How to spend my PC-budget? Advice please

[Wilem27]

Hi there,

I would like to build a new PC for my son, who likes to play games (CoD5, Elder Scrolls5, etc).
My budget is 400 euro’s, which is about 570 US-dollars.
I need:
- processor
- motherboard
- memory
- PSU
- graphics card

I already have the case, optical drive and harddisk.

Can anyone give me a suggestion on how to spend this budget??

Thank you

[Saph]

I think you're talking about Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, as V(Skyrim) wont be out till November.

As for the machine? I think with that budget that you should not get the best of the best(As far as I know, 570 bucks wont get you that good a computer)

I would say that you should put emphasis on:
(In order from most to least)

CPU
GPU
RAM
Motherboard
Harddisk Space

Since you need a few hundred gigs to even have space for the games you want.

I'm afraid you may have to go alittle beyond $570, like $700 will get you a fantastic gaming rig.

[Diligence109]

looking at that budget and the games you listed my gut instinct says that it's not possible. I haven't built computers myself (a good handful on the forum have - hopefully they find this thread) but I'd start browsing newegg.com to figure out what I were getting.

You're going to need something like at least 2.5GHz dual core CPU, at least 2GB RAM, a middle-high-end graphics card, and a motherboard and power supply that will keep up with the ensemble. I'd be browsing newegg and google with those vague ideas in mind.

Sorry I can't be more help, I'm sure you'll get better advice from other people on the forum.

[Shixx]

You could easily Build a PC with that amount Granted, you'll need to upgrade it again in a year or so. You can build something NOW that will play MOST Games.

Check out these Parts-

Newegg.com - ASUS M4A89GTD PROs USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131631)

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT90ZFBGRBOX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849)

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100282XTREME Radeon HD 5850 Xtreme 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102932)

The above are the most important Parts, you want a Good mobo that you can Upgrade on for a few years, I look at about a 6 year life Span.

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB 4GX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104203)
4gb of Memory should get you by for now, but you will want to upgrade.

As for PSU you should be fine with any 500W. just make sure it will fit the case.

Which reminds me, what size is your case you'll want to take that into consideration before buying these parts, that GPU is a bit on the big side.

Cases are fairly cheap as well if your current case isn't big enough.

[Saph]

Yeah I dont think 570 bucks will be enough either, I'm pretty sure that, like Dili said, you'll be stuck with 2GB DDR3 RAM, if you want any more, you'll have to go DDR2 and get like 8gb of that, BUT it is pretty outdated.

As for the Dual core CPU. I am running at 2.33 ghz with my Single core Q8200. It is a pretty decent CPU, and stands well with games(It runs World of Warcraft, Medieval 2:total war, Oblivion, and other tough games flawlessly though), but it is not fast enough to run the newest games. So I think that if you can get a CPU that has ~2.5+ GHz that would be more than enough to run games pretty efficiently.

As for a GPU(Graphics Card), I have an ATI Radeon HD 4350, which is pretty damned bad. I can run games pretty lagfree cause of my CPU, but my graphics could be better(I will build a custom gaming rig in the future with a budget of $1000)

But yeah, all of this I don't think you can do with less than $600, I think you'll need more like $700 as mentioned above by myself, maybe even a bit more if he wants a computer that runs things top notch, but for the newest games? 570 wont cut it, not even close.

As Shix said, YES you COULD build a good computer, but to me I can't deal with a computer that'll only last for less than a year before I'll need upgrades again. I'd say to save yourself money, up your budget to about $650-700 and you'll get a computer that'll last for like 2-3 years instead.

[Synge]

600 bucks is more than enough if he doesn't need an OS, hard drive, or case...

I'm heading out soon so I don't have time to put anything together but when I get home later I'll be more than happy to.

@ Shixx: The hexacore is a bit of an overkill with this budget. It'd be better to go with an AMD quad and use the cash that would have been spent on the x6 on a better GPU.

[Synge]

Sorry for the double post.

Here ya go Wilem:

CPU - $114: Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808)

MOBO - $100: Newegg.com - ASUS M4A87TDs USB 3.0 AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131651)

RAM - $45: Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 4GB Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260)

GPU - $165: Newegg.com - XFX HD-685X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150505)

PSU - $90: Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005)

Total Cost: $513.95

This rig will handle all games currently out with ease, even Crysis high-very high with a steady 30+ FPS.

You'll notice I didn't use every dollar of your budget, I noticed you said your current case doesn't support ATX format? If not you'll want a new case as well, so ya want me to factor that in?

[LiNuX]

Assuming Wilem's Location on his profile is correct, I think he'll have trouble ordering from newegg. Last I checked, they don't ship outside of the US.

Try Scan.co.uk: Computer Hardware
(http://www.scan.co.uk) - they might ship there, I'm not sure though, never ordered stuff from there. But from what I've seen, parts there cost more than Newegg on average so you might go over your budget for the same parts synge or anyone else has (or may) mention.

[Synge]

Ah, yeah :/ Sorry Wilem, I didn't even think about you not living in the US. Buying roughly the same parts on Scan will put you ~45 Euros over budget. It's still possible to build a decent rig though.

He could also try using a forwarding service, which would allow him to puurchase from Newegg and still may be cheaper than Scan.

[Saph]

Go Dell, bro.

No really...dont..It's better to just not get him a PC at all than go to Dell for a custom rig XD

[Wilem27]

Well, thanks to all of you.
I'll look at all your suggestions and consider forwarding.

I don't know if PC-parts are cheaper in the US then in Europe.

I'll get back to you.

[LiNuX]

They generally are cheaper in the US. Just like Gas.

[Wilem27]

Well, I'll try then to assemble a PC, that runs on Gas, instead of electricity.