Alright, second time around PC build

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
Ok, now that I actually KNOW I will have the money, I'm looking to build a PC yet again. Something that can play Bad Company 2 and Medal of Honor in at LEAST mid settings at 1440 x 900 res. And my budget is extremely tight, cannot go over $1,200. I would rather it be under $1,000, but I want to have an AMD HD 6870 in it, so don't know if it's possible. Ideas?
 

Optix

Basket Chassis
Staff member
A budget of $1,200 will get you tons of processing oomf these days.

Are you stuck on Intel or AMD or does it matter?
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Let's assume Newegg...

Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth 55i P55 - $150
http://bit.ly/9Rysvs

Processor: Intel Core i5-750 - $200
http://bit.ly/d5c5gG

Graphics Card: HD 6870 - $240
http://bit.ly/97Gwoj

Memory: Corsair XMS 4GB Kit x 2 - $150
http://bit.ly/aXN8CW

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB - $60
http://bit.ly/9gj9A4

Power Supply: Corsair 650TX - $90
http://bit.ly/bHNjhM

Chassis: NZXT M59 - $50
http://bit.ly/azL8hd

CPU Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - $40
http://bit.ly/9SMbxU

Total: ~$980 + Taxes + Shipping = ~$1,100

It's tough to get it much cheaper than this and still retain a sense of high-performance. You could OC the CPU quite a bit, so that helps with things. The memory I included has less than ideal timings, but they might be overclockable to achieve 1333 7-7-7 from 1333 8-8-8, but even if not, it's not a big deal.
 

Optix

Basket Chassis
Staff member
Most overclockers end up running high frequencies with relaxed timings anyway because the memory frequency is tied to their base clock although they could dial down the multiplier I suppose. I can honestly say that from CL7 to CL9 there is really no real world difference from what I have witnessed so don't turn up your nose at any kits with looser timings.
 

Psi*

Tech Monkey
Rob's advice in these things pretty on target so my 2¢ ... order everything at the same time. You want to get everything in at once and at a time when you will have time to devote to it. THEN.

If there is a backorder, wait until it is in to place the whole order. Personally I try to deliveries for Wednesdays or Thursdays. Newegg has a few different warehouses so parts might have differing ship points & likely different arrival dates. That gives you Friday afternoon thru Sunday eve. You can sweat a lot in 48 hours.

If you have any DOAs or other issues, this buys you the time (30 days I think) to do the smoke test:rolleyes:maybe 3 or 4 times. And, last I tested it, 'egg's return system is totally online & easy to use. That is assuming you access to another computer to access! ;)
 

Tharic-Nar

Senior Editor
Staff member
Moderator
My P4 is the newer (relative) model Prescott based 90nm HT. The dual core Atom would win because of optimisations in core logic and newer instruction sets, not to mention it can handle 4 threads, instead of 2. What's more insulting is that ATOM CPU's are in-order execution processors, and P4's are out-of-order, which should make the P4's a lot more efficient, but sadly, it's not enough.

The P4's netburst architecture was designed for high clock speed processing, so it had high latencies. Intel quickly found out they couldn't produce the 5GHz+ chips that they wanted within a sane TDP. Adventurous overclockers managed to get the chips to 7GHz+ i believe, but under EXTREME conditions.

All in all, P4's are a long lasting workhorse that's ridiculously inefficient by modern standards. Even when it comes to recycling, you'd save money in the long run buy BUYING an ATOM, since the P4 consumes a lot more power, thus bump up the bill by a fair margin.
 

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
Alright I've had help from a couple different places and found a setup for under $900, and is still pretty good. Went the AMD route btw.

CPU
Mobo
RAM
HDD. 500gb, don't need much.
GPU (gonna crossfire later on)
DVD drive
Case
PSU

Total: $866.87 after tax, shipping, and some sata cables and thermal paste.
 
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Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Bah, I forgot to include an ODD in the custom build I made, haha.

The CPU and mobo URLs don't work, but the rest of it looks great :D
 

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
Bah, I forgot to include an ODD in the custom build I made, haha.

The CPU and mobo URLs don't work, but the rest of it looks great :D

fixed. must have copied the url's from my cart, that's why they didn't work

and as of right now, no I won't be overclocking until a bit down the road..when I know some more about it. also too busy..I know how time-consuming OC'ing is.
 

Optix

Basket Chassis
Staff member
OC'ing is only time consuming when trying to find 24/7 stability. Quick SuperPi runs are always fun to try and pull off. I managed to get my i3 530 to 4.4Ghz and ran SuperPi 1M in under 10 seconds. I think it was just over 9.5 actually. As soon as I was done a blue screen popped up so I couldn't even do a screenshot. :(

You're going to love that setup, dude. Be sure to post some pics!
 

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
You're going to love that setup, dude. Be sure to post some pics!

I will :D might actually post a video on youtube of me putting it together too :p

also, if you overclock a processor and it goes past its limit, will it just throttle down and shut off without causing damage?

just ordered it yesterday and it should be here on wednesday! :D:D:D
 
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TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
First two packages are here! :D Dang those pics are HUGE. o_O

1160130edit.jpg


Weird thing is, the HDD was encased in an unlabled cardboard box, and the DVD drive was just wrapped in bubblewrap. no case whatsoever. lol. The next package should be here tomorrow, with my CPU, RAM and mobo. The GPU and tower should be here thursday.
 
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Psi*

Tech Monkey
also, if you overclock a processor and it goes past its limit, will it just throttle down and shut off without causing damage?
OC-ing a little at a time will 1st cause Windoze to lockup on boot ... sort of considered the 1st test of OC-ing before you play with voltages. Upon that lockup, you start backing off the factor (BCLK) until you can boot. THEN you play with the burn in utilities.

BEFORE you do *any* of this, get all of the upgrades from MS & anything else for that matter. In other words, no upgrades or installs without knowing that you have a stable system.
 
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