Budget PC Sub $500

[PizzatheHut06]

Megadeth2, if he is a first time builder and is worried about little documentation coming with a motherboard. Therefore, do you think he needs to worry about getting and XP-M and overclocking it? Also, if he is happy right now with an 897MHz Celeron, why suggest overclocking? An XP 2700+ will blow him away when he sees the difference. I think all this overclocking business is just going to confuse him more than anything.

 

[Megadeth2]

Alright, your right Pizza. Forget about overclocking. If he asks, then I tell. Go for that PC as it will really blow you away.

I just have one question, shouldn't he get a 2500+ Barton since it is cheaper and it is great performance for the buck.

There will be no disadvantage to getting an XP-M. The thing is the XP-M runs at higher clock speeds with lower fsb. The XP is the other way around. Plus, the XP-M has an unlocked multiplier which helps for overclocking which you do not need to worry about.

For a board, I would suggest the ASUS A7V8X-X as it is a great board.

 

[PizzatheHut06]

I just have one question, shouldn't he get a 2500+ Barton since it is cheaper and it is great performance for the buck.

I recommended the XP 2700+ because, oddly enough, it is cheaper than the XP 2500+ or XP 2600+ on www.zipzoomfly.com The reason is because those two are popular for their overclockability, making them more expensive. If you're not going to overclock, the the XP 2700+ is by far a more logical choice.

For a board, I would suggest the ASUS A7V8X-X as it is a great board.

I would be careful using ASUS brand boards with nForce2 chipsets. From what I've read, they're very picky as far as RAM goes. I'm not saying that ValueRAM won't work, I'm just being overly cautious I have the A7N8X-X, and had to buy Corsair XMS because ValueRAM wouldn't work correctly. The reason I recommended the Biostar board is because the Kingston website said that up to 3 GB of their cheap ValueRAM can be used in the board with no problems. Also, I saw it used on Tom's Hardware, so it must be pretty reliable.

 

[Megadeth2]

I run an ASUS A7V8X-X and it runs perfectly. You have an A7N8X-X and that is why it may have not worked. I have an A7V8X-X and this one is on a Via chipset which runs great! I have it with 768 MB of generic RAM and no problems.

 

[PizzatheHut06]

Ah, A7V8X-X! The joys of mis-reading Thank you for the correction.

 

[TranceParadox]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-451&depa=0

You guys recommend This?

 

[PizzatheHut06]

I personally would not recommend that motherboard. I would recommend the Biostar motherboard instead because it allows you to run your RAM in dual channel. The ASUS motherboard does not.

 

[TranceParadox]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-140-017&depa=1

As far as a video card, what do you think of this?

 

[TranceParadox]

For what i need, im not going to have duel channle Ram, and i read reviews on both, and it seems that people seem to have less problems with the A7V8X-X Asus

 

[ekÆsine]

Just built a system for $500 (including shipping) from newegg. Here's the parts list if you're interested. I did forget to buy a CPU cooler and had to get one from circuit city. the mobo is IGP (Gforce 4 MX)

MB BIOSTAR AMD M-ATX M7NCG400 RTL N82E16813138234 $60.90

POWER SP|420W(P4)W0009R TT RTL N82E16817153006 $36.99

CPU AMD|2700 /333 ATHLON XP TBRED % N82E16819103341 $92.00

DDRAM 512M|DDR333 PC-2700 -K % N82E16820144202 $76.00

FD 1.44MB|SAMSUG SFD-321B/LBL1 OEM N82E16821103203 $6.75

HD 120GB|SEAGATE ST3120026A 8mb % N82E16822148022 $89.00

DVD+/-RW 16x+|NEC ND-3500A BK N82E16827152032 $68.00