Advice for a Noob? ... Please?

[Zelly2196]

I caught the PC gaming bug ..... Played PC games back in high school ... 00-02...... then xbox came out and never looked back.

Anyway im now sorta hooked on gaming with the PC again and need advice on how to get the most optimal gaming PC with what i have to work with.

Figure for ill use what i have now in case this PC gaming bug goes away.



My PC Specs.......

Board: PEGATRON CORPORATION VIOLET 3.02
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 5.16 07/01/2009

2.40 gigahertz AMD Phenom 9750 Quad-Core
512 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache
2048 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Not hyper-threaded

ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series [Display adapter]
HSG HF207 [Monitor] (20.3"vis, s/n 920CM3XY01033, May 2009)
SAMSUNG [Monitor] (49.8"vis, November 2009)

8192 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
Slot 'DIMM0' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM1' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM2' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM3' has 2048 MB


c: (NTFS on drive 0) 735.27 GB 319.71 GB free
d: (NTFS on drive 1) 1500.29 GB 427.30 GB free
e: (NTFS on drive 0) 14.88 GB 2.10 GB free
g: (NTFS on drive 2) 81.96 GB 17.25 GB free


Plan is to play some BF3 when it comes out......

Recommended for BF3.........

Hard Drive Space: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
RAM: 4GB
Video Card: DirectX 11 Nvidia or AMD ATI card, GeForce GTX 460, Radeon Radeon HD 6850



If there is anything i can do to improve my PC ...... PLEASE educate me.

Figure i have a budget of about $300.

Thank you for your time......

-Zack

 

[benikens]

Well your probably going to want a new graphics card to start with, also whats your power supply? and whats your budget?

 

[Zelly2196]

$300 is my budget (just edited first post)

and i think the PS is a 300W 8 amp......

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

First get a new psu. 500-600W, 80+ certified. At least 40A on the +12v rail. Antec, Corsair.

Btw, forget about ever loosing the game bug. You're hooked for life ! :lol:

 

[Soma42]

Well the Phenom 9750 aren't the greatest CPUs, but for gaming your graphics card is more important to upgrade. I would overclock that if you want the most out of it.

And you definitely need to get a new PSU. Seasonic is another good brand to look at. Pricier, but the PSU isn't something to skip on.

Final thought is that unless you're going to upgrade your CPU then a 6850 or a 560 (no ti) is all you really need. Anything more and the extra power will be mostly wasted and held back by your CPU.

 

[Zelly2196]

I was told by a friend that ...

Nvida 460 gtx
600+w PSU

is what i should get..... any better of a card then that i was just wasting money really.

If thats true...

What is a good brand 460 to go with?.... same goes with the PSU... i dont know good from bad ..... so plz point me in the right direction.

thank you so much for your help so far ppl.

:thumbsup:

 

[Zelly2196]

and if u can figure out how to overclock this CPU...... let me know.... from what ive read its pretty much impossible lol

 

[lilotimz]

If your motherboard supports Phenom II's then

Phenom II 955BE $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Seasonic S12II 520 $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

Galaxy GTX 460 768MB $120 ($40 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162058

I tried fitting in the 6850 but it went over ur $300 limit by $20-40....

For PSU's, always get one from a quality manufacturer or seller like Seasonic, Corsair, Antec, XFX and a select few others as they consistently sell PSU's of quality build that is able to put out its rated power with excellent stability. A good 500-550w PSU that is from a reputable company will power most if not all single GPU out there today.

 

[Zelly2196]

6850 better then a 460??


Phenom II 955BE $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103808

why do i need this??..... is my CPU that poopy?

 

[Soma42]

6850 is on par with the 460 for most games. From what I've seen the 460 is hard to find anymore, so I would suggest a 560 (no ti) as an alternative. Not positive on pricing though, but performance wise it's around the same if not a bit better.

Your CPU will be the limiting factor if you upgrade to a new card. It's not that fast and the architecture is a bit inefficient. Building a comp is about balance and your current CPU + new GPU is out of whack

 

[Zelly2196]

gotcha...... post me a link to a 560 or a 6850 that i could use just so im 100% on it.


Thank you so much again guys......

 

[Soma42]

So this is a 6870, but it's $150 after MIR which is about the same price as a 6850.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

Otherwise this is a 6850 I would recommend:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125353

Here's two 560s to looks at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125383
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121466

I like gigabyte if you can't tell.... they're good, but ASUS, MSI, EVGA are good brands too....

 

[Zelly2196]

i love this forum.... and u guys.......

Soma & lilotimz ...... cant thank you enough!

 

[Soma42]

Glad to help! Too many good games coming out this fall not to play them in all their glory -