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Looking for a cheap gaming build

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F

fcm

New Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
I'm looking for a cheap gaming build mainly for WoW.

With the system requirements increasing, my comp is extremely outdated and the lack of performance has shown for a long time. Basically I'm just looking for a decent rig that'll give me a solid 30-40 fps with midway settings for around $500-700. Money is a little tight so I'm really leaning towards $500-600.

Thanks in advance.
 
Sounds like an AMD build to me!!!

(CPU) AMD Phenom II X3 720 ($120)
(Mobo) MSI 785GM-E65 ($90)
(Ram) 4GB DDR3 1600 ($80)
(GPU) HD5770 ($160)

Hopefully your Power Supply and case will carry over. Total above is ~$470. So if not, you can have your choice at case and a decent PSU for $600.
 
Forgot to give a few details.

I'm going to need to buy a new power supply and case as well. It's basically a completely new build, the only things I'm going to be keeping are the mouse, monitor, and keyboard.

But at the same time, like I said in my post, I do want a decent gaming build for WoW that'll give me a solid 25+ fps with midway settings. Don't really play fps(I know the requirements are higher for them), so I know any gaming build that could possibly run some of the more demanding games(TF2, HoN, etc.) would be more than adequate.
 
What the heck are you running right now? 25FPS in WoW? What computer won't do 25FPS?
TF2 is demanding?

My computer was mediocre in 2007 and it runs WoW and TF2 at like 100FPS. I can't slow them down.

I mean, I go "EW I'M RUNNING WOW OR TF2" and shut'er down hehehe but they run really well.
 
Theocnoob said:
What the heck are you running right now? 25FPS in WoW? What computer won't do 25FPS?
TF2 is demanding?

My computer was mediocre in 2007 and it runs WoW and TF2 at like 100FPS. I can't slow them down.

I mean, I go "EW I'M RUNNING WOW OR TF2" and shut'er down hehehe but they run really well.
Click to expand...

Getting into details would just.. make us both upset.

btw lets just say I can't run TF2 and I usually get 15-20 fps on WoW.
 
Last edited:
fcm said:
Getting into details would just.. make us both upset.

btw lets just say I can't run TF2 and I usually get 15-20 fps on WoW.
Click to expand...

$600 is plenty to build a rig to play WOW. A couple more questions. Do you plan on overclocking and do you need an OS? Also, any chance you are a student and can get an OS for cheap?
 
EarthDog said:
Sounds like an AMD build to me!!!

(CPU) AMD Phenom II X3 720 ($120)
(Mobo) MSI 785GM-E65 ($90)
(Ram) 4GB DDR3 1600 ($80)
(GPU) HD5770 ($160)

Hopefully your Power Supply and case will carry over. Total above is ~$470. So if not, you can have your choice at case and a decent PSU for $600.
Click to expand...

^

Sweet.

If you want to kick the performance up a notch, I suggest upping the CPU to

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103675

Phenom II 945

for an additional $80-- if you want to spend an additional $80.

At some point later you could also get a good aftermarket cooler in there and overclock the CPU, as well as up the video card.

The 5770 will do you for a long while though.

The system as above (with the triple core) will run Crysis very respectably. Probably about 100FPS in Unreal Tournament III.

WoW you're probably looking at the 150FPS range dropping to maybe 120 under ultra load.

TF2 you're probably looking at 110-120FPS average assuming you're playing these at 1920x1080.

If thats enough of a framerate increase buy it :beer:


Now, once you have a good PC, I highly suggest you check out the wicked stuff that's come out in the last few years (and is now so cheap its almost free)

You will thoroughly enjoy:

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Fallout 3
Mass Effect <If you like sci-fi and schooters (ie, WoW and TF2) this game is wicked wicked fun.
Bioshock -- Though it's not for everyone. Watch lots of videos first
Call of duty 4
Gears of War --As with Bioshock

ALL those games will clear FPS 24/7 at high resolution on the proposed build.

It's really pretty impressive what you can do for cheap these days. What you can do for expensive is getting craazy
 
If you are on a budget I would strongly recommend the Propus 620

Its $99 at Newegg its quad core on the cheap and its damn good for the money

I would also probably get this ASrock mobo for $59.

It has integrated graphics that give 30-40 frames in Call of duty and 20-30 frames in Crysis on medium settings. This means it could handle WoW with ease

If you are really tight and just need the minimum for now, this chipset will do it for you.

CPU = $99
MOBO = $59
Ram = $37 (2X1 gig DDR2)
PSU = $69 ( OCZ Fatality 550W)
Case = $59 ( Apeva )
HDD = $79 ( Seagate 1TB)
DVD = $28 (Lite-on DVD burner)


Total = $430

Sure its not going to knock any socks off but it's on the cheap, will do what you want and has the head room for upgrades (discrete graphics and more ram etc) once the budget allows for it
 
Last edited:
Theocnoob;6288580[SIZE="1" said:
]^

Sweet.

If you want to kick the performance up a notch, I suggest upping the CPU to

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103675

Phenom II 945

for an additional $80-- if you want to spend an additional $80.

At some point later you could also get a good aftermarket cooler in there and overclock the CPU, as well as up the video card.

The 5770 will do you for a long while though.

The system as above (with the triple core) will run Crysis very respectably. Probably about 100FPS in Unreal Tournament III.

WoW you're probably looking at the 150FPS range dropping to maybe 120 under ultra load.

TF2 you're probably looking at 110-120FPS average assuming you're playing these at 1920x1080.

If thats enough of a framerate increase buy it :beer:


Now, once you have a good PC, I highly suggest you check out the wicked stuff that's come out in the last few years (and is now so cheap its almost free)

You will thoroughly enjoy:

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Fallout 3
Mass Effect <If you like sci-fi and schooters (ie, WoW and TF2) this game is wicked wicked fun.
Bioshock -- Though it's not for everyone. Watch lots of videos first
Call of duty 4
Gears of War --As with Bioshock

ALL those games will clear FPS 24/7 at high resolution on the proposed build.

It's really pretty impressive what you can do for cheap these days. What you can do for expensive is getting craazy[/SIZE]
Click to expand...

I might just have to steal that build and ideas... thanks :D
 
Errectus said:
check out this cpu....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103716&Tpk=x2 5000+

it's a am2+ 940 with 2 disabled cores and L3 cache disabled....however with a 710 or 750 southbridge there is a decent chance that you can unlock it to a quad and unlock the L3 cache too. Its something to look into
Click to expand...


Not quite. There is a big difference between an Athlon x2 and an Athlon II x2. The chip you linked is definitely NOT a 940 in disguise.

For a budget gamer, stick with a PII 720 or PII 550, and you'll be sitting pretty. If you absolutely need a cheap quad, the Athlon II 620 is a nice chip.
 
Let's not get carried away with Quads here. fcm specifically stated WOW was the priority and it only supports Dual core. The PII 550 at 3.1GHz will do a better job than the 620 propus at 2.6GHz and it's only $3 more for the PII. The PII 545 at 3.0GHz would also be better for WOW than the 620 and it's $10 cheaper.

My suggested changes are:

CPU - PII 550 (hey it's a black edition and will overclock relatively easily) $102
Mobo - Any 785G mother board should work fine, escpecially with the PII 550 $80
GPU - 4870 It's faster than the 5770, but doesn't support DX11 (but WOW doesn't either) $150

That saves you $38 from the system in post 2 and it'll be faster for WOW.
 
 
Last edited:
Yeah, that system will be more than enough for WOW.

I only balk at the power supply though. I would consider something like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

It's the same price as your coolmax unit, but it's got a $25 rebate as a bonus if you get it. Don't let the 550W rating fool you compared to the coolmax. It's 12V rails are listed as 25A each vs the coolmax at 19A each. Also, it's modular.
 
If i remember older posts that someone had about the diff between wow and say crysis.. wow is heavily CPU load based and crysis is GPU.. so personally I'd opt for the PII 545 @3.0 and look forward to some overclocking down the road. with a decent 5k series from ati you should sit pretty with both sides
 
Duner said:
Yeah, that system will be more than enough for WOW.

I only balk at the power supply though. I would consider something like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

It's the same price as your coolmax unit, but it's got a $25 rebate as a bonus if you get it. Don't let the 550W rating fool you compared to the coolmax. It's 12V rails are listed as 25A each vs the coolmax at 19A each. Also, it's modular.
Click to expand...

+1 for this PSU... A common mistake for a lot of people is undestimationg how important a good PSU is... the cheaper ones generally dont produce what they say on the box
 
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