New Mid-Range Build for a Friend :D

[therascalking]

so my friend at school is going to either build or buy a new mid-range gaming computer soon, and i felt it was my duty to assist him and help put together a build for him, lest he go out and buy a dell or something lame like that XD... SO, heres what i had in mind for him:

Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Allendale 2.4GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor

$126.99​

DFI LANPARTY DK P35-T2RS LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

$139.99​

EVGA GeForce 8800GS 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card

$129.99 ($99.99 after $30.00 MIR)​

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Memory

$54.99 ($24.99 after $30.00 MIR)​

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

$47.99​

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply

$124.99 ($109.99 after $15.00 MIR)​

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - Black SATA Model LH-20A1S OEM BK

$23.99​

NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid-Tower Computer Case

$69.99 ($49.99 after $20.00 MIR)​

Acer AL1916WAbd Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor

$179.99​

Total: $938.91
With Rebates: $843.91

anybody have any thoughts? thanks - RK

 

[alexsabree]

I say get a e2200 and oc that thing to ****
But that processor is, ok i guess. Save a few bucks on the mobo by getting a ds3l or ip-35e, but thats more of a personal opinion. If he has the option to save just a few more bucks and buy a 8800gt or 9600gs... he should

Please don't let another person fall victim to you know who...

 

[therascalking]

I say get a e2200 and oc that thing to ****
But that processor is, ok i guess. Save a few bucks on the mobo by getting a ds3l or ip-35e, but thats more of a personal opinion. If he has the option to save just a few more bucks and buy a 8800gt or 9600gs... he should

Please don't let another person fall victim to you know who...

eh... my friend isnt all that experienced, so i doubt he'll wanna deal with OC'ing anything... and if i OC it very much, ill have to spend on a better HSF... so i think ill stick to its stock settings...

can you link to those mobos? i looks at the gigabyte ds3l, but i didnt like it much, but im not familiar with the other...

and as for the GPU, the 8800GS is the cheapest legit one out there right now, im pretty sure... the 8800GT is more expensive, and i havent seen a 9600GS yet... :*

haha... owning a Dell is like being in... (fill in the blank) hahaha
just to be clear, they make some legit models, but for the most part... well, just building your own is SO much better haha... - RK

EDIT: wow, so i left off the apostrophe in *he'll*... and it replaced the whole word with "****"... LAME... XD

 

[Luke]

the 8800gt's are coming way down..right now at ncix (Canadian) u can get an evga for 169.99 After MIR...

 

[aspire]

the 9600gt is a worthy upgrade over the 8800gs.

 

[therascalking]

hmmm... you guys know of anywhere else that i could cut some money then so i can upgrade the GPU? cuz i gotta keep it cheap... prolly actually cheaper than it is eve now... more like $750USD total... but well try this for now... lemme know if you can think of anything else... :] - RK

 

[TheOtis]

Hmmm, 750 including a monitor?

Tomshardware.com, a widely known and very much liked hardware website just did a budget $500 build. You could set aside $200 for the monitor, and $550 for the build, here's the build and article-

How Low Will We Go? - Tom's Hardware : $500 Gaming PC: Day 1, Component Selection

With that $50 more you could get your friend a 9600GT. He'd have a nice little budget gaming computer!

 

[therascalking]

hmmm... thanks alot for the article and info Otis, but... i rather just dont like alot of the parts they put in... great price, to be sure... but... i dont think im on quite THAT extreme of a budget... i still wanna stay C2D and have a legit mobo... stickin to my Crucial as well...
other than possibly seeing if he has the money to go to a 9800GT, and maybe changing the PSU (is 520 too much mebbe?)... ive yet to be swayed on much...
thanks for the advice so far tho, keep it coming! - RK

EDIT: this is what was suggested in the article, if you dont wanna follow the link:

the biggest price difference between this and mine are that i included a monitor and a better PSU... other than that, all my parts are slightly better, but still only slightly more expensive... hmmm... :*

 

[aspire]

Newegg.com - SILVERSTONE ZEUS SST-ST65ZF ATX 12V 2.0 & EPS 12V 650W Power Supply 90 - 264 V - Power Supplies

That psu if you order in the next 2 hours. At that price its a steal!

Newegg.com - ABIT IP35P LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

That motherboard.

And that shaves off a solid $75 before rebates and a total of $100 after.
With that kind of money your into 8800gts territory.