Help on ~$800 comp

[Ksingler]

great system aliassaid suggested, that pc will rock faces in fps games good luck with the build, and keep us posted when you build it

 

[ephriam]

After looking around at ibuypower and messing around, I came up with this. I have an extra dvdrw laying around so no need to buy one. Can anybody tell me if there's anything wrong with this build, or anything i should change (Video card, PSU or Motherboard have me confused for one).

Case
• Coolermaster Ammo-533 Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply
Power Supply
• Standard Case Power Supply
Processor
• [939-pin] AMD Athlon-64 X2 3800+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology
Processor Cooling
• Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink
Motherboard
• eVGA nForce-4 SLI Chipset Dual DDR w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Dual PCI-E MB
Memory
• 1024 MB [512MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module Corsair
Video Card
• Nvidia Geforce 7600GT 256MB w/DVI + TV Out Video
Hard Drive
• 160 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache]
• 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
Speaker System
• 600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System
Network Card
• Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Flash Media Reader/Writer
• 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Beige
Flashcards & SmartMedia
Operation System
• MS Windows XP Home Edition w/Service Pack-2
=$759+65 shipping

I don't have much leeway in the price, so if anyone had suggestions for Videocards, RAM, Mobo, etc.. it would be helpful. I know most have suggested building it myself and I'm still considering it, but having to pay sales tax on everything is lame

Edit: Oh yea. Pretty much my only goal is a computer that can play WoW/Warhammer and possibly CS/HL2(graphics/effects scaled down).

 

[aliasaid]

it looks alright.

its not as good as the one i chose though... half the ram, gpu not as great, and powersupply is iffy...

although your build is slightly cheaper and includes OS...

you don't have to buy from newegg, there are a lot of good places to buy computer parts. zipzoomfly being one of them. i know trotter lives in your state, maybe he can give his .02 on buying computer parts.

just because you won't be using your comp to its full potential, doesn't mean you should get a crappier one... eventually you'll want to run/play something that'll tax your system.. so gettign as high end as possible within your budget is best...

 

[ephriam]

I used http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/326/1/ to compare the gpus. I know i've sort of gimped myself with the 7600gt as opposed to the 7900gt, but it seems to be decent for the price. I'll probably buy another gig of ram within a month or two, but for now my budget's stuck at 800-ish.

As far as the power supply, would a "NZXT PF-500 500 Watt Power Supply" be advisable? I thought 420w would be a little low. Its been years since I've fooled around with building computers, so I've felt alittle in over my head in all of this.

 

[aliasaid]

na don't feel intimidated... it just takes a couple of days of asking questions researching and you'll pretty be where most of us are.. its not rocket science.. its all about performance/price ratio...

anyways..


500watts is probably more than enough for your build, but nzxt isn't exactly known for their PSUs.. i'd try to get a better brand.. like antec, enermax, fsp fortron, ocz, etc..

 

[bum]

yeah about how easy building has gotten: I did it without actually reading anything, just looked at diagrams. In a few years there will be childrens books on building computers.

 

[aliasaid]

In a few years there will be childrens books on building computers.

lol, i don't doubt it

 

[Trotter]

i know trotter lives in your state, maybe he can give his .02 on buying computer parts.

I use NewEgg to review parts, and then use PriceGrabber to find 'em. The great part about PriceGrabber is that you plug in your ZIP and it tells you the shipping and any applicable taxes.

ZipZoomFly is always a good bet, though. But it can't beat the ease of navigating NewEgg.

NewEgg works, and if the added sales tax doesn't bump the price too high, I still order from them.

Where in Tennessee are you, ephriam? I'm in Cleveland, about 30 miles NE of Chattanooga.

 

[macdawg]

here is what i would do.

i would stick with socket 939 because difference is nothing really between ddr & ddr2, also you can get X2 4400 for $250 which would last you a long time!

You can upgrade to 2 gigs later, but you can't upgrade your processor.

So I go with 1 gig now, 2 gigs later, overclock later if need be.

7600 gt will be good for anything & later if you want DX 10 you can do that too.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811156018
RAIDMAX Astro ATX-268WB Black 0.7mm Japanese SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813186059
Foxconn NF4SK8AA-8KRS Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130017
eVGA 256-P2-N554-AX Geforce 7600GT KO 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817103937
Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply 115/230 V TUV, UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103546
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 2000MHz HT 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820220060
Patriot 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136009
Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YD 160GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827152058
NEC Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M

$755.93 after $20 rebate

pay a store $50 to build it for you or something.

 

[ephriam]

Hey, thanks everyone for the advice again. I'm in Murfreesboro, about an hour away from Nashville. Decided on building it myself after all. Will post here again once I look around at parts some more; thanks to all who posted a spec list.