Could someone look at this PC build?

[smearyllama]

Merry Christmas everyone!
I found this parts list online, and it looks pretty good for a budget PC.
My mom says I should run it past a few people on the web, and I know some of you have built your own.
Here's the list: (I'm going for all the cheapest parts on the list)
http://www.hardware-revolution.com/budget-gaming-pc-q4-2010/

Thanks!

EDIT: This is the first time I've built a PC, too, so if there's an easier build to be found...?

 

[smearyllama]

Oh god that tier 1 looks horrible but tbh it depends on what its being used for.
Gaming? Internet and the such? Give me an idea.

Gaming, and if it's not good do you know a better build I can use?

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Well I'm not all that knowledgeable on PC parts, though I'm learning quick.

All I know is that I have that Graphics Card and I love it. It has a honk'n great fan that keeps it running really cool. It idles about 30 degrees, and mine hasn't gone above 65 in a benchmark test. Also it overclocks really well. The stock 460 clocks at about 630MHz (I think), and mine OC's to 900 with a voltage increase; it'll handle an overclock to about 840 in its stride.

EDIT: Don't forget you can always upgrade parts at a time. So if your budget can't stretch you may be able to get a better part later on. Though it means you're left with old parts.

I'd also suggest a better cooler than stock. They're quite cheap, and you don't have to for a watercooled system. I bought mine for £15 and it was a big improvement.

 

[Bobzer77]

It definitely looks very nice at first glance.

The guy that wrote it seems like a bit of an AMD fanboy though, I think intel's cpu's are better atm but thats probably just personal preference.

 

[smearyllama]

Well I'm not all that knowledgeable on PC parts, though I'm learning quick.

All I know is that I have that Graphics Card and I love it. It has a honk'n great fan that keeps it running really cool. It idles about 30 degrees, and mine hasn't gone above 65 in a benchmark test. Also it overclocks really well. The stock 460 clocks at about 630MHz (I think), and mine OC's to 900 with a voltage increase; it'll handle an overclock to about 840 in its stride.

Actually, I'm not really going for overclocking, but that seems good if it runs hot for some reason.

 

[smearyllama]

It definitely looks very nice at first glance.

The guy that wrote it seems like a bit of an AMD fanboy though, I think intel's cpu's are better atm but thats probably just personal preference.

So it's good?
I kinda want to order soon so I can have it by New Year's.

 

[Staskala]

If you don't mind a German site (shouldn't really matter since the names are English anyway)
http://board.gulli.com/thread/1566250-faq-orientierungshilfe-fuer-computernotebook-pc-konfigurationen-je-nach-budget/spoiler2898735375

First spoiler, mix between mid- and high-end (not pro) AMD config, depending on your money.
They go into more detail below, but well, it's German.

Arbeitsspeicher = RAM
Grafikkarte = videocard
Netzteil = power adaptor
Festplatte = harddrive
Laufwerk = drive
Gehäuse = casing
CPU-Kühler = CPU cooler

 

[Patrick Dare]

Well, I don't know if I'd call it terrible but if you're trying to specifically build a gaming rig it would probably be worth it to put in another hundred or two. My computer is not as good as that one would be. 2gigs of DDR2 RAM, AMD Athlon 64 x2 6000+ (3.0GHz), GeForce 8600 GT 256MB of VRAM and it's run every game so far (though I'm not a big pc gamer but I can run Fallout NV and Mass Effect fine) but I have to run games on almost the lowest settings and it does slow down sometimes and is getting more and more out of date (you also have to take into account future proofing, the more you spend now the longer it'll last). Might as well go with a quad core over a triple core and upgrade the graphics card. Tigerdirect has a good sale on this one http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7104664&sku=M452-0463 It might also be worth it to get a full tower case for cooling, I was having over heating problems until I transfered my PC to an old full tower case I had lying around (more fans, better cable management), not that yours necessarily would have issues with a mid tower case but if you're going for a gaming rig a full tower is probably a good idea (be aware they are pretty gigantic though). 4 gigs of ram should be fine unless you're using rendering programs (maya, blender, etc.), CAD, photoshop, etc.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Well I'm not all that knowledgeable on PC parts, though I'm learning quick.

All I know is that I have that Graphics Card and I love it. It has a honk'n great fan that keeps it running really cool. It idles about 30 degrees, and mine hasn't gone above 65 in a benchmark test. Also it overclocks really well. The stock 460 clocks at about 630MHz (I think), and mine OC's to 900 with a voltage increase; it'll handle an overclock to about 840 in its stride.

Actually, I'm not really going for overclocking, but that seems good if it runs hot for some reason.

With that card you may as well to provide better performance. It's super duper easy. The GPU comes with a CD (well mine did) with MSI Afterburner on it. It's free and yo can get it from the net so you don't really need the CD (plus it'll be the up to date version). There are simply a set of sliders. Move the core clock to 840, press "Apply", save the setting, and you're done.

 

[smearyllama]

Out of the list there I would get these parts.

AMD Phenom II X4 955BE 3.2GHz 6MB L3 125W Quad-Core

ASRock EXTREME3: AM3 770 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX

GeIL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600MHz CAS 9 1.5v

MSI GeForce GTX 460 1GB Hawk Talon Attack

Samsung F3 1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s

ASUS SATA 24X DVD Burner

SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS BRONZE

COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced 2x 140mm 1 x 120mm

adds up to $653

But really this is just my personal preference as I'm not really a fan of tri-cores

If you head over to www.overclock.net the Guys and Gals there will probably be able to set you up with a nice budget gaming rig

Ok, it's just that I've got about $565 to work with here, though.

 

[smearyllama]

Well I'm not all that knowledgeable on PC parts, though I'm learning quick.

All I know is that I have that Graphics Card and I love it. It has a honk'n great fan that keeps it running really cool. It idles about 30 degrees, and mine hasn't gone above 65 in a benchmark test. Also it overclocks really well. The stock 460 clocks at about 630MHz (I think), and mine OC's to 900 with a voltage increase; it'll handle an overclock to about 840 in its stride.

Actually, I'm not really going for overclocking, but that seems good if it runs hot for some reason.

With that card you may as well to provide better performance. It's super duper easy. The GPU comes with a CD (well mine did) with MSI Afterburner on it. It's free and yo can get it from the net so you don't really need the CD (plus it'll be the up to date version). There are simply a set of sliders. Move the core clock to 840, press "Apply", save the setting, and you're done.

Ok.
But do you know about the rest of the PC?

 

[Slavik_91]

Oh god that tier 1 looks horrible

If you're planning to open Crysis 4 times simultaneously yeah, I don't see why it's a bad gear

 

[Patrick Dare]

It definitely looks very nice at first glance.

The guy that wrote it seems like a bit of an AMD fanboy though, I think intel's cpu's are better atm but thats probably just personal preference.

Intel has overtaken AMD in terms of performance in the last couple generations but it's not a huge difference. I'm not sure how much price difference there is with them anymore except that if you want a six core it's huge ($1k for intel as opposed to like $250-$350 for AMD depending on the clock). Personally for budget I'd probably still go with AMD.

I'm also not sure about the difference between parings of graphics cards. Intel has paired with Nvidia and AMD with ATI. I'm not sure if using an ATI card with an AMD cpu or Nvidia with Intel actually yields any performance gains as opposed to using the non-paired brand cards.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Well I'm not all that knowledgeable on PC parts, though I'm learning quick.

All I know is that I have that Graphics Card and I love it. It has a honk'n great fan that keeps it running really cool. It idles about 30 degrees, and mine hasn't gone above 65 in a benchmark test. Also it overclocks really well. The stock 460 clocks at about 630MHz (I think), and mine OC's to 900 with a voltage increase; it'll handle an overclock to about 840 in its stride.

Actually, I'm not really going for overclocking, but that seems good if it runs hot for some reason.

With that card you may as well to provide better performance. It's super duper easy. The GPU comes with a CD (well mine did) with MSI Afterburner on it. It's free and yo can get it from the net so you don't really need the CD (plus it'll be the up to date version). There are simply a set of sliders. Move the core clock to 840, press "Apply", save the setting, and you're done.

Ok.
But do you know about the rest of the PC?

Bit harder. You can overclock the CPU, but that usually requires changing BIOS settings in the Mother Board. I haven't tried it, but I'm sure there are plenty of knowledgeable people to help out online.

Also about that other build (in you previous post) I'd say go with the 460 Cyclone and not the Talon Attack. It'll save you some money. Not as good I grant you, but good enough. The Cyclone is great value for money. You can maybe upgrade it next year, and sell your current one to a friend (that's what I did with mine). Also look for a cool case (both temperature and style) It may as well look awesome, and good cases will help air flow and cable management.

 

[viranimus]

Ok.. this is my personal take.

That system for the budget is great. Even the tier 1 package is solid.

Let me explain. My current PC is dual core 2.33 intel processors, 1gb GTS 250 w/ 4gb of DDR2 memory. Now running games at 1900x1080 reso i have absolutely no problems with any game im playing. The tier 1 PC has an extra processor, higher speed, higher grade video card (but lower card ram) and faster system ram. (and I also have an ASrock Mobo. Now granted, Im getting to the point where I want to upgrade my system now, but for the games that are out today it will run perfectly fine. This time next year, it will be doing just ok, and in 2 years it will be archaic.

The tier 1 PC will last you right about 1.5 years at bleeding edge games and then it will quickly obsolece. So for a 500$ or so system you really cant ask for more than a year and a half worth of longevity.

Its a good buy. Dont let the stat whores tell you you need all these specs that the games you can have access to wont even be able to utilize properly.

EDIT: Ok, you might want to clarify what sort of gaming your wanting to do. If your doing anything other than FPS the PC is more than fine. FPS you might need a minor upgrade in order to ensure max FPS. Even though your eye cant really register greater than 60-100 fps, I guess there is some logical reason why anything less than 120 fps in a FPS will make your exp suck.

 

[smearyllama]

Out of the list there I would get these parts.

AMD Phenom II X4 955BE 3.2GHz 6MB L3 125W Quad-Core

ASRock EXTREME3: AM3 770 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX

GeIL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600MHz CAS 9 1.5v

MSI GeForce GTX 460 1GB Hawk Talon Attack

Samsung F3 1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s

ASUS SATA 24X DVD Burner

SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS BRONZE

COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced 2x 140mm 1 x 120mm

adds up to $653

But really this is just my personal preference as I'm not really a fan of tri-cores

If you head over to www.overclock.net the Guys and Gals there will probably be able to set you up with a nice budget gaming rig

Ok, it's just that I've got about $565 to work with here, though.

Yeaaaaah in that case id really recommend holding off for a while until you have some more cash. I rushed into a budget build about a year ago and I'm rather regretting it now

Keep in mind this is my first time, too.
I just want something that can run some newer titles and function fairly well for general use.
(Current PC can't handle Painkiller or HL2)

 

[smearyllama]

Ok.. this is my personal take.

That system for the budget is great. Even the tier 1 package is solid.

Let me explain. My current PC is dual core 2.33 intel processors, 1gb GTS 250 w/ 4gb of DDR2 memory. Now running games at 1900x1080 reso i have absolutely no problems with any game im playing. The tier 1 PC has an extra processor, higher speed, higher grade video card (but lower card ram) and faster system ram. (and I also have an ASrock Mobo. Now granted, Im getting to the point where I want to upgrade my system now, but for the games that are out today it will run perfectly fine. This time next year, it will be doing just ok, and in 2 years it will be archaic.

The tier 1 PC will last you right about 1.5 years at bleeding edge games and then it will quickly obsolece. So for a 500$ or so system you really cant ask for more than a year and a half worth of longevity.

Its a good buy. Dont let the stat whores tell you you need all these specs that the games you can have access to wont even be able to utilize properly.

It is upgradable, though, right?
I'd like to be able to get enough use out of it to last me a while.

 

[viranimus]

Ok.. this is my personal take.

That system for the budget is great. Even the tier 1 package is solid.

Let me explain. My current PC is dual core 2.33 intel processors, 1gb GTS 250 w/ 4gb of DDR2 memory. Now running games at 1900x1080 reso i have absolutely no problems with any game im playing. The tier 1 PC has an extra processor, higher speed, higher grade video card (but lower card ram) and faster system ram. (and I also have an ASrock Mobo. Now granted, Im getting to the point where I want to upgrade my system now, but for the games that are out today it will run perfectly fine. This time next year, it will be doing just ok, and in 2 years it will be archaic.

The tier 1 PC will last you right about 1.5 years at bleeding edge games and then it will quickly obsolece. So for a 500$ or so system you really cant ask for more than a year and a half worth of longevity.

Its a good buy. Dont let the stat whores tell you you need all these specs that the games you can have access to wont even be able to utilize properly.

It is upgradable, though, right?
I'd like to be able to get enough use out of it to last me a while.

Yes, I think it is a good upgrade.

Thing of it is, Its not really wise to try to make a PC try to last more than 2 years. The reason being is the underlying hardware architecture. Sure you can sink 1k or better into a bleeding edge system to get the illusion that it will last 3 years, but the way PC hardware architecture changes all you end up with is a system that is comparable but vastly less efficent than a lower end modern system and when benchmarked even though the stats would be very comparable, the older system will end up struggling to keep up.

OT: Oh, I neglected this. My only concern with the PC is the powersupply. I do respect Antec Power supplies, but 550w does seem a bit on the low side for my taste. I would think 600-750 would be more ideal

 

[smearyllama]

Out of the list there I would get these parts.

AMD Phenom II X4 955BE 3.2GHz 6MB L3 125W Quad-Core

ASRock EXTREME3: AM3 770 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX

GeIL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600MHz CAS 9 1.5v

MSI GeForce GTX 460 1GB Hawk Talon Attack

Samsung F3 1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s

ASUS SATA 24X DVD Burner

SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS BRONZE

COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced 2x 140mm 1 x 120mm

adds up to $653

But really this is just my personal preference as I'm not really a fan of tri-cores

If you head over to www.overclock.net the Guys and Gals there will probably be able to set you up with a nice budget gaming rig

Ok, it's just that I've got about $565 to work with here, though.

Yeaaaaah in that case id really recommend holding off for a while until you have some more cash. I rushed into a budget build about a year ago and I'm rather regretting it now

Keep in mind this is my first time, too.
I just want something that can run some newer titles and function fairly well for general use.
(Current PC can't handle Painkiller or HL2)

What are the specs of your current PC? Maybe you can do a GPU upgrade and then wait till you have some extra cash for the rest of the build and just transfer some stuff over.

It's a 5-year-old Dell laptop that lags a little while Playing Plants vs. Zombies.
Yeah.
I have low standards.

 

[Kabutos]

If you need to reduce price then you could always substitute a 5770 for that 460 without too much of a performance hit.