Ixezed
Topic Starter
Hello and thanks for reading me ! I'm new here (like many many other users posting here). I won't be long I promise ;).
I'm looking for a decent gaming PC able to run Crysis on max settings at 1440x900 resolution (my actual monitor) with some AA. I want to play Starcraft 2, Old Republic and so on (the new exciting upcoming 2010-2011 game) with very high settings also. I wont do anything else than gaming on this computer, so I want it to be efficient for this ! I'd like the budget to be below 1000$ CAD
I'm in Canada and I was browsing newegg and I came accross a couple of questions I hope someone could answer.
First thing, what do you think about this CPU ?
- AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz (182$)
For the graphic card . I want something at 200$ MAX. If we go for a MB with an ATI integrated chip, I think this card could be great :
- ASUS EAH4870/2DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 (145$)
For 60$ more they have this :
-XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 (202$)
Does the 60$ difference worth it? I read some bad reviews for this model, saying that it is very big, noisy and that it gets very hot. Plus people report having a lot of issues with this card.
If we look forward nVidia cards, what would be good ?
Do you think it'll be allright for my needs?
I found this MB interesting for the price :
- ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD (120$)
it comes with ATI Radeon HD 3300 built-in 128MB DDR3 1333 SidePort Memory, whatever than means (the sideport thing).
With those memory bars :
-A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit (96$)
And this Hard drive :
- HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.C HDS721010CLA332 (0F10383) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" (60$) ( Very nice price )
I'm really not sure about the PSU, I choose a cheap one :
- COOLMAX CUL-750B 750W ATX 12V V2.3 Modular Power Supply (75$)
I already have a sound card, optical dvd drive, monitor, keyboard, windows 7, etc
The only thing I need now is a case. I want a cheap one. What would you recommand?
For all that the grand total is 736,86$CAD at newegg.ca
What do you think?
Thanks for your time and see you around,
- Ixezed
The AMD Phenom II 965 is a good CPU, but you could save yourself a bit of cash by going for the one lower, a Phenom II 955. If you really want to get that extra bit of performance, you can easily overclock the 955 to match the 965.
The ATi 4870 is a good card, but a 4890 is better. If you're planning on playing the newest games at close to max settings then it will be worth spending more, but if you're playing a very specific game then it probably won't be worth it.
Games such as Old Republic and Starcraft 2 probably won't need a huge card, but Crysis is notorious for needing a lot of power. You'd be hard pushed to play Crysis comfortably at max settings even with a 4890. nVidia's equivalent to the ATi 4xxx series sits between the 9 Series and the GTX 200 series. nVidia cards tend to be more expensive, but there isn't really much in it between nVidia and ATi. It mostly comes down to personal preference.
All the other components look okay to me. As for a Case, that again comes down to personal preference. Cooler Master or Antec are both very well known manufacturers and tend to centre their design around air flow. You could get away with a cheaper brand, but you have to make sure that the airflow is adequate.
I hope that helps,
Nahumi