$700 budget, First build

[Avalanche941]

This is my first build, and I have a $700 budget. I already have an OS, Monitor, Keyboard, and mouse. Since I will not be gaming, I do not need that great of a PC. I will however, be animating in 2D, which does not require that much specs. Here is the list of parts and a URL, partly copied from the "Generic Parts List"; made by Panama Red

Case: Rosewill R6AS5-BK 0.8mm SECC 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
This seems to fit my specifications, and does not cost too much.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147040

PSU: COOLER MASTER Real Power RS-450-ACLX ATX12V 450W Power Supply
Enough wattage, seems reliable
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171005

Mobo: ASUS M2N-E SLI Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 500 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
Seems reliable, is ASUS, and is Socket AM2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131096

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Processor
Fast, good at multitasking.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103747

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Lots of storage! SATA 3.0 GB/s!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136003

RAM: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145568

Pri Optical: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R Burner with 12X DVD-RAM write and LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model LH-20A1H-186 - Retail
Can read multiple types of disk.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106045

Sec Optical: Will add later.

Sound Card: Onboard Sound

Video Card: CHAINTECH GSV73LE-G2 GeForce 7300LE 128MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Low Profile Video Card with L-P Bracket
Inexpensive, good reviews.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814145138

FDD: Will most likely not need, but if I do need it I will add later.

Keyboard: Already have.

Mouse: Already have.

Modem: Apollo ENF656-GHW-INPR 56Kbps 56K V.92 PCI Fax Modem
Cheap dial-up modem
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16825132002

Lan: Not sure about this. Doesn't this come usually with a mobo?

Monitor: Already have, a 20 in. from previous computer.

Speakers: On the monitor that I already have.

OS: Already have (Xandros Linux that I bought)

Is a dual-core PC too ambitious for such a low budget and me having little experience in building a PC? Is there anything wrong with these? Reliability is the main concern. It should not die within 2 years of building it.

Thanks!

[Khalil]

Great choice for processor but I would go with DDR2 800 instead.
Why you buying an SLI board? I would spend abit more on a better Video card and buy the M2N-E without the SLI
That coolermaster is definately a no no!
Go with an FSP, Sparkle or Antec for Power supplies, if you stick to SLI make sure and get an SLI certified power supply for future upgrades.
Also you might want to go with Seagate 7200.10 with a 16mb buffer for a hard drive. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140
You can build a heck of an AMD machine for $700

[Avalanche941]

I didn't even notice it being SLI.... I would have never used SLI anyway. How about this power supply?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103937

A little pricy, but has all the features that I would like (at least 400W, with 12v power connector)
I can't seem to find any good PSU under $50. This seems like a good fit though.

Why is it that some PSU's have huge wattage, yet cost so little? Here is an example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817192001

Really confusing.

Do you have any recommendations for a non-SLI Socket AM2 motherboard? The non-SLI M2N-E is $2 less than the one with SLI, and does not have as many slots for PCI (and PCI Express, and stuff like that)


Thanks for the advice, Kahlil!

[flanzig1]

This Xclio will power your rig very nicely: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189003

As for the price verses watts differances, it has to do with the quality of parts in the PSU or some makers cut corners to make a PSU cheaper: they may leave out filter caps/surge protection/use a smaller gage wire/over state the max watts/etc.

[LeftyAce]

PSUs with huge wattage that cost very little are probably junk. Since a dying psu can fry other components, it's never a good idea to trust all your expensive gear to a cheap-o psu :-)

[andper10]

I would get the Xclio 450BL. There is a list of good and bad PSU's here: http://www.forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195 . You should also get a Seagate 7200.10 Hard Drive. You should also look into a Core 2 Duo E6300 or a Pentium D 915. You also might want to look into getting a LiteOn 18x DVD Burner instead of the 20x because the 20x one doesn't have very good reviews. Enjoy your build!

[glc]

If you are going to do that AMD, get the standard M2N-E board and DDR2-800 ram. The 7300LE is fine for that use as long as it's not Turbocache.

[Avalanche941]

Originally Posted by glc If you are going to do that AMD, get the standard M2N-E board and DDR2-800 ram. The 7300LE is fine for that use as long as it's not Turbocache.

Is there a way to do it with Intel, yet stay around $700?

[chuck4456]

INTEL C2D E6300 184.00
INTEL 946GZIS Motherboard 84.00
CORSAIR VALUE SELECT DDR2667/1GB 77.00
SEAGATE 250 GB 16mb PRT Hard Drive 80.00
XClio 450w PSU 40.00
EVGA 7600GT 120.00 (optional)

That's 585.00 for core components. I put (optional) next to the video card because that board offers considerably impressive onboard video. Leaves you room for options. You can get
2 GIGS of CVS for about 150. right now. The INTEL 946GZIS is a good, straightforward, all purpose motherboard. Very user friendly.

[Avalanche941]

I would prefer a motherboard that was the ATX form factor, but I guess its okay. I will be using the Xclio PSU, and the C2D parts list.

Thanks everyone!

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Avalanche941 I would prefer a motherboard that was the ATX form factor, but I guess its okay.

There's really nothing wrong with the micro-ATX format...sure it's smaller but because almost everything is already built in there is no need for the extra expansion slots. I'd say my last 10 builds used micro-ATX motherboards with on-board video, sound and NIC. For a budget build a micro-ATX motherboard is almost always a good choice.

Cricket

[newbuilder14]

Try to see if you can stretch for an Asus P5B.

[glc]

To get a decent full ATX board without onboard video will be $30 to $40 more. The Asus P5B and the Intel DP965LT are the best 2 going at the lower end of the P965 price spectrum. The 946GZIS is a good budget board, but the P965 chipset is a definite step up.

[Avalanche941]

Originally Posted by glc The Asus P5B and the Intel DP965LT are the best 2 going at the lower end of the P965 price spectrum.

But which one? I favor the P5B, due to it being Asus, which allows you to download the memory compatibility list from its site, and I am not sure about Intel. Is one better than the other? Or should I go with the 946GZIS?

[glc]

If you can fit the P5B into your budget, get it.

[danielson]

Unless you're going to do a hefty overclock then buying Intel right now is just not the way to go. You'll get much better price performance out of AMD. The cpu and mobo you chose were both a bit frivolous, especially since you only chose 1GB of ram. If you choose a slightly cheaper mobo and cpu it will allow you to get 2GB of ram and in the end have a faster system that with the more expensive cpu and mobo with 1GB of ram. There's a really wicked deal right now at newegg. here it is.

Biostar Tforce 550 Mobo + X2 3600+ cpu combo for $149
I have a friend that has this system and has easily overclocked it to 2.75ghz. Normally you'd pay about $185 for those two components but newegg has that combo deal on right now.
2GB's of Corsair Value select PC 5300 Ram $160
There's no need for DDR2 800, you will get the same results with 667.
7600GT video card $89 after a small M.I.R.
Seagate 320GB HD $88
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R Burner like you suggested $38
FSP Fortron 450w PSU $50
Case of your choice: $75

That's about $650 and it will offer you much more performance that anything you can come up with from Intel at that price and with all those parts. The fact is, at stock speeds, the AMD X2-3600 cpu and biostar will run only barely slower than a stock E6300, and considering you're paying $150 for both...when the E6300 is $185 by itself, there's no comparison. You could easily overclock that cheap $150 combo and exceed the performance of the the stock E6300.

[glc]

Danielson, please do not push overclocking in the BYOPC forum unless the OP requests info on it. That's what we have an OC forum for.

I have no problem with you recommending AMD, but I do have a problem with misleading statements. The E6300 benches about 20% higher than a 3600+. The E6300 overclocks just as well as a 3600+.

[danielson]

Actually you're totally wrong. The E6300 overclocks far better than the 3600. Any there was nothing said that is misleading. Another thing, mentioning if a board or cpu is a good overclocker or not is very PERTINENT to someone who is making system build choices and is totally appropriate. Please refrain from interupting these threads. People need to know what their choices are and what the benefits and downsides of certain products are. When you're building a system this is very important.

[DarkPacMan77]

I agree with danielson... I mean... I'd rather not buy things and THEN learn of the overclock potential, I'd much rather hear about what it can do before-hand. I think this helps out more being said now than later, even though there is an OC forum.

I'd have to choose the E6300 though. It is a great choice for even $1500 builds.

[glc]

Please refrain from interupting these threads.

If you haven't noticed, I'm the admin around here and I'd advise you to review the forum rules, especially rule 7.