can a pc be built/bought to run ah on full eye candy for around $800?

[SilverZ06]

I am selling one of my cars so I want to allocate ~$800.00 to  get a new pc. My current one struggles to run 60fps with only bump map terrain enabled and no other players near. Is there a pc out there that will run this game on a 25" monitor with the high res pack as well as all the eye candy for around $800?  If you can find one/spec one and I buy it, i'll pay  your ah subscriptionu for a month.

[gyrene81]

interesting idea...could be possible if you already have a good monitor, that would cut ~150 off the total.

just a thought:

AMD Phenom II X2 560 Black Edition Callisto 3.3GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor
(newegg $91 - free shipping)

ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
(newegg $170 + $5 shipping)

Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
(newegg $45 - free shipping)

Corsair Builder Series CX600 600 watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel and AMD Platforms ATX 700 CMPSU-600CXV2
(amazon $66.24 - free prime shipping) (newegg $68 + $4 shipping)

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model TW3X4G1333C9A G
(newegg $40 - free shipping) (amazon $40 - free prime shipping)

Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
(newegg $60 + $5 shipping) (amazon $60 - free prime shipping)

SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model SH-222AL LightScribe
(newegg $23 - free shipping)

XFX HD-677X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
(newegg $135 + $7.56 shipping)

*edit* forgot operating system - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
(microsoft doesn't provide tech support for oem, just updates and stuff like that)
($100 - free shipping)

grand total including shipping = $752.55

add 22 inch lcd monitor for ~ $150 extra

[MaSonZ]

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,317738.30.html

is my set up right now. all my prices are in there, and i can run AH on full eye candy and for the most part i never drop below 50 FPS.

[gyrene81]

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,317738.30.html

is my set up right now. all my prices are in there, and i can run AH on full eye candy and for the most part i never drop below 50 FPS.

a little too rich for my blood but nice system mason 

[MaSonZ]

a little too rich for my blood but nice system mason 

"a little to rich" meaning over kil, or not built enough?

thank you for the Keyboard and mouse btw! 

[ozrocker]

Cyberpower.com



                                                                                                                                              Oz

[gpwurzel]

I"d contact TilDeath and ask him for a quote.

Wurz (you can thank me by not shooting me down!!!)

[guncrasher]

can you reuse some old parts? cd rom, hd, ps, case?  what do you currently have?

semp

[SilverZ06]

I can't really reuse anything now because my wife is going to use the current machine to do digital scrap booking. I already have a 24" monitor. My current pc is an older HP desktop. The specs are in the "cooling fan runs all the time" thread. I am on my phone otherwise I would copy and paste it here.

[Tigger29]

Last year we all pitched in with donations and I built a squaddie a system with limited funds as his old computer was.. well I'm surprised it even loaded AH!  It was so old and so slow that his vox would make the game cut out and he was struggling to see 10fps with all options OFF and that limited him to goon running (barely).

Anyway, working with a strict budget of $500 I was able to build him something that runs AH quite nicely.  With all graphics options on except shadows he see 55-60fps all of the time at 1920X1080 resolution.

It really was nothing special.. an AM3 motherboard, 4GB DDR3 ram, 1TB Hard drive, ATI Regor processor (2.7GHZ if I remember correctly), ATI 5770 video card, 650 Watt Seasonic power supply, cheap computer case, cheap DVD-rom.  It actually turned out to be much faster than I was thinking!

We also had a squaddie donate a monitor and another donated a copy of XP Home for him so that $500 was for the computer itself only, so yeah your $800 can go VERY FAR if aces high is your primary game.

[Debrody]

interesting idea...could be possible if you already have a good monitor, that would cut ~150 off the total.

just a thought:
*lotsa stuff*

Thats system will run AH very well except the shadowing, you wont be able to set it higher than 4096.
-Note that the phenom2 x2 processors have two other cores. You can unlock them in the BIOS. With a custom cooling (f.e. cooler master hyper412+) they can be pushed up to 3.8 GHz without overvoltage. Even if you dont wanna oc, a hyperTX3 is much better than the oroginal cooler.
-I would give it four sticks  of RAM.
Thats a decent system.

[BaldEagl]

Here's one I just speced for someone else a month ago:

OK so I bit the bullet.  Here's an idea for you.  I'm not totally satisfied with this and it needs some tweaking but it will give you a good starting point for comparison.  Most of this is good quality components and it's reasonably balanced but again, I'd do some tweaking before placing an order.  This is if you're willing to build it.  Building is comperable to playing with an erector set:

.  .
Update11-119-068   COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Model #:CAC-T05-UW
Item #:N82E16811119068
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
  $54.99  -$5.00 Instant $49.99
.  .
Update13-130-556   MSI G41M-P26 LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Model #:G41M-P26
Item #:N82E16813130556
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
  $50.99    $50.99
.  .
Update14-130-568   EVGA 01G-P3-1373-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked EE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ...
Model #:01G-P3-1373-AR
Item #:N82E16814130568
Return Policy:VGA Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail in Rebate Card14-130-568

  $199.99  -$10.00 Instant $189.99
.  .
Update17-139-005   CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible ...
Model #:CMPSU-650TX
Item #:N82E16817139005
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail in Rebate Card17-139-005

  $119.99  -$25.00 Instant $94.99
.  .
Update19-116-381   Intel Pentium E5700 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80571E5700
Model #:BX80571E5700
Item #:N82E16819116381
Return Policy:CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
In Stock
  $66.99    $66.99
.  .
Update20-231-180   G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK
Model #:F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK
Item #:N82E16820231180
Return Policy:Memory Standard Return Policy
In Stock
  $39.99    $39.99
.  .
Update22-136-795   Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:WD5002AALX
Item #:N82E16822136795
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
  $59.99    $59.99
.  .
Update27-135-204   ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Model #:DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
Item #:N82E16827135204
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
  $20.99    $20.99
.  .
Update32-116-986   Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Model #:GFC-02050
Item #:N82E16832116986
Return Policy:Software Standard Return Policy
In Stock
  $99.99    $99.99

Subtotal: $673.91

[guncrasher]

here's a better newer system for 30 bucks more.  i would update the cpu and the ram, but I am pretty sure it will play with everything maxed out as is.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Xtreme_1000/

semp

[gyrene81]

here's a better newer system for 30 bucks more.  i would update the cpu and the ram, but I am pretty sure it will play with everything maxed out as is.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Xtreme_1000/

semp

personally i wouldn't touch that one just because of the motherboards they use. for intel cpu's there are much better mobos available from intel, xfx and evga with much better warranties, they're also more expensive.

[cattb]

Thats system will run AH very well except the shadowing, you wont be able to set it higher than 4096.
-Note that the phenom2 x2 processors have two other cores. You can unlock them in the BIOS. With a custom cooling (f.e. cooler master hyper412+) they can be pushed up to 3.8 GHz without overvoltage. Even if you dont wanna oc, a hyperTX3 is much better than the oroginal cooler.
-I would give it four sticks  of RAM.
Thats a decent system.

Not all Phenomx2 processors are able to unlock to x4 quad. If a person buys a dual core Phenom and is able to unlock it to a a quad consider it a bonus (Do not buy a phenom x2 and think its a given that it will unlock). Also there is a feature or 2 which will not work, like core temp I think is one. It has been awhile since I have read up on unlocking and I do not remember off hand.

A 3.2 phenom x2 will handle Ah fine.