Looking to buy....

[moveth]

Im looking to buy a computer with about 400 dollars. I want to be able to play wow better than what i have right now. Basic specs of my computer are...

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Dell Inspirion 531

AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual
Core Processor 4400+
2.31 GHz, 3 GB Ram
Gfx Card : Radeon IceQTurbo 4600 Series (Forget the exact number)
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The computer runs WoW well, as well as other games, but my family uses my computer all the time and they like to mess it up. Im looking to give them this one and get/build myself a new one. Any suggestions would be great :]

[chaud]

Save another 400 and then come back. $400 won't buy you a decent computer.

[Legendary]

I agreed with Chaud from the get-go, but due to boredom i gave it a shot. As expected I couldnt build anything significant with 400$, atleast nothing that would yield an improvement, let alone match what you currently have. The only advice I can give you if you cant scrounge another few hundred is to periodically check the Dell refurbish/defect sales section of their website as they often have some great deals.

[G l o w y r m]

Save another 400 and then come back. $400 won't buy you a decent computer.

400 Dollars is PERFECT for a decent computer. This is assuming you have a decent case/power supply/HDD already. Even then it's not much more. Even though he already has a semi-decent rig, It's a great time to buy the next steps in technology that are out, and it can be done for around $400-500.

I'm building this computer below for $440, no shipping. It is an absolute beast and will play any game out right now with full extreme settings AA x8, AF x16...everything, all while maintaining 30FPS on Crysis type games and around 50FPS on pretty much everything else @ 1920x1080 resolution.

$125 - Core i3 530 - Don't bother with the 540 and definitely don't bother with the Clarksdale i5's, either you get the i3 530 or the Lynnfield i5 750. You seem to be an AMD person though. The new Core "i" series is a little ahead of it's AMD counterparts on the lower end and much higher on the higher end. An AMD CPU for this price would be a Phenom X2 550 Black Edition. It will perform slightly less than an i3.

EDIT - Interesting,
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...30153&t=242544
Core i3 is the same as the Phenom II X3 720 when it comes to gaming. The i3 is only 10 dollars more and OC's MUCH better. The rest of the Intel series is beating the rest of the AMD series also, so changing to an 1156 Intel socket is kinda future proofing also, you could buy an i7 in 2 years for cheap and still be on top.

$125 - HD 4850 - The 4850 is beating the Nvidia cards at this price in some benchmarks, at the very least they (GTS 250 and 4850) are giving the same performance. Thing is, you can get a 4850 for $99, but I'm getting one for $25 more that is factory OC'ed and comes with better cooling so I can OC it even more. So 4850 for best Price:Performance ratio.

$85-120 - Any P55 Chipset Motherboard (Intel Socket 1156) - Great chipset for budget gaming. It cuts some corners but leaves everything you need for powerful gaming. Few OC options, nothing major. It only has 2 DIMM slots, and it can't XFire or SLI. No extra eSATA or stuff like that. Just basics. In the end, you really only need 2 DIMM slots for decent gaming and XFire and SLI isn't for people that only want to spend $400, and it's usually overkill.

$60-110 - DDR3 RAM (2-4GB) - I'm getting 2 x 2GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) for $105. This is the 3rd speed of DDR3 also and the stuff is great for OCing and Underclocking.

There you go, around $440 for a system that will play ANYTHING out now. Eventually I'll get a Lynnfield i7 when the price drops in about a year to keep up, and maybe a 5xxx or 6xxx series HD GPU. This system is PLENTY for now though, and will stay plenty for a few years.

EDIT - I can backup everything here with articles and benchmarks if I really have to hehe. If you like what you see here and want more specific models send me a PM. I can do any company you prefer if you do indeed have a preference. You just might spend a few more dollars if you go any other direction than what I just wrote about.

PS - I'm not a fanboy of any company, I buy the best Performance-per-dollar product. That means that an ATI card that does 4 less FPS but costs $40 cheaper is a better card in my eyes.

[moveth]

thank you for all the help! I really do appreciate it

If anyone wants to post good deals on computers (Any price) I would be willing to spend more if it was a nice deal. :]

[Degrador]

400 Dollars is PERFECT for a decent computer. This is assuming you have a decent case/power supply/HDD already.

Which the OP doesn't. He has a rig atm which will be given to the rest of the family to use, hence he'll need everything.

I'm building this computer below for $440, no shipping. It is an absolute beast and will play any game out right now with full extreme settings AA x8, AF x16...everything, all while maintaining 30FPS on Crysis type games and around 50FPS on pretty much everything else @ 1920x1080 resolution.

Kinda impressive given Anandtech's benchmark for the 4850 on Crysis Warhead barely gets over 20 FPS with only 4xAA, and that's with an i7 920 and 6GB RAM: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3720&p=5

I'm not trying to shoot down your system - it'll be a good setup and they're generally good recommendations. I just don't think that the OP is going to be able to get his full setup for $400, especially as he'll need all the extras like monitor, case, PSU, HDD, DVD, keyboard, mouse, etc.

[G l o w y r m]

Which the OP doesn't. He has a rig atm which will be given to the rest of the family to use, hence he'll need everything.

True, the monitor and PSU would be the most expensive part of that.

Kinda impressive given Anandtech's benchmark for the 4850 on Crysis Warhead barely gets over 20 FPS with only 4xAA, and that's with an i7 920 and 6GB RAM: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3720&p=5

You're right I did exaggerate a bit when it comes to Crysis. The AA will be a little lower and I'll be playing at 1920x1080 instead of x1200. My particular 4850 has a 75MHz core clock OC though which is huge when it comes to core clock OCing, and I have read many people getting aother 50MHz OC when they get it due to the awesome Zalman cooler it comes with. So with all that said, I should be sitting at 25-30 FPS.

I'm not trying to shoot down your system - it'll be a good setup and they're generally good recommendations. I just don't think that the OP is going to be able to get his full setup for $400, especially as he'll need all the extras like monitor, case, PSU, HDD, DVD, keyboard, mouse, etc.

No, I thank you for straightening it out

So OP, if you need a monitor, power supply, keyboard and mouse, a case, DVD-ROM, and a hard drive, you'll need another $300 at least.

Hopefully you have some extra stuff around or inside the current computer (like a 2nd HDD they wouldn't need).

I'm pretty sure if you ONLY want to play WoW well (tell me what resolution you want to play at also and what size monitor you want) I could build a COMPLETE computer for around $500 that isn't a beast or future proofed, but will run WoW a little better than what you have now.

[Orehor]

Yea, definatly save more cash. BUT, while saving your cash, keep your eye on good deals at places like tigerdirect.com and newegg.com

If ya find a good deal on one part or 2, buy it. Eventually you'll have something to smile about.

As if I havnt said it enough, this is what I bought last week.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...Number=8766669

Didnt buy the monitor yet, I bought a 600watt Ultra psu on tigerdirect.com. All the parts will be here Monday and I'm going CRAZY with anticipation. Recycling my old case/dvd-rw

[G l o w y r m]

Yea, definatly save more cash. BUT, while saving your cash, keep your eye on good deals at places like tigerdirect.com and newegg.com

If ya find a good deal on one part or 2, buy it. Eventually you'll have something to smile about.

Yes excellent advice. You can spend 400 bucks now and get some monster gaming "guts" and then when you get a little more money get all the extra stuff.

I must say, eww @ GTS 250 though , 50 dollars more than the 4850 and they are identical.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...deon,2274.html
Still a great card/computer you have there.

Well I have been able to build a full computer minus the monitor for less than 500 dollars. It's...

$105 - AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (Extremely similar gaming performance to the Phenom II X4's)
$80 - GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 Socket
$99 - SAPPHIRE HD 4850 512MB
$65 - 2GB GSKILL DDR3 1333 (Buy 2 now, get 2 more later)
$45 - WD Caviar Blue 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD
$25 - HEC HP485D 485W PSU (Decent enough, has all the right rails for GPU's)

That's $420 right there, add another 40 bucks (or less) for Keyboard+Mouse combo and then another 40 bucks (or less) for a DVD-ROM and you got a full computer for ~$480-500 that will play WoW much much better than what you have now, and will also play pretty much every game out now at very high settings, just not at maxed resolution.

The next step is to figure out how much you are willing to spend on a monitor.

[moveth]

I have my very nice 23" monitor right now that i will NOT begiving my family. They can go buy their own shitty monitor if im going to be nice enough to give them my tower. :]

Im not really considering the Mouse/Keyboard aspect of it as much as i am just the tower, and everything that i would need to have the computer work internally.

The monitor is 1680x1050, also.

[Reversed]

Why would he get a black edition, those are for overclocking.

[Banzaii]

$45 - WD Caviar Blue 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD
For 10-20$ more, there is a 500GB Segeate`s

[Deleted]

Why would he get a black edition, those are for overclocking.

Possibly, but a black edition is also overclocked by default, without having lost its warranty

[Legendary]

$105 - AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (Extremely similar gaming performance to the Phenom II X4's)
$80 - GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 Socket
$99 - SAPPHIRE HD 4850 512MB
$65 - 2GB GSKILL DDR3 1333 (Buy 2 now, get 2 more later)
$45 - WD Caviar Blue 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD
$25 - HEC HP485D 485W PSU (Decent enough, has all the right rails for GPU's)

That's $420 right there, add another 40 bucks (or less) for Keyboard+Mouse combo and then another 40 bucks (or less) for a DVD-ROM and you got a full computer for ~$480-500 that will play WoW much much better than what you have now, and will also play pretty much every game out now at very high settings, just not at maxed resolution.

The next step is to figure out how much you are willing to spend on a monitor.

You seem to have forgotten the case, which at a minimum will be $40.