Need your help.

Schlumpfy · Post by **Schlumpfy** » 2005-09-29 23:27

I need the cheapest possible computer to build so that i can play games like BF2 on a decent graphic setting. Was thinking of getting dual 7800's, 1 gig at least of RAM etc. Anyone care to lend a hand if they know this dark art?

Beckwith · Post by **Beckwith** » 2005-09-29 23:54

your making no sense

you could get a decent computer for less than the dual 7800's alone

while that might be a slight exageration you need to make up your mind to do it on the cheap or go all out

dual 7800's =going all out

id go for a 6800 ultra and mabye 2 gigs of ram

DAWG · Post by **DAWG** » 2005-09-30 00:36

CPU -

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3500BPBOX) (CP-119-AM)
AMD's Athlon 64 is the latest evolution in the desktop computer industry. With its revolutionary 64bit architecture this CPU is fully compatible with future 64 bit operating systems and offers blistering performance in current 32 bit applications. With AMD's new HyperTransport technology and a massive 512KB L2 cache. Venice core incorporates SSE3 technology into the Athlon 64 platform which increases performance levels.

This retail boxed product is supplied with an AMD heatsink and fan and has a 3 year warranty

Price: £136.95 (£160.92 Including VAT at 17.5%)

----------------------------------OR--------------------------------------

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3700BNBOX) (CP-121-AM)
AMD's Athlon 64 is the latest evolution in the desktop computer industry. With its revolutionary 64bit architecture this CPU is fully compatible with future 64 bit operating systems and offers blistering performance in current 32 bit applications. With AMD's new HyperTransport technology and a massive 1MB L2 cache. San Diego core incorporates SSE3 technology into the Athlon 64 platform which increases performance levels.

This retail boxed product is supplied with an AMD heatsink and fan and has a 3 year warranty

Price: £169.95 (£199.69 Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Motherboard -

Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
The A8N-E has a no nonsense, all performance attitude. This motherboard is designed to take in AMD Socket 939 CPUs, PCI Express graphics cards SATA 2.0 devices, and dual-channel memories. On top of all these, ASUS has also offered AI NOS and Precision Tweaker for the users to crank up performance even more! If words like speed and power are relevant to you, then look no further, here it is - A8N-E.

-AMD Socket 939 Athlon 64FX / Athlon 64
- NVIDIA® nForce™ 4 Ultra
- PCI Express Architecture
- SATA2.0
- AI NOS
- PEG Link
- Precision Tweaker
- AI NET2
- Supports only PCI-E VGA Cards (AGP not supported)
- ATX v2.0 compliant PSU Required for PCI-E Graphics/Motherboard

Price: £64.95 (£76.32 Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Memory -

OcUK Value 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-006-OK)
OcUK Value series PC3200 DDR400 are base on industry standard with exceptional build quality for OEM and system upgrade market in mind.

- Based on High Performance Nanya Memory Chips
- 184pin, Non-ECC, Un-buffered, Industry Standard DDR memory modules
- 6 Layers Low Noises Shielded PCB
- 2.55v-2.85V

Price: £124.95 (£146.82 Including VAT at 17.5%)

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Graphics -

Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 XL 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (11053-00-40) (GX-088-SP)
Lose yourself in the lush forests of a foreign landscape that erupts with life and vibrant textures rendered in High-Definition clarity with features such as SMARTSHADER™ HD, SMOOTHVISION™ HD and ATI's revolutionary 3Dc™ image enhancement technology. Built upon features that today's game developers had in mind, you won't miss a single figure hidden in the shadows of today's gaming titles with the next generation power of the Sapphire RADEON X800 XL.

- 400MHz GPU Clock Speed
- 256MB 980MHz GDDR3 memory accelerates the latest cutting edge 3D applications
- 256-bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory interface
- Sixteen pixel pipelines
- Six programmable vertex shader pipelines
- Crossfire Compatible
- 48 hour RMA turn-around time for faulty Sapphire product sent back to OcUK within first year of warranty!

Price: £159.95 (£187.94 Including VAT at 17.5%)

I take it you have Hard Drives and ROM Drives already. The above is more or less what I have, you could change the AMD for a Pentium or the ATI for an NVidia, you get the picture. That lets me run BF2 at 1280 X 1024 everything high with no problems. Taking that as a base, you can look at hardware in and around that, a little bit up and you get higher resolution, however take it down a little bit and you may have to drop a couple of settings. The difference will be minimal in appearence; Lets face it, do you notice every ripple on the water or blade of grass sway when in the middle of a melee? Hope this helps, the 7800 would be nice, but it's really just decoration, you don't need it for what you ask.

worst 3 · Post by **worst 3** » 2005-09-30 01:16

what i hear is that the 7800 alone is beter then 2 6800 ultra so you woud only need 1 i play fien on a 6800 so 7800 will last you a long time and then when price goes down you could get another.

dont get a **** ram brand they dont always perform as well as a good brand. and get a good cpu p4 at 3ghz at least or a good adm

Figisaacnewton · Post by **Figisaacnewton** » 2005-09-30 02:23

7800 is going all out, not necesarry. my single 6800gt plays it on ultra high settings fine. (50 fps)

I built my comp from the ground up for about 1500, including new monitor and headphones and everything a computer needs.

basics =

6800 gt
amd 3500+
2 gigs ram
good sata hard drive (120 gb)
Asus -A8N E motherboard

Beckwith · Post by **Beckwith** » 2005-09-30 02:38

yea im with you fig

if you want it done cheap get a 6800 series and alota ram rather than a 7800 and a little ram

eather way i wouldnt get the dual 7800 unless your lookin at spending alota cash

worst 3 · Post by **worst 3** » 2005-09-30 03:07

a cheap 6800 with 256mb ram is 200$ and a cheap 7800 350$ but it is beter the 2 6800 sli. get a gig of ram and a good or decent card look at the x800 and 850 to there betwen the 6800 and 7800 and kind of cheap. freind of mine got 1 for under 200$ i think on sale.

try and think of a little in the future too geting one that can play bf2 barly in high setings wont last forever. (i personlay get good comps and use them for a long time) and can still use my older one for othere ****.

Schlumpfy · Post by **Schlumpfy** » 2005-09-30 10:17

I have considered getting a 6800 and just more ram. My current proc is alright at 3200+

Post by **ArchEnemy** » 2005-09-30 11:27

I would say

Amd 3500+
2 GB 3200 ram
6800 GT

The rest isn't really that important to be mentioned

Schlumpfy · Post by **Schlumpfy** » 2005-09-30 13:30

I kno. I'm just trying to find bargains on RAM at the moment. RAM is my priority if i play BF2 on 512

Quite skint as well unfortunatly.

Figisaacnewton · Post by **Figisaacnewton** » 2005-09-30 22:00

http://www.newegg.com

bought my entire computer there, reliable, and cheap. got 6800 gt for 300.

and just a comment, I think that by the time computers actually need SLi'd 2 cards to run games well, we will have one graphics card that can do what 2 SLi'd cards can do easily. basically: SLi = expensive and not necesarry, even in the long term, its not feasible.

Schlumpfy · Post by **Schlumpfy** » 2005-09-30 23:16

How much is 300 dollars in Sterling?

Beckwith · Post by **Beckwith** » 2005-09-30 23:19

what? do you mean dollars to pounds? as in british currency?

if thats what you mean its probably something like 160-180

.....i think

as far as the great SLI debate, yea i know its over the top but its like having a Porsche will you ever need to go 160mph? no, sometimes you just want a frame rate 10x higher than the human brain can comprehend

DAWG · Post by **DAWG** » 2005-10-01 02:31

Why would you want a frame rate 10X faster than you can see. Save your pennies, spend wisely and you can set yourself up for the forseable future. RAM? Hell yeh, going from 1 - 2 Gb made a huge difference to my game play, you should be able to pick up a competent graphics card and the RAM for £200 - £300. Theres an X800 out there for £90, it's not flashy, but it will get the job done compared to your old card. Wait until there is a need to swith to SLI, by that point prices will be down and it won't hurt the wallet quite as much.