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$500 budget build

C

cbliss1000

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
361
Greetings to my favorite hardware forum. A good buddy has asked for help constructing a budget build, details below.... thanks!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Doctoral thesis + TF2 and Portal 2 breaks.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$500, less is better, tax/shipping included.
3) Where do you live?
Ithaca, NY.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, mobo, RAM, GPU, PSU, HD, case, wireless adapter
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
none. Maybe reusing a friends MATX case, but unsure of make/model (for now)
6) Will you be overclocking?
Not a priority, but probably.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Currently buying (not included in budget) - probably 1920 x 1080. Any suggestions in the $120-180 range?
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP, though depending on the wife's mood may not be able to purchase everything at once (but let's assume the best).
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
Nothing fancy. Definitely not going SLI or Xfire.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yup - using Win 7 64.


Thanks again.
 
 
Awesome, thanks for the replies.

@tony: I do in fact visit the city all the time, so it's a possibility.
@hoss: thanks for that, looks solid. I might try to get him a x4, but that's a damn good price...
 
If you're going there soon, Microcenter has the Intel Core i3-2100 on sale with a motherboard for $120. Reserve one online before you go in though as they go out fast.

Otherwise, Microcenter has also been running very competitive CPU+motherboard deals on AMD processors too. For this budget, I would suggest the AMD Phenom II X4 840 for $100 or the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition for $150, both with the MSI 785GTM-E45. To get an AM3+ upgrade route he'd need to consider the MSI 870A-G54, which is $40 more. (That motherboard is BIOS upgradeable to AM3+.) Can you wait a month to purchase? Bulldozer (AMD's new CPUs) should be coming out at the end of May, which could upset CPU pricing depending on how things pan out.

If you have to buy today though, here's what I would get for your budget and described usage.

$100 - AMD Phenom II X4 840 + MSI 785GTM-E45 (taxes not included)
or
$120 - Intel Core i3-2100 + MSI H61-E33 (taxes not included)
$39 - Patriot Signature 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
$140 - SAPPHIRE 100282XTREME Radeon HD 5850 Xtreme 1GB
$50 (with promo code EMCKFHB22) - HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.C HDS721010CLA332 (0F10383) 1TB 7200 RPM
$65 (use promo code EMCKFHD35)(before $20 MIR) - Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W
$21 - LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner
$60 - COOLER MASTER HAF 912

Subtotal: $475 for AMD, $495 for Intel
Taxes (unknown, only on Microcenter parts)
Shipping: $0
Total: $475 + taxes for AMD, $495 for Intel
Total after MIRs: $455 AMD, $475 Intel

Options:
  1. If you get the Phenom II X4 840, consider paying the extra $10 for the 785GT-E63 to get full ATX. This would be helpful for expansion purposes down the road. Otherwise the mATX board above will be good.
  2. The HAF 912 case is a good one. But you can save $60 and reuse your old case, or choose various other cases. But this one has good airflow and is reported to be easy to work in. I'm kicking myself for getting the Antec 300 over this just because the 300 was a bit cheaper at the time.
  3. The Sapphire 5850 for $140 really can't be beat on the bang/buck scale. It will be more than fast enough for TF2 and Portal 2 at 1080p (I have the 6870, which is about the same performance as the 5850, and run everything on high at 1080p.)
  4. If you don't like the idea of Patriot memory in your system, G.Skill is only $1 more.
  5. I don't think there's a better bang/buck power supply on Newegg right now than that Antec Neo 620C, especially after rebate.
  6. The Samsung F3 1TB is a faster hard drive than the Hitachi I listed, but it's currently more expensive. It seems to go on sale every so often for $55. For this budget though, I think the Hitachi will do fine.
  7. I like the Intel Core i3-2100 a lot. It's a fast chip at a good price. But you can't overclock with it. Take a look at some of the reviews of the chip to see how it stacks up to AMD's offerings. Here's the Anandtech Bench comparison between the 2100 and an AMD 645 (which is just 100 MHz slower than the 840.) Be sure to check out other reviews too -- you might be surprised.
 
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Killer, thanks. I'm going to meet with the fellow now, I'll bounce these ideas off him and see what he thinks.
 
UPDATE:

He has incrementally ordered all the parts save a microATX mobo and RAM. Any suggestions? The (already purchased) part list is:

AMD Phenom II X6 Six-Core Processor 1090T

Corsair Builder Series CX600 (CMPSU-600CX) 600W PSU

Thermalright Ultima 90I ULTIMA-90I Heatpipe CPU Cooler

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB

Galaxy GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB

Lite-On DVD Burner
Click to expand...

Any suggestions for a solid micro ATX budget board and RAM combo to compliment the above?

Also, for the curious, total build cost thus far is ~$450. Not bad I reckon.
 
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$55 - BIOSTAR A880G+ AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$33 - G.SKILL Value Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9S-4GBNT
Total: $88

This leaves room to upgrade to 8GB at a later date when your friend feels he/she needs a performance increase by just adding another 4GB stick of RAM. The motherboard is also X6 1090T compatible according to the supported CPU list.
 
Cheers! I don't see that RAM on the biostar's supported memory list but I see it has been packaged elsewhere with that mobo so I'm sure it's fine (?).

Thanks for the recs. I'll update when it's built.
 
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