Advice requested for assembling cheapest Gaming Desktop

[prakum]

Hello,

I cannot give budget. But I want advice in direction of building a decent Gaming Desktop at cheapest budget possible.

Thanks in Advance.
--------------
1. What is your MAX budget?
Cheapest Possible
2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers? If not- why?
YE$
3. What is the purpose of the computer? (Note: If you are planning to say multimedia, you will have to be more specific as all types of systems are capable of doing that)
DECENT GAMING
4. Planning to overclock?
NO
5. Which OS are you planning to use?
LINUX (UBUNTU OR CENTOS LATEST VERSION), WINDOWS XP SP3 OR 7
6. How much hard drive space is needed?
NOT MUCH NEEDED. LEAST ENOUGH
7. What resolution will the screen run at?
NO NEED OF HIGH RESOLUTION. DECENT RESOLUTION IS ENOUGH
8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10? (1 being the lowest, 5 being you are somewhat in sync with the current performers and 10 being the highest)
8.0
9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
MANY TIMES
10. When are you planning to buy the system?
ASAP
11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
YES, OBVIOUSLY
12. Are there going to be any components that you don't want to include in this new rig? If yes, do mention.
-NA-
13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
BANGALORE
14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary
-NA-

[ajai5777]

But main thing is budget.From that we start to draw the picture.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by prakum

Hello,

I cannot give budget. But I want advice in direction of building a decent Gaming Desktop at cheapest budget possible.

Thanks in Advance.
--------------
1. What is your MAX budget?
Cheapest Possible
2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers? If not- why?
YE$
3. What is the purpose of the computer? (Note: If you are planning to say multimedia, you will have to be more specific as all types of systems are capable of doing that)
DECENT GAMING
4. Planning to overclock?
NO
5. Which OS are you planning to use?
LINUX (UBUNTU OR CENTOS LATEST VERSION), WINDOWS XP SP3 OR 7
6. How much hard drive space is needed?
NOT MUCH NEEDED. LEAST ENOUGH
7. What resolution will the screen run at?
NO NEED OF HIGH RESOLUTION. DECENT RESOLUTION IS ENOUGH
8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10? (1 being the lowest, 5 being you are somewhat in sync with the current performers and 10 being the highest)
8.0
9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
MANY TIMES
10. When are you planning to buy the system?
ASAP
11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
YES, OBVIOUSLY
12. Are there going to be any components that you don't want to include in this new rig? If yes, do mention.
-NA-
13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
BANGALORE
14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary
-NA-

get this:

Processor: Athlon II X2 250 3GHz @ 3K
Motherboard: Biostar TA785G A3 @ 3.7k
Ram: A-Data 2GB DDR3 1333MHz C9 @ 2.6k
Hard Disk: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB @ 2k
Graphics Card: Biostar HD5770 1GB GDDR5 @ 8.7k
Optical Drives: LG GH22NS50 @ 1k
PSU: FSP Saga II 400 Watts @ 2.1k
Cabinet: Zebronics Bijli @ 1.2K
Monitor: BenQ G2020HD 20" LCD Monitor @ 6.5k
Keyboard Mouse: Logitech Internet Desktop @ 0.6k

Total: 31.4k

i'll not recommend getting exactly this but increase ram & get a fast X3 processor.

[ajai5777]

Originally Posted by Sam.Shab

get this:

Processor: Athlon II X2 250 3GHz @ 3K
Motherboard: Biostar TA785G A3 @ 3.7k
Ram: A-Data 2GB DDR3 1333MHz C9 @ 2.6k
Hard Disk: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB @ 2k
Graphics Card: Biostar HD5770 1GB GDDR5 @ 8.7k
Optical Drives: LG GH22NS50 @ 1k
PSU: FSP Saga II 400 Watts @ 2.1k
Cabinet: Zebronics Bijli @ 1.2K
Monitor: BenQ G2020HD 20" LCD Monitor @ 6.5k
Keyboard Mouse: Logitech Internet Desktop @ 0.6k

Total: 31.4k

i'll not recommend getting exactly this but increase ram & get a fast X3 processor.

I think this rig isnt balanced.The processor will be outdated soon so 5770 will be wasted.This rig will be bottlenecked in near future.

Athlon II X4 630@ 4.6k
Biostar TA785G3 HD @ 4.1k
Sapphire HD 5670 512 MB DDR5 @ 5.3k
Have a look at my config.

Graphics card shouldnt be the base of a rig.It should be proccy+mobo
Quad core optimised games will come in future.Then what will he do with X2 and 5770?

Cheapest Gaming PC itself says it doesnt need a high end card.5770 is too much for a cheapest gaming rig.

[Cool Buddy]

yes, for a cheap rig, 5770 is too much. 31k is by no means cheap. I would suggest HD 4670 at ~4.1k and Athlon X2 250 @ 3k. Should run games fine for some time. Also one can go for a cheaper board around 2.5k. that will save a lot. Sam please suggest a cheap board since he'll be getting discreet gfx card, I don't have any expertise on mobos. also, you could wait a couple of months as DDR3 is bound to get cheaper.
now, that you've got an idea what you get for your money, please decide on a budget so that we can be more specific.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by ajai5777

I think this rig isnt balanced.The processor will be outdated soon so 5770 will be wasted.This rig will be bottlenecked in near future.

Athlon II X4 630@ 4.6k
Biostar TA785G3 HD @ 4.1k
Sapphire HD 5670 512 MB DDR5 @ 5.3k
Have a look at my config.

Graphics card shouldnt be the base of a rig.It should be proccy+mobo
Quad core optimised games will come in future.Then what will he do with X2 and 5770?

Cheapest Gaming PC itself says it doesnt need a high end card.5770 is too much for a cheapest gaming rig.

he just wanted the cheapest gaming rig. for gaming 2 cores enough. 4 cores is like a extra pair of hands. mayn't always come into play but in future will come handy. also current games respond to core speed rather than more cores. as mentioned by Toms hardware & Anandtech before, X2 @ 3Ghz good for games (current) X3 @ 2.9-3Ghz should be considered for gaming.

X4 is good if OP ready to OC. ajai, u got a cheap but very efficient multimedia cum gaming PC. main reason is you OC the proccy. at stock speed, even a X2 245 will beat hell out of a X4 630.

also about the card, all depends on what OP wants & at what resolution he'll game. HD5770 is Crysis @ Full HD, low details. HD5670 if NFS @ Full HD low details.

---------- Post added at 05:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:21 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Cool Buddy

yes, for a cheap rig, 5770 is too much. 31k is by no means cheap. I would suggest HD 4670 at ~4.1k and Athlon X2 250 @ 3k. Should run games fine for some time. Also one can go for a cheaper board around 2.5k. that will save a lot. Sam please suggest a cheap board since he'll be getting discreet gfx card, I don't have any expertise on mobos. also, you could wait a couple of months as DDR3 is bound to get cheaper.
now, that you've got an idea what you get for your money, please decide on a budget so that we can be more specific.

well yes, that true. i did a mistake suggesting a HD5770. however OP just told all games should run. what games, what resolution, not even a single words on it. medium resolution tells nothing.

for cheap board, heres a good deal. also found locally: Gigabyte GA-MA74GMT-S2. nice little board @ 2.7k though SMC & 2.4-2.5k locally.

[Cool Buddy]

this seems to be a good enough mobo, this mobo with 4670 will keep the cost around 25-26k depending on street prices. Don't think Gaming PCs can come cheaper than this, 25k ought to be the minimum for a gaming rig

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Cool Buddy

this seems to be a good enough mobo, this mobo with 4670 will keep the cost around 25-26k depending on street prices. Don't think Gaming PCs can come cheaper than this, 25k ought to be the minimum for a gaming rig

25k is the threshold budget for gaming pc. even than most games have to be run at low-medium resolution/settings to get respectable FPS.

[ajai5777]

Originally Posted by Sam.Shab

at stock speed, even a X2 245 will beat hell out of a X4 630.

I dont agree with that.Now most of the games have affinity to the available cores.So better cores = better performance.I havnt seen many game taking only 2 cores of a proccy.Only for those games X2 will perform better than X4 as its got 1MB L2 per core.

When you check the affinity of the process, you can see the default affinity.
I tried these games NFS Shift,Assassins Creed,POP4,PES 10,FIFA 09.

In these games only FIFA 09 had the default affinity of 2.Others are using all the cores.

Just check this Gaming CPU chart in an article in tomshardware.

Gaming CPU Chart

See the positions of X2 245 and X4 630.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by ajai5777

I dont agree with that.Now most of the games have affinity to the available cores.So better cores = better performance.I havnt seen many game taking only 2 cores of a proccy.Only for those games X2 will perform better than X4 as its got 1MB L2 per core.

well only from last year, games have started using 3 cores. most games are still optimized for 2 cores only. you may read it when they state the best gaming proccy for 75-90$. they clearly state that a 3 cores better than 4 cores. & 4cores got real advantage only in some games, like some RPG or strategy where they use 4 cores.

when they state about 3 cores, there written that only few games really use 3 cores. & games respond to high core clock rather than more cores, one reason i3's can go head to head with X4 or X3 in game benchmarks.

moreover i should mention X2 = 2Mb L3 cache. X4 = 2Mb L3 cache. & this is a extremely big disadvantage for X4 in gaming. yes, if you raise the clock, they go past i3, X2 & X3 in gaming. but a 2.8Ghz X4 is typically slower than a X3 of 2.9Ghz or X2 of 3Ghz, specially in games.

NOTE: its not my personal claim. i still using a P4 with HT. Toms hardware, Inpai, Anandtech, & many more still mention, a fast X2 will better in most games than a slow X4.

Originally Posted by ajai5777

When you check the affinity of the process, you can see the default affinity.
I tried these games NFS Shift,Assassins Creed,POP4,PES 10,FIFA 09.

In these games only FIFA 09 had the default affinity of 2.Others are using all the cores.

i should mention you tried very few games. & yes Simulator, or sports & strategy (new) use 4 cores. but POP, Assassins Creed, i not sure will use anything over 3 cores.

Originally Posted by ajai5777

Just check this Gaming CPU chart in an article in tomshardware.

Gaming CPU Chart

See the positions of X2 245 and X4 630.

i already have this chart saved in my PC. & yes the X3 & X4 are placed together. but Toms Hardware clearly mentions X2, a fast one will excel in games. but best choice is an X3. X4 should be considered only if one got the money & ready to OC.

[prakum]

Hi

Thanks for your advices.

Please tell me about this motherboard - MSI GF615M-P33 AM3 NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE Micro ATX, compared to suggested by yours.

Thanks

[mr.mishra04]

intel core i3
i ball 450 watt cabinet
wd 1 tb
zeon 4 gb ddr3
msi 1 gb gpu

all these will cost you within 20k

[Sam]

Originally Posted by prakum

Hi

Thanks for your advices.

Please tell me about this motherboard - MSI GF615M-P33 AM3 NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE Micro ATX, compared to suggested by yours.

Thanks

its based on Nvidia chipst, means your Hyper Transport bus will be limited to HT 1.0. this will affect performance a lot. as far as you can, for AMD processors, skip motherboards based on Nvidia chipset. else everything ok.

[aby geek]

do you have a PC or this is ur first.if u have a pc then i think upgrading the key components will be better.

[prakum]

Hi

Thanks for your advices.

Please give your thoughts on this selection

AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz Socket AM3
BIOSTAR A785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Thanks

[Sam]

if its the A series from biostar than better skip it. they are extremely cheap & not good motherboards. better go for T-series. also i think that motherboard got 95W TDP. so you stuck in 95W processors, not sure though.

[Cool Buddy]

yeah, better check if the mobo suports 125W processors. even though they have socket AM3, not all support the high end 125W processors

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Cool Buddy

yeah, better check if the mobo suports 125W processors. even though they have socket AM3, not all support the high end 125W processors

if possible should support 140W processor (thats the realm nowadays). 125W proccy support is a must.

[Cool Buddy]

But there are no 140W processors listed on AMDs website! Which ones are you talking about?

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Cool Buddy

But there are no 140W processors listed on AMDs website! Which ones are you talking about?

many thought (including myself), thuban will be 140W. but thankfully it came out to be 125W (max TDP). but still 140W proccy = heavy OC stable.