$600-ish Budget Build?

E

Eighty8

n00b
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
Messages
5
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
--Primarily Gaming (FPS/WoW), but also Web and Graphic design (mostly photoshop but i dabble in some light 3d work).
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
--Shooting for a ballpark of $600, not including tax and shipping (I can WillCall at Mwave for $5)
3) Where do you live?
--Los Angeles County, California
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
--Mobo, Cpu, Ram, Gpu.. I think
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
--Case (not sure on model, generic ATX), Antec Basiq 500w PSU, A couple SATA Hdds,
6) Will you be overclocking?
--No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
--I have a 17in (1280x1024) in my pc room, but I do occasionally move things to the 40in (1920x1080) tv in the entertainment room.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
--There is a computer fair March 20th that Ill be visiting, depending on the prices Ill buy there, otherwise the end of March.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
--Nothing that I can think of.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
--I do, Windows Vista Home 32bit.

So basically as you can derive from all of the above, I have'nt built a PC in quiet some time. The last piece of hardware I bought was a Radeon x850 and that was some 4+ years ago. Id like something that should hold up for a resonable length of time (although I know the computing world can change rapidly). Please advise of any trade-offs that make sense or pieces that need upgraded in the following proposed build:

Mobo: $125
ASUS P7P55D LE
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUView.asp?scriteria=AA76406
CPU: $200
Intel i5-750
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUView.asp?scriteria=AA76366
MEMORY: $110
Kingston 2x2gb ddr3 1333
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUView.asp?scriteria=BA25731
VIDEO: $180
Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT)
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUView.asp?scriteria=BD11194
PSU: $0 (Reuse)
Antec Basiq Power 500W (BP500U)
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUView.asp?scriteria=BA31526
 
I would say that my proposed budget is liquid to some degree. I am shooting for that $600 ballpark, but it won't kill me to spend a little more, if the bang for the extra buck will be notably worth it. Also, I haven't been to the fair in a while and don't really know how the pricing is these days. If anyone has some suggestions that are maybe a little out of budget to keep an eye on that would help too. Lastly, the prices i listed were ballparked from mwave, I will shop between mwave, newegg, and the fair before making my purchase (i think the video card is like $20 less on newegg).
 
Hmm, that PSU is gonna be a stretch but doable.

Go with this CPU + mobo combo for $5 more:
$330 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU + Asus PP55D-E Intel P55 Motherboard combo

For $5 more you get SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 which makes the system a bit more future ready.

RAM, ditch the Kingston and go with this faster RAM:
$105 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM

GPU wise, ditch Sapphire and go XFX due to their lifetime warranty and excellent customer support:
$160 - XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB PCI-E Video Card

Total should be about $595 plus tax and shippping.
 
+1 to danny's suggestions but I would really consider looking to upgrade your psu. Corsair/Antec(not basiq)/Seasonic 500-600w psu would be a quality investment.
 
Yeah, there's some good deals on Antec PSU's, i'd look seriously at getting one of Antec's 600+ watt PSU's

A good quality PSU is the most important component in any PC, you could have top of the line everything, but if you have an Rosewill PSU, your computer is gonna shit on itself
 
Had a feeling Id need a new PSU. Thanks for all the input so far.
Does the i5-750 support DDR3-1600? Im seeing otherwise on intels spec sheet.

Would switching to an AMD Phenom II x4 965 based build make much of a difference. Like I said I'm primarily gaming. That could potentially free up some cash for a new PSU.
 
Last edited:
for gaming you could go with the Phenom and be just fine, but it makes more sense to go Intel since you will get more performance out of the Intel and it fits within your budget.

it's always best to buy the best possible parts that you can afford, and you wouldn't be really saving much at all over going Phenom. Since it fits your budget, best to stick with the Intel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top