Is this a good computer setup? What changes do you reccomend [budget gamer]?
by admin ~ April 21st, 2009 . Filed under: Desktops .
I have a $600-800 dollar budget, not including software, or monitor.
CPU http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3826343&CatId=2398
Motherboard http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2853608&CatId=2541
Harddrive [one for now, plus my old 250gb] http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2795126&Sku=TSD-500AAKS
RAM http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2882686&Sku=O261-8070
Video Card http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3749879&CatId=3670
orhttp://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3538922&Sku=E145-8832
Sound Card not sure, something cheap from http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=107
DVD Burner - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3427283&CatId=1624
How big of a power supply?
I’m on TigerDirect because I’m in Canada, newegg doesn’t ship here.
Ian C, I don’t want to do that because I WANT to build the computer, plus I looked, and it’d be out of budget for me anyways.
Is 2GB RAM enough, or should I go with 3.
I’ve heard not-so-nice things about x64 processors, so I’m not thinking about 4, yet.
Or can 32’s support 4, and its over 4 you’d need the x64. I’ve read conflicting things about this.
I’ll take your advice on the sound card. Only upgrade if I need to, although that motherboard looks good to me.
Which of these processors would be better?
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3856076&CatId=2398
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3826343&CatId=2398
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3720327&CatId=2406
390.99
How big is the difference here?
341.99
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3877508&CatId=2406
or
341.99
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3521144&CatId=2406
Faye Giambra
April 24th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Shop
For sound card, stick with onboard sound unless you’re doing audio work (recording).
I’d go for the 8800GT over the 9600GT if you can afford it (the 8800GT has more shader and texturing power).
As far as power supply goes, I’d get something in the 600W+ range, but that’s probably overkill.
Edit 1:
Crap… no newegg… that *****!
My other advice still stands…
Edit 2:
I believe all modern CPUs (or the majority of them at least) are 64 bit nowadays. It’s the OS that’s either 32 or 64 bit.
A 32-bit OS will only see/use up to 3.5 GB of RAM. If you use any more, you’ll need to go 64-bit. You’d really only need more if you’re a power user that does work with large files (audio/video/photo kinda stuff).
Not too much difference between the bundles, but the quad core is nice for a lot of the applications coming out in the near future (Mostly games but some apps). I’d go for the Abit/Quad core bundle as it’s more future proof (and those CPUs overclock like crazy very easily).
April 26th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Hopefully you didn’t buy anything yet.
go to. They make your computer for you with the specs you give them with VERY REASONABLE price. A damn good gaming computer for abit over $400, price varies depending on what you want on it.
April 27th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Sweeet!
=)
ya eh it will be good, it will work on vista..
teh budget is a little too much on what u bargain..
u could get a cheaper rate on geeks.com
tiger direct has good stuff, but the budget on this new
custom made machine that u are gonna build is gonna
a little overhaul, but it looks good to me!
April 28th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
It’s not bad but there are a few things to do to get a better machine for your budget. First look at pricegrabber.com, they are not a store, but they list all online stores selling a product and their price. Also look on tiger for CPU and MOBO combos, you will find a better deal. Also, for some reason ASUS boards sometimes have trouble with OCZ memory. For the graphics card go with the 8800, b/c this board doesn’t support PCI-E 2.0 and will handle the 8800 better. Not to mention its a more powerful card. You dont need to spend money on a sound card. Get a PATA DVD burner that doesn’t take up a SATA slot. Find a case that comes with a PSU already in it. It needs at least 550W to be safe, but go more if you can afford it. Good luck.
April 30th, 2009 at 1:53 am
You could try your setup on some PC customizer website like or
From those specs, the processor might be limiting the performance of your computer… try
by 60 dollars increase, you get better CPU