Advice on PC Build.. suggestions?

S

Suprnova04

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 1, 2004
Messages
439
My buddy and I are building a computer for him for school, and he wants to pay around $600 and get the most out of it he can. He wants to be able to play some of the newer games and of course you're common stuff like word processing, etc.

Here is what I have spec'd out up to this point. Let me know what you think of it and please give any advice about things I should/could change. I'd like to go with a better GPU, but I can't think of any other category to skimp on to free up some monies to do so.. any ideas?
Thanks a lot :)

Case..................CHENMING 501AWBU-F-0 BLK........................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811125486
Motherboard....... ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 ................................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569
Processor.......... Athlon 64 3200+ Venice....................................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103535
Ram.................. Corsair ValueSelect 2x512................................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440
Power Supply..... FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX450-PN..............http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954
Hard Drive...........Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB ....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144415
Optical Drive....... LITE-ON Black DVD+/- RW..............................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106014
Graphics Card.....BFG Tech Geforce 7300GS ..............................http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143050
 
WAIT!!!

Prices on the 3200 should really go down.You could get a MUCH better video card if you save $ here and there. There are a few boards that are a bit cheaper as well.


Do you want to OC or not? If you don't care to OC you can get a mobo that's even cheaper!

That Asus is a good OCer NO DOUBT but you should try for a better VC and more than 1Gb of memory... look at this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157081
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138264
Some have issues with the lan though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189005
I've personally used and it is very good... for the price. Even at $50 it's very good.

I's search for another optical as well. Lite-On is not that good, mediocre.

I would also try a 1GB stick of ram instead of 2 512.

I've used and reviewed all the products mentioned.
 
Good point about the 1gb stick. If you're stuck with 1gb of RAM then don't get 2x512mb so you can upgrade to 2x1gb later. :cool:
 
 
MC FLMJIG said:
WAIT!!!

Prices on the 3200 should really go down.You could get a MUCH better video card if you save $ here and there.
Click to expand...
You think they'll drop soon?
 
If I remember correctly I think the 3200 should go down to the 120's!!! I don't remember exactly, might want to research a bit, but it should be this month.
 
OK! thanks for the heads-up on that.. i'll definitely wait a while at least for the possibility..
 
so you think the loss in processor would be worth the prospective gains in the graphics card?
 
Suprnova04 said:
so you think the loss in processor would be worth the prospective gains in the graphics card?
Click to expand...
With games, YES!!

Also, check these out:

CASE:
Cooler Master Centurion 534 $50 after MIR. The side facing HDD bays will really give you more freedom and room for longer GPUs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119106

OD:
NEC ND-4570A (new model) $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152070

PSU:
Stick with the FSP you originally selected as it has more amps on the +12V rails than the 500W XClio. Or go for the Antec TPII-550W (it's $90 though).

GPU:
eVGA 7600GT N554-AX (600 core, 1560 Mem) $160 after MIR.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130017

CPU:
Venice 3000+ $114
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537

MOTHERBOARD:
eVGA SLI NF41 $79
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813188002
 
The Xclio s a good psu and its soo cheap right now. sa dual rail so it si't too bad cause he's not anywhere near pushing it.

i don't recall, maybe I imagined it, but i remember reading AMD would drop prices.

That EVGA is not bad either. I would still pik the ASRock and save more $ over the ASUS and the EVGA. I've used all 3 and they are ALL good. Of course ASUS has the name behind it and the EVGA is a rebadge and ASRock is a div of ASUS.

NEC is good and I always reco but I tried this new Samsund DVD burner and its great. Good like the NEC and much quiter and smaller.
 
If you manage to squeeze some savings somewhere, I HIGHLY recommend upgrading to a 7600GT. That card is VERY much worth EVERY penny you spend on it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top