[aceatc]

I've finally decided to get a new computer since my last one is pretty much on its last leg. A buddy of mine built my first computer and that guy just went school in another state so I have no one but myself to build. And, I have no experience in that, but how hard can it be?

I've never gotten into computer gaming, but from what I've seen from other people's builds I can get a decent gaming computer for the same price as I paid for my last computer which is fairly old.

So, what's the cheapest gaming build to play Farcry 2. Of the games that I want to play, this one looks to be the most demanding so I'll set the bar with this game.

Hard Drive Space : 3.5 GB (Multiple saves and user created maps will increase the amount of needed hard disk space.)

Processor : Intel® Core 2 Duo Family, AMD®64 X2 5200+, AMD® Phenom or better

RAM : 2 GB

Video Card : NVIDIA® 8600 GTS or better, ATI®X1900 or better


<NO links, thanks>


I don't have a budget that I could say right now, I'd just like to know what's the cheapest build I could make to play that game with the recommended specs.

[ashaiba]

Well do you want to build this computer. What i recommend you get is:

go get a 2GB USB flash drive and use ReadyBoost on vista to add even more ram, if you need it


G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail


Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular recording) ST3500630A 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM


Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - OEM



EVGA 512-P3-N861-TR GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

[aceatc]

So you guys can't post links?

Alright well, I've heard newegg is a good site for building pc's.


All those components you listed, are they the cheapest route to go to meet my requirements? I'm not too tight on cash, but I'm not gonna pay for something I'm not gonna need if that makes sense.

[Carbon]

Originally Posted by aceatc

All those components you listed, are they the cheapest route to go to meet my requirements? I'm not too tight on cash, but I'm not gonna pay for something I'm not gonna need if that makes sense.

No, they're not. In fact, as one of our UK members might say, they're rubbish. If anyone ever recommends you "use ReadyBoost as RAM", go ahead and run. The FSB running at 350mhz or so can transfer around 140GB of information per second over the northbridge, USB 2.0 can transfer 60MB.

Read this sticky for starters. What resolution are you at? Kind of hard to give any suggestions without a budget, and it's not a very good thing to try for the "cheapest" because the "cheapest" is usually not the best price per dollar.

[aceatc]

Thanks for the info. I'm reading a whole bunch of stuff on other sites too. Lots of reading though so that will take a while for me to actually be confident enough to make my own computer purchases.


I just want the cheapest route to play farcry 2 on the recommended settings that I've listed there. I'm thinking if the computer is good enough to play farcry 2 on high settings then that will be enough.

I'm probably gonna move in 6 months so the computer will be given to a family member or a friend. I don't need something that will last a life time.

So, if someone suggested a product that is $200 more expensive then something else that will do the job just fine... then I don't that.


Getting the best bang for my buck sounds great, as long as I don't get something that I won't need. Does that makes sense? Sorry

[Hybr!d]

Originally Posted by aceatc

So you guys can't post links?

You can, but, you posted a link to a non search engine existent, 80's designed website in your first post, it's a trust thing.

Also poorly designed websites and sites not listed in Google generally do not get much publicity, as no one promotes something that is ugly or impossible to find unless it is their own.

That raised a few spam red flags that's all. If that was not your intention I apologise.

[Carbon]

Yeah, I get you. It's just that performance is a bell curve - you start running budget stuff, you don't get much bang for your buck. That doesn't mean it isn't cheap to build one of your own, it just means at some point you may have to go "hey, adding $25 to here will increase my performance a lot".

Like I said in the other post, though, I need your monitor's resolution. A setup that plays FC2 on High @ 1920x1200 is going to cost you a lot more (potentially $300 or more) than something at 1440x900 or 1650x1050.

In general as a budget build a E5200 paired with a P43 motherboard, a 8800GT, and a small HDD and 2GB RAM will do you well. The Antec Sonata is a $80 case bundled with a PSU that normally sells for $40. That will run you roughly $80 for the CPU, $80 for the motherboard, $90 for the graphics card, $40 for the RAM (there's a rebate around here somewhere for 4GB for $15), $80 for the case+PSU, and $50 or so for the HDD. That'll come out to a little over $400 with shipping.

Upgrade paths from that would be $30 or so for a faster, 640GB drive, $30 or so more for a E7200, $30 or so more for a 4850. None of those are really required. I run FC2 on a very old setup on "Very High" nicely.

[thingie2]

You say you want something that plays Farcry 2 on Max, if you want to do this,you need to think better than those recommendations for the game, they are to be able to play the game, not to play it at full settings. But that thread Carbon linked to, should tell you all you need to know about which components to go for.

[ashaiba]

Originally Posted by aceatc

So you guys can't post links?

Alright well, I've heard newegg is a good site for building pc's.


All those components you listed, are they the cheapest route to go to meet my requirements? I'm not too tight on cash, but I'm not gonna pay for something I'm not gonna need if that makes sense.

Well yea, i had links and was going to post them but you said <NO links, thanks>

[aceatc]

Okay Carbon, I think I have a setup that I can post here and tell me if this works. My monitor's resolution can go all the way up to 1600x1200 by the way.

Processor $83.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116072

Motherboard $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138122

Can't find a video card

RAM (not sure if it's good deal though) $36.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227198

Can't find this Antec Sonata.

PSU $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007

Case $44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068

HDD drive $26.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136153


And I don't know whether to get vista or xp, because people stand by both products and say there's is the best. So, I don't know.



This is a great start from where I began with no idea what to do so I think we're making progress. I can't find a few components so I'll probably need help with that.

I don't mind paying a few bucks more to get a better deal, but I don't need anything fancy. Like I said, I'll be happy if I can play this game in single player on high setting