Budget build for the wiff

J

jermany755

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
93
Hey guys. I came here for advice on a gaming computer build about a year ago and had great success, so I'm back! My wife really wants to be able to play Diablo 3 when it comes out some day, but we're pretty short on funds right now so I'm looking for budget build advice. Here we go...

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

Playing pretty vanilla games (Diablo 2&3, Sims 3) and web browsing.


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

About $600, give or take.


3) Where do you live?

Seattle area


4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

Everything but the monitor and peripherals. Will be using a 19" 4:3 BenQ monitor I have laying around.


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

Just the monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc.


6) Will you be overclocking?

Probably a little bit, but nothing extreme.


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

19" 4:3


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

By her birthday in August.


9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

I need it to have a spot to attach the processor and memory and video card. And power cords.


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

I already have a legit W7x64 key.


As you can see, I'm not looking for specific deals yet unless you see something really hot. Just trying to get a good idea about what gear I should keep my deal-eye out for. I would like to build this around an Athlon II x3 440 processor unless you have a good reason why I shouldn't. Thanks!

-Jeremy
 
3 months in advance is too soon to start planning a build. Post again a few weeks before you buy.

With that said, the X3 440 is not a good choice even for the $600 budget. You can easily fit in an AMD quad-core in that range.

Here's a prelim build:
$200 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + BIOSTAR A785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$110 - PowerColor AX4850 1GBD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$56 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$50 - Corsair 400CX 400W PSU
$20 - LG GH22NSS50 DVD Burner
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
---
Total: $596 plus tax and shipping.
 
Hrmm. Excellent suggestions, thank you. I know this is way premature, but I like to lurk around looking for deals on every component. It's just something I do.

edit: also I'm curious why you recommended that powercolor card over the many similarly-priced 4850's. I don't see that company recommended very often is all...
 
Diablo 3 huh.. Given blizzards release time frame I would expect you should be able to pickup a 12 Ghz Phenom VI x16 with a good motherboard for about 48 Euro's at the fry's in Renton. & yes I meant Euro's because by that point we will have been conquered by France.
 
jermany755 said:
edit: also I'm curious why you recommended that powercolor card over the many similarly-priced 4850's. I don't see that company recommended very often is all...
Click to expand...
Because I wasn't aware that the XFX HD 4850 1GB was $110 now :)

Go with the XFX.
 
Danny Bui said:
3 months in advance is too soon to start planning a build. Post again a few weeks before you buy.

With that said, the X3 440 is not a good choice even for the $600 budget. You can easily fit in an AMD quad-core in that range.

Here's a prelim build:
$200 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + BIOSTAR A785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$110 - PowerColor AX4850 1GBD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$56 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$50 - Corsair 400CX 400W PSU
$20 - LG GH22NSS50 DVD Burner
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
---
Total: $596 plus tax and shipping.
Click to expand...

That's the best bang-for-your-buck build I've seen in a longggggggggg time.

I would swap the Powercolor 4850 for the XFX though (same price etc)

Still, very nice Danny Bui.
 
horrorshow said:
That's the best bang-for-your-buck build I've seen in a longggggggggg time.

I would swap the Powercolor 4850 for the XFX though (same price etc)

Still, very nice Danny Bui.
Click to expand...

as I strongly dislike Biostar I Would recommend changing to this & this combo. Its a few bucks cheaper & gets an Asus board instead.
 
bastage said:
as I strongly dislike Biostar I Would recommend changing to this & this combo. Its a few bucks cheaper & gets an Asus board instead.
Click to expand...

You're saving $40, but you're also downgrading to a dual core from a quad core, which isn't a smart idea, especially since Danny's build is still under the budget.
 
bastage said:
as I strongly dislike Biostar I Would recommend changing to this & this combo. Its a few bucks cheaper & gets an Asus board instead.
Click to expand...

As Jlizard27 pointed out, that's a dual-core CPU. Yes there's a chance he could unlock and yes that dual-core would be enough for gaming, But that Biostar mobo isn't that bad to the point where dropping to a dual-core would be the better plan.
 
Danny Bui said:
As Jlizard27 pointed out, that's a dual-core CPU. Yes there's a chance he could unlock and yes that dual-core would be enough for gaming, But that Biostar mobo isn't that bad to the point where dropping to a dual-core would be the better plan.
Click to expand...

that was me not paying attention.. I actually thought that it was the CPU.. Damn I Was tired when I did that.
 
Hey thanks for all your help. I do like ASUS and I do like the idea of getting a more recent video card. Hey bastage if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you post the names or links to the individual products? The combo links aren't working on Newegg right now so i can't see what you're talking about. Peace!
 
Hey guys, I decided to go a different direction since a friend gave me a motherboard and a power supply (both brand new) for free. The motherboard is an Elitegroup G31T-M. I know it's cheap and kind of crappy and has integrated graphics, but the price is right. Plus this way I can come in way under budget and build it right now. So here's what I'm thinking now:

** indicate things I've already purchased.

case: NZXT Beta Evo - $30 after MIR **
MB: Elitegroup G31T-M - free **
CPU: Q6600 - $110 **
GPU: Used 4890 or new 5770 ~ $150
ram: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 - $95
DVD: ASUS dvd burner - $22 **
HD: Western Digital 500GB drive - $56
PSU: Antec EA430 - free **

So two questions now. Given the choice of a new 5770 and a used 4890 for about $150, which would you take? Also is that power supply going to be enough? Thanks again!

-J
 
That PSU will be enough for the HD 5770 but not the HD 4890. If you're not gonna upgrade the PSU, the HD 5770 is your best bet.
 
You can probably find DDR2 RAM much cheaper on the FS/T forum, btw. I just turned down an offer for some G.Skill DDR2-1000 (4GB kit) for $65 shipped. Can't remember who it was from though, since I just purged my PM folder. :(
 
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