Suggestions for Upgrades Please. (Gaming Machine)

[robcardiv]

Im looking to build a new Gaming Machine, So I can give my current Desktop to my Daughter.

I have about 150$ to spend on a CPU, 150$ for a Video card, and a Hundred bucks for the rest of the set, like 20$ Ram, 50$ Power supply, and 50$ fors a Motherboard. That's about as high as I can go. I want to run Battlefield 3 with the highest possible framerates (Multiplayer) that I can get for 400$. I've built every computer I've ever owned so I understand the basics of it all but its all self learned, so I'm sure I don't know it all. The last PC I built, Current PC is a 9800 nvidia / AMD 7750. I just want to double check that I am not missing anything.

PassMark Intel vs AMD CPU Benchmarks - High End
PassMark Software - Video Card Benchmarks - High End Video Cards

So far the Radeon 6870 Looks like the best you can get for 150$.
Newegg.com - HIS H687FN1GD Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

The AMD am3+ FX 6100 Looks to be the best CPU for 150$.
Newegg.com - AMD FX-6100 Zambezi 3.3GHz Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6100WMGUSBX

50$ Motherboard
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-M68MT-S2 AM3+ NVIDIA GeForce 7025/nForce 630a chipset Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
(I cant afford 60$ or higher for a mobo, so this may be the best I can do for AM3+)

Ram 20$
Newegg.com - Patriot Gamer 2 Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PG34G1600EL
(I dont know everything about timings and voltages, this one was listed as "High performance Gaming Ram). So if anyone has a better selection for 23$ or less please let me know : )

Power Supply 50$
Newegg.com - Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7,i5" Power Supply
I have never spent 50$ on a power supply before, So I was not expecting it to be this expensive. If anyone can recommend a cheaper one that would be safe to use, This may the cheapest one thats certified and likely to last. (I wouldnt mind one that dies after a year tbh, just dont want one that dies next week or DOA).

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The CPU Shows up very highly on this list, and it tops the Highest Power PER Price list of all CPUS also. So It looks like the AMD Fx 6100 is the way to go.

Same with the Radeon 6870, it tops the "highest power for the price" charts also.
Ive owned Nvidia cards for around ten years now, Id rather stick with them. But AMD seems to have the most power for the 150$ Mark atm, so they deserve my cash.

The Mobo and Ram, Im not so sure about, I just picked the cheapest one that looked to cover the hardware I selected. If anyone has better suggestions for the Same Price or lower, let me know.

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If there are any hidden bottlenecks about the parts I selected that I might not know about, let me know please.

Looks like a great build for 410$ imo.

 

[AstaLaVista]

400 BUCKS seems like a low end Gaming rig for me. Either that or not a rig you'll be able to update in a couple of years but then again, I don't know much about benchmarks, etc.

Look at my rig, I can tell you that I was not able to play BF3 (Campaign) at Max Settings but I did play it at some good settings and enjoyed it a lot. My rig was built about 3 years ago and I recall I spent something like 600 bucks... perhaps all you need is wait a little longer and up your budget a bit?

Sorry I can not help in any other way.

 

[M1GU31]

ye you should be able to play w/e you want with that rig because for one the 6870 is pretty high end card and can play games to max around 1080p with like AA off though and still get decent fps around 30-40somthing depending what game it is might get more

 

[robcardiv]

TyVm for the advice and warning but,
When you build it yourself, 400 bucks goes plenty far enough. Every Time
If you pay close attention to performance per cost and bottlenecks.
I've been doing so myself for 15 years. Your Cpu is great, Your GTX 260 is the bottleneck. For standard Windows work, your PC will fly. It will quickly fall behind with a 260 I believe.

A 300$ cheaper CPU and 150$ Video card would go much much further in the gaming department though. I dont understand how the 260 is still showing as a 170$ video card,
its rating about 1,700 the 6870 is 150$ atm and is rating around 2,800.
Literally only 2/3rd the overall power for 10 dollars more. I'm normally an Nvidia purchaser, but AMD Radeon is well ahead of the power per dollar atm (Which is always subject to change every 6 months .

Like Migu Said, I've done plenty of benchmark research on the items listed.
I'm sure I wont be able to Max Ultra Every single game, but Im also sure that this equipment should hit 30-60 frames Easily on most any game out atm.
Very easily once you lower a few of the trivial eye candies.

I was just asking people if they had any recommendations for other parts for the same price, for any givin reasons I may not know about.
Or if anyone notices any bottlenecks or bad pieces in my selection for any reason, please let me know. I am self taught and only know the basics. Not all the deeper details.

 

[kryptozx]

i like tigerdirect better than newegg :/

 

[python134r]

Watch that Rosewill PS, its junk, find a FSP or something like that will fit your budget.

 

[AstaLaVista]

If you pay close attention to performance per cost and bottlenecks.
I've been doing so myself for 15 years. Your Cpu is great, Your GTX 260 is the bottleneck. For standard Windows work, your PC will fly. It will quickly fall behind with a 260 I believe.

I have only been custom making my rigs for a few years now so any tips are always welcome.

Yes, my GTX260 may be a bottleneck but I think that the 9600GT as and add-on helps a bit more. Then again, for someone who only plays Single Player Campaigns, I still believe that upgrading to something better will not yield that much of a difference but again... suggestions are appreciated and will be considered when the right deal comes along.

 

[stormy13]

It was said before in one of your other threads about this and I'll say it again; DO NOT put any AM3+ CPU with any Nvidia based motherboard. The Nvidia chipsets were never made to work with them, and bios support and the AM3+ socket where added to the boards more as an afterthought so the motherboard manufacturers could get rid of old stock. You want an AM3+ CPU, pair it up with a true AM3+ motherboard which would be any AMD 970/990X/990FX based board.