Suggestions for Budget Gaming System

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Mon May 22, 2006 6:52 pm

What would be the best budget CPU, mobo, videocard, ram for a gaming system. I know the 35w semprons are about to be released, any other suggestions on CPUs? And 7600gt's are nice but I wanted to upgrade to play oblivion but they dont seem to play it that well, at least not with the goodies turned on. Wonder when faster videocards will reach the $150-250 bracket?

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Mon May 22, 2006 7:32 pm

How much money can you spend altogether? What kind of noise ceiling?

mattthemuppet · Post by **mattthemuppet** » Mon May 22, 2006 8:41 pm

as a quicky:

any sempron above 3000

any budget mobo that allows undervolting + fan speed control. the DFI mobo MikeC uses for 939 reviews would be a good start, though you are paying a bit extra for integrated graphics that you aren't going to use

difficult to say on the VGA front as the only card I'm aware of between the 7600GT and 7900GT in price and performance is the 7800GS (possibly the 7800GT), both of which, I think, use the older 110nm core. Things always change so quickly with VGA cards that I can barely keep up. Might be worth trying to stretch to a 7900GT if you can find space in your budget. You'll most likely need to budget for a replacement VGA cooler though as the singleslot Nvidia coolers don't have a lot going for them.

RAM - *shrugs* whatever generic/ Kingston/ Corsair you can get in 2x1Gb flavour within your budget. I'm no RAM expert though

I'm sure others will give more in depth advice though - i've got to get back to work!

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Mon May 22, 2006 10:25 pm

does anyone know when the next family for ati nvidia is going to come out? The cards out now just arent cutting it for Oblivion, at least not running everything at full tilt, which is how I want to play it when I do get the game. May have to wait another 6 months before new cards are released and fall in price some. Are semprons generally the best budget buy right now or is it better to jump up to dual core or something else. I know both intel and AMD are releasing new processors soon but I dont know much about either.

stupid · Post by **stupid** » Mon May 22, 2006 10:50 pm

GamingGod wrote:I know both intel and AMD are releasing new processors soon but I dont know much about either.

The AM2 Athlons are coming out today May 23rd, but the actual CPU may not be available to the general public until June. Basically the only significant change will be support for DDR2. But there will not be any significant increase in performance. Once DDR 800 are available they might give a boost of up to 5%. AM2 really lays the groundwork for AMD's next generation CPU, the K*L coming next summer.

Conroe on the other hand is an all new CPU that is more akin to the Penitum M than the Pentium 4. They are expected to run a lot cooler than the Pentium 4s. They can also execute 4 instructions per clock cycle compared to 3 instructions per clock cycle of the current Pentium 4s and Athlon 64. That means they can be clocked slower, yet still out perform a faster CPU. That similar to the Athlon 64 and Pentium 4. The slower Athlon 64 can perform better than the faster Pentium 4.

Here is a preview back from March 2006. It outperforms Athlons by something like 20%, but remember that is a controlled preview.

Here's a follow up.

There has since been more benchmarks of engineering samples around the web, just do a Google search. Remember to that what you find will not be the retail version of the Conroe. Conroe is expected to be released in June and available for sale to people in July.

In lots of 1,000 the fastest Conroe (2.6GHz ?) will be sold for about $500, and the next fasted (2.4GHz ?) will be sold for about $325.

BrianE · Post by **BrianE** » Tue May 23, 2006 2:49 pm

Maybe this is just me, but the desire to run a new, demanding game at "full tilt" seems to clash with the very concept of the "budget gaming rig". Budget builds typically can't run the latest and greatest at 1600x1200 with 8xFSAA and 16xAF (at least, not at playable framerates), meaning you'll have to settle for lower settings.

It sounds like what you really want is as much power as you can get, so you are going to have to either stretch your budget out to accomodate a more powerful video card, or you should figure out how much money you have left over and buy the fastest video card you can. I think mattthemuppet got it right in that you just need a budget MB and generic RAM. I'm not sure about CPU suggestions, but I would be inclined to say that the VGA is going to be your toughest decision, since it will have the greatest impact on performance, and also be the most expensive single part.

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Tue May 23, 2006 4:18 pm

GamingGod wrote:does anyone know when the next family for ati nvidia is going to come out? The cards out now just arent cutting it for Oblivion, at least not running everything at full tilt, which is how I want to play it when I do get the game. May have to wait another 6 months before new cards are released and fall in price some. Are semprons generally the best budget buy right now or is it better to jump up to dual core or something else. I know both intel and AMD are releasing new processors soon but I dont know much about either.

You must have missed the content in the 1st reply?

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Tue May 23, 2006 5:08 pm

basically i try not to buy video cards that are over 250 if I can help it. And with processors I try to stay between below 200. I want to get the most performance possible for the least money. I know that the video card is the most important part for gaming, I just wish that a new family of cards would come out and blow away the 7900gtx and run cooler also, so I could buy the least expense card in the family and still be able to play oblivion smoothly at 1280 with some eye candy turned on. After reading it seems that am2 isnt going to be that great, but people are hyping up conroe like it will be something worthwhile.

SD-Plissken · Post by **SD-Plissken** » Tue May 23, 2006 5:35 pm

454Casull wrote:
GamingGod wrote:does anyone know when the next family for ati nvidia is going to come out? The cards out now just arent cutting it for Oblivion, at least not running everything at full tilt, which is how I want to play it when I do get the game. May have to wait another 6 months before new cards are released and fall in price some. Are semprons generally the best budget buy right now or is it better to jump up to dual core or something else. I know both intel and AMD are releasing new processors soon but I dont know much about either.
You must have missed the content in the 1st reply?

if you was talking to me i removed what i posted. since it was of no use. I will stay out of this thread.

mattthemuppet · Post by **mattthemuppet** » Tue May 23, 2006 5:58 pm

no idea when the next gen cards will come out, but I'm sure that by then you'll be wanting to play a new game that only works smoothly on the high end cards of that new generation. waiting for next gen stuff for current games/ software is kinda pointless as everything else will have moved on by then as well.

what I'd do - get the cheapest everything (CPU, PSU, case, RAM etc) and blow your budget on the best current GPU you can afford. That's the only way you'll stand a chance of getting the effect you want (Oblivion + full candy) at the money you're willing to spend. Whatever you do you'll have to accept some compromise somewhere.

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Tue May 23, 2006 6:02 pm

SD-Plissken wrote:
454Casull wrote:
GamingGod wrote:does anyone know when the next family for ati nvidia is going to come out? The cards out now just arent cutting it for Oblivion, at least not running everything at full tilt, which is how I want to play it when I do get the game. May have to wait another 6 months before new cards are released and fall in price some. Are semprons generally the best budget buy right now or is it better to jump up to dual core or something else. I know both intel and AMD are releasing new processors soon but I dont know much about either.
You must have missed the content in the 1st reply?
if you was talking to me i removed what i posted. since it was of no use. I will stay out of this thread.

No, I was quoting GamingGod, not you.

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Tue May 23, 2006 6:20 pm

A friend just bought ATIs X1800GTO and that works great in Oblivion and the included fan are rather good so that might be an option for you?

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Tue May 23, 2006 8:09 pm

yea i know that its usually pointless to wait on computer components to reach the level you want because your always wanting more, but I was hoping someone had some inside info on new graphic cards coming out that I might have overlooked. Its not really an option right now for me to build a computer as I need to save up, but in about 2-3 months I should be able to scrape up $1000 or so for a new system.

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Wed May 24, 2006 6:08 am

GamingGod wrote:I should be able to scrape up $1000 or so for a new system.

As of now, I'd go with:

AMD A64 X2 3800+ AM2 - $300
AM2 mobo - $150
2x1GB DDR2-800 - $180
ATI X1800XT - $300
Arctic Cooling Accelero X2 - $30

Total - $960

If the X2 3800+ is overclocked to 2.2GHz-2.4GHz or so, it won't be the limiting factor in Oblivion at 1280x1024. You can go with an X1900XT but you have to drop to a single-core 3500+ (which should be OCed to at least 2.4GHz to make the most of the video card) to meet your budget.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed May 24, 2006 8:20 am

Greetings,

I'm no gamer so I could be all wet -- but I thought that the video is the bottleneck for all/most games? So even with a top-of-the-line SLi setup (read: very expensive) can work to it's maximum with say an Athlon 64 3200+ or even a Sempron? And since all/most games are not multi-threaded, getting a higher clocked single core would make sense, right?

So in this thread, for the sake of argument, wouldn't an X2 3800 be a waste -- and all the "excess" budget would be better off being spent on a better video card and/or on an SLi/CrossFire set up?

AFAIK, the only game type that are CPU limited are flight simulators; almost all other types of games are GPU limited.

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Wed May 24, 2006 9:00 am

For games only, a X1900XT and single-core 3500+ (overclocked) would probably be the fastest on his budget.

EDIT: GamingGod, I would not recommend using that 300W PSU with the new system.

Jay_S · Post by **Jay_S** » Wed May 24, 2006 9:25 am

I also play oblivion, and have been researching gfx card upgrades for a while. I'm currently playing on a Venice A64 overclocked to 2.2 ghz, and a single PCIe 6800GS. Because I have a native 1280x1024 lcd monitor, I can't stand playing at any lower resolutions. I have to turn grass completely off when I'm outside to get acceptible frame rates. But I want grass! So here's what I've come across in my search (you may have already read everything I'm about to say).

I agree with previous poster 454Casull's recommendation - the X1800XT is the best buy for Oblivion right now. This opinion is based on the following:

Firingsquad has 2 articles about Oblivion and GPU performance. In their high-end GPU article, the X1800XT handily beats the 7800GTX and the 7900GT everywhere except indoors where frame rates are so high anyway that it doesn't matter. In their mainstream GPU article the X1800GTO takes the lead just about everywhere. Since the X1800XT stomps on the X1800GTO, and can be bought for much less than the 7900GT (which performs worse in Oblivion), it is the current focus of my attention. Newegg has one for $220 after rebate here.

Anandtech had an article about the relative importance of CPU power to GPU power. Basically, you won't bottleneck your CPU without having a X1900XTX crossfire setup - so spend the money on the fastest GPU you can afford.

Good luck - report back on whatever you decide on.
--> Jay

Jay_S · Post by **Jay_S** » Wed May 24, 2006 9:52 am

Having said what I said in my previous post...

GamingGod wrote:... 7600gt's are nice but I wanted to upgrade to play oblivion but they dont seem to play it that well...

Please check out the Firingsquad mainstream article - the 7600gt does surprising well, beating the 6800gt (roughly equivalent to my 6800gs). Anandtech has this article with a direct 6800gs v. 7600gt comparison. If you want to save money for the next-gen cards, a 7600gt now wouldn't be a bad buy. Especially since it's a strong performer in other games and is cool & power efficient. Upgrade to the latest and greatest if/when prices fall in 2007.

Finally, I'm using the .ini file (slightly modded) linked in the Firingsquad mainstream article. I've re-enabled sound (c'mon, who disables sound?) and changed the resolution to match my tft. The game runs surprising well with my 6800gs, except that I have to toggle grass off when outside. In case you don't already know, "TG" in the console turns grass on/off.

-->Jay

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Wed May 24, 2006 12:40 pm

Anandtechs GPU test for Oblivion:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2746

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:09 pm

I think im going to wait a while more. There is always something new and great coming out. Now Im really curious how conroe is going to turn out. Thinking of a cheap conroe and whatever video card is in the sweet spot of 200-250 when conroe is released. Im pretty sure I want to get an nsk2400 and whatever the biggest heatsink I can fit in that case. Also I think with two 120mm fans at 6-7v I should be getting pretty good airflow to keep a videocard nice and cool with some type of passive heatsink on it (also whatever heatsink is the best at that time). I hope I dont end up wanting to wait for vista but they are saying that you will need it for directx 10 and I want my next computer to last another 4 years or so and still be able to play MOST games at a decent level.
Does anyone think that widescreen gaming is going to take off? Ive noticed more and more lcds are widescreen but if its just for movies then ill stick with whatever fast (least ghosting) monitor I can find.

Suggestions for Budget Gaming System

Suggestions for Budget Gaming System

Re: Suggestions for Budget Gaming System