$500 computer, can I do any better than what I picked out?

[Marke522]

A friend of mine has seen my new build, and wants to know what we can do with $500.
He has an old HDD from a Dell that we might use, but I think we should get the Seagate7200.10
It will take him a bit above budget, but if he doesn't do this now, he may need to upgrade sooner than he wants.

Case XION Solaris with Green Light - $24.99 after mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811208009

Power Supply - Thermaltake 430 watt - $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153023

Video Card - EVGA 7600GT - $89.99 after mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130062

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 2.2GHz - $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103622

Asus A8N5X - $72.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131569

Corsair ValueSelect - 2 x 512 - $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145440

SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW - $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151133

Microsoft Windows XP Home Sp2b - $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116169

So now we're at $497.92, after the main in rebates, just squeazing under budget. But we will have to pay shipping.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM -$94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140

Grand total of $592.91 plus shipping.

[Khalil]

It all looks good, I only suggest you go to a Sony or Lite on optical drive instead of the Samsung. That 3700 AMD is a besat and will OC with a bit of know how to 2.8Ghz with stock HSF. Great mobo, about as good as you can get in a Socket 939.
The Xion case I am not too sure about, they look kinda cheap but I have never built a system on one.
What is your friend planning to use his machine for?

[glc]

That's not an ATX 2.0 power supply, replace it with a XClio 450BL. That burner is OEM, no software. Wipe the Dell hard drive and use it, the A8N5X gets along with IDE hard drives fine. If he's not a real gamer, get a motherboard with onboard Nvidia graphics, I see Foxconn and Biostar still have some available - or look around for an Asus A8N-VM. You can put a PCI-E card in later if needed.

[Khalil]

Those Xclio's sound awesome I just ordered one for one my machines, glc seems to recommend them heavily.

[Disgrace]

Originally Posted by Khalil It all looks good, I only suggest you go to a Sony or Lite on optical drive instead of the Samsung.

Agreed.

[Marke522]

He's wanting the computer because his current one is unable to play BF 2, and BF 2142. He currently plays Call of Duty 2 with me. He currently has a Dell with a Pentium 4 2.0, 512 Mb ram, and an Nvidia Geforce 6200 256 graphics card. Don't know about the manufacturer, it's most likey AGP.

I didn't notice that about the power supply, or the burner, was wondering why it was so much less. I did that design around midnight, so I figured a mistake or two would have been made. I searched Newegg by Top Sellers > Lowest Price. I only get Sony for my own machines, but I was more concerned with staying within his budget.

Now thinking about:
XClio 450BL ATX 450W Power Supply $37.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189003

LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW - $38.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106045

OR

SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X - $45.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827131039

EDIT -- Been comparing the 2 power supplies to each other, and I don't see a difference in the specifications that would indicate wether or not one of them is 2.0. Please help so I don't make the same mistake again.

[flanzig1]

Via chipsets play well with AMD but not so well with Intel.

[newbuilder14]

I don't see where GLC recommended a Via chipset. I believe the A8N-VM uses integrated GeForce graphics; I used one in a build myself (which by the way I do recommend). Perhaps you mistakenly looked up an A8V-VM.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by newbuilder14 I don't see where GLC recommended a Via chipset. I believe the A8N-VM uses integrated GeForce graphics; I used one in a build myself (which by the way I do recommend). Perhaps you mistakenly looked up an A8V-VM.

Very easy to make the mistake between the 2 boards.

You are correct A8N-VM has NVIDIA GeForce 6100 + nForce 410.
I don't see glc recomending a VIA chipset either.

[Marke522]

I typed Asus A8N-VM into the Newegg search, and came up with this.

Didn't notice Newegg's mistake the first time.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...o.x=17&Go.y=28

ASUS A8V-VM SE Socket 939 VIA K8M890 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

See if the search bar works for you.

[andper10]

PSU's are kind of subjective. There is a helpful in house list that lists out the good and bad PSU's: http://www.forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195 . That Xclio is a sweet spot bewteen price and preformance. With modern PSU's you want to be sure it is a good manufacturer, and look at the Amps on the 12V rail(s). The thermaltake only has one 12V rail at 18 Amps, but the Xclio has two 12V rails, one with 15Amps and one with 17Amps. Personally, I would just get a DVD burner without litescribe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106043 ) unless your friend will use it alot. Other than that, it looks like a nice build, except that the ram is out of stock. The only other option without waiting for it to come back in stock or buying it elsewhere would be to go with an intel build. You would only need to change the processor, motherboard, and ram.

$91.00 - Intel Pentium D 805 Smithfield 2.66GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual Core,EM64T Processor - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116001

$69.99 - CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146580

$75.99 - ASUS P5L-MX LGA 775 Intel 945G Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131041

That totals $236.98 for those 3 components. Your other selection totals $222.97 for those 3 components. But with the Intel you could have troubles with the IDE Hard drive and the DVD drive on the same IDE channel. Just thought I would put that out there for you. With the Intel build, you would have the ability to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo in the future. It would also give you faster ram (but only 2 ram slots). I am not sure how those two processors compare, but I believe that the Pentium D 805 is good for overclocking, and someone said that the AMD you chose overclocked well too, so maybe they are about the same. Enjoy your build!

[Khalil]

I would stick to the AMD 3700 over the Pentium D.
One of my friends is big time into BF2 and he is one of the top players in the game.
He does not make much money and can't afford big time rigs. He is playing and kicking rear with the same processor (AMD 3700) and ATI X850XT with 2 Gigs of memory.
This rig for your friend should do very well. There is so much over kill out there but I guess some people want the "bestest and fastest"

[glc]

If you need a video card - and for that use you do - then the A8N5X makes the most sense.

I said *if you can FIND* an A8N-VM - Newegg doesn't CARRY it any more. But that's now a moot point.

Just remember that a 939 is going to limit any future upgrade - what processor you put in now is pretty much going to be what you will have to stay with. With an Intel 775, you have an upgrade path. You would just have to live with a slower processor for the money right NOW.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by glc Just remember that a 939 is going to limit any future upgrade - what processor you put in now is pretty much going to be what you will have to stay with. With an Intel 775, you have an upgrade path. You would just have to live with a slower processor for the money right NOW.

I believe the same would apply to the AM2 processors don't you think?
Are you sure 775 is going to continue going on, in the past Intel changed sockets faster than an average person changes socks.

[glc]

I don't care for AM2 bottom end - the memory controller is too inefficient. Buying DDR2-800 defeats the purpose of a budget.

Core 2 Duos and quads are all on 775 so far. AMD is going to change sockets again before Intel, I do believe.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by glc I don't care for AM2 bottom end - the memory controller is too inefficient. Buying DDR2-800 defeats the purpose of a budget.

Could you please explain?

[Mr.Ferrari]

Because in order to match performance of 939, you need DDR2 800 ram, and you need ultra low latency DDR2 to just get a 2-5% increase in performance. Meaning, if you want to reak out any performance benefits, you need to spend big bucks on ram.

And AMD has already switched from 939 to AM2 after about 2 years of 939, AM2 to AM2+ within this year, and AM2+ to AM3 late next year. Compared to intel socket 775 running strong for the past 3-4 years or so? And with no word of any socket change either as far as I know..

Also AM2 had been very finicky with ram compatibility.

It might be fine for normal/gaming purposes, but not for budget.

[Khalil]

Good thing I got the Ram I have now then for my rig. It rocks. I see your point and actualy I did have an issue with another AM2 Opteron I built where I used 2 GB DDR2 533 and it did not do too well, I ended up replacing them with DDR2 800

[Marke522]

He could add an Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Toledo 2.4GHz later, $219.99 currently. That has a dual core processor.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103627

Wouldn't be as accessible as a Core 2 might be, but I don't finding a cpu like that would be too difficult. But then might be the end of it with the Toledo.

I think my friend is more concerned about the present, rather than making a path for the future, but I'll be sure to point out the advantages of using a board with an LGA 775 socket.

[glc]

Okay - that Toledo is a good processor, but $219 gets you a E6400 now - and will get you a E6600 in April - either one will handily outperform the AMD. However, that San Diego will spank any Intel in THAT price range.

Want to bet how long that Toledo will be around? They can disappear ANY day now. I doubt that there will be any price reductions on them - they are already secondary market only. Look at how much the high end Socket A's are now - the 3200+ Athlon XP is running $200 when you find them.

Bottom line - if you buy a 939, do it the way you want it NOW, do NOT count on being able to upgrade the processor later with any kind of affordability. The windows are closing fast.

[Marke522]

I'll have to ask my buddy if maybe he can wait until April, then think about getting an E6300 and pair it with an Asus P5B. Maybe if we wait a few more months, he could spend a couple hundreds dollars more, and get something that would not be "old" as soon as it was built.

Thanks TONS for all the ideas. I think he's a bit overwhelmed right now, didn't realize there were so many things to consider when choosing parts.

I also told him, if he thinks this is getting to be too much for him, then perhaps check out www.outlet.dell.com I know they have some great prices once in awhile. Maybe I could justify getting a Dell if the price was right.

[glc]

Do not get a Dell if you plan on gaming - they don't come with strong gaming cards and the PSU can't handle much of an upgrade. To game with a Dell you need an XPS - and those ain't cheap.

[PatJr1979]

I'm also looking to upgrade my computer as it has not had any loving in quite a while. My budget also looks to be around $500 for the components I would like to purchase. This is what I have been looking at purchasing, and at the moment is all I need.

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131041

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116001

1 GB of Ram (for now):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146580

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130056

Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189003

This all comes out to be around $434.96 without shipping and such.
I tried to take what was already recommended here because it fit what I was hoping to do.
I am really new to this so any suggestions are welcome. Hopefully everything will work well together and no mistakes were made.

Thanks for your time all. Loads of info on these boards for sure.

[glc]

Pat, please start your own thread to discuss your proposed build. Thread hijacking is discouraged here. Thank you.

[PatJr1979]

My apologies, that certainly wasn't my intention. Post will be moved.