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$300 Budget Build

S

steve_huck513

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
103
I am trying to put together a sff pc for general web browsing, music, and word. I am on a tight budget. But im not expecting too much out of this pc.

Notes for build
-quiet
-cheap
-size
-not oc'ing

MicroAtx Build $288.96

Board- Biostar 785G http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138181
CPU- X2 255 3.1ghz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103844
Ram- Adata 4gbDDR3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211409
HDD- 30gb SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139162
Case- I have one already

MiniItx Build $289.95

Board- Zotac GF6100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500045
CPU- Same as above
Ram- Pqi 4gbDDR2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141337
HDD- Same as above
Case- Apex w/250W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154091


So what do you guys think? Any one have any input, on possibly some i could change to get a better deal? Right now I am leaning on the top build(mATX), just because it seems a little more versatile, the ram is a little more up to date, and If I threw a vid card in there I could do some light gaming
 
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What PSU will you be using with the mATX setup? And what OS will you be using?

With your limited budget, you really should not be spending any of it on a SSD
 
In my experience, power supplies included with cases are bad news. Whatever you do, make sure you don't skimp on the power supply. I've been there and done that. And it's not fun.

I've been impressed with Biostar mobos.

+1 on chopping out the SSD.
 
Steve,

If you already have a case for the m-atx, does this include a power supply? You don't mention this, but you also don't list it in your m-atx build...so I'm assuming you have one. If not, an Antec EarthWatts 380 or a Corsair 400/430 can be had for 29.99 shipped if you look around.

For $300, I would purchase a core i3 m-atx motherboard, core i3 - 530, G. Skill DDR3-1333mhz(2x2gb), and an Intel X-25V SSD(unless you need a lot of storage, as the others mentioned, these aren't cheap compared to HDD). If you look around, you can find decent used parts, if needed. Later on, when capital is running freely...you can add the video card of your choice.

I've put together this type of system for several people and myself...runs very well. They also usually pull about 30w from the wall while in 2d, 1w in sleep mode.

eVGA motherboard

If I was building it for myself, I'd make the above motherboard work...and purchase other components wisely. As I mentioned above, shop around. You can build a decent system - or the makings of a decent system for $300 and add to it at a later date as capital allows. I'd start with this motherboard and think GTX 460's in SLI or 5770's/6770's in Xfire with a better power supply later on...or I've seen GTX 260's for under a $100 sitting on E-Bay with no bids etc...when the 6 series from AMD comes out next month, there might also be some bargains to be had from the red team as well.


Best,

Liquid Cool
 
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Well, there's certainly one reason to go for an SSD drive in a budget build - an SSD is one thing that can make even a relatively mediocre computer feel quite snappy in use.
 
If you have a microcenter near you, they have a combo going on right now with AMD processors. You can get a Athlon x4 640 and an MSI 785GM-P45 AM3 785G mATX Motherboard for $120 + tax out the door (there is a $20 MIR on this board, so if you get the $20 it is only $100 total). If you want to save the $20 you can get the Biostar A780L Socket AM2_/AM3 760G mATX Motherboard for $100 + tax.

You can also get the Phenom II X2 555 black edition for about $12 less for each combo.
 
kjeldoran,

I moved away from AMD when the Core2Duo series came out in 2005...although, I've been hearing for over a year that AMD is very competitive in this price range. I need to start looking at this myself. It seems everyone is on a tighter budget this year and the number one sentence I've been hearing is...What can I get for this much? I might need to start taking a closer look at AMD myself.

Those prices seem very fair...;)

LC
 
I wanted to get ssd because I was sold that it was a huge prrfomance increase. If that is the Cade then I probably have a hard drive also.

Give me a few and I will put a new cart together and see what you guys think
 
steve_huck513 said:
I wanted to get ssd because I was sold that it was a huge prrfomance increase. If that is the Cade then I probably have a hard drive also.

Give me a few and I will put a new cart together and see what you guys think
Click to expand...

You still haven't answered my two questions.
 
I recommend this setup:
$103 - AMD Athlon II X2 245 CPU + Biostar TA785G3HD AMD 785G mATX Motherboard
$75 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$50 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
----
Total: $228 plus tax and shipping.

Looks like there is room for a cheap SSD after all.
 
Danny Bui said:
I recommend this setup:
$103 - AMD Athlon II X2 245 CPU + Biostar TA785G3HD AMD 785G mATX Motherboard
$75 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$50 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
----
Total: $228 plus tax and shipping.

Looks like there is room for a cheap SSD after all.
Click to expand...


I wad looking at that mobo the other day. I have heard good things about biostar, but never had one of their boards. I really like the build you threw together. I am probably going to take you advice. You can't beat that for $300 w/ a SSD. So what are your thoughts on the SSD. Is it worth the money? Will I see the performance increase?
 
steve_huck513 said:
So what are your thoughts on the SSD. Is it worth the money? Will I see the performance increase?
Click to expand...
I'm still looking into that SSD actually. Can't remember if that was one of the SSDs that was barely noticeable over a fast HDD.
 
That SSD seems all right. Can't find many reviews of it though.
 
The Kingston is otherwise OK, but horrid with 4K random reads/writes according to AnandTech's SSD bench database.

Comparing it to the 40GB X-25V as per the link above, I'd probably rather shell out the extra 30$ for the X-25V and gain a LOT better 4K performance, as well as the extra 10GB of space (with Win7, 30GB can get rather limiting quite soon - personally I'm using 38 gigs out of my 60GB Corsair Force F60 as my system drive). After all, there's often a lot of small files involved when loading applications etc, so 4K performance isn't something to scoff at.
 
I have half a dozen of these Antec 380w PSU's in operation. I've never had a single problem with them, the only downside I could comment on is noise level. They're not very quiet. Other than this, they do run very efficient.

I paid 29.99 ea. shipped for them from SuperBiiz.

LC
 
steve_huck513 said:
I am eliminating the SSD. Should I use my current 250gb HD for my boot drive, and get an external HD for storage?


What do you think of this psu?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
Click to expand...

I recommend using a fast hard drive like this instead:
$55 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

That PSU is good. But overpriced. Once you factor in shipping, that Antec Earthwatts is $51 shipped. The PSU I recommended is $52 shipped. For $1 more, you get an extra 3A on the +12V rail which means more room for future upgrades. So in other words, don't get the Earthwatts 380W unless it's actually $40 shipped.
 
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