$600 FFXIV PC possible?

[Dakin]

So I bought a ps3 2 months ago (luckily found a good deal on a used one via craigslist and it has been legit), and got f'ed on the delayed release. This is my first time trying to build a system myself, and after hours of googling stuff and browsing newegg.com this is what I came up with - the final price tag comes to $607. How do you think this system would hold up? Any input is much appreciated.

Case/PSU/HD:
Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case
+ Antec 650W Power Supply
+ 1TB Hitachi 7200 RPM Hard Drive

CPU/Mobo:
Intel Core i3-530 2.93GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor
+ ASUS P7H55-M PRO Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

CD drive:
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Video card:
EVGA 01G-P3-N981-TR GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Fan:
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

[Celeras]

There's no reason to buy a 9800 new right now for $139. You're clearly on a budget, but a 5770 will be twice as fast and in that same ballpark. And nvidias 460 will be released in 3 days for $199 and be faster than both.

And why are you getting a micro atx mobo?

[Hyan]

High settings

i3 530

Radeon HD 5770

4gb memory

Score: 2442
Load time: 20705ms

Low settings:

Score: 3260
Load time: 19478ms

^My scores with a similar build.

But ya, get a better GPU than that. The game will run fine then.

[Dakin]

There's no reason to buy a 9800 new right now for $139. You're clearly on a budget, but a 5770 will be twice as fast and in that same ballpark. And nvidias 460 will be released in 3 days for $199 and be faster than both.

And why are you getting a micro atx mobo?

So a vid card like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150462

would be well worth the extra $40? (the 9800 was 119.99)

And again, I have little to no knowledge about most of this stuff, but I'm guessing since the mobo is a micro (didn't notice before) it has less pci/pcie slots? Is that the only difference? I just saw the combo deal of that CPU/mobo on newegg and it fit my budget.

[Dakin]

High settings

i3 530

Radeon HD 5770

4gb memory

Score: 2442
Load time: 20705ms

Low settings:

Score: 3260
Load time: 19478ms

^My scores with a similar build.

But ya, get a better GPU than that. The game will run fine then.

Awesome, thanks a ton for the replies. So I guess I'll drop a few more $ on a better GPU, and wait till late August/early Sept to actually put together this build.

[Hyan]

If you can, I'd say get an AMD processor instead of an i3? I think that micro mobo only supports Intel processors but those tend to cost a bit more iirc.

I think you could save some cash by getting a AMD compatible mobo instead?

[Dakin]

If you can, I'd say get an AMD processor instead of an i3? I think that micro mobo only supports Intel processors but those tend to cost a bit more iirc.

I think you could save some cash by getting a AMD compatible mobo instead?

AMD processor:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103846
+
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131406

This processor comparable?

[Hyan]

Looks good, but I think Celeras can help you better with the specifics. I really can't remember which is the best option right now.

There was one AMD CPU that could have it's extra cores unlocked somehow.. I think getting that one might be a good idea. Still can't remember it's name though.

[HAMBURGERMEAT]

i have that asus evo motherboard, if you get a triple core processor a fourth core can be unlocked, but not in every case. there is also a AMD Athlon II X3 445 that is cheaper than the cpu you listed if you are interested in trying it out but i have not been able to get mine stable with the 4th core unlocked but i haven't tried really hard.

[fishstix]

Don't use the Athlon IIs, they're more for cheaper systems, I'd only go with the Phenom IIs, and add a little more cash for the x4s, like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103644. The stock heatsink/fan for the phenom IIs, are decent if you're not overclocking, this particular one dosen't come with one though since it's cheaper.

You can shave some money off the PSU. Also, while that's a great case, if on a really bad budget, can save some money there too

[Don Katsu]

Don't use the Athlon IIs, they're more for cheaper systems, I'd only go with the Phenom IIs, and add a little more cash for the x4s, like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103644. The stock heatsink/fan for the phenom IIs, are decent if you're not overclocking, this particular one dosen't come with one though since it's cheaper.

You can shave some money off the PSU. Also, while that's a great case, if on a really bad budget, can save some money there too

That Phenom II you listed will require him to get a Socket AM2 board and DDR2 memory. There is nothing wrong with the Athlon II's. Tom's Hardware has a guide on these and they seem to be a viable option for gamers trying to build a system on a budget under $750.00

AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core goes for $99.99 which is the same price as that Phenom II he listed, it will probably get better performance in FFXIV. If you look at the benchmark thread people with quad core processors have been receiving the higher scores.

He can probably swap the Nine Hundred Case for a Three Hundred and spend the difference on a better video card.

[Purrrfect]

Just to note, the cpu fishstix listed is NOT compatible with the AMD mobo listed earlier. I made this same mistake a few weeks ago buying one of the combos on newegg that had an AM3 mobo and an AM2 cpu (actually, I do believe that was the exact cpu I bought). You apparently can go the other way (AM3 cpu + AM2 mobo), which is what I had read and *assumed* the reverse was true.

[Velocy]

Well... personally I'd grab an Phenom X3 or X4 Processor, an AM3 Mainboard and an ATI Radeon 5700 or 5800 series graphic card if I had to build an 600$ PC.

While Intel Processors normally run better for hardcore calculation things like Video Renderin or Encrypting / Decrypting stuff, AMD Processors has more performance in games than the compareable version of the Intel CPU, for a better price. For example the Intel top cpu is around 1000€, the AMD top cpu is around 250€... well AMD definitly loses for things mentioned above, but when it comes to game performance AMD runs similar... in some cases slightly better, in come cases slightly worse... but the price makes it ^^

[Rysa]

If you live near a Fry's, you can sometimes get a pretty good combo deal for CPUs/Mobos. A few months ago I got a Phenom II x4 965 and a mATX Gigabyte board for $169, which at the time was about $20 cheaper than just buying the CPU by itself, and I even got a $15 mail-in-rebate for the "free" motherboard I got (retailed for about $99 at the time). Using that CPU and motherboard, I built a pc that can get ~4000 on high on the Benchmark for just over $700.

[fishstix]

oh that's strange, learn something new every day x.x I thought AM2/AM2+/AM3 was more of just a marketing name.

The cheapest AM3 quadcore is still only $11 more

[dejet]

Iv seen a lot of PC topics. One thing I see most are not taking into account is your OS. That does add on some money. It adds on about 100 if you get HP. Just be aware of this unless you have one left over from a holder PC or get a cracked one...

[Dakin]

Iv seen a lot of PC topics. One thing I see most are not taking into account is your OS. That does add on some money. It adds on about 100 if you get HP. Just be aware of this unless you have one left over from a holder PC or get a cracked one...

Thanks for all the input everyone. Decided to throw together an AMD build with free time at work, here is what I came up with:

Case: Rosewill Wind Knight Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with pre-installed 2x 120mm Fan, Support up to 1x 140mm top fan, 2x 140mm side fan, 1x 140mm front fan, 1x 120mm rear fan

PSU: COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W ATX12V v2.31 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor HDX925WFGIBOX

Mobo: ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

GPU: XFX Radeon HD 5750 HD-575X-ZNFC Video Card

DVD drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ

OS: Windows 7 professional 32 bit (have a copy already)

Total came out to a little over $630 - a few questions I had:
Is a 750w PSU sufficient for this type of build?
Would I require any additional heatsinks/fans (the case comes with 3 fans)

Thanks again.

[Celeras]

I know you think you're saving money by dropping to a 5750.. but its like 10 dollars cheaper and considerably slower.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-462-_-Product

Get that and call it a day.

[fishstix]

750w is more than enough, infact some would say overkill. the 5000 series line of ATI actually uses less power than the older 4000 series. What you need to watch out for is the quality of the PSU, it's been a while and idk how well Cooler Master's doing.

That CPU comes with the stock heatsink/fan, you need some thermal paste though. I use Arctic5 silver

The motherboard you picked is a little pricey on a budget for my tastes. perhaps this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131603 it's an older northbridge chip which may affect max overclocking capabilities, but if you're squeezing money, yeah.

[Dakin]

750w is more than enough, infact some would say overkill. the 5000 series line of ATI actually uses less power than the older 4000 series. What you need to watch out for is the quality of the PSU, it's been a while and idk how well Cooler Master's doing.

Thanks Celeras and fish. I think I might try to find an Antec PSU for a bargain, as all the reviews I've read have been positive.

That was also the other video card I was looking at, but am trying to shave off $ anywhere I can. I'll def take your advice and spend the extra $20 on the 5770.