Help me decide what to do!

witnessmenow

Ok this is a fairly wierd one...

Basically i need a second ok gaming PC, needs to be able to play games at 1680x1050, but does not need to play them particularly well. Dont worry about the Cyrsis' of the world, just the majority of PC games (L4d2, Tf2, Stalker Cop, COD MW etc.

I am also building a file server using a dual core atom board (not bought yet)

So basically Im building two new computers

I have the following parts:

Am2 5600 x2

Dell inspiron 531 mAtx mobo (which thinking about it I probably shouldn't have bought but aw well)

Manufacturer: Intel ( OEM for Dell Inspiron 531 )
Dell Part #: RY206 0RY206
Socket: AM2
Expansion Slots: PCI: 2 Slots / PCIe x1: 1 Slot / PCIe x16 (Graphics): 1 Slots
Connectors: (4) Back USB Ports, Network LAN
Video: Onboard
Audio: Onboard
Supported Memory: DDR2

Matx case with 300w psu - 3 drive bays and a DVD drive bay

Hard Drives, Oprical Drives

I currently have a fairly decent gaming PC. (e5200 OC@4ghz, 4850 512 @ stock , 4gb DDr2 6400, 450w Corsair PSU in a antec 300)


So basically Im building two new computers

Originally I was going to buy a full sized case as my fileserver and put the mini - ITx into it so it would have more room for HDs

And I was going to fill the MATX case with parts for the second "gaming" PC, but after looking last night, i under estimated how terrible low profile cards are for the money they cost.

But now im thinking of putting the file server in the MATX case and using the mobo and CPU i have to build a full size computer.

I'll definitely be ordering of Hardwareversand anyways, and I dont mind getting parts second hand.

If I was getting a good price on something better than my 4850 (which just about does me ok) I'd consider relegating it to the second one, But upgrading the 4850 might also require a PSU upgarde

So what do you think I should get?

Solitaire

A ~90W X2-5600 and a 110W+ HD4850 would be a dire squeeze for a good 300W PSU. A bad one wouldn't even have the 12V capacity to run such a config

I strongly recommend a cheap first- or second-hand HD4770 for the new gaming rig, given it doesn't have the best CPU by today's standards. HD5670 would do but could struggle a bit past 720p at high quality settings. If you find a HD5750 obscenely cheap (€60-80) first- or second-hand for some reason you can go for it. Its annoying that I don't remember the spec of that PSU - checked it eleventy-seven years ago back when those cases were being sold off for less than a tenner :P

witnessmenow

Thanks,

My thinking ok was something like a 8800 would be fairly inline with my CPU, but I'd be as happy to go with ATI. How much Ram do you think , would be inline with the rest of the spec?

Yeah i wouldnt be the most trusting of this things PSU ok :P

What sort of price should i be paying for a second hand 4870 ? Im after getting a slightly better monitor for my decent computer (23", cant recall resoultion but its 1900 x something) So im not sure will the 4850 still hold up to that.

Solitaire

You got a Full HD monitor? A 1GB HD4850 might be good if you managed to OC the butt off its GPU and GDDR3 but if you want to play heavy-duty games a cheap 1GB HD4870/5770 is a better bet. Less intensive games might still hold up well on a HD4850 @ 1080p though.

HD5570 < HD5670 <<< 8800GT << HD4770 < HD5750. Any of them would probably do for the secondary machine. Bear in mind the 8800GT is an 80nm card and uses a lot more juice than the AMD cards up there! All the others sip at power, which is important given I'm pretty sure that PSU ain't no Delta 305W!

witnessmenow

Well I'll be buying a PSU for the PC that uses the GFX , so im not too tied down in that regard.

Thanks for the incremental list, just need to go about finding a cheap one of them :P

EDIT: the monitor is 1920x1080

PogMoThoin

4870/90 is the way to go @ 1920, big gains in going to gddr5, gddr3 is too slow by todays standards. A 1Gb one should be easily picked up on adverts.

A 4GB kit of ram can be got for peanuts these days (although its rising in price). I paid €300 for 2GB just 3 yrs ago

Solitaire

Not that you needed to... unless you're talking about DDR1. I got a 2*1GB DDR2 kit years back (whan DDR2 was quite new) for well under €100. Team Elite PC5300 CL4, drop to CL5 and hit 930MHz without hiking the voltage past 1.8V