Gaming Computer for under 500 possible?

[wol-va-rine]

I don't see how that is any more of a waste than some other upgrade options.

in an Intel system it would be a waste, most Intel systems only need 800MHz DDR2 RAM at the most...

 

[sniperviper21]

in an Intel system it would be a waste, most Intel systems only need 800MHz DDR2 RAM at the most...

FSB / DRAM correct?

 

[Computear]

in an Intel system it would be a waste

improving memory performance does probably have the smallest effect on overall system performance.

I didn't say it wouldn't be a waste, I merely mentioned its not that much more of a waste than many other upgrade options.



And I'm already more than aware of what you said, however, "Intel systems" isn't exactly accurate.

Prior to the Core i7 builds perhaps, because you were limited by the FSB speeds anyway, and running higher speed memory showed little to no increase in performance, with noticeable decrease in stability (during overclocking).

However, with the Core i7's removal of the FSB, RAM speeds make a much more noticeable difference in system performance.

Either way though, a 20-30% increase in RAM performance is only going to get you a 1-2% increase in overall system performance.

The difference is minuscule and there isn't really enough to justify spending more money than you can afford, except for bragging rights or for overclocking purposes.

 

[Gamputer]

Before I start, + means "higher," and by it I mean if you can get better hardware than the one I've listed, go for it.

CPU: AMD Athlon Dual core 2.6GHz+

RAM: DDR2 800MHz 3-4G RAM

GPU: Nvidia 9600GT+, HD 4650+

HDD: 5400RPM HDD with 250GB+

Motherboard: AMD Athlon, DDR2 800MHz, PCI-E 2.0 x16, SATA 5400RPM HDD compatible mobo from AMD (which fits your form factor of the case: most likely ATX or Micro ATX)

Optical Drive: Should be around $30 for DVD drive.

That should be approx $500.
Cheers.

 

[Grantofhell]

OP, we kind of need to know what you consider "gaming" If it's newer games like Crysis or GTAIV then the likelihood of building one to play those games for under 500 dollars decreases. But if you mean WoW or something like that, it's quite possible.

 

[GhostGT]

OP, we kind of need to know what you consider "gaming" If it's newer games like Crysis or GTAIV then the likelihood of building one to play those games for under 500 dollars decreases. But if you mean WoW or something like that, it's quite possible.

Exactly. It all depends on what type of gaming you'll be doing.


Age of Empires? WoW? Warcraft III? You'll be fine.

Crysis? Most newer, more graphic-intensive games? You'll need more dough.

 

[SuxoR]

What PSU can get away with running a 4850?

 

[wol-va-rine]

I didn't say it wouldn't be a waste, I merely mentioned its not that much more of a waste than many other upgrade options.



And I'm already more than aware of what you said, however, "Intel systems" isn't exactly accurate.

Prior to the Core i7 builds perhaps, because you were limited by the FSB speeds anyway, and running higher speed memory showed little to no increase in performance, with noticeable decrease in stability (during overclocking).

However, with the Core i7's removal of the FSB, RAM speeds make a much more noticeable difference in system performance.

Either way though, a 20-30% increase in RAM performance is only going to get you a 1-2% increase in overall system performance.

The difference is minuscule and there isn't really enough to justify spending more money than you can afford, except for bragging rights or for overclocking purposes.

yes, I do realize the difference between the older Intel cpus and the newer i7s and i5s, but check out his thread title, the "Intel" builds comment was directed at the possible Intel builds within his budget, an i7 or i5 build is definitely not in his budget at ~ $500, the Intel builds that would be in his budget will definitely be FSB limited...

and what other upgrades are you referring to as "not much more of a waste" than the memory...? a decent gpu or cpu upgrade would make a huge difference, much more so than the memory and those are the only three upgrades I can think of, the memory is obviously the most wasteful upgrade by far of those three...

sniper, the FSB ratio of Intel cpus (though not i7s or i5s) is quad pumped while the memory of DDR/DDR2 is double pumped, so a 400MHz FSB for the cpu matches up perfectly in a 1:1 ratio with 800MHz RAM...

cpu...400 x 4 = 1600MHz FSB...
mem...800 x 2 = 1600MHz FSB...

though some run the CPU/RAM at a different ratio than 1:1, DDR2 1066MHz RAM would be at ~ a 4:5 ratio, you can look at the ...

SuxoR, you could probably run a 4850 on a good 400-450w psu, but any lower in wattage or psu quality could cause problems, if not right away, down the road, a safe bet is to get a good quality 500w psu, OCZ psus are usually decent and are on sale a lot...

 

[Computear]

yes, I do realize the difference between the older Intel cpus and the newer i7s and i5s, but check out his thread title, the "Intel" builds comment was directed at the possible Intel builds within his budget, an i7 or i5 build is definitely not in his budget at ~ $500, the Intel builds that would be in his budget will definitely be FSB limited...

That's true, guess it wasn't particularly relevant to this thread

 

[ndatoxicity]

even a computer i built for my dad that was 350 dollars (no monitor no os) was able to run games on high...so its easily possible