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Ryno
The Wanderer
Premium Member
join:2001-04-07
Danielsville, PA

Ryno

Premium Member

Build a better CHEAP setup? What Video card should I get?

I'm trying to get a new computer as cheap as possible. This is what I plan on getting and I'm wondering if anyone knows about any issues with these components or if any suggestions are out there for a better setup.

I've a Case(old gateway from friend), power supply (450W), SATA HD (old 160 GIG so it's a 150 not 300) and benq DVD burner that's treated me well. Have a Hanns-G 19" digital monitor too. I'm reusing these old parts to get what I can, then one by one I can update them throughout the year.

I'm looking at Newegg ONLY because of gift certificates.

Athlon 64 X2 6000+ or 6400 if the 6000 doesn't come back into stock within the next week or two. $159.99 or $189.99

ASRock ALIVENF6G-VSTA motherboard $53.99 »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13157108

A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $42.99 »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20211066

Maybe a COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 case $25 AR if the case I'm getting free tomorrow has anything wrong with it. »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 11119106

Vidoe Card ? I'm at a loss. I would like to get something for about $100. I may stretch it at the cost of the 6400 and case but can't see going over $150. Currently I am running a X1600 with 512 MB but it is AGP most new cards have the PCIe which I assume are much better. Sometimes I think my old 9600 Pro was better anyway.

I most likely will be running XP Pro or home which I have, I also have Vista business but it made my current system so slow I'm hesitant to use it.

Basically I have $300 which I can stretch to $4-450 without her knowing.

Summary of basics
cpu 160
MB 53
Memory 42
= $256
this leaves about 150 for others, or what I'd like is 100 vid card and 2 more gig ram maybe?

btw, a video card is needed as onboard video is not usually strong enough to play games such as HL2, TF2, Etc.

Thanks for any help.

eX_NihiLo
Here's Your Something For Nothing
Premium Member
join:2003-08-05
Louisville, CO

eX_NihiLo

Premium Member

AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 2.3GHz »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19103204 $99

MSI K9N6SGM-V AM2 motherboard »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13130068 $49

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20231098 $47

POWERCOLOR AX3850 256MD3-H Radeon HD 3850 256MB $164 after MIR plus it includes a Molex power adapter in case you have an older PSU »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14131071

swhx7
Premium Member
join:2006-07-23
Elbonia

1 edit

swhx7 to Ryno

Premium Member

to Ryno
nm

Ryno
The Wanderer
Premium Member
join:2001-04-07
Danielsville, PA

Ryno to eX_NihiLo

Premium Member

to eX_NihiLo
said by eX_NihiLo:

AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 2.3GHz »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19103204 $99

MSI K9N6SGM-V AM2 motherboard »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13130068 $49

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20231098 $47

POWERCOLOR AX3850 256MD3-H Radeon HD 3850 256MB $164 after MIR plus it includes a Molex power adapter in case you have an older PSU »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14131071
Well I never heard of G.Skill but if won the customer award they must be doing something right. Price is close so I think I'll move that into the buy column on my list.

The Video card looks impressive, but wouldn't it be a waste to go with one that is crossfire ready (I like this idea for future upgrades) but not get a crossfire motherboard? I'm also not sure T.V. is all that important a feature for a video card ...for me, and this one looks like it does just about everything a T.V. viewer can want.

For the motherboard I would like more expandability for RAM, with any luck I'm in for one of those free Vista Ultimate 32/64 which if I'm not mistaken can use more than 4GB RAM. Plus now I think I'll search that crossfire thing too.

Thanks for the info, you helped me chose better memory, and gave me some more ideas to look at with all this. Although I think more ideas may make me pull more hair out lol

phantasm11b
Premium Member
join:2007-11-02

1 edit

phantasm11b to eX_NihiLo

Premium Member

to eX_NihiLo
said by eX_NihiLo:

AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 2.3GHz »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 19103204 $99

MSI K9N6SGM-V AM2 motherboard »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 13130068 $49

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20231098 $47

POWERCOLOR AX3850 256MD3-H Radeon HD 3850 256MB $164 after MIR plus it includes a Molex power adapter in case you have an older PSU »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14131071
G.Skill is good RAM. I currently run this set in my rig and it's flawless: »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 20231065

It has tighter timings than the set your looking at and also uses Micron chips which OC a little better. I doubt you'd have a problem with that RAM though.

As for the video card, I'm not familiar with ATI chipsets, I primarily use nVidia. The card doesn't look bad though.

JimE
Premium Member
join:2003-06-11
Belleville, IL

JimE to Ryno

Premium Member

to Ryno
Any of the latest generations of video cards have TV/video support, so that is irrelevant. For about $100, you can get a 8x series nVidia board, such as this one: »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14150265

As for MB's, I've used several different brands without any major issues. The main thing to watch for is the chipset used. I've had better luck with nForce chipsets (as opposed to VIA or ATI), especially if you plan on using the onboard sound. Otherwise, it's just a matter of finding a board that has all of the features that you want.

jouno53
Palin 2012
join:2006-03-04
United State

1 edit

jouno53 to Ryno

Member

to Ryno
I suggest an 8600GT for your video card. It can play modern games pretty well and costs only around $100.

For a bit more than $100 you can get the higher clocked version of the 8600GT:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14150229

asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdfdf to Ryno

Anon

to Ryno
I think your choices look ok so far.

"The Video card looks impressive, but wouldn't it be a waste to go with one that is crossfire ready (I like this idea for future upgrades) but not get a crossfire motherboard?"

The single card performance of the 3850 is far better than anything lower on the price scale.

"this leaves about 150 for others, or what I'd like is 100 vid card and 2 more gig ram maybe?"
There is no point in going with 4GB. Put the money into the graphics card. Since you are gaming on this you are better off scaling back the cpu a bit, if needed, to be able to afford a 3850 or better. I wouldn't waste time with cards below the 3850.

The long and the short of it is that it doesn't make sense to buy a $100 graphics card for an upgrade in which gaming is involved. The graphics card is the single most important component in these circumstances because any new cpu and 1-2G ram is fine for the other things that most people use their machines for.
asdfdfdfdfdf

asdfdfdfdfdf to Ryno

Anon

to Ryno
"Currently I am running a X1600 with 512 MB but it is AGP most new cards have the PCIe which I assume are much better."

No, $100 pci-e graphics cards are not going to be much superior to a 1600.

Ryno
The Wanderer
Premium Member
join:2001-04-07
Danielsville, PA

Ryno

Premium Member

ok if I go with the

600+ = 160
MB = 53
RAM = 47
total = $260

From what I'm seeing then video card shouldn't be a second thought. I've read tons of info about the 8600 vs the 3850. Seems the 3850 wins hands down. So, if I go close to 2 on the video card I'll be just over my 450 limit which isn't too bad I suppose.

At this point i'm leaning toward the Asus 3850 »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14121219

asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdfdf to Ryno

Anon

to Ryno
There's no need to spend $200 on one.

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14161211

or the powercolor linked to above are fine and $35 cheaper.

At the resolutions you are likely running 512MB won't do much good and at extremely high resolutions, where it would matter more, the card will struggle and probably won't produce good frame rates anyway. Given that you were wanting to keep the budget as low as possible I would save the $35.

Ryno
The Wanderer
Premium Member
join:2001-04-07
Danielsville, PA

Ryno

Premium Member

said by asdfdfdfdfdf :

There's no need to spend $200 on one.

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14161211

or the powercolor linked to above are fine and $35 cheaper.

At the resolutions you are likely running 512MB won't do much good and at extremely high resolutions, where it would matter more, the card will struggle and probably won't produce good frame rates anyway. Given that you were wanting to keep the budget as low as possible I would save the $35.
ok, btw I'm running a 19" widescreen @ 1440 X 900. So this is not that big a deal as far as resolution is concerned?

asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdfdf to Ryno

Anon

to Ryno
"ok, btw I'm running a 19" widescreen @ 1440 X 900. So this is not that big a deal as far as resolution is concerned?"

I don't think so. That's a modest resolution.

jouno53
Palin 2012
join:2006-03-04
United State

jouno53

Member

said by asdfdfdfdfdf :

"ok, btw I'm running a 19" widescreen @ 1440 X 900. So this is not that big a deal as far as resolution is concerned?"

I don't think so. That's a modest resolution.
Knowing that, I'd pay less for the video card (get the best 8600GT you can) and use it to buy other parts.

But... you might benefit more from getting the ATI 3850. I only wish I waited to build my computer to get that. :P

asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdfdf to Ryno

Anon

to Ryno
"Knowing that, I'd pay less for the video card (get the best 8600GT you can) and use it to buy other parts."

I was speaking to the 512 v 256MB question.

In a broader sense the drastically superior performance of the 3850, over the 8600 series, will be significant at all resolutions that people are likely to use. Of course this doesn't mean that it would be impossible for someone to get a playable game on an 8600. For a system that will be used for significant gaming, though, the video card is the most centrally important component and this isn't the place to skimp. The extra money spent there will have a much bigger impact on gaming than, for example, bumping up the processor will have on everything else. Since gaming is the most demanding thing that most computers are used for I think this is the place to focus on.

In other words, spending to increase the performance of most other components has minimal benefit, because any newer system has plenty of horsepower for most non-gaming tasks, whereas spending to increase graphics performance for gaming will have a big impact. This is why, for gaming systems, it makes sense to skew spending toward the graphics, even if it means some judicious cuts in other areas.

jouno53
Palin 2012
join:2006-03-04
United State

jouno53

Member

Makes sense. Based on what you just said wouldn't it be logical to get the X2 6000+ (instead of the slightly faster ones), and use the extra money to get the 3850? That way he can stay on budget while still getting a nice video card.

eX_NihiLo
Here's Your Something For Nothing
Premium Member
join:2003-08-05
Louisville, CO

eX_NihiLo

Premium Member

said by jouno53:

Makes sense. Based on what you just said wouldn't it be logical to get the X2 6000+ (instead of the slightly faster ones), and use the extra money to get the 3850? That way he can stay on budget while still getting a nice video card.
Which is why I suggested the AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 2.3GHz processor for his budget. It's a very power efficient processor and even has good over-clocking room if he wants to extend the usefullness of his build.

Ryno
The Wanderer
Premium Member
join:2001-04-07
Danielsville, PA

1 edit

Ryno to jouno53

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to jouno53
said by jouno53:

Makes sense. Based on what you just said wouldn't it be logical to get the X2 6000+ (instead of the slightly faster ones), and use the extra money to get the 3850? That way he can stay on budget while still getting a nice video card.
I think I'm agreeing with this too.

I'm going to a computer show this weekend before final decisions are made to see, but the bulk of the items are going to be from NewEgg GC's. Most likely I'll grab a case as the one I got free last night isn't going to cut it.
Ryno

Ryno to eX_NihiLo

Premium Member

to eX_NihiLo
said by eX_NihiLo:

said by jouno53:

Makes sense. Based on what you just said wouldn't it be logical to get the X2 6000+ (instead of the slightly faster ones), and use the extra money to get the 3850? That way he can stay on budget while still getting a nice video card.
Which is why I suggested the AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 2.3GHz processor for his budget. It's a very power efficient processor and even has good over-clocking room if he wants to extend the usefullness of his build.
The power savings are impressive, but I'm not sure this is quite fast enough. I know it all in my head but I've a p4 2.6 now, and it doesn't seem to be much of an upgrade to go to a 2.3 even if it is a dual chip. I get to do this about every 3-4 years, I think the processor and video are teh two most important for me to get. Others like more memory can be gotten later. for now I think i need as much processor and video I can get for my money.

jouno53
Palin 2012
join:2006-03-04
United State

jouno53

Member

You might as well go with the X2 6000+ then. It's a fast CPU and will be a significant upgrade.

eX_NihiLo
Here's Your Something For Nothing
Premium Member
join:2003-08-05
Louisville, CO

eX_NihiLo to Ryno

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to Ryno
You're heading toward the "$4-450 without her knowing" area then

Ryno
The Wanderer
Premium Member
join:2001-04-07
Danielsville, PA

Ryno

Premium Member

said by eX_NihiLo:

You're heading toward the "$4-450 without her knowing" area then
Yeh I know, but it's not as bad as it seems. Got 2 in Newegg GC's, 100 cash, and 70 in Best Buy GC's that I'm working on trading for cash with someone. That's 370 so the 4-450 is really only 30-80. Is that logical justification or what? lol That little amount I can come up with no problem.

asdfdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdfdf to Ryno

Anon

to Ryno
jouno53 said:
"Makes sense. Based on what you just said wouldn't it be logical to get the X2 6000+ (instead of the slightly faster ones), and use the extra money to get the 3850?"

yes

eX_NihiLo said:
"Which is why I suggested the AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 2.3GHz processor for his budget."

That would be a good choice as well.

I don't disagree with either of you. Any of the cpus in the range being discussed would be fine.

And to ryno: I wouldn't get too caught up in the clock speed relative to the p4. That isn't a good indicator of anything. I wouldn't blow the budget over concerns about getting the cpu clock up. At 2.8-3.0Ghz performance is reaching a plateau with the amd chips anyway.

Also note some of the cpus on newegg are retail(with heat sink and fan included) and some are oem(you have to buy a 3rd party cooler, bringing the price up).

Ryno
The Wanderer
Premium Member
join:2001-04-07
Danielsville, PA

Ryno

Premium Member

said by asdfdfdfdfdf

Also note some of the cpus on newegg are retail(with heat sink and fan included) and some are oem(you have to buy a 3rd party cooler, bringing the price up).
[/BQUOTE :


Yeh thanks came close to making that mistake before reading lots of reviews. I'm just going retail. I played the overclock everything game over the years, now all I really want is a normal stable computer. So what if I can squeeze an extra 200mhz out of it or not, you can't really tell the difference most times. Stock fans good enough for standard setups.
Ryno

Ryno

Premium Member

Picked up a Gigabyte 3850

Ordered GA-MA69G-S3H Motherboard(yes went over a bit), G.Skill RAM, then noticed the 6400 was part of a combo deal with the RAM so got that one instead of the 6000. Took back another gift so I had a bit more cash. Used my Best Buy GC's on a Dynex Case and 500watt ps