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$500 desktop build

I

IceBrewedBeer

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
145
Been a long time since I posted, probably just as long not paying attention to whats out on the market nowadays.

A buddy of mine is looking to build a desktop and is shooting around $500 dollars. He can over budget a little bit but doesn't want too. He's running some small 15" Dell LCD. He's upgrading from a Dimension 3300

List:
Mobo
CPU
RAM
GPU
PSU
Case

I think I have it all there. He's gonna be using it for college, multimedia, and light gaming. He's not brand loyal so anything goes. Big thanks.
 
Please answer the questions listed in the "Asking for Build Help?" sticky. While you've answered some of them, we still need a few more details.

Additionally, we need to know which types of games your friend plans on playing with this system, as well as the level of visual quality he prefers.
 
Hey, I'm IceBrewedBeers buddy, he told me about this so I decided to check it out. I'll help answer the remaining questions.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
college, multimedia, and light gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
500, it's not set in stone I can go up enough if it's worth it. Without tax and shipping.
3) Where do you live?
Sarasota, FL.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything except: mouse, monitor, and keyboard. Although suggestions would be nice seeing as they're old.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Maybe my 2nd hard drive, kind of irrelevant to the build as I would like another TB of space.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Not to familiar with this, if it's worth it than yes.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
15" Throw some things at me, I wouldn't mind a 19-20" one.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Probably in this month or the next.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Crossfire would be nice for the future, firewire would also be a plus. Pretty much the normal stuff.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, windows 7 64 bit.
 
$200 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + BIOSTAR A785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$55 - Patriot 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$90 - ZOTAC ZT-98GES3G-FSL 9800GT 512MB PCI-E Video Card
$56 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - LG GH22NSS50 DVD Burner
$50 - Corsair 400CX 400W PSU
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
---
Total: $526 plus tax and shipping

The 9800GT should work just fine for light gaming up till 1440x900. Went a tad overboard on the CPU BUT from a price to performance perspective, the above CPU + mobo combo was one of the best. RAM is cheap and easy to upgrade so you can always add more RAM later on.
 
Have you looked at the various dell deals and whatnot? Haven't checked them as of late but you should be able to get a 2.93 dual core with a 20 inch screen for under 600 shipped if you watch the sales.
 
Danny Bui said:
$200 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + BIOSTAR A785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$55 - Patriot 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$90 - ZOTAC ZT-98GES3G-FSL 9800GT 512MB PCI-E Video Card
$56 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - LG GH22NSS50 DVD Burner
$50 - Corsair 400CX 400W PSU
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
---
Total: $526 plus tax and shipping

The 9800GT should work just fine for light gaming up till 1440x900. Went a tad overboard on the CPU BUT from a price to performance perspective, the above CPU + mobo combo was one of the best. RAM is cheap and easy to upgrade so you can always add more RAM later on.
Click to expand...

Hmm, this looks really good to me. The only thing is I'd like to able to crossfire later if I get into gaming and need the extra umph. I could go a tad bit closer to $600. I'm going to look to see if there's any more deals for that CPU.
 
Here are a couple of good CrossFire-capable boards:

$100 - MSI 790X-G45
$120 - Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4

Both boards offer dual x8 CrossFire support, but the Gigabyte board supports USB 3.0 and SATA III and is known to be a pretty good overclocker. (There's little information available on the MSI board other than the fact that it supports CrossFireX.)
 
swatbat said:
Have you looked at the various dell deals and whatnot? Haven't checked them as of late but you should be able to get a 2.93 dual core with a 20 inch screen for under 600 shipped if you watch the sales.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Sure, the Dell wouldn't have a 9800GT, but a 20" LCD @ 1680x1050 is much better than a 15" LCD with XGA.
 
I ended up putting some stuff together and got to just under $700 with all the combos, I don't know if I want to spend that much but I think the bang for the buck might be worth it.

$26.99 - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA
$50 - COOLER MASTER ELITE 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$55 - Western Digital AV-GP WD5000AVDS 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$120 - GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 AMD 790X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
$110 - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
$160 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
These two are in a bundle adding up to $190
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready
XFX HD-477A-YDFC Radeon HD 4770 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

With this I could always buy another card for $100 and be able to play some decent games. What do you guys think?
 
 
Last edited:
Not that good. Ditch the slow AV-GP HDD and go with the significantly faster AAKS drive I recommended earlier. Crossfire is rarely a good idea for a monitor and resolution below 24" and 1920x1200. Stock of the HD 4770 has been drying up lately so more than likely you won't be able to find it again later in the future.

If you're willing to increase your budget to $700, then here's what I recommend:
$200 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + BIOSTAR A785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$258 - Asus CuCore Series EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 5770 1GB PCI-E Video Card + OCZ Obsidian OCZ3OB1600LV4GK 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$56 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$25 - LG GH22NSS50 DVD Burner
$90 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
---
Total: $679 plus tax and shipping

The above setup has a faster hard drive, higher speed RAM, and faster video card that would perform on par with HD 4770 Crossfire.

With that said, even a HD 5770 or HD 4770 Crossfire is complete and total overkill for a 15" monitor and slight overkill for a 19" monitor.
 
Alright, I've put together what everyone has said and morphed it into my own build, the only thing I'm missing is a graphics card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289 CD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119161 Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073 Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128416 Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277 Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674 CPU

I really like the fact the motherboard has usb 3.0 since I plan to keep this for a while.
I'm kind of conflicted on the graphics card, do I go the extra mile and dish out some more cash or skimp on it? I've got the money and I set my starting price low because knowing me it it always goes up way beyond what I planned.

I was also still looking at this combo, I don't really know though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.387727
 
Could you please list the part names with those links so we don't have to click on all of them? Thanks.
 
Sure thing man, sorry. Not to savvy with the technology links.

CD burner - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner $22
Case - Same cooler master
Hard drive - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 AMD 790X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible
Ram - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
 
McKenna said:
I was also still looking at this combo, I don't really know though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.387727
Click to expand...

Still a bad choice considering the following information:
You can get the following parts for $190 total:
$90 - Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W PSU
$110 - PowerColor AX4850 1GBD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
--
$190 total

The Antec 620C is more than enough for your planned setup. In addition, the HD 4850 1GB is faster than the HD 4770 512MB. In addition, for a 15" monitor, the HD 4850 1GB is all that you need. It's even adequate for a 19" monitor. No way in hell will your setup need a 750W PSU. In addition, it's just plain stupid to plan on crossfiring HD 4770 512MB cards in the first place.
 
Alright, I lucked out. My dads giving me his 24" monitor and getting a new one, it's too big for him and just clutters his desk.

CD burner - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner $22
Case - Same cooler master
Hard drive - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 AMD 790X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible
Ram - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

I'm going to stick with this except I'm getting this graphics card and CPU combo. I choose the AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4ghz over the 955 3.2ghz because the combo was $20 more and it came with a $15 gift card, so for $5 why not?

The graphics card I decided on with the new 24" in the picture is
XFX HD-577A-ZNDC Radeon HD 5770 XXX Edition 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

The only thing I'm worried about is the motherboard specs don't have 1600 ddr3 under the supported ram, I figure since it has 1066 1333 and 1866(OC) support it will be just fine, but that's a expensive and time wasting mistake to make so I'd like to double check.

Thanks for all the help, and sorry for being a ignorant pain.
 
McKenna said:
The only thing I'm worried about is the motherboard specs don't have 1600 ddr3 under the supported ram, I figure since it has 1066 1333 and 1866(OC) support it will be just fine, but that's a expensive and time wasting mistake to make so I'd like to double check.
Click to expand...

RAM will downclock to the lowest OR highest speed supported by the motherboard. So DDR3 1600 RAM will work just fine. In addition, it's not a very expensive mistake considering that the price differences is no more than $5 to $10.
 
Danny Bui said:
RAM will downclock to the lowest OR highest speed supported by the motherboard. So DDR3 1600 RAM will work just fine. In addition, it's not a very expensive mistake considering that the price differences is no more than $5 to $10.
Click to expand...

Ah, I did not know that. Yeah, I was just trying to come off like I knew something, hahaha. Does everything look pretty good to you? Thanks for sticking around by the way.
 
McKenna said:
Ah, I did not know that. Yeah, I was just trying to come off like I knew something, hahaha. Does everything look pretty good to you? Thanks for sticking around by the way.
Click to expand...

You can get this combo deal that costs just as much as your current CPU + mobo setup:
$285 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AMD 890GX ATX Motherboard

The Gigabyte mobo above has 6 SATA 6Gb/s support, x8/x8 Crossfire support, onboard video for backup, and a slightly better southbridge. In addition, if you buy the mobo before May 20th, there's a promo code that shaves off another $15 off from the mobo's price. The promo code is located on the Newegg page for the above mobo and you may have to register for Newegg's newsletter.
 
Danny Bui said:
You can get this combo deal that costs just as much as your current CPU + mobo setup:
$285 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AMD 890GX ATX Motherboard

The Gigabyte mobo above has 6 SATA 6Gb/s support, x8/x8 Crossfire support, onboard video for backup, and a slightly better southbridge. In addition, if you buy the mobo before May 20th, there's a promo code that shaves off another $15 off from the mobo's price. The promo code is located on the Newegg page for the above mobo and you may have to register for Newegg's newsletter.
Click to expand...

Good stuff man, I'll get out of your hair now. Appreciate it.
 
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