Casual Gaming Rig

I want too be able to play the newish games on low-mid settings without spending a lot of money, I came up with this for $660 (I live in Australia that's why its an Australian site) Here is the link: Techbuy AMD Casual Gamer Computer System - *Customisable* (79018 | TBOS79018) | Techbuy Australia Here is what I Customized it to be:
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Case: Centurion 5 Midi-Tower Case - 460W PSU

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-M68SM-S2L Motherboard
AM2, GeForce 7025 + nForce 630a, HT 2000, 2x DDR2-800, PCI-Ex16, 4x SATA-II, RAID, GigLAN, 6Chl, DVI+VGA, mATX

CPU: Athlon64 X2 6000+ (3.0Ghz), AM2, 2x1MB, 2000HT, Dual Core - Retail 89W Version

HDD: 320GB 7200rpm Serial ATA-II 300 HDD

CD/DVD Drive: 22x DVD+-RW Dual Layer DVD Burner

Video Card: XpertVision GeForce 9500GT - 512GB GDDR2, 128-bit, PCI-Ex16 v2.0
(500MHz, 1.4GHz) - Super Edition

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OK, my main uncertainty is the CPU because I have never used AMD before. Also if anyone thinks I might have troubles with the video card i can always upgrade to:
Innovision GeForce 9600GT - 512MB DDR3
256-bit, 2x DVI, HDTV, HDCP - PCI-Ex16 v2.0 - (650MHz, 1.8GHz) - Armour Edition
For $55

Replies would be very appreciated!

Thanks
0Firehawk0

Step up to the 9600 and you'll have yourself a rig that can manage mid-high settings instead of low-mid like you  mentioned.

That cpu is good, especially since it's 3ghz outta the box. Even without OC'ing, it should allow you to run games well at resolutions up to 1680 x 1050.

It's a decent rig for the money, but I'll browse the site you linked  and see what else they have to be on the safe side so you get the best bang for your bux!

BTW: Welcome to HH... stick around and enjoy!!!

~EDIT~

OK... so I checked out their Intel based casual gamer and feel it's the better way to go. The AMD system with the 6000 & the 9600 is about $750, while the Intel system with an E7200 & 9600 is about $770. I personally would choose the Intel system without thinking twice.

BTW2: Don't let the ghz fool you, the Intel cpu @ 2.5ghz is faster than the AMD cpu @ 3ghz.

BTW3: I just noticed the system comes standard with only a gig of ram, it's only 9 bux more for another gig so make sure & get that.

Thanks, yea im going to definetly get the extra gig of ram, also i have done alot of research into AMD vs Intel for gaming and the results I came up with was that AMD was the winner, but anyway I might be wrong. I think i will spend that extra $50 on the better gfx card and hopfully the rig wont go out of date TOO fast. 

BTW thanks for the quick reply.

-Firehawk

Firehawk:

i have done alot of research into AMD vs Intel for gaming and the results I came up with was that AMD was the winner

Not sure where you read that, but AFAIK that is absolutely untrue. No offense, but I'm almost completely certain that anyone here including the admins will back me 100% on this point!

Bottom line = Despite Intel cpus being superior clock for clock, neither 1 of those chips will bottleneck the 9600GT even if you OC the heck out of it. So basically you can't go wrong either way.

Keep us up to date and report back when you get your gamer home!!!

I just noticed that it doesn't mention a sound card, so does that mean it wont have an sound? sorry if this is an overly noobish question

-Firehawk

*Edit* I just relised the stuff with AMD vs Intel was the pentium D dual core vs AMD 4500+

I found a website about Intel duel core  vs AMD duel core and yes, you were right, intel is better but the difference isn't that big not really enough to make my want to spend the extra money (i don't really need the extra processing power anyway).

A sound card isn't required because all motherboards have a chip onboard, but an actual sound card will provide better quality. I use onboard sound and feel that the quality and performance are just fine. 

Thankyou heaps for all your help, I agree with you, at the moment I use an onboard sound card and it works perfectly for my needs (I don't have surround sound speakers).

again thanks SOOOO much :)

-Firehawk

Firehawk:

again thanks SOOOO much :)

NP!

Get the 9600gt! I just got one for $85 off the egg.

The 9600 is a strong performer for the price

Ok, before I posted on this forum I also posted an identicle message on another forum (just to get different opinions) and the I got this reply:

"As for gaming it will defo play half life 2, DoD and CS source very well but i doubt you can play COD4 or Crysis or any of the new DX10 games" Here is a screenie:

 (if your having trouble viewing the screen sot because of the size or shape etc. just right click the image and click "view image")

I just want to know if this is true because if I can't play something like COD4 very well im not sure if I should still buy it. Again, feedback would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

-Firehawk

Feel free to google 9600gt reviews. The one thing of note that you will notice right off is that the 8800gt and 9600gt has the same frame rate give or take a frame or 2. With that being said the 9600gtcan go 1920X1080 res in cod 4 now if your over that then yes you had better dig deeper with your budget. Hope that help ya.What res are you running? And realisticly what level of aa and af are you shootong for since this also affects quality of graphics performance. I would recommend a 3850 if ya can swing it but i believe you where told this card based on a budget of only 660

Fold On!!!!

Well I use about low to no AA, mostly because it doesn't bother me and because im used to playing games (mostly older ones) on extremely low settings I own a lappy with a Intel GMA 950 so when I play a game it doesn't REALLY bother me when it's not on full graphics with no AA or very low AA. With the resolution, im only playing on a 17" LCD (not widescreen) so it won't matter much and again Im used to running a game like HL 2 on the extreme low resolution and graphics settings.

*EDIT* I was looking on the Nvidia website (the 9600 page specifically) and realised that they used a picture of COD4 to show the HD gaming capability of the 9600GT. Here's the link:  http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_9600gt.html

I just wouldn't recommend the 9500 to anyone thats going to do any gaming. For $20 more you get at least twice the performance. If your playing HL2 on low settings your missing a big part of the game. The atmosphere.

Exactly bob $20 bucks is worth a near 75% performance increase

yer, I am definatley getting the 9600GT I decided that a llittle while ago. :)

*EDIT* BTW I was reffering the the Inter Integrated Graphics card 950 GMA not the Geforce 9500 when I said I ran HL2 on low.

Yeah I just got team fortress running on a friends laptop with a 950 gma and running smooth but its not the same game it looks sooooo bad.

a 9500 will play COD4 on max trust me, My room mate was running a 850XTX with a 2500+ and it was on max with no lag...

Der Meister:

a 9500 will play COD4 on max trust me, My room mate was running a 850XTX with a 2500+ and it was on max with no lag...

It will run most games fine but its just not worth it when you can get so much more for $20, and be a bit future proof.

bob_on_the_cob:

Der Meister:

a 9500 will play COD4 on max trust me, My room mate was running a 850XTX with a 2500+ and it was on max with no lag...

It will run most games fine but its just not worth it when you can get so much more for $20, and be a bit future proof.

Yes I totally agree with you for the 50$ extra the 9600 is definatly worth it, also I know what you mean with the 950GMA thats the reason I decided to buy a new system, I just COULDN'T stand playing games like that anymore!!! "a 9500 will play COD4 on max trust me, My room mate was running a 850XTX with a 2500+ and it was on max with no lag..." That is awesome, can't wait to play one of my favourite games on full GFX!!! just hope the cpu + ram won't bottleneck the GFX card (2gig ram and AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 3.0Ghz)

thanks again for all the help,

Firehawk

BTW this is one of the most helpfull and supportive forums ive ever had the pleasure to use I will probably use it as the computer forum i use now, it really great :)