $149

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit $110 includes free Win 7 upgrade coupon

Acer X223Wbd 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor $140

Keyboard and Mouse $35

DVD burner $30

Shipping $40

Total $1013

Or you can stick with your higher end system with the nicer case for about $1150. $1250 with a Hyundai w242d 24" 1920x1200 display:D.
 
Free Windows 7 Beta FTW :D and I've got a decent wireless keyboard/mouse already, so that won't be an issue
velocityg4 said:
Remember you need to budget for Windows, keyboard, mouse and shipping charges, about $175 with Vista Home Premium OEM, cheap keyboard, moderate mouse and shipping. Does the $1000 include that?

Looking at the system you found that is about the best you will manage, since Tigerdirect cuts the price a lot if you buy the bundle rather than pick and choose parts. The CPU is more than powerful enough, likely the video card will become a bottleneck before the CPU does. Unless you wanted it to also be a Hackintosh there really is no need for a more expensive Intel System.

But if you want the system, decent monitor, keyboard, mouse, Windows. You will need to go over your $1000 budget some. For a GPU like that I would buy a 1920x1200 24" display. Otherwise drop down to a 4870 and 1680x1050 20 to 22" to hit the $1000 mark.

Asus M3N72-D SLI Barebone Kit $509

XFX Radeon HD 4870 Video Card $149

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit $110 includes free Win 7 upgrade coupon

Acer X223Wbd 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor $140

Keyboard and Mouse $35

DVD burner $30

Shipping $40

Total $1013

Or you can stick with your higher end system with the nicer case for about $1150. $1250 with a Hyundai w242d 24" 1920x1200 display:D.
Click to expand...
 
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