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Budget Build Assistance

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Oldie

Oldie

Mean Old Administrator
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Hey guys, I'm at a bit of a loss when looking for a budget box, and would love some help if any of you are willing. My brothers really nice Asus laptop went to the great laptop beyond yesterday (trust me, it's not fixable), and he wants to replace it w/a desktop. On the other end of things, he's a bit strapped for cash and doesn't want any financial aid from a certain relative...build advice is another thing though. :)

I'll answer the questions in a minute but here's the cliffs:

-As close to $400 or lower as possible (Tower only)
-Have an OS already
-As much gaming power as he can get for that

On to the questions:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Primarily he's using it for school but likes to game (FPS/RTS) when time permits.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

He's looking to stick around $400 total if possible, I have an Amazon Prime account.

3) Where do you live?

Indiana, closest actual PC store is Fry's about 1.5 hours away.

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, Case, Ram, Mainboard, GPU, Optical Drive, Hard Drive

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

I've got a monitor he can have (Dell 2007fp 1600x1200).

6) Will you be overclocking?

Nope, not even a little.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

See #5 - Dell 2007fp 1600x1200

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

ASAP

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.

Nothing fancy, he'll never do SLI or x-fire w/this..that's for a bigger budget down the road.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Win 7 Ult. x64 Retail Key he was using on the laptop.

Used Ebay/FS-FT parts at a good deal are also quite welcome suggestions. Thanks for reading. :)
 
Hmm, really can't use Newegg combo deals at the moment since a lot of the new and old ones show up at the beginning of the month. If you're willing to wait a week, I can see if there's any decent Newegg combo deals available.

For now, here's a build list without combo deals:
$61 - AMD Athlon II X2 250 CPU
$55 - Biostar A770E3 AMD 770 ATX Motherboard
$22 - Patriot PSD32G13332 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$120 - PowerColor AX5770 1GBD5-H Radeon HD 5770 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$42 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$23 - Lite-On iHAS-324-98B 24X SATA DVD Burner
$40 - Corsair 430CX 430W PSU
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 ATX Case
---
Total: $413 shipped

$13 over budget but worth every penny.

If I'm not too tired tomorrow or if someone else hasn't already done it, I can see if I can find decently priced used parts over the FS/FT subforum.
 
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On top of what Danny mentioned earlier, the parts that you want to look for used are the processor (a cheap Athlon II or Phenom II quad-core), RAM (see if you can pick up a second 2GB DDR3 1333 stick), and video card (I've seen a few 5850s for around $150 or less).
 
Danny Bui said:
If I'm not too tired tomorrow or if someone else hasn't already done it, I can see if I can find decently priced used parts over the FS/FT subforum.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, that really looks pretty decent. I've been combing FS/FT, hoping a good combo deal pops up. Thanks to you as well for the response tirades. It's pretty easy to fill out a list of high-end, "get whatever you want" parts, but it's been awhile since I've had to go looking for the more economic end of things. :p
 
You can get a triple core with the potential to unlock for $12 more, and after $30 of mail in rebates the total is below $400.

$75 - AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz
$50 - BIOSTAR A780L3L (has core unlocker)
$20 - G.SKILL NS 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 F3-10666CL9S-2GBNS
$115 (before $20 MIR) - PowerColor AX5770 1GBD5-H Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit
$36 - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM
$20 - LG DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH24NS50
$40 - NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK
$45 (before $10 MIR) - CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 CMPSU-430CX 430W

Subtotal: $400.93
Shipping: $24.89
Total: $425.26
Total after MIRs: $395.26
Use coupon codes EMCKGGJ34 and EMCKFKJ24

Upgrades:

I'll admit, Powercolor isn't my first choice of video cards. You can get an HIS for $130 before a $30 MIR or an XFX for $135 before a $25 MIR. The XFX has a lifetime warranty and is what I would choose if streching your budget here.

If you want 4GB of Ram, your price goes to $40 for a two stick solution, or $43 before a $10 MIR for 1 stick. Here I'd go for the 1 stick with the MIR.

The 3-core AMD chip has the POTENTIAL to have the fourth core unlocked. Think of it as a bonus if you get it. If you want four cores with no unlocking, it's about $100 just for the chip. ($95 for an OEM Phenom II X4 or $100 for a retail box Athlon II X4. I'd go for the Phenom II X4 if you can scrounge up an AM3 heatsink+fan on the cheap.)

However, if your brother can limp by for a week without a computer, new combo deals are coming out that might help with the build (notice nothing above is a combo deal, and there's only two coupon codes on that build.)
 
 
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