Is this build compatible ?

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FourTwenny

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I told my friend i would put together a budget computer for him if he ordered the parts. He knows absolutely nothing about computers (so slightly less than me) so i told him i would pick his parts after asking what he wanted to do with it. Here is what i came up with. He already has windows xp.

MSI K9MM-V Motherboard CPU Bundle - AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor 2.0GHz Retail in Canada at TigerDirect.ca
$80 for msi mobo and amd athalon 3200+ cpu pacage for
LG GSA-H55N Super-Multi Security DVD ReWriter - 20x DVD±R Burn, 16x DVD±R Read, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 10x DVD±R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 48x32x CD-RRW, Black, IDE GSA-H55N (BLACK) in Canada at TigerDirect.ca
$30 for dvd burner
Maxtor DiamondMax 21 500GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, ATA-100, EIDE, OEM STM3500630A in Canada at TigerDirect.ca
$80 for 500gig hdd
ATI Radeon X1600 Pro 512MB GDDR2 AGP 8x DVI VGA TV Out Video Card 100-437510 in Canada at TigerDirect.ca
$74 for x1600pro512mb ddr2 gpu
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) OCZ2N800SR2GK in Canada at TigerDirect.ca
$50 for 2x1024mb pc6400 OCZ

I told him to pick out a case. The psu we will decide on when he makes up his mind as to if this one 500gig hdd is enough or if he wants to be able to eventually have 4x500gig in there. I guess i just need to make sure these parts will work together.
 
Those parts should work... What's he planning to use the computer for? As that 3200+ isn't exactly a super-speed processor. He might be more wise to save his money from buying those 500 gig hard-drives, and put a bit more to the CPU.

Edit:

I found this motherboard/GPU combo at Canada Computers...

Canada Computers - Motherboards > Socket AM2+ : Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H Socket AM2+ AMD 780G + SB700 Chipset ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics Dual Channel DDR2 1066 HD Audio GigaLAN IEEE1394 Mirco ATX.

$99

Canada Computers - CPU > Desktop AMD Processors : AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (65W) Dual-Core Socket AM2, 2.5GHz, 512KB x2 L2 Cache, 2000MHz HT, 65nm (ADO4800DDBOX).

$86

It's $30 more than your other build, but WAY faster, and more open for upgrades in the future.

Also, that HDD isn't exactly the best brand-name.

Canada Computers - Hard Drives > Desktop Drives > 3.5" SATA Drives : Seagate Barracuda (ST3500320AS) 7200.11 SATA NCQ 3.0Gb/s 500GB 32MB Cache (OEM).

This one is $5 more, and backed by a 5 year warranty. :)
 
Well all he will be using this pc for is checking email, burning dvds/cds, watching divx on his crt tv via s-video, watching hd divx/hdmkv on his monitor via vga, listening to music, no gaming at all (although he could on a 17"crt with the card i picked for him).

He wants the HDD space down the road for a potential mass collection of music/movies. Oh and he wants to keep open the option of a blu-ray drive for down the road too.

The program which will be the biggest cpu hog that he will use will be nero7 for encoding avi-mpeg2. Thats why i thought the single core 3200+ would be enough. Instead of spending $79.99 for the motherboard and single core amd combo, he could spend $60.99 for the exact same motherboard and $48.99 for 64 x2 3200+ (which i think will be overkill for him). He kind of wants the dual core for the extra $30 it would cost, $79.99 vs $109.98. The board you picked out is better but he doesn't need that much room for upgrades and because he wants the monitor and tv hooked up at the same time he needs to get a gpu rather than onboard graphics. And if he was going to spend $186 for a board and cpu i would just tell him to get a cheap c2d on a 610i combo for under $200, but that would be sooo overkill for what he needs.

Also i may have came across a free 120gig HDD for him. So you can scratch the Maxtor off the list all together. he can just get that 500gig seagate and maybe pci-sata card in a month or something.

EDIT: Ok it does look like i got a free dvd burner, 2x120gig hdds, case, 2x512mb DDR (not DDR2) and psu for him now. So the part list to order is now going to be :
Motherboard-$60 MSI K9MM-V Motherboard - Via, Socket AM2, MicroATX, Audio, Video, AGP 8x, 10100 Ethernet LAN, USB 2.0, Serial ATA, RAID in Canada at TigerDirect.ca
CPU-$50 AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Processor ADO3600IAA4CU - 2.0GHz, 2 x 256KB Cache, 1000MHz (2000 MTs) FSB, Windsor, Dual Core, OEM, Socket AM2, Processor in Canada at TigerDirect.ca
VGA-$74 ATI Radeon X1600 Pro 512MB GDDR2 AGP 8x DVI VGA TV Out Video Card 100-437510 in Canada at TigerDirect.ca
RAM-$50 OCZ SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) OCZ2N800SR2GK in Canada at TigerDirect.ca

DVD burner/HDDs/Cables/PSU/CASE all FREE
 
I got 2 working P4 2.66ghz cpus now too. If i could find a motherboard that supports DDR and has either agp or PCIe i would only have to order a motherboard and graphics card. I am looking around but i can't find anything available to Canada. I guess the DDR2 upgrade would be worth it anyways. But for a 100% non gaming computer i am thinking it might be a waste.
 
It definitely wouldn't be a waste. If he's looking into getting a Blu-Ray drive, then I bet that CPU/Video Card won't be able to play those high definition video files smoothly.

Games aren't the only thing that requires good computer parts. :p

edit: If he's encoding video files, then I have a little word of advice: That's going to take over-night on that single core 3200+.
 
I am going to be using one of these 2.66 p4 cpus (which is even slower) and this slow set of 2x512 pc2100 DDR @ 133mhz :( Blu-ray is getting axed. To leave the blu-ray upgrade open will mean upgrading cpu/ram/psu and spending a lot more on a video card and motherboard. This build should do everything else needed perfectly well though. The mobo i found has onboard graphics just to get the pc up and running on the 17" Lg crt.

So the build (as of right now) is
Free Parts:
p4 2.66 psu socket 478
2x512mb pc2100 DDR@133 or 1x512 of unknown (DDR400 i think)
2x120gig IDE 7200rpm HDD
Cheap case/psu (fingers crossed this psu does the trick)
LG DVD Burner IDE
All cables/fans needed

Parts to purchase:
ASRock Motherboard - Product - P4I65G - Overview Motherboard $65

Parts to upgrade in order:
PSU - Only if the one i got is pooched out or is to weak for the gpu I pick out.
Graphics card - going to keep checking online stores for a deal
Ram - going to keep checking ebay/gov auctions for deal on 2x1024 ddr400
HDDs - Replace the 120s with 500s or add some 500 externals

The only thing left bothering me is my memory. The specs on the mother board are : - Dual Channel DDR memory technology
- 2 x DDR DIMM slots
- Supports DDR400/333/266 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
- Max. capacity of system memory: 2GB
The 2x512mb i have is DDR133, i think it should work though but i am not sure. If it doesn't i have one stick of 512mb i get for free on Tuesday that i was told is DDR400. I haven't seen it yet though and the person who told me doesn't know computers at all. Well i hope this works out. Any last minute advice would be nice. I am ordering the motherboard tonight if i don't find a better deal today and starting work on this thing Tuesday.
 
Just so you know the x1650gt is better than the x1600pro

also whats his budget?
 
Budget is as as close to nothing as we can get it. Spending a little more on the gpu is ok at this point to because of what we save on everything else. Any thoughts on if the pc2100 will be compatible with the board ?
 
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