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Old 05-17-2010, 08:23 PM   #1
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Question Need some input on $525 desktop
I'm building a tower for my dad and we have $525 to spend on one. I have been out of the loop for a while so forgive me if I picked out some bad parts. All he does is play games on Pogo and browse the web so this is a pretty basic build. I already have a good hard drive and CD drive to use so those won't be needed. Here is what I came up with, any suggestions would be great. thanks

Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129069

PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371035

Mobo- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131638

CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115215

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231193
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Case...Cooler Master Centurion 5 | PSU...Corsair TX750
Mobo............Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H
CPU..............AMD Athlon 64 X2, OC @ 3.0ghz
RAM.............2gb Gskill DDR2 800
CPU Cooler...Zalman 9700
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Monitor.........22" Acer LCD
Storage........500gb Seagate
DVD.............Lite On DVD Burner
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Old 05-17-2010, 09:59 PM   #2
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I don't think you need to spend the money on the i5-750, with what he uses it for.

I think this will still perform more than adequately for his purposes.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115222

I have no experience or advice about the motherboard choice.
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Old 05-17-2010, 10:03 PM   #3
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I didn't know if the quad core would be better for future proofing, but that dual core looks like it will work nicely.
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Old 05-17-2010, 10:07 PM   #4
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Thinking about this more, if that's all he really does, I wouldn't even worry about future proofing.

I'd step it down even further, and spend the money you save on something else like a nice TV or monitor.

Mobo: ASUS M4A77D AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131618

CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103688

Memory: A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AD2U800B2G5-DRH
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211188


Seriously, for surfing and playing games on Pogo, why spend anywhere near $500!
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Old 05-18-2010, 12:41 AM   #5
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In reference to the original system you posted, I'd get an Antec Sonata 3 500 case instead of that case/CPU combo. I'd also step up to the P7H55-M Pro motherboard (better onboard audio) and down to an i3-530 processor.
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Old 05-21-2010, 09:31 PM   #6
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I put it together and have some problems.

Here is the list of parts I used.

Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129069

PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371035

Mobo- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-623-_-Product

CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-222-_-Product

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231193

I put everything together and went to turn it on. It eventually came up on the monitor to set up the bios, I did and rebooted it. After that it never turned the monitor led from orange to blue. So I took the mobo out of the case and set it on the box, I turned on the motherboard and it said insert a drive on the screen. I rebooted it one more time to see what it would do and after that I could never get the monitor to come on.

I'm thinking of RMAing the mobo and returning the RAM to get some that is on the compatibility list. I looked on the list and didn't see the RAM I bought. What do you guys think?
Last edited by amdalex; 05-21-2010 at 10:32 PM.
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Old 05-21-2010, 09:57 PM   #7
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the links for RAM ,case and PSU are not working.

Which slots did you put the RAM in? Most Mobo's require you to put the first two dimms in particular slots.
When you plugged it in out of the case, did you have a SATA drive, RAM, and mouse/keyboard attached?

You using the onboard video? VGA or DVI?
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Old 05-21-2010, 10:30 PM   #8
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On board video, I tried two dimms in the correct slots and one of each the correct slot. I didn't have any drives or peripherals attached when testing, which I know won't affect it sending a signal to the monitor.

I tried DVI and VGA, neither worked.
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Old 05-21-2010, 11:56 PM   #9
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When you turned it on the first time and it got to the BIOS, what settings did you change, if any? Does that mobo have a CMOS reset dip switch or button?
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Old 05-22-2010, 12:25 AM   #10
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It didn't show the POST screen, it just came up with a menu. I didn't change any settings.
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Old 05-22-2010, 08:56 AM   #11
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About 6 months ago I bought a Toshiba Satalite laptop with a 15 inch monitor from Best Buy for 440.00 plus tax.The price has since come down to under 400.00.Its plently fast and realiable.Im impressed with its performance.I would recommend this lap top to anyone.The reason that I purchased it is because my two year old HP laptop display failed.The replacement screen from HP was 400.00 plus installation.So instead I added an exisiting 19 inch external monitor and religated the HP to permanant status on the kitchen table(always on ).The Toshiba is my portable when traveling.For the price it may beat building your own.
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Old 05-22-2010, 10:39 AM   #12
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RMK, the system is already built and we are now in the troubleshooting phase.

Also, it's not really appropriate coming into a thread in the BUILD your own PC forum and suggesting the person buy a laptop.
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Old 05-25-2010, 10:12 PM   #13
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Just wanted to let you guys know, I got two sticks of Corsair RAM and everything is working perfectly now.
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