530$ gaming build for PS2

Maskills · 2012-10-10, 10:13 PM

Hey guys, First post on the site and i would like it to be a helpful one. I recently worked put together a virtual build with with the help of some Followers and Moderators of Buzzcutphycho's stream This build is not meant to play Every game at Max settings at 120 fps, but is for your budget gamer.PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ECS A885GM-A2 (V1.1) ATX AM3 Motherboard ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB Video Card ($179.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.94 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $527.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
This is a very capable build and can play most if not all games on high settings 60fps+. I know its not intel but on this budget to have a quad core is key for ps2. Let me know what you guys thing in the comments.

Ghost Runner · 2012-10-11, 12:02 AM

I would go for the AMD Phenom II X6 1075T Thuban 3.0GHz Socket AM3 125W honestly it cost a little bit more but performs much better. The rest looks decent for a budget build

Vancha · 2012-10-11, 05:00 AM

Be wary of the PSU. It's not typical Corsair quality and more of them turn up DOA than they should. I don't remember if it was the 500w or 600w, but I know one of the posters here received a dead Builder PSU.

camycamera · 2012-10-11, 08:38 AM

wow.

Neolitejukebox · 2012-10-11, 09:22 AM

Don't you wanna think about the i3 solutions ?

especially the i3 3220

Goku · 2012-10-11, 12:47 PM

Are AMD processors still pretty bad in terms of performance for PS2? If that is the case junk that whole build. The new i3 Neo mentioned will probably give a better playable experience.

Baladanga · 2012-10-17, 02:20 PM

+1 to the i3

Maskills · 2012-10-25, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by Neolitejukebox

Don't you wanna think about the i3 solutions ?

especially the i3 3220

The i3 is 1. to expensive for this build and 2. the Phenom would out perform the i3 in task's such as streaming your game on twitch via xplit or doing 3d rendering. The i3 is good for strictly gaming, but this build is good for gaming and more. The extra cores really do help, like running PS2, teamspeak and xsplit and a browser with a wiki open all at the same time, besides the game is optimized more for quad cores vs duel cores. Intel is not always the answer, at this price point amd wins hands down.

Vancha · 2012-10-26, 09:18 AM

I kind of doubt you'll be able to run PS2 and stream it with a 965?

Goku · 2012-10-26, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by Maskills

The i3 is 1. to expensive for this build and 2. the Phenom would out perform the i3 in task's such as streaming your game on twitch via xplit or doing 3d rendering. The i3 is good for strictly gaming, but this build is good for gaming and more. The extra cores really do help, like running PS2, teamspeak and xsplit and a browser with a wiki open all at the same time, besides the game is optimized more for quad cores vs duel cores. Intel is not always the answer, at this price point amd wins hands down.

You are stretching the purpose of this machine too far. The number 1 priority needs to be running this game the best you can at a given price point. Streaming is not something everyone does, so I wouldn't bother with this unless someone states they want to do it. Rendering is not that common for anyone to do so that throws that one out the window.

That is why you should be going with the i3 for this build. Its only $30-$40 more. Besides that Phenom II will not be purchase able soon anymore.

Goku · 2012-10-26, 01:23 PM

Here is what I would do for a budget build.

Intel Core i3-3220 - $129.99
ASRock B75M-DGS - $54.99
Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $31.89
Corsair CX430 430W PSU - $45
PowerColor 7850 1GB - $169.99
Western Digital 500GB HDD - $69.99
Antec Gaming Series One Case - $50

Total = $551.83

Better gaming CPU and a stronger CPU. This is $20 more than your build and will provide a better gaming experience in everything. If you must have Nvidia I would go with the 650 Ti, subtracting the 7850 that makes the total $541.83. The 650 Ti is about tied with a GTX 560 and uses less power, which is a nice bonus.

If someone wants a quad core you can swap out the i3 3220 for a Core i5-2310 and the 7850/650 Ti for a 7770. Oddly this quad and lower end vga combo comes out to the almost same total for $551.81 as the other build.

Right now I think that i3 and 7850 will give a better experience compared to a i5 and 7770. When I was testing out two cores compared to 4 cores on my 2500K I was getting about the same performance with some hiccups here and there. Would be great if we could have a processor run down review with PS2 to see where everything lands. Really comes down to what the user wants in the end in terms of their personal needs.

Don't forget chances are someone will need an OS and even a DVD drive, so that another $100-$120 right there.

Maskills · 2012-10-26, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by Goku

Here is what I would do for a budget build.

Intel Core i3-3220 - $129.99
ASRock B75M-DGS - $54.99
Pareema 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $31.89
Corsair CX430 430W PSU - $45
PowerColor 7850 1GB - $169.99
Western Digital 500GB HDD - $69.99
Antec Gaming Series One Case - $50

Total = $551.83

Better gaming CPU and a stronger CPU. This is $20 more than your build and will provide a better gaming experience in everything. If you must have Nvidia I would go with the 650 Ti, subtracting the 7850 that makes the total $541.83. The 650 Ti is about tied with a GTX 560 and uses less power, which is a nice bonus.

If someone wants a quad core you can swap out the i3 3220 for a Core i5-2310 and the 7850/650 Ti for a 7770. Oddly this quad and lower end vga combo comes out to the almost same total for $551.81 as the other build.

Right now I think that i3 and 7850 will give a better experience compared to a i5 and 7770. When I was testing out two cores compared to 4 cores on my 2500K I was getting about the same performance with some hiccups here and there. Would be great if we could have a processor run down review with PS2 to see where everything lands. Really comes down to what the user wants in the end in terms of their personal needs.

Don't forget chances are someone will need an OS and even a DVD drive, so that another $100-$120 right there.

Thats a very sturdy build, and trust me i like amd cards better than nvidia. Its just that my friend had 2 builds with ps2 on it, one with a i3 and one with a phenom ii x4 945. He ran multiple benches with the same gpu in each system ( in this case it was a 6850) with similar ram and hard drive in each system. The phenom ii got better performance in ps2 because the game is focus is quad core processors. Duel cores only recently gotten optimized. Also you will be surprised how common it is to stream games these days. Fraps also works better on a quad core vs a duel core. Trust me i have nothing against intel, I know they beat the living day light out of amd cpu's but at a 90 dollar price point intel has no competition there. Im really on a tight buget and 530 is the absolute max. If you can get me a i5 in that price range i will be happy to say my build is completely out dated.

Goku · 2012-10-27, 01:57 PM

Not claiming that you are saying isn't true, but I had a opposite experience. My 2500K with two active cores was giving me better experience compared to my Phenom II X6 both running a 7950. I'll launch the game tonight to compare the two systems again to see if anything has changed with the recent patches.

The i5? Do you mean with the 7770? Thats easy enough to do. Just get cheaper case and you probably can find a cheaper HDD around also. HardOCP determined the 7770 to have the same playability experience as a GTX 560 Ti. The performance isn't as good, but its a decent card. Especially if you are running a resolution lower than 1920x1080.

FireWater · 2012-10-29, 08:53 AM

If you could, I would step up to a 2500k i5.

AMD processors are shit for games, trust me.

Maskills · 2012-10-30, 02:44 PM

Originally Posted by Goku

Not claiming that you are saying isn't true, but I had a opposite experience. My 2500K with two active cores was giving me better experience compared to my Phenom II X6 both running a 7950. I'll launch the game tonight to compare the two systems again to see if anything has changed with the recent patches.

The i5? Do you mean with the 7770? Thats easy enough to do. Just get cheaper case and you probably can find a cheaper HDD around also. HardOCP determined the 7770 to have the same playability experience as a GTX 560 Ti. The performance isn't as good, but its a decent card. Especially if you are running a resolution lower than 1920x1080.

How about this, If you plan to build a budget rig for gaming and only gaming( no rendering, video editing or fraps) get the i3. If you do plan to do those things get the phenom. I personally like using fraps and editing the videos i capture, i also work on a couple mods and such that need good multicore support. Thats why i say the phenom is better FOR ME not everyone