1st Time Builder- HELP w choosing Hardware for a BUDGET system!

[Muffin Man]

about the case, it does come with one rear fan with one other slot for a fan in the front. although there is a grill on the side, i dont know if it supports a fan or not, but one front intake fan and one rear exhaust fan should be fine, you dont have too much hardware. as for the fan, out of those two, the apevia looks good, plus its a little cheaper.

 

[spazzy67]

Muffin, before I complete and order my system, I have one more question for you! Based on the components you picked (which seem to be excellent suggestions), if I was to squeeze another $50-75 on my setup, where would you spend it?? Was there an item where we may have came up short because of the budget limitations? Do you think it would be worth it to spend the extra $ to furthur 'future proof' my system or make it 'more upgradeable'? I just don't want to kick myself for skimping on anything, or do you feel I have way more than I will ever use already, even if I do some occasional gaming! let me know what u think!

I have all the components in my cart and the total came to $536.25 less $40 in MIR = $496.25

MONITOR: I ordered the Dell S2309W for $169 + 14 tax= 183 Dell S2309W Full HD Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor which should display some awesome graphics w the card u picked. I will now have a place to escape and watch a movie when my girls are watchin a chick flick!! lol

Thanks again for all your suggestions and I am really excited for the next phase! The BUILD PHASE!

Paul

 

[Muffin Man]

well, as far as the original parts, none of the parts really came up short as in, you needed to get something cheap to fit the budget. they are all good parts. but having a bigger budget would always allow to get better parts, because theres more money obviously.

with that increase in budget though, you could get different parts.

$572 + shipping

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners

instead of the dual core, you would now be getting a triple core, which would give you pretty much the same good gaming performance as before or better, but the addition of the third core offers even better multitasking performance.

this mobo has two pcie x16 instead of the other mobo that had one. with this second one available, you could add another 4850 for crossfire if you want, which would give you an increase in gaming performance. this seems like a good time too, since ati and nvidia are releasing their new graphics cards soon, and they will be droping prices of their current cards, so if you wait, you will be able to pick up a second card for relatively cheap.

ive also changed the case and psu. the case is a good low cost case with good airflow, and the psu comboed with it will support another 4850.

 

[spazzy67]

Muffin, We lost another combo today from the second build you put together! I believe it was the same WD HDD you recommended in the first build>>>> Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

I am not sure what MEMORY it was combined with and I want to be sure I get the right one!

Thanks!

Also I found the same Video Card with 1GB RAM for $124. Newegg.com - XFX HD-485X-ZDFC Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards Seems like it would be worth the $10 more for 2x the memory??

 

[Muffin Man]

thats weird about the combo, maybe i didnt put the link in right. anyway, im almost sure it was this one,
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

if it wasnt, it doesnt really matter, that combo will do.

for the card, if you can afford it, then yes. the extra memory will come in handy when gaming since youd be playing at higher resolutions.

 

[spazzy67]

I was doing some research on the combo deals (thanks to MuffinMan) and came across a few items that seem to be of higher quality for not much more. I also removed the video card for now, since the MOBO I changed to comes w/ onboard video- ATI Radeon HD4200 (which I realize is inferior to 4850, but for now i'm not gaming much... just too busy! ) I can always add the card later when prices come down since new line is coming out as you mentioned in earlier post. Will I kick myself or not even notice it for my daily use??

MOBO/ MEMORY: Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!.

CASE: Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases (for $5 more seems to be the case of choice!)

CPU : Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor - Processors - Desktops I like the triple core processor for multi-tasking purposes!



PSU/HDD: Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
FANS: Newegg.com - APEVIA CF12SL-UBL 120mm Blue LED Case Fan - Case Fans I added two intake fans for the front of the Antec 300 case.

DVD/CD Optical Drive: Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - CD / DVD Burners (Out of stock till 9-21-09)

I may add Vista after I see how the system runs on XP. Will there be a huge difference since Vista is a 64bit OS & XP is 32bit???? Not sure what that translates to for my everyday use???

Let me know what you think of this build!

Price is $543 - 55 MIR= $488 shipped!!

 

[Trotter]

Another case to consider. $5 cheaper and still free shipping:
Newegg.com - Antec Two Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Looks like a decent combo with the mobo and RAM.

Quad core for $99:
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Good choices on the PSU and hard drive, fans, as well as the optical drive.

Yes, there is a difference with Vista 64-bit over XP 32-bit... plus, if you buy Vista you will geta free upgrade to Win7.

Oh, and no, you won't have a problem with day to day stuff, or even light gaming.

 

[Muffin Man]

those are some good picks. i also agree with Trotter on the quad core, thats a good cpu for the money.

you can get the version of the antec 300 that already comes with blue led front intake fans.
Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

and heres a drive thats in stock.
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners

btw, thats like the biggest rebate ive seen so far, lol.

 

[spazzy67]

Thanks for the feedback Trotter!

CASE: I like the clean mesh look on the 300 over the fancy geometric design on 200. Just my personal preference!

Quad core for $99:
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Can u explain the benefit for me to get the quad core over the triple core? Isn't the Phenom series better than the Athlon??? Need to hear it in laymans terms!!! It all has to do with performance & multitasking, I think. So with multiple cores, if I am backing burning a DVD while I am surfing the net or playing a game, there will be less drag on the processor??? Overclocking, unlocking cores.....etc Sounds exciting, but I don't have a grasp on it yet. Need to read some more, but I have to say this forum has been awesome!!!

Thanks guys!

 

[Muffin Man]

AnandTech Bench (beta): AMD Athlon II X4 620 vs AMD Phenom II X3 720

that fact that the athlon ii has 4 cores gives it a slight edge in most video editing, photo editing, 3d programs, and multitasking in general, but it has already been demonstrated in other comparisons that the phenom II's compete with the i7's in gaming performance, not that the athlon ii is bad though. but if you game, the graphics card you choose matters more than what cpu you have, although both are important. thats the furthest im willing to go into this pool w/o drowing ...