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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > Homebuilt > [Solved] Budget PC any good?

[Solved] Budget PC any good?

Forum Homebuilt Systems : Homebuilt [Solved] Budget PC any good?

Best answer from Pezcore27.

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I've been dying to upgrade from my sub-par PC that I've had for the last six years, and now that I have the money I would like to purchase something that will last a good amount of time.

I've got 580 to spend, but I'd like to save a little and spend more around 450. I have a hard drive that I am recycling, so that should save some cash with the ridiculously high price of one.

I am also recycling the power supply, it is 485 watts. Not 80 plus.

I am leaning towards an AMD rig because of the low cost for decent multi-core processors. Not to say I prefer them, but their prices are definitely a lot better.

I am not an enthusiast over-clocker, but it is something I would like to learn more about. :D

So this is what I have chosen so far:

CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 455 Rana 3.3 GHz
MOBO: Foxconn A76ML-K 3.0 AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX
RAM: DDR3 1333 Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB)
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 250GB Sata II 3.0 (Recycled)
ODD: LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
PSU: hec HP485D 485W ATX12V Power Supply (Recycled)
CASE: COOLER MASTER Elite 311 Blue Steel
CASE FANS: 2X COOLER MASTER 120mm Blue LED Fans

My total is $386.24 with tax. I will mainly be playing games on this, maybe a small amount of video editing. I play mainly Skyrim and Oblivion, All of the Total War games, and a couple shooters like F.E.A.R. I would like to maintain a framerate above 30 fps, I play on a 1600x900 monitor. What do you guys think? All criticism will be taken as good criticism. :3

Reply to jkblanton
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Best answer

OK heres what I came up with. I think it will provide you much better performance and graphics for gaming and should out perform the Athlon II x3 455.

CASE = Rosewill Challenger

CPU = Intel Core i3-2120

MOBO = Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2H

RAM = GSkill Value Series 8GB DDR3 1333

GPU = Sapphire Radeon HD 6850

OPTICAL = LG 22x Super-Multi DVD Burner

Total come to $432.94 + shipping, with $30 in M.I.R. so $402.94 in the end.

This gives you better airflow in the case, a faster processor, and better graphics. The only downside is that you cannot OC the 2120 by more than maybe 200mhz. This should get you the settings you are looking for and give you a really good gaming expierence for that resolution.


Message edited by Pezcore27 on 02-09-2012 at 05:07:09 AM
Reply to Pezcore27

Thanks for the reply. :D I never really looked at the Intel Core processors, I always thought they would be too expensive lol. I've also never thought of buying another Radeon card before, EVGA has always been good with me ha. The last one I had blew up right after the warranty expired. Have you had any experience with this card before?

Reply to jkblanton

Personally, no but the card does come highly rated and has been used in previous System Builder Marathons before and received high reviews there.

If the mATX board is a dealbreaker, for a little more, you can get a nice P67 board that has more options than the Gigabyte board does and has free shipping: ASRock P67 PRO3


Message edited by Pezcore27 on 02-09-2012 at 06:13:32 AM
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This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey

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