What sort of budget do i need?

[Rick Martel]

if i want to build a gaming PC to play the latest games in use with a 21 inch LCD on native resolution(1600X1200) with medium settings?

i currently have a 3 year old 3500+ amd @ 2.1GHZ, with 2GB ram, and 6800GS nvidia and i have to use low resolution and very low graphic settings to get a playable FPS on games like rainbow six vegas 2, call of duty modern warfare etc.

it also has the old mobo, so i cant upgrade with the new chipsets etc.

 

[pastymuncher]

£500 would do nicely for a decent rig or you can go the budget route for £350 ish. Depends if you need an OS as well though. This is a good thread to use as a guide.

 

[Tetras]

if i want to build a gaming PC to play the latest games in use with a 21 inch LCD on native resolution(1600X1200) with medium settings?

Personally I would go for a minimum of 4850 level at that resolution, preferably 4870.

 

[Ben M]

4850
e7200/e8400/8500 (depending on budget, be aware that new stepping is available soon)
p45 mobo (X38 if you want crossfire later on)
4gb PC6400 RAM
vista home premium 64 bit
corsair 650W psu
arctic freezer 7 pro
samsung spinpoint F1 (capacity up to you)
case
optical drive

win.

 

[Rick Martel]

the crossfire that was mentioned. is it worth getting? will the p45 not be upgradeable? what is the timespan before crossfire is required.
oh, and also is it worth paying £15 more for the 8500, over the 8400? is the 0.5 multiplier upgrade noticeable? i wont be overclocking.

 

[Vigoro]

The p45 boards are the last in the Core2 boards to come out as far as i know. As intel are going on a new socket when they release their new processors. However you do have the option of running crossfire on a p45 board, and at the resolution you are using i doubt you would see much difference, if any in gaming.

If you aren't overclocking then you might aswell get the e8500 as it isnt that much more and means you got a higher speed