Im seriously now planning to do a PC upgrade since this Pentium 3 is getting old. My Budget is low but I have planned out some things which will be within it Ok the Specs of my new computer which I want to build are: *Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 2.0GHZ $137.90au *Intel P35 Chipset (Intel Branded DP35DPM ) $179.00au *2gb (2x1gb) Corsair Value Select Pc-5300 (667mhz) $69.00au *XpertVision GF 8500GT PCI-E 512MB Super 128-bit DDR2 $115.00au *Thermaltake TR2 RX 550W PSU (Already Have it) *160gb Ultra ATA IDE Segate Barracuda?? 7200rpm HDD (Already Have it) *Pioneer 112D IDE DVD burner (Already have it) It Totals to something around 500au Im pretty happy with the Graphics and I dont really mind Ram only being 667mhz since at the moment im using 133mhz ram, But I dont know how CPU is and the P35, I chose intel because this PC has an Intel D815EFV since we got it in 2005 (2nd Hand used in schools beofre) and it has been very very solid since even when pushed to playing moderngames.
Where are you buying from? Cpu is a great overclocker if your in to that,mobo you picked is ok,graphics card is weak for modern games,ram is fine for a budget gaming system.... I would build... Gigabyte Ds3 mobo $157 (brillant overclocker) http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/72543/MOTHERBOARD_INTEL_SOCKET_775_CORE_2/Gigabyte/GA-P35-DS3_.asp 8600GT $120 http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/76105/VIDEOCARDS_GEFORCE_PCI-EXPRESS_SERIES/Galaxy/86GEF8HDFEXX.asp Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 $125 http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/75907/CPU_CORE_2_DUO_EXTREME/Intel/BX80557E2180.asp PNY 2048MB (2 x 1024MB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 RAM $70.24 http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/77628/MEMORY_DDR-2_RAM/PNY/b_dual-DEKA2450.A8EFP-NIL.asp Comes to just under $500 delivered..... If you can stretch your budget by a $100 get a Ati HD3850,brillant card at that price,can play all the latest games with ease,more than twice the power of a 8600gt... http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/78154/V...RESS_2.0_SERIES/PowerColor/47125050-22178.asp You should be able to overclock that cpu to 3.0ghz on air alone with relative ease (its a crime not to overclock those cpu's imo )if you can toss in a HD3850,you have a top quality gaming system for very very cheap....
Well I found a Gigabyte one but is it the one you were talking about? its a : Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ?? I think I might go for it since it says the MB I picked cant even overclock the CPU is this true? And how is gigabyte?, Quality?
The quality of Gigabyte boards is excellent. Better than mid-range Asus boards and any stock Intel ones. The Graphics card is appalling in your list. An HD3850 will be 10x better, or at least settle for an 8600GT if you're on a very strict budget.
But then Id have to wait another week LOL! I would rather take the 8500GT Super and slowly save up for more ram and better graphics and new screen. But I really do not want to wait more LOL!, the whole year I have had times where I wanted to buy a pc, and my mind changes or my money goes somewhere else, but now I really want to buy it the Sat After this one. My cousin has this Graphics card, I dont really mind how it runs, I feel that as long as newer games dont go below 30fps at 1024x768 to me that is fine. Ive seen it run pro street full quality + Extra Anti Aliasing at 1280x960 at above 30fps. Ive seen it run Crysis Medium setting 1024x768 at above 25fps. To me this is all fine LOL for now, Later yes I will upgrade but comming from a pentium 3 this will be an AMAZING improvement to me. Iam More into racing games so I dont see any of that genre that wouldnt run on high?, I guess I would overclock the CPU to 3ghz buy maybe 1-2gb more ram, and get a graphics card like a HD3850 later.
I just have one more question, I plab to overclock it abit if I need to (CPU), Its just that I have never done it :S, With the Specs I have listsed and with the Gigabyte MB instead of intel one, and stock cooling, and cheap ram, would I be able to just Up the FSB to like 266mhz to make it 2.66ghz without changin anything else liek Ram timings and VOlts because I have no clue I just want to do it the simple way , and would this ram handle it??
Test Drive Unlimited at 1280x1024 High approximate frame rate averages: 8500GT: 15fps 8600GT: 35fps 8600GTS: 45fps X1900XT: 57fps HD3850: 85fps 8800GTS: 102fps Crysis at 1024x768 Medium approximate frame rate average: 8500GT: 12fps 8600GT: 25fps 8600GTS: 36fps X1900XT: 45fps HD3850: 70fps 8800GTS: 80fps Think carefully about these figures. You may have been waiting quite a while for a new upgrade, but you have to bear in mind that budget graphics cards are a false economy. That is, although they're half the speed of a faster model, they're more than half the cost, so up to a point, faster cards are better value. The current 'best bang for buck' cards are the 8600GTS and the HD3850. As for the overclocking, I couldn't say. It might, but if you live in a hot climate you'd need to get a proper heatsink. The RAM should be OK.
Well LOL! SOrt of in a hot climate, since im IN australia, But how is the E2180 like stock clock?, Can it run modern games like Pro Street at high with just its 2ghz?
The 2180 will cope with modern games fine at stock speed. HD2600XT: Test Drive Unlimited 1280x1024High: 38fps Crysis 1024x768Med: 30fps I think you can clearly see it's better than the 8500GT.
Agree with everything Sammorris has said so far,dont skimp on the graphics,a HD3850 is minimum in todays games with Crysis etc titles coming....Gigabyte ds3l is an awesome board,great overclocker.... Main thing with a gaming system is an awesome graphics card,a cheap cpu can be overclocked to a very good level and ram is very cheap nowadays.... My advice get a Intel Pentium E2160 (1.8GHz) overclock it as much as you can (you dont have to overclock its fine at 1.8ghz for the moment).... Gigabyte mobo like a ds3l... HD3850 2gb 800mhz or 667 mhz ram depending on budget....
But would a HD2600Pro match a Xpert Vision 512mb GT Super?, because its a better 8500 not the plain one. And does 256 and 512mb matter that much in the 2600?
Pre-overclocked graphics cards are bugger all different to the standard ones for gaming, you're looking at 5 or 6% faster at the most. Besides, you can overclock the card yourself anyway. Pre-overclocked cards won't overclock any further than normal ones. Contrary to what you might expect, they're not 'special' samples with higher potential OCs. You're just paying more to have the default clock speeds changed, and potentially get a slightly better cooler. (I've yet to see any graphics card come with a cooler anywhere near as good as something by Thermalright) As for the memory, yes it's important. 512MB is the difference between being able to run games and them crashing at certain resolutions. At the moment this only typically happens for higher resolutions such as 1680x1050, but in time that will change. it all depends how much more the 512MB version is. Because the 2600 isn't a naturally fast card, the benefits of having more memory on one may not be that obvious. Above all though, make sure you get the 2600XT and not the Pro. New games will run pretty poorly on the Pro, the XT will be able to hold out a bit longer.
I have found one with 256mb GDDR3 and one with 512mb GDDR2 I guess its a loss one way or the other but which is less noticable?, I wont run games above 1024x768 or 1280x960 anyway.
And just one more thing, Is there a site you get those FPS for games using those cards from?, or is it just from experience?, because id want to have a look on a site like that .
