Is this a good second-hand computer for 285$?

[Derp-Master]

Are you people in this thread seriously going nuts over this? The GTX 470 is the price of the whole system itself. Get it.

[madpistol]

Originally Posted by masta121

You aren't proving that last bolded point with this benchmark you made. This is only ONE game, and is an exception rather than the rule. Most games today barely see any benefit or none at all from going above two cores. Not to mention, 44FPS is still more than enough to be playable. You don't need 60FPS or above in every game in existence to have a "good gaming system".

I should have added something in about playability of the dual core run as well.

The dual core run was much more choppy and inconsistent feeling than the quad core run, so much to the point that I wanted to quit running it after about 30 seconds. It wasn't fun. What's even worse is that in that run, it was 2 cores dedicated exclusively to the game. There were still 2 other cores that could perform background tasks. On a true dual core system, that won't be the case, which means the performance hit will be even worse.

The GPU is a GTX 470. The CPU is a dual core e8500. The GTX 470 will only be pushed if it's given a good quad core CPU. I've tried playing an HD 5870 on a dual core e8400, and let me tell you, the performance sucked compared to a similarly speced quad core system. I don't have any numbers to support that right now, but trust me, there was a major difference in performance. You're going to find that most games made in the last several years perform at their best when the GPU is coupled with a quad core (or higher).

Ask any serious gamer out there. They will agree with me.


A GTX 470 brand new costs about $150 right now. You're definitely getting your money's worth from that system, but that being said, it will need a gut job to remain current pretty soon.

[masta121]

Originally Posted by madpistol

I should have added something in about playability of the dual core run as well.

The dual core run was much more choppy and inconsistent feeling than the quad core run, so much to the point that I wanted to quit running it after about 30 seconds. It wasn't fun. What's even worse is that in that run, it was 2 cores dedicated exclusively to the game. There were still 2 other cores that could perform background tasks. On a true dual core system, that won't be the case, which means the performance hit will be even worse.

The GPU is a GTX 470. The CPU is a dual core e8500. The GTX 470 will only be pushed if it's given a good quad core CPU. I've tried playing an HD 5870 on a dual core e8400, and let me tell you, the performance sucked compared to a similarly speced quad core system. I don't have any numbers to support that right now, but trust me, there was a major difference in performance. You're going to find that most games made in the last several years perform at their best when the GPU is coupled with a quad core (or higher).

Ask any serious gamer out there. They will agree with me.


A GTX 470 brand new costs about $150 right now. You're definitely getting your money's worth from that system, but that being said, it will need a gut job to remain current pretty soon.

Once again, this is all subjectivity revolving around BF3. I'm not trying to say BF3 is going to be enjoyable for everyone on a dual core. But the majority of games will.

[YahooElite]

The GPU itself is worth the price of the whole system.

[HL2-4-Life]

Originally Posted by masta121

Once again, this is all subjectivity revolving around BF3. I'm not trying to say BF3 is going to be enjoyable for everyone on a dual core. But the majority of games will.

BC2 may be choppy as well on a dualie. Though I've heard an an OC'ed dualie can pull decent framerate.....and I'm talking about SP mode only. Most games would be fine with that E8500 especially when it's OC'ed. As long as OP keeps his expectations grounded, he should have a good time with that rig....decent spec for a nice price.

[madpistol]

Originally Posted by YahooElite

The GPU itself is worth the price of the whole system.

Not really.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130759

And that's for a new 480.


EDIT: The price when this link was posted was $209. It has since gone back up to $299.

[Rihani]

My flatmate has a very similar system (E8400, 8GB DDR2, Radeon 4870) and it plays most of the latest games at high settings, and with ease. Yes, it chokes on things like Crysis 2 or when you turn on supersampling in The Witcher 2 (but then, my own, an i5 2500, 12GB DDR3 and 6870 does, too) but for most games it's fine. For such a cheap price, I wouldn't be worrying about performance. Plenty of ram, too.

[YahooElite]

Originally Posted by madpistol

Not really.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130759

And that's for a new 480.

And You're obviously Missing the point.

[madpistol]

Originally Posted by YahooElite

And You're obviously Missing the point.

No. I get the point. The point is the system for $285 is worth it just for the GPU... but the OP is getting EVERYTHING 2nd hand with no warranty on any of it. For less money, he can get a better GPU with a very good warranty, which unfortunately means your statement: "The GPU itself is worth the price of the whole system." is actually false.

Unless you're speaking in tongues, I get the point very well.


EDIT: That GTX 480 link I posted was $209 yesterday. The price has since gone back up to $299.