What happens when the CPU is the bottleneck in gaming?

Q. So I decided to build a cheap budget computer with everything basically costing under $100 total. The motherboard I chose comes with a Via Nano L2007 @ 1.8 GHz. Supposedly its performance is just above your average Intel Atom chip in netbooks.

Now if I were to use this for gaming and I have great hardware (eg. GeForce GTX 690, 128 GB SSD, and fast DDR3 RAM), would I be able to play modern games? Or is the CPU going to cancel out all the benefits from the other hardware?

Basically is the CPU really that important in modern games these days since most of the work is done by the Graphics Card?

A. Generally speaking; since RAM is so cheap nowadays the two most important components of a "Gaming Computer" are the GPU and CPU; skimping on either will definitely hinder your ability to game and result in a "bottleneck". That processor is a haul at 1.8ghz; honestly you could probably find a computer to scrap on Craiglists with a better processor (No offense. But seriously go junk a random PC and chances are you'll end up with a much better processor.)

Original Question

How much would it cost to build a moderately good computer?

Q. I love me some computer games but REALLY don't wanna spend well over a thousand dollars for a comp that will be outdated before long. I've heard that building is cheaper. Any idea how much it'd cost for parts to make a decent computer? It doesn't need to be a tank, but I'd like to be able to play recent games without trouble. Would that be manageable with a 1,000 budget, or is it not THAT much cheaper?

A. The only difference between you and I is confidence. Once that little hurdle is overcome then it's smooth sailing. It honestly doesn't take a lot of experience to put a computer together. I mean they have orientation points on everything. Look at RAM sticks see that little slot in the middle. It makes it impossible to put it backwards. When you put a computer together make sure you use kid gloves. Think about it like an elementary puzzle. There are fairly bid pieces and if you force it and pound on it then yeah something will go wrong. If you use kid gloves everything will be jsut fine. Lets move over to your CPU. There is a triangle printed on the corner of your on your CPU as well as the motherboard. It may be a circle but there are markers on each piece that makes assembly fairly straightforward. Moving on to your GFX card. there is a slot on the left hand side of the bottom of the GFX card where it mates with the board. I also wouldn't make any sense to have the wrong side of the card facing out so backwards isn't happening here either. PSU? Screws are on one side and there is only one big square hole with places for your screw hole where your PSU can go. Now the motherboard? That has to be hard. If you look a bit closer at a motherboard you will see a LOT of holes and usually only 6 risers & screws to install it with. How in the heck are you supposed to make sense out of all the circuitry, holes and hardware? The screw holes will have starbursts surrounding the holes.

In a nutshell if you look a bit closer everything is clearly marked for ease of assembly. Take each piece of your build and go to youtube and watch an installation. See how simple pressing in and then plugging in a graphics card is. Watch how someone screws in the risers that the motherboard sits on and then see how the motherboard is screwed into place. You will see that when taken in small bites the process is rather simplistic.

Now we get down to your parts. I chose the 2500K so i will have to suggest that because it is in your BUDGET and you want your price vs performance to lean towards performance. the 2500K is really the HOTTEST CPU on the market today. Yes AMD's bulldozer is on the horizon but it isn't on the market yet and the price would probably be a bit steep at launch and I would still wait a bit to see if any issues arise.There was an issue with the 1155 socket at launch but those have been taken care of long ago. Anyways the links below will = your budget. This is just for the tower. Lets put the 1100T HEX core against the 2500K before I do this http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/203?vs=288. As you can see the 1100T and the 2500K are both at 3.3 GHZ and the 2500K only has 4 cores and the 1100T has 6. The 2500K is the clear winner especially where gaming is concerned at the bottom of the page. Anyways on to your parts.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 CPU $220

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130583 Motherboard $109 after MIR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311 RAM $45

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009 PSU $140

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604 GPU/GFX $229 after MIR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119224 Case $99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 Windows 7 Premium $94

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 $21

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 CPU Cooler. Yes you may recycle the USELESS cooler that comes with the 2500K. I mean it does do its' job but not all that well.


Grand total after your MIRs $987


Want to learn how to overclock this AWESOME CPU from 3.3GHz to 4.2GHZ? Turn on, press delete, click overclocking, change the multiplier from 33 to 42, press F10 to save and exit and you're done. You could add in one step when you change the multiplier. Press backspace and click on green power and enable C1E. Just conserves power when you are only watching a movie or surfing. I own this motherboard so I now how simple a change to a number and enabling a power saver really is. I'm not an overclocker but this board/CPU combo makes the process easy.

Operating System
MS Windows 7 32-bit Upgrading to 64bit soon
CPU
Intel Core i5 2500K @ 3.30GHz34 °C
Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
RAM
8.00 GB DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-25)
Motherboard
MSI P67A-G43 (MS-7673) (SOCKET 0)36 °C
Graphics
DELL 1704FPV (1024x768@75Hz)
ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series (Diamond)44 °C
ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series (VISIONTEK)39 °C
CrossFire Disabled
Hard Drives
156GB Seagate ST3160812AS ATA Device (SATA)34 °C
78GB Western Digital WDC WD800JD-00MSA1 ATA Device (SATA)31 °C
977GB Seagate ST31000528AS ATA Device (SATA)32 °C
Optical Drives
ATAPI iHAS124 Y ATA Device
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

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