I want to build a gaming PC. Suggestions?

[Pastry Popper]

The other day I decided to turn our old emachines desktop into a gaming PC. Apparently it needs a new motherboard and PSU. It has an AMD Sempron processor (which I plan on replacing), and a Nvidia GeForce 4 graphics card. I'm not sure how much ram it has, nor do I know what kind of hard drive it has. The model of this computer is the emachines w3052.
I don't know if I need a new graphics card, but it is an old model. If it does need to be replaced, I found a Radeon 4870 X2 on Craigslist for $65.
My budget is pretty low, but there is still hope. I found this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdHek9ZssLs

[Kauldwin]

It probably needs a new everything, to be honest. What type of games do you want to play, and what is your budget? I suspect you'll almost be better off just starting from scratch.

[Pastry Popper]

I don't really have a set budget yet, so I'm trying to keep the price as low as possible.
The kinds of games I want to play are pretty much anything, but I would love to play Far Cry 3. A huge framerate isn't an issue for me, just as long as I can play modern game at 30-40 fps on medium to low settings. High would be nice, but as long as it's playable. I'm sick of 10-20 fps.

[Kauldwin]

Here's a ton of GPUs being tested with Far Cry 3 - this may give you a base point. I would find your GPU and then fit the other components with it.

http://www.techspot.com/review/615-far-cry-3-performance/

[_I_]

new build would probaly be best, if its oem with a sempron, its probably got a crappy mobo and in a m-atx case

are you near a frys or microcenter?
http://www.frys.com/ac/storelocator/index.jsp
http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/default.aspx

[Pastry Popper]

Unfortunately, neither of those stores are close to where I live. And what is a "mobo"

[Maverick]

İlk olarak Toasty tarafından gönderildi:

Unfortunately, neither of those stores are close to where I live. And what is a "mobo"

mobo is short for motherboard.

[Pastry Popper]

It has a nvidia nforce 2 motherboard. I'm not even sure if it works anymore.

[Pastry Popper]

Ok so the GPU I saw on craigslist is "recently refurbished by a CompTia A+ certified technician and still works at blazing speeds." If it can run Crysis 2, could it run Far Cry 3?

[_I_]

amd nforce boards were good 10+ years ago, in the k7 days (athlon <2ghz iirc),
but for current boards amd chipset is much better

whats your budget, location, and sites or stores you would prefer to buy from?

[Pastry Popper]

I think my budget would be around $250-$300. Not very much, I know, but it should be good enough. I live in Tarboro, North Carolina, and it doesn't matter what store or website I order from, as long as it's reliable.

[_I_]

you could do a fm2 buld, but would run over budget with windows


AMD A8-5500 Trinity 3.2GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 65W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 7560D $105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113288

ECS A55F2-M3(1.0) FM2 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $50/40ar
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135327

Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLT2KIT2G3D1608DT1TX0 $17
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148488

Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148767

LG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH24NS72 - OEM $18
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136254

XION XON-710P_BK Black Steel Micro ATX / Mini ITX Slim Desktop Computer Case 300W Power Supply $40/30ar
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208049

Total = $295
Shipping = $7
Grand Total = $300

adding win 7 64 is $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

[Pastry Popper]

Thanks. For the OS, what about Linux? Would that be ok for gaming? I read that it's more stable, too.

[_I_]

linux can work
but no all steam games will work natively on linux

you may need a crossover program to run windows games
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/

[Spawn of Totoro]

İlk olarak Toasty tarafından gönderildi:

Thanks. For the OS, what about Linux? Would that be ok for gaming? I read that it's more stable, too.

I would just buy windows for your gaming. By the sounds of it, you may have problems using Linux. You can dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu untill you learn to use Linux.

[Baddog187]

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