Considering Purchase: Good deal/How will it run?

[Soyokaze]

I'm currently considering purchasing the following build for $763.00. My question is a) is this a good performance/$ value and b) how well will it run PS2?

Case 1 x ARC CS-501 Gaming Case-Black
Processor 1 x AMD FX-4100 CPU (4x 3.60GHz/4MB L2 Cache)
Motherboard 1 x ASUS M5A97 -- AMD 970
Memory 1 x 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module-G.Skill Ripjaws X
Video Card 1 x NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 - 2GB
Power Supply 1 x 550 Watt - Standard
Processor Cooling 1 x Liquid CPU Cooling System [AMD]-Standard 120mm Fan
Video Card Brand 1 x Major Brand Powered by AMD or NVIDIA
Primary Hard Drive 1 x 120 GB ADATA S510 SSD-Single Drive
Optical Drive 1 x 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive-Black
Sound Card 1 x 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
Network Card 1 x Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Operating System 1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel)-64-Bit
Warranty 1 x 3 Year Standard Warranty Service
Rush Service 1 x Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee)-No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days
iBUYPOWER PowerDrive 1 x PowerDrive Level 2 - Up to 20% Overclocking
Motherboard USB / SATA Interface 1 x Motherboard default USB / SATA Interface

[Goku]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/s...ad.php?t=37183

Answer those.

No AMD 4100 FX either. Bad processor.

Oh this is prebuilt. Still answering that helps.

[Pancake]

The main features to worry about for gaming are GPU, CPU and Memory. I will analyze these components on your build.

GPU: BAD. The 460 outperforms the 640 by a wide margin and is only $10 more.

CPU: Alright for the price point. However, an i3 2100 would work out to be the same price but would have better performance.

Memory: Excellent! I have G.Skills and they perform extremely well and it is the most reliable brand.

[Bags]

Remember that's just theorhetical, pancake. Though the 460 is probably better.

[Rbstr]

An AMD CPU is pretty much a bad idea unless you're trying to build something very cheap that isn't going to be playing games.
That graphics card isn't recommended either.
And there's no need at all for water cooling at stock(ish) CPU speeds.

120GB SSD is nice...but the only disk in the computer?

For a new gaming computer I'd say as a minimum:
Intel i3 2100
GTX460
8GB ram


Here's something in your budget that I threw together...including Windows 7 @ $100(link):
Motherboard: An AsRock Z77, $100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157297
RAM: 8gb (2x4gb) DDR1600 $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148476
CPU: i3 2100 (3.1ghz, dual core) $110 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115078
Graphics: GTX 560 $210 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130662 (if you run lower resolution on your monitor you could get by with a GTX460 $140)
Hard drive: 500GB Samsung $80 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152181
PSU: Corsair 500w, $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139027
Case: $50 for this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042
DVD drive: $15 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151244

$780 $10 in shipping. $709 with the GTX460. There's some rebates I haven't included.
Better in every category except the SSD.
Here's a 128gb SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148529. Adds $40 if you remove the 500gb I listed.

[Ailos]

Originally Posted by Rbstr

Here's something in your budget that I threw together...including Windows 7 @ $100(link):
Motherboard: An AsRock Z77, $100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157297
RAM: 8gb (2x4gb) DDR1600 $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148476
CPU: i3 2100 (3.1ghz, dual core) $110 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115078
Graphics: GTX 560 $210 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130662 (if you run lower resolution on your monitor you could get by with a GTX460 $140)
Hard drive: 500GB Samsung $80 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152181
PSU: Corsair 500w, $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139027
Case: $50 for this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042
DVD drive: $15 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151244

$780 $10 in shipping. $709 with the GTX460. There's some rebates I haven't included.
Better in every category except the SSD.
Here's a 128gb SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148529. Adds $40 if you remove the 500gb I listed.

This.

[Soyokaze]

1. What is your budget and does that include shipping/taxes?

I'd prefer to stay under $800

2. Where do you live (Please list if possible town, state, and country)?

Hattiesburg, Mississippi

3. What do you need this computer to do (like gaming, Photoshop, and so on)?

Run games and work on games, primarily in UDK / Unity

4. What parts will you need for the computer? Please list what parts specifically?

Everything but monitor, keyboard, & mouse which I can salvage.

5. Are you reusing any parts for this computer? If so please say what parts.

All save for the above.

6. What kind of monitor/resolution do you have or want to get to use for the computer?

I'll be using a 9 year old CRT monitor for now, upgrading later.

7. Do you have a legit OS? If so what OS and is it 32-bit or 64-bit?
No

8. What are you looking for the motherboard to have feature wise? Like SLI, Crossfire, Firewire, USB 3.0, Sata 6.0 Gb/s, and so on.
As much expansion room as possible at the price level, but I don't plan on using multiple cards or anything. SATA so I can use a relatively small SSD in tandem with a larger traditional harddrive without much trouble.

9. Any plans to overclock the CPU or GPU?
Not really. Don't want to break anything.

[Soyokaze]

By changing to the http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.972954 power supply and GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model GB38GB1333C9DC RAM (no significant difference, right) to get some combos in, I've gotten the above build (SSD variant, GTX 460) down to $713.91

So, that sound like a good value? No mistakes being made on the old checkout button?

[Vancha]

That PSU is a mistake. Stick with the Corsair...The last component you want to gamble with is the PSU, since that can take your whole system with it if it's bad.

[Soyokaze]

Okay, thanks

Changed that back, and upgraded to a 560se, bringing me to $751.91

Also, as far as i can tell this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128502 mobo would only make a difference of $5 more in bundle, would net me money in a rebate, and would allow me to go SLI in the future if I wanted to grow the sys.

Sounding good?

[Vancha]

Sounding good. Link the 560se, plus I'd ask what resolution you're currently using and if you know what you plan to upgrade to (I'm guessing 1900x1080).

Also be aware that 120gb isn't going to go very far.

Edit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128498 Same price with rebates and better still.

[Pancake]

Originally Posted by Soyokaze

GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model GB38GB1333C9DC RAM

I would recommend HIGHLY recommend going with G.Skill Ripjaw X's. They are $5 more but will give you a significant performance boost (12800 vs 10666). Well worth the money.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231428

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by Pancake

They are $5 more but will give you a significant performance boost (12800 vs 10666). Well worth the money.

Source?

[Goku]

Here is what I came up with:

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner - $14.99
Antec Gaming Series One Mid Tower - $49.99
Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint F3 500GB - $79.99
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7850 OC 2GB - $249.99
Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W - $59.99
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 - $39.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - $99.99
Intel Core i3-2100/GIGABYTE GA-H61MA-D3V Combo - $156.98

Total = $751.91

I don't really see any reason for getting a higher end mobo here due to how you are not overclocking. You mention expansion slots, but are you actually going to be using these? I would think 2 PCI-e x4 would be enough if by chance you have to put something in there. This still has USB 3.0 and Sata III.

Not getting that mobo leads to you getting a better card. If you are planning on going the 1920x1080 monitor upgrade you are better off with a 7850 instead of a GTX 560 SE. Even if you want to stick with Nvidia at least you are now able to get a GTX 560 Ti instead.

[Pancake]

Originally Posted by Vancha

Source?

Originally Posted by AnandTech

I think we confirmed what we pretty much knew all along: Sandy Bridge's improved memory controller has all but eliminated the need for extreme memory bandwidth, at least for this architecture. It's only when you get down to DDR3-1333 that you see a minor performance penalty. The sweet spot appears to be at DDR3-1600, where you will see a minor performance increase over DDR3-1333 with only a slight increase in cost. The performance increase gained by going up to DDR3-1866 or DDR3-2133 isn't nearly as pronounced.

We also found that memory bandwidth does scale with CPU clock speed; however, it still doesn't translate into any meaningful real-world performance. The sweet spot still appears to be DDR3-1600. All of the extra performance gained by overclocking almost certainly comes from the CPU overclock itself and not from the extra memory bandwidth.

Also These Graphs:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/s...he-best-ddr3/7


I feel that it is better to invest $5 on this small upgrade than to be bottlenecked later on with overclocking. You get over a 10% boost with read/write/copy speeds and around a 6 FPS boost. Anyways, they look cool.