Gaming on a budget

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I'm currently shopping around and looking to build myself a mid-lvl gaming system. I am really only concerned with whether or not it will run Counter Strike: Source at 70 fps+, and run starcraft 2 smoothly.

My best friend just got back from Iraq and dropped almost $5000 on a new PC. I challenged that I could build a gaming PC for under $500 that could still run CS:S like glass and play most any new games on the market.

This is my build idea thus far. Your help and suggestions will be priceless to me, seeing as this is my first attempt at custom building a pc.

motherboard
Intel BOXDG41TY LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7400

Ram
Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PDC24G6400ELK

power supply
hec X-Power Pro 600 600W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply

case:
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

graphics card
EVGA 01G-P3-N959-TR GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

graphics card cooling fan
Titan EC-TTC-SC-03 PCI Slot VGA Card Cooling Fan

Now all of these can be easily searched for and read about on newegg.com (where I'll be ordering from).

Obviously I'm missing a few things - namely a hard drive and cd-rom. I'm hoping to salvage these from the PC I am using to post this message.

My current hard drive is:

Manufacturer
Maxtor
Manufacturer Part # 6B200R0
Data Storage

Formatted Capacity
200GB (actually mine is 300gb)
Data Transfer Rate
External
150 MBps
To/From Media
150 MBps
Buffer 16MB
Seek Time
AverageFrequency
9 ms
Interface ATA-133
Interface Connectors 40 pin IDC
Ambient Temperature 32° - 140° F
Start / Stop Cycles 50,000
Dimensions
(H x W x D) 1" x 4 " x 5.8 "
Weight 1.3lbs
Features Data Protection System (DPS), Shock Protection System (SPS), Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
Shock Tolerance 60 g @ 2 ms (operating) / 300 g @ 2 ms (non-operating)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
And my CD-Rom(s) is/are:

SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-248F ATA Device Samsung CD-RW 48x/24x/48x

and

SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-816B ATA Device Samsung DVD-ROM 16x/48x

I think this will do the trick. My only worry is that I'm overlooking something that only a veteran builder/pro would notice. I hope it's all compatible, I've done a lot of homework on building pc's and I think I know what I'm doing.

Let me know what you all think.

-William

 

Getting 70FPS woukld be easily possible with most hardware nowadays with Counter strike source, your problem getting it is possible LAG, you can get FPS lag & connection LAG.

I would steer away from the 9500 GPU it's way too budget, go for a 9600GT at least, I had the Zotac 9600GT 512MB AMP edition & it was pretty good.

Here it is: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500090

And I would change the PSU to a stronger one, with this one you will be able to keep it much longer: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171013

Your old HDD looks fine, if it's in good condition. As for the DVD drive as long as it works :-D

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

Hey thanks, any tips on the tower? Aka, Do you think it will fit everything ok, and do you think its got enough fan power?

 

I think the tower looks ok, it has enough cooling for a mid range pc definataly & everything should fit. It is an ATX case hence ATX & micro ATX mobo's will fit.

As long as you get the PSU & GPU I suggested I think your onto a mid range winner LOL

:major2-BGit-Geek:major

 

Alright, I'm gonna order it. But before I do, is there anything I'm missing? Like any cables, connectors or do-dads that help this all interface together? - I'm presuming it's not rocket science but I just want to make sure that I'm not missing something here.

 

what OS will you be running? 4+ GB of RAM requires a 64bit OS.

 

It does? I thought I could just switch the registration of my Vista Home Edition over to the new PC. I don't think its 64 bit. the processor says

"64 bit Support ---- Yes"

does that mean my OS HAS to be 64 bit?

I was hoping to work my way around the OS problem somehow otherwise I've gotta go dish out $300 some bucks for vista 64 bit.

Don't they say that most hardware is still 64 bit incompatible - for they just don't have the drivers for it? I'm afraid of having no audio or network problems.

Is Linux a possibility?

There's gotta be a way around this somehow, otherwise I'll end up doubling the price of the pc just for the silly OS. In that case there are deals on cyberpowerpc that include the price of the OS and it might actually save me money, but then what's the point of anyone building a PC on a budget at all?

 

yeah if you want to actually use more than 3GB of RAM it does. Windows 32 bit wont see over 3 - 3.5 GB of ram. im not too sure how stable 64 bit linux distros are. youll for sure have software problems though. that would be a good question for the linux forum guys. im running 64bit vista home premium and i have no problems. as for hardware, youll have to check out your specs against requirements for 64bit vista.

you dont need 4GB of ram to run CSS. stick with 3 if you dont want to run 64bit OS.

 

Looks like you'll have no problem running css smoothly at high fps based on your specs.

I have that same case and I really like it. I had no problem fitting everything in it. It has a bunch of bays in case you wanted to add multiple HD,CD,DVD drives etc.

 

I ran CSS on 1GB RAM with no problem 2 or 3 should be fine, 2 might actually run faster in dual channel mode, but I am no expert on such things :-D

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

Not for gaming.

You can move your Vista license over to your new system as long as you remove it from your old one.

The Centurion 5 might be one of the best cases ever. Had mine for years and years and will build my next system in it. For the price tag, you can't beat that one. Fair warning though, the front bezel is a b---- to get off and on.

 

I love my Jeantech Nitro just look at all the cooling possible: http://www.jeantech.com/nitro.htm

I think apart from 2 annoying fetures it is the best air cooling case i've seen:

*The PSU is on the top.

*The drive bays are all DVD width so you have to use HDD cradles, which a d-ck to get in & out easily.

It has lots of room instide though, basically if a case can fit the new generation of foot long graphics cards in then it's a good case LOL

:major2-Bit-Geek:major