The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition

Your first priority's not the processor, it's the graphics card. The long list of games that won't run well on your PC, will still run badly if you put in a quad core CPU. If you slap in a good graphics card and keep the CPU, however, they will all run pretty well, with a few minor exceptions. The motherboard is not a limiting factor at this stage, it can support a wide variety of CPUs.
Newegg has a canadian site, newegg.ca.

 

Well a new graphic card it is.
From what ive learn over the past months in the computer world if you go cheap you get cheap,and i thought i was doing a good thing by buying this 9400gt just because it had 1gb memory and the price tag was lower than 100$

 

No, unfortunately memory is easy to be misled by as it is the only actual statistic printed in the title, but all its there for is to distinguish between two otherwise identical products that have more or less memory. Up to 1680x1050 512MB is ample, 1GB is only really required for 1920x1200 and 2560x1600. Even then, a 9400GT is incapable of handling any game demanding enough to need more than 300MB of video memory, let alone 512. To give you some idea, the Radeon HD4870 started out as a 512MB card, and yet in Mass Effect 2 at high detail at 1680x1050 (the resolution used by 20" and 22" monitors) the 9400GT scores a dismal 4fps, versus the HD4870 which remains at 60fps at all times, and would reach over 70 if the game were not limited to 60 due to the way it is designed. Furthermore, the HD4870 1GB version, although slowly being replaced by its similar performing successor the HD5770, can be had from newegg.ca for $180. It performs 15-18x as well, but I bet that's nowhere near 15-18x what you paid for the 9400. For games, cheap graphics cards are actually a false economy.

 

and there is yuor problem. with the power that the 9400GT puts out (which is not much at all) 1GB is such a waste. 1GB is really only needed at a resolution of 1920 and above, when you are maxing out the settings.

what resolution monitor do you have?

 

Given that the 9400GT's much more powerful bigger brother, the 9500GT, can only manage 18fps at 1920x1200 with AA in Call of Duty 4, there isn't much the 9400GT is likely to be able to run at 1920x1200. I'd suggest pre-DirectX9 titles, but none of those support 1920x1200 natively anyway.

 

shaffaaf: my resolution is 1280x1024 on both monitor 19" crt monitor and a 17" compaq crt as well (i had a samsung 20" flat screen but it died a few months ago)

 

There is no game even with 16x AA applied, that at 1280x1024 needs more than 512MB of graphics memory. Not that I can think of anyway.

 

IF that sam. and the 9400GT wouldnt be able to use AA at that res on monst if any games.

whysper, the thing is IF you feel that the 9400GT is good enough, then what are we to say against it. we here are in the minority percentage of PC gamers who need constant 60FPS + with maxed out grpahics at insane resolutions. MOST people would be happy if the game they load up on their PC can play withou lagging, not giving a crap about settings, resoltuion and frame rates. how i wish i could go back to beign liek that, as life wouldnt be so expensive LOL.

 

Given how you used to play COD, I blame myself entirely for that
However, thinking about it, it is pretty dire to play games with lag and it affect your gameplay, which will happen no matter what the settings with a 9400GT in some games. It just depends on whether you'll be playing such games or not.

 

the AA is set at 4x in cod4mw and i dont think its even on in burnout paradise,what does it do anyway? cause i remember tinkering around and put it higher and it slowed the game right down to a point where it was unplayable froze and crashed.Kinda why i dont play with the setting much

 

Indeed. GTA IV on my 8600GT, was almost bearable. But upgrading to the GTX 260...there is no comparison There was a slight amount of lag, trying to push that 8600Gt though

Now I average 45-55 FPS

 

AA is anti-aliasing, in other words edge smoothing. In some games it does very little, in others it makes the game look a lot better. Lag caused by AA is an insufficient graphics card, which doesn't surprise me.

 

AA reduces jaggies on diangonal and rounded edges.

lol sam, i was happy with 15FPS before you!

 

i just looked at the XFX Radeon HD 5770 Video Card 1GB GDDR5 for 189 from tigerdirect and im kicking myself hard for buying the 9400gt but then again at the time it seemed like a good idea and was cheap

 

Lots of reasonable video cards can be had for cheap. Even a 4850 or 9800GT would be a major upgrade and still are cheaper than the 5770.

 

if. I'm adding this cost up right by your totals it would be $730 buck the memory cost the most Quote me if, I'm wrong now...

what could. I put together now for that price or under for a decent build cheap with core 2 duo not Quad


GA-EP45-UD3L Cost $89.99 ($79.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate & Free Shipping or get it at micro center( same cost) and burn alittle gas
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz Cost $167.99 & Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Cost $36.98 + $2.99 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) Cost $52.99 + Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144

XFX PVT95GYAJ2 GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit DDR3 Cost $64.99
($54.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate)+$6.98 Std. Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150459

Caviar Blue WD2500AAKS Cost $47.99 +Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136161

Sony Optiarc Black 24X Cost $24.99 + Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

Silent Pro 600 Cost $99.99 + $5.99 Std. Shipping

Centurion 534 Cost $54.99 +$18.99 Std. Shipping

all = out to $675.85-$20 worth of rebates = $655.85 that's atlease $74.15 away from your total part by part this is just Quick put together Believe me a Amd build would be alittle cheaper by $20 or $40 Bucks or more depends on the parts you use and pick. I know Russ will Quote me on that...

Happy Building
Ya'll

 

You should also really be using an HD4670 or HD5670 instead of the 9500GT.

 

are you saying this because because the 9500GT not suitable for high gaming proformance like the HD's ? this 9500GT would be a low end budget pick

 

Well the HD4670 is more than twice as powerful for gaming, costs the same and uses the same amount of power. There may not be much reason to get extra gaming performance, but there's no point buying a really weak card when you don't have to. If you want to save swap the HD4670 for the HD4650, still a better card.

 

Ha ha! It's my baby! Unusual though, Mwave tries to beat newegg when they can. Usually they beat newegg by a few dollars. I just like newegg quite a bit!
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=3005001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143173&cm_re=GTX_260-_-14-143-173-_-Product