BleepingComputer.com: Building Budget Gaming PC

Ok so over 4 years ago I built this machine and I have been using it since then. It consists of a Thermaltake Soprano case, Thermaltake 430W PSU, MSI mobo, 2gigs GeIL RAM (forgot speed), Athlon 3000+ and at first an ATI x700 PRO 256. The x700 burnt out and I purchased an x1600 only to buy a nVidia 9800 GTOC a year later. So honestly the only thing keeping my machine alive in online gaming it seems is my overpowered graphics card.

So here I am, the computer is on its last leg, playing AION at high frame rates but getting alot of chop. Time for a new one I suppose and this is what I have in mind.

Thermaltake Element G VL10001W2Z Black ATX Mid Tower - 144.99

ASUS M4A77TD Pro AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard- 89.99

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit - 134.99

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor - 102.00

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7- 59.99

Sony Optiarc DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model AD-7241S-0B LightScribe Support - OEM 33.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive 74.99

All this for just under 700$

Since I already have a PCI-e BFG 9800 GTOC I am just going to move it to the new machine. Also another thing I am curious about, with xmas sales coming soon should I just purchase a Quad Core? Will I see a noticeable difference in performance or longevity getting a quad core over a dual core?

Any suggestions or insight on any of the products listed above would be appreciated. Will be ordering on Cyber Monday.

Thanks in advance for reading/posting.

I would change out the RAM to something like the A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600. The kit you chose is for triple channel PC's but you will be getting a dual channel motherboard, so the 2x2GB kit would be more cost effective. You can buy two kits if you wish. Remember, you need a 64-bit OS to use 4GB or more of RAM and you need to factor in the cost of an operating system. As for the quad core thing, it depends on the application. If the games you are going to play are optimized for quad core CPU's, then yes, you will notice a substantial improvement. However, if the games are limited to dual or single core CPU's, then no. Those games are limited more by the CPU clock speed, so extra slower cores will not help. The Phenom II CPU's are all identical, only the number of active cores differ. I think Aion can use dual cores according to the system requirements on the package, but I didn't see anything about quad core CPU's. There are titles out now, and that are forthcoming, that are designed for four cores. Almost all games will run on a quad-core CPU, however, not all will use all four cores.

Thank you for the suggestion on the RAM; didnt see that. Also I have Windows 7 Pro ready for a new machine.

Then you should be all set to go.

I think I will actually go with a quad-core... might as well with all the sales coming. I do have one question though, what would be the best set up for using dual monitors + gaming? I was told SLI/Crossfire = no dual monitors. I am just curious what my options would be when it comes to dual monitors and SLI. Just in case I want to eventually have a SLI set up.

You can't use SLI with that system since it requires a motherboard to support it and that one doesn't. Instead, it supports Crossfire which is for ATI cards. You can use dual cards and dual monitors with SLI/Crossfire. Not all games scale very well with the technology and those that don't usually run on a single GPU. If you want the added performance, you should simply get a high-end graphics card, like the 5770, 5850, or the 5870 and if you still need more performance, then consider using multiple graphics cards. Combining lower spec'd cards, when compared to the current generation of GPU's, is not a good idea.

I know the motherboard isnt SLI compatible and I also know using to lower end cards for SLI isnt what they are meant for

This is what im asking; If i had a SLI mobo and two beasty cards for SLI... could I use dual monitors? I know quite a bit just dont word much correctly (out of the loop)

I was just making sure, I didn't want you to yell "WTF" if you tried to do it on that motherboard. Yes, according to people at Nvidia's and ATI's website, you can use dual monitors with Crossfire/SLI. Of course, the better the cards, the better performance you'll have in using two monitors. ATI does have something called Eyefinity which is designed specifically for multiple displays. I don't know much about it though.