Can you beat this package?

[Garb]

So Im building on a SERIOUS budget. I built my current PC about 5 or 6 years ago and I desperately need a new one. MY MAX for this build is around $400USD. Fortunately I am going to reuse the case, PSU (750W, was replaced a year ago), Optical Drives, and Video Card.

I do not use the PC for gaming anymore and I am a full time student. The most intensive thing I will use this for will be programs like photoshop, lightroom, matlab, autocad, and solidworks. Any input is welcome and I would love to see a better deal.

Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA74GM-S2 AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 740G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Newegg.com - A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AD2U800B2G5-DRH
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor ADX620WFGIBOX

Follow up question, is a student copy from Microsoft Office Professional Academic 2010 the best deal on windows 7?

[David M]

Get this drive instead. It's more reliable, same capacity and costs less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-359-_-Product

Go with an inexpensive Asus board. They are more reliable.

Originally Posted by Garb Follow up question, is a student copy from Microsoft Office Professional Academic 2010 the best deal on windows 7?

What you have linked is Office Professional, not Windows 7 Home. The regular OEM price for a full install of Windows 7 Home is around $100. So if you can get an academic version of Windows 7 for less then you are doing good.

[Garb]

Thanks for the reply! How about a board like this one?
Newegg.com - ASUS M4N68T-M AM3 NVIDIA Geforce 7025/nForce 630a Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

And sorry, this is the link I meant to post
Windows 7 Student Discount

[David M]

That's a micro-ATX board. I'm going to let others who are more familiar with AMD processors make a recommendation.

That's the best price for a full install of Windows 7 Home that I have ever seen.

[Garb]

Something I just discovered is that I can get a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate UPGRADE edition for $14.95 through the school. Great deal except the only other OS I own is a 32-bit (I think) copy of XP. Can I install the 32 bit XP on the 64 bit machine and then just upgrade to ultimate?

[glc]

The upgrade can be installed on a blank drive. Google will get you the procedure.

[Garb]

Awesome, thats great news for my budget! Any other advice?

Should I swap out this mobo or not worry about it?

[rwest]

I like my Gigabyte board and have had no problems with it. Asus tend to be the prefered reccomendation on the site and other sites I frequent. The system builders here will suggest Asus over Gigabyte due mostly to the support you can receive from Asus if you have any problems. I haven't ever needed support from either manufacturer so I don't know how Gigabyte's support is.