Have this same thread posted on another forum; figured more exposure, more help. Thanks in advance...

*EDIT*

I realized my links were bad, they should be fixed now.

*/EDIT*

Ok, so it's been several years since I've been on here and it has finally happened. My rig that I built in 2004 has finally met it's match, current rig specs are below. I bought Battlefield 3 on release day and my compy won't run it. So, with Skyrim on the horizon I figure it's a good idea to do a new build.

Except, I've been out of the loop for a very long time. So, I need some help on an el cheapo build. Nothing fancy. Just something that will allow me to run BF3 and Skyrim nicely. I play mostly games and have for the past several years been playing Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas and nothing more. Neither of those games were that demanding.

So, here is what I'm looking for and would like some input and suggestions. I'm on a very tight budget so the cheapest the better. I also plan on reusing a lot of components from my current rig such as, memory sticks, possibly hard drives, and maybe the video card.

What I need help on is, a fairly decent but also fairly low priced motherboard that can run either a dual core or quad core proc and also, suggestions on procs. I'd be open to other suggestions but like I said, money is an issue.

So, can anyone help me out?

I've been looking at this proc:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103953

And this motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131657

Are these both good budget build pieces?
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AMD 64 3500+ (No OC)
3 gig Corsair Value Select (yes, I know, cheap. But it's stable)
Asus A8N SLi Premium
eVGA 7800 GTX (256)
Sound Blaster Audigy Zs Platinum Pro
200 gig Maxtor SATA
300 gig Maxtor SATA
Samsung T240 24" LCD

No computer savvy peeps to tell me if these two items would work well together?

I'm most definitely going to pull the trigger on the processor but would like some input on the motherboard. Read a few reviews that say it's mainly used for media type builds but one review said it ran several games fairly well.

That's a budget processor and not really meant for gaming, if it must be AMD then you should at least get a Phenom II. And your graphics card doesn't meet the minimum VRAM requirements for Skyrim.

Ok, then do you have any suggestions? Again, its a budget build so, keep prices low if at all possible. The proc doesn't have to be an AMD but I've always gamed on AMD chipsets. Recommendations?

Would the mobo suffice or should I look elsewhere?

I could look at video cards too. Like I said, last time I built a rig it was in 2004, and it's served me well. It is, unfortunately showing it's age now. I've been completely out of the loop on computer building so I don't even know what to buy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121439

The i Series of Intel processors are way out of my price range so I can't even remotely consider them, even though I have always wanted an i7.

what is your budget? Are you recycling any of your old parts? (PSU, CASE..ECT)

I am recycling the eVGA 7800GTX as it is DirectX compatibble, the hdds, the heatsink and fan (I'm not giving up my ginormous aluminum heatsink and 140mm fan), the memory, power supply and the case; although I am contemplating building a new case.

My budget is whatever my wife will let me get away with. Which means if I can somehow get parts for free that'd be awesome. But, since I won't be able to do that I'm gonna say $200 on just a mobo and proc.

So far I've found these two items:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131699

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846

I had my brother help me out; he works in IT so he does this stuff all day long.

I'm not looking for a crazy rig, just something that can run BF3, Skyrim and FO3 and New Vegas.

yeah that will be alright. Make sure the memory you are recycling is supported by that mobo.

Skyrim has the most vague system requirements I've ever seen, they're all but useless to determine how well one can run the game.

Going by what little they give however, your current graphics card won't be able to run it since it has 256MB of VRAM and the minimum is 512MB. DirectX compatible doesn't mean anything, unless they're saying any GPU released in the past 10 years can run Skyrim.

My 7800GTX is 512.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130259

Oh ok, I saw the (256) next to it in your OP and thought it was the memory. I'm still not sure if that card will be able to run the game well, but since they don't give further information in their official specs I can't be sure.

Since graphics cards are the most important component for gaming, I'd definitely upgrade that. I mean the recommended GPU for Skyrim is a GTX 260 :shrug:

Plus you can get something like the AMD Radeon 6850 (I recommend an MSI version) for 140 or 150 bucks, and it supports DX11 and since Skyrim uses DX11 for performance benefits only, you would get a significant boost from it

Will do. Worst case is I buy another set of memory in a few weeks. I can't seem to find my spare stick of 1gig memory I may have given it to my brother.

Oh yeah, one other thing. The minimum requirement for Battlefield 3 is a DirectX 10/11 compatible card and Windows Vista/7 (since XP doesn't support anything above DX9). If you're planning on playing BF3 you'll need to upgrade your GPU and your OS (if you still run XP).

I'm not running XP anymore, that list of my rig is kinda old, I didn't change the OS.

I just ordered both those items. Hopefully I don't have to return either of them.

If I have to buy a new video card for DirectX 10 I will.

As I said, just get a DX11 one. The one I mentioned will run Skyrim at High/Very High.

Yeah, sorry Skullcrusher I missed your post. I actually didn't realize it but my graphics card will only run Skyrim and not BF3. I'm looking at cards now and once I find one I like I'll order that too.

Does it matter if I get a 64bit or a 32 bit one? My version of Windows 7 Ultimate N is only 32 bit, so should I just stick with a 32 bit one?

I would've went with an Athlon X3 455 and a decent mobo to unlock it to 4 cores.

Yes, well unfortunately for me; money is tight so if I can keep it under $300 for all three (mobo, proc, video) then I'm golden.

I've found a few video cards in my price range but not sure.

Does a 64 bit video card on a 32 bit OS matter?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125378

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121440

Neither of those cards are going to run games well. They are meant as upper tier HTPC cards and aren't meant for gaming. Your best bet would be to figure out what your budget is and going from there. Your RAM will not work with your new mobo also, unless you have DDR3 (which you wouldn't).

Honestly, the only thing I see you as being able to salvage from your current rig is your case (assuming it is big enough for your new mobo and your GPU), your copy of Windows 7 Ultimate (assuming it is the retail version), and your DVD drive (assuming it is SATA or your board has an IDE connector). Obviously you can keep your monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

a PSU going on 8 years sounds like a bad idea to salvage. Same goes for 8 year old hard drives (especially since yours are Maxtor :yuck: surprised they haven't died on you already). Recycling either of those is just asking for trouble. Your memory will be obsolete with whatever new mobo you get.

So you need a new PSU, mobo, CPU, memory, GPU, and hard drive minimum I'd say. as sgt deacon said, you need to figure out your budget first.

The budget is pretty non-existant, hence the need for cheapest parts as possible. Which is why I'm not looking at the newest and greatest components.

It's quite disheartening to hear that virtually nothing in my current build can be used.

Why is recycling my PSU a bad idea?

I do believe my memory is in fact DDR3, it is DDR3 2400 240 pin from what I can remember; I do need to confirm that.

If I spread the cost out over several weeks then I can probably spend a max of $500 for the remainder of parts I need.

My case is a Chenbro Gaming Bomb 2, it's plenty big. But like I said, I may build a new case (from scratch).

I had been wondering why the BF3 wouldn't install, I didn't realize it required a SATA DVD drive.

So, a list of parts I need are:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276 (I don't care about Read/Write since nothing in my current case will be salvageable so I can use that for mundane stuff.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152204 (I see this one is 3GB/s and my MOBO will be 6GB/s, not sure what this means so a little clarification would be nice. Will this work?)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127584 (Again, it's showing 64 bit, but not sure if this would be compatible).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035 (Again, not sure I need this as my Thermaltake is also 500W with SATA).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145334


If everything listed here is not good then please, provide me with some alternatives of what you think would be best.

With everything listed above, plus the things I ordered last night I'm still within my budget of $500.

*Edit*

I posted this thread on a computer forum and got no responses. So, again, thanks for the help guys. I appreciate it.

Because it's old. Do you want to risk your new parts on your PSU frying them?


Your current Mobo specified DDR 400 184-pin. Definitely not DDR3.



That's firstly a 2.5'' HDD, which means you'd need an adapter, secondly 5400RPM which means it'll be slow, and thirdly insanely overpriced (probably because it's intended for laptops). Right now all HDD prices are going up due to the disaster in the Thailand, but you can definitely find a a sub-1TB HDD for cheaper than that, and better too. Unfortunately Newegg seems hit really hard with the hard drive shortage, and all their prices have gone up (used to be able to get the samsung spinpoint f3 1TB for under $60). Check locally, because everyone is buying up HDDs now because there is going to be a real shortage soon so your local stores will probably have the best options. You need a 3.5'' hard drive at 7200 RPM. Go either with WD Caviar Black/Blue or Samsung Spinpoints.


As mentioned already, the 6450 isn't meant for gaming, it's not good enough. You'll need to spend around $100 on your graphics card alone (minimum of probably $80).


It's a good PSU. For the memory, I'm a stickler for making sure my memory is on the Qualified Vendor list of a board. Probably not necessary anymore, but I always do that still.


What did you already buy :huh:

I bought the processor and motherboard already. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131699 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846

I don't remember when I built my current setup in 2004 this frickin' difficult finding proper components. It seems like every time I find something it's not correct. I'm actually getting frustrated. All I want to do is playtwo games and it's not going so well.

Defron, I've looked at those Caviar 1TB drives, they are expensive. Beyond my budget. I don't understand why I'd need 1tb anyway. I don't ever really have that much installed. Currently with the two drives I've got I have 208 gigs free on the 300 gig drive and on the 100 gig drive I've got 80 free. My wife is already yelling at me because of this so, the 1TB drives are not an option I need to stick to standard drives between 500 and 600 gigs.

Maybe if I had part numbers or model numbers to work from it'd be helpful.

So, the PSU in my above links is good. Ok, then I'm rolling with it.

The memory is questionable, but this is all the specs for the Mobo I bought call for: DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 (quite vague IMO).

Recommend me a video card then. Cause I've looked at a whole bunch of them, and that last one I got from the "Gaming and Desktop" section of Newegg so I'm at a loss.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148767

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125375

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127586

Just with those two posted above I'm over budget. Although, I do understand I need the 3.5" HDD. As for local shops, there are none. I've got a Best Buy within an hour of me. That's it.

just wait till all the thanksgiving or christmas sales. there's no sense in getting anything now with the holiday season upon us.

.... although you've already ordered your cpu & mobo.

if you're lucky enough to have a http://www.microcenter.com/at_the_stores/index.html nearby, check that out.

I've already told my wife this build willbe spread across several weeks. I can wait a few more to order anything else. I'm trying to research what would work, and so far, nothing seems like it can aside from the proc and mobo.