Is this enough for a budget gaming pc ?

[msimplay]

I was just wondering if my setup will suffice for a budget gaming PC and if not what should I do to upgrade the performance to bring it to respectable gaming performance ?

My PC specs are as follows

TFT Monitor 1280x1024 native resolution
MSI P45 NEO3
Intel Core Duo 2 E8400 no overclock yet..
Nvidia 8500gt 1gig
2 gigs ram
X-FI Xtreme Gamer

It cost me 414 pounds so far

 

[groo]

the graphics card is way too weak
no need to a sound card on a budget

the monitor is your call

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Agree on the video card, Look at say a 9600gso if you don't want to spend much, they can be had for about 80-100 bucks, most only have 384 mb of ram, but they should thrash the 8500gt. Or look at a 9600gt or 8800gt. The 4850 is a good card, but runs a little over 150 bucks.

 

[major53]

msimplay I agree with groo,video card is weak and as good as motherboard sounds are getting there's really no reason for sound cards.also 22" monitor is the way to go as far as gamming goes.hope this helps you out

 

[wgdz]

have you built this computer already?

+1 dedicated sound card is not needed
+1 on resolution being low, maybe if you can find a cheaper video solution i.e. 3850, 3870, 8800GS for under $70 then go for it. Else if 8800GT could be had for $100 (plenty of opportunity now in the US), go for that.

 

[groo]

a general rule of thumb; for gaming, spend more on your graphics than your CPU.
Most cards don't game better if they have more than standard memory. large amounts of memory are good for CAD and the like, but games have to interact very quickly with thier graphical memory.

I also like 22" LCDs. They are definatly the sweetspot in the size/cost ratio for screens. I've had an LCD screen for years. when I was forced to switch back for a time, my eyes were aching within 15 minutes.

 

[zenmaster]

#1 - If you are on a budget. OverClock. It's Easy. All your Friends are Doing it. So long as you are not trying to do extreme OCing, it will not harm your PC. Folks here will help.

#2 - Swap the E8400 for the E5200 and save a wad of cash. Drop that cash into the GPU.

#3 - Consider the P43 instead of a P45 board, you can likely save more cash to put into a GPU.

 

[buzznut]

I concur, this is good advice. I think a 4850 is a strong bet at 150 bucks. Don't know if that board will do crossfire, but a second 4850 a year down the road would be a nice upgrade. I agree with the lower priced proc and a mild overclock, you can always save up and upgrade the proc down the road if you feel the need.

On the ram, it depends on the OS. If you go 64 bit, especially vista than you may want to go to 4gb. 4gb of 1066 ddr2 ram can be had for 100 bucks. the 4 gig kits seem more economical than the 2 gb right now. In my opinion.

I have an 8800gt and feel I can play anything I want at comfortable resolutions. It is a card that has been out for a while but is still a strong performer, and can be had for a good price vs performance.

 

[megamanx00]

Yeah that 8500GT isn't going to cut it. At the very least go with a Radeon 4670. If you can afford a 4850 that would be great, but if not then an 8800GT or a 9600GT will serve you well depending on what you can afford.

 

[jamesl]

I just got the e7200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052&Tpk=e7200
$119

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337
$93 with shipping

EVGA GeForce 8800 GS video card
no longer in stock, but equivalent to the
EVGA GeForce 9600 GSO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130364
$90

2 of G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
$140 (so 8 GB total)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
$80 on sale

Windows vista 64
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488
$100

HP W1907 19" Widescreen Monitor $219, in store
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-W1907-19-Widescreen-Monitor-W1907/sem/rpsm/oid/176649/catOid/-12965/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

ASUS DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156
$35 (was on sale)

everything was free shipping except teh motherboard

and they work fine, plug the cpu in and it works, no flashing bios and no problems, playing games great, really, no problem, use a head phone for sound

but you could go better with the money you save on cpu and motherboard and get a
EVGA GeForce 9800 GT AKIMBO
for much better play
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130379
$155

oh, and the monitor is great
I didn't want to get an HP, but after spending 4 hours in BestBuy and CircuitCity comparing monitors, I really did make a good choice

both the stores I was in had internet connections and the even after adjusting the each monitor's settings, the HP was the only one that could display the page well
http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/adjust-monitor.html

and after getting it home I'm VERY pleased with the way it displays games and also fonts in word documents

I like picking up my monitors in store because I actually like to see them and its easier to return if I get them home and they're broken

 

[msimplay]

have you built this computer already?

+1 dedicated sound card is not needed
+1 on resolution being low, maybe if you can find a cheaper video solution i.e. 3850, 3870, 8800GS for under $70 then go for it. Else if 8800GT could be had for $100 (plenty of opportunity now in the US), go for that.

Thanks for your help so far guys but the pc is built already hence I'm asking if its ok.
At the time it was built i needed a pc really quickly because my old Pentium 4 3.2ghz on an asus p4p800-e died on me.

The motherboard doesn't do SLI it's just a single slot solution
The Sound card was just a personal choice as I love listening to high quality sound I detest onboard sound


So Far I've gathered that I should overclock but do I need special memory or change of stock cooler ?
I also should replace the graphics card

Question remains will the MSI Neo3 single slot solution cut it ?

 

[groo]

pick up a new vid card and a screen. those are your weekpoints.

 

[jamesl]

"Question remains will the MSImsi Neo3 single slot solution cut it ? "

without a doubt

just get the 9600 GT or the 8800 GT or the 8800 GTS or the 9800GT or any of the other great cards mentioned on this thread
you don't need special memory, 4 gigs of the memory I mentioned is fine

you don't really need more than the stock cooler, you can get moderate overclocks just fine with it, but if you're going more than moderate, then, yes

 

[msimplay]

whats a moderate overclock the standard e8400 cpu runs at 3.0ghz I mean what can I expect to achieve on stock cooler with 4gb memory ?

I'm asking because I've never really overclocked processor's or graphics cards I was happy just having the system stable

 

[major53]

msimplay got mine up to 3.6 with very little effort,found a guide on tom's that explained ever thing the way I wanted it to.when it comes to overclocking stock heatsinks and fans are junk.if you overclock invest in good heatsinks and fan,you want regret it.also what is the power supply in you pc.it is the most misunderstood part of a pc.hope this helps.

 

[msimplay]

msimplay got mine up to 3.6 with very little effort,found a guide on tom's that explained ever thing the way I wanted it to.when it comes to overclocking stock heatsinks and fans are junk.if you overclock invest in good heatsinks and fan,you want regret it.also what is the power supply in you pc.it is the most misunderstood part of a pc.hope this helps.

I got a 650w ez cool PSU

 

[groo]

never heard of it, so I assume it is some rebranded piece of crap.

you probably only need 500 watts or less with a single graphics card if you buy another one.

were I you, I wouldn't wory about OCing the CPU, put that money towards a graphics card, and stick with your PSU until it starts causing problems.

how much memory usualy doesn't have anything to do with your OC

 

[msimplay]

never heard of it, so I assume it is some rebranded piece of crap.

you probably only need 500 watts or less with a single graphics card if you buy another one.

were I you, I wouldn't wory about OCing the CPU, put that money towards a graphics card, and stick with your PSU until it starts causing problems.

how much memory usualy doesn't have anything to do with your OC

Yeah its a cheapo PSU but hasn't given me any problems at all and I was using it with my old Pentium 4 with 6800gt AGP.
I would have used the same card again but new computer is PCI-E.

Thanks for all your help guys

 

[megamanx00]

Do not go with that 8500GT. At the very least get a Radeon 4670 or 3870 if you plan to play games rather than watch them as a slide show. I say drop that sound card and use that money to get a better GPU, like a Radeon 4850 or nvidia 9800GTX, and some more RAM. Latter on down the line you might want to get a dedicated video card when you have money and the speakers to appreciate it. I'd recommend the ASUS Xonar. Of course I'm not exactly fond of creative since the whole Daniel K. thing.

 

[msimplay]

Do not go with that 8500GT. At the very least get a Radeon 4670 or 3870 if you plan to play games rather than watch them as a slide show. I say drop that sound card and use that money to get a better GPU, like a Radeon 4850 or nvidia 9800GTX, and some more RAM. Latter on down the line you might want to get a dedicated video card when you have money and the speakers to appreciate it. I'd recommend the ASUS Xonar. Of course I'm not exactly fond of creative since the whole Daniel K. thing.

What was the whole Daniel K thing ?

I got da money to spend now coz the system is already built just a case of chopping and changing but the main point is that the MSI P45 NEO3 and a E8400 processor is what I have to work with I may change the processor later though but for now am looking at what can be done.

I think I'll probably end up buying an Asus Xonar and 9800gtx since they cheap these days

I've always used my Kenwood amp for speakers so I really like good sound I started off with an Creative Soundblaster onboard on a Tiny Pentium 3 500mhz computer.

Later went to a Gigabyte board with Amd 1.7ghz processor and Audigy sound since i really hate onboard.

Then went to a p4p800-e with 3.2ghz Pentium 4 Northwood core with Audigy sound again I tried onboard and i didn't like it so i went back to my default.

This time around though I went about getting a new one cos I got sucked in by the X-fi hype lol

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

I think the 8500gt will game a little, but I don't think you'll be turning a lot of settings up. Later on in a few months you will probably definitely want to get a better card. But if it's what you can afford right now, hey I've been there.

 

[msimplay]

I think the 8500gt will game a little, but I don't think you'll be turning a lot of settings up. Later on in a few months you will probably definitely want to get a better card. But if it's what you can afford right now, hey I've been there.

Thanks for the support the credit crunch hitting hard here in the UK and its what they had in a price range i could afford at my local store. Funny thing is that i looked around online and some place called yoyo or something you can actually get a an overclocked machine at £500 I wish i got one of those but hey I'll just work with what I got for now I think I could do with a RAM upgrade to 4 gig which won't cost much and a 9800gt which will bring it up2 respectable at least I also don't even intend to go SLI / Crossfire ever since I'm thinking long term costs in terms of electricity as well. There's no way I'm going to have a 1000w PSU in any of my computers the power consumption isn't justified since newer mid range technology always ends up playing last gen titles at full high settings somewhere along the line either way.

I think every things a bit complicated with the event of Vista though since it doesn't support direct sound and it slower so many are making choices whether to stick with new or old OS. I mean so far I'm on Windows XP but I guess I could easily move over to VISTA since this motherboard supports 16x PCI-E the latest intel processors and up2 16gb of DDR 2

 

[megamanx00]

Well the whole Daniel K thing had to do with this Brazilian Hacker who actually got Creative Drivers to work. As you may or may not know Creative had alot of issues with Vista not to long ago and also crippled functionality on their older cards so they could promote the Xi-Fi cards. Basically this guy hacked the drivers, fixed them so they ran stable (something creative seemed unable to do), and enabled alot of the disabled functionality. One of the VPs found out, and publicly demanded that this guy stop and that buy enabling functionality that Creative had chosen to disable, this guy was stealing from them.

Anyway going with a 9800gt and 4GB or RAM should be fine. I'd recommend going with a better video card such as a 9800GTX or a Radeon 4850, but I must admit that the 9800gt is a good value at current prices.

 

[msimplay]

Well the whole Daniel K thing had to do with this Brazilian Hacker who actually got Creative Drivers to work. As you may or may not know Creative had alot of issues with Vista not to long ago and also crippled functionality on their older cards so they could promote the Xi-Fi cards. Basically this guy hacked the drivers, fixed them so they ran stable (something creative seemed unable to do), and enabled alot of the disabled functionality. One of the VPs found out, and publicly demanded that this guy stop and that buy enabling functionality that Creative had chosen to disable, this guy was stealing from them.

Anyway going with a 9800gt and 4GB or RAM should be fine. I'd recommend going with a better video card such as a 9800GTX or a Radeon 4850, but I must admit that the 9800gt is a good value at current prices.

So basically they crippling older cards on purpose in order to promote X-FI hmm thats really bad I think I don't want to support a company like that either