Project Reality Forums

Hi. I'm 16 right now, 17 in May. Anyways, I'm trying to convince my parents to let me build a gaming PC. We're on a budget. So I can't get top of the line. I'm trying to get it as cheap as possible, money wise. It also has to run DX11 for BF3. Is this a good build and at what settings will it be able to run ARMA 2 (i.e. fps, seeing range, etc):

All parts are from tigerdirect.com
Total Price: $573.89 (no rebate yet) after rebate=$543.89 no S&H in the price.

Motherboard:
MSI 870-G45 Motherboard

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 840 Processor - Quad Core 3.2GHz

RAM:
Kingston HyperX Blu Desktop Memory Kit - 4GB

Video Card:
Galaxy GeForce GT 430 Video Card

Hard Drive:
Western Digital Caviar Green Hard Drive - 500GB

Case:
Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid-Tower Computer Case

PSU:
Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply

Sound Card:
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE

Interface Card:
Masscool 5-Port USB 2.0 PCI Express Card

Optical Drive:
Asus Internal 24x CD/DVD Drive

Anti-Static:
Ultra Antistatic Wrist Strap

Please give me suggestions, comments, etc. They will be greatly appreciated.

-Thank You

Will the optical drive fit inside of the case?

I would save money on:

1. No soundcard (integrated is good enough).
2. Get a smaller PSU (550-600W should be enough unless your planning to get another GPU).
3. Interface card? I have never used mine.

With money saved i would:

Get a better GPU (430 is low end, get atleast a 460).

I agree with the person above..
No soundcard is required nowadays as Direct X 10 and 11 take care of great sounds. Creative sound cards are generally more trouble than they're worth ( I have the titanium X-fi Fatality edition, and it does not improve the sound much and I have to reset it every time i change games..)
Also a smaller PSU will easily do and get a better GPU or you will be better off getting a sandy bridge ( core iX gen 2) processor/mobo(socket 1155) and use the integrated gpu on that..

Also on the anti static front, just selotape a wire to yourself and stick it to something metallic elsewhere, no need for fancy stuff. Although tbh when I've been changing my GPU and cleaning stuff out inside the case, i never bothered with using any anti-static gear..


The 430 will barely be able to run BF3..

Thanks. Greatly Appreciated. BTW IDK even know what an interface card's for? Anyways, thanks especially about the PSU and sound card, that will definitely be money spent elsewhere.

An interface card is for more ports. Such as USB 3.0, mainly the reason you'd want one is for USB3 if your motherboard doesn't have any, and you want to use USB 3.0 stuff. Also your motherboard has 6 USB connections, so dependent on how many peripherals you have could mean you might want those extra ports

It would be helpful to see how much you are spending on each individual piece.

I would ditch the sound card, as the on board is going to be just as good compared to that level of card.

I would go with a 650w PSU specifically this one. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=1483

Corsair makes some of the most reliable PSUs out there, in fact I own that one!

As far as RAM goes those look good just check with MSI's website that they are compatible with the board you selected.

And finally most importantly, with money saved from not buying a soundcard get this
HIS H577FK1GD Radeon HD 5770 Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Display Port, HDMI at TigerDirect.com

or this one

EVGA 01G-P3-1450-TR GeForce GTS 450 FPB Video Card - 1024MB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, Dual DVI, Mini HDMI, SLI, DirectX 11, Fermi, FREE Performance Boost Overclock to 822MHz at TigerDirect.com
If you get that GT 430 I doubt you'll be able to play anything very well. 5770 blows it out of the water! Or if that is too much the 450 would be a good purchase as well.

Zach1923 wrote:It would be helpful to see how much you are spending on each individual piece.

I would ditch the sound card, as the on board is going to be just as good compared to that level of card.

I would go with a 650w PSU specifically this one. Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2 Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 Power Supply - 650 Watts, ATX, 140mm Fan, 80 Plus Bronze, SLI Ready, Active PFC at TigerDirect.com

Corsair makes some of the most reliable PSUs out there, in fact I own that one!

As far as RAM goes those look good just check with MSI's website that they are compatible with the board you selected.

And finally most importantly, with money saved from not buying a soundcard get this
HIS H577FK1GD Radeon HD 5770 Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Display Port, HDMI at TigerDirect.com

or this one

EVGA 01G-P3-1450-TR GeForce GTS 450 FPB Video Card - 1024MB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, Dual DVI, Mini HDMI, SLI, DirectX 11, Fermi, FREE Performance Boost Overclock to 822MHz at TigerDirect.com
If you get that GT 430 I doubt you'll be able to play anything very well. 5770 blows it out of the water! Or if that is too much the 450 would be a good purchase as well.

Unfortunately the 450 would probably still not be good enough to get any decent frame rate or longevity. Best thing to do would be to save that little bit longer and get the 460 /560 as it will give you more bang for your buck. Either that or an amd 6850 if you prefer the red side of the graphics world. Remarkably benches show the 5770 to be around the same performance as the 450. But as always just search for a review on what gpu you are looking at, and check the benchmarks