Budget Build

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Vang

n00b
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
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My old 8RDA-3I just bit the dust, so I want to do a fairly cheap upgrade for basic computing, very light gaming, and a small amount of encoding (which I've been content to do at ~12 fps on the lightly overclocked AMD 1800+ I had). I don't really have any restriction on how much I'm willing to spend, if you think a more expensive component is much better, but I don't really need much computer to satisfy my needs.

Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L ($94.99)

Processor
Intel E7200 ($124.99)

Memory
pqi 1GB DDR2 800 ($20.99)

Hard Drive
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB ($99.99)

Case
Antec NSK6580 ($89.95)

TOTAL $430.91

I'm completely open to any suggestions, but in particular, I am curious about the case. I've done a little research, but don't really have any strong opinions. So, any suggestions about a decent, basic case that is competitive on price, including a PSU, would be particularly helpful.

Does the E7200 I linked on Newegg come with a heatsink? I can't tell from browsing the page. I don't plan on overclocking the processor at all, but, as the computer will be used to do some amount of encoding of video, if the stock heatsink, if it exists, is really terrible, I'd like to know.

I already have a graphics card and monitors/optical drives/blah blah, so this should be enough components for a new build, I think.


Thanks for any suggestions.
 
You should get at least 2GBs of RAM. And all intel cpus come with heatsinks, and they do work, but they get a little noisy under load, if you can stand the noise, you'll be fine. Otherwise, I'm sure someone will point you to some good, cheap, quiet ones.
 
I recommend getting more RAM since RAM is ridiculously cheap at the moment. And you can never have too much RAM. So I recommend this set:
G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 RAM - $45

Other than the RAM, looks good to me. Yes the E7200 does come with a HSF. Though it isn't too good for overclocking, but fine for stock speeds. Generally the PSUs that come with cases suck. But Antec cases and some Coolermaster cases are the exception. The NSK6580 you chose is a good choice. The PSU that comes with it is pretty decent.

What graphics card are you planning to reuse with this system? It is PCI-E correct? And what size monitor do you have?
 
I forgot that the graphics card might not be compatible with the motherboard. It's an old ti4600, which I have primarily so that I can dual-monitor. The only game I play makes almost no graphical demands at all. If it's not compatible, I would probably just buy the cheapest card that supports dual-monitoring.

I have a Samsung 204B and some Dell 17" (4:3) monitor.

I guess it didn't click for me how cheap RAM is, $20 bucks the extra GB is a no-brainer.
 
Vang said:
I forgot that the graphics card might not be compatible with the motherboard. It's an old ti4600, which I have primarily so that I can dual-monitor. The only game I play makes almost no graphical demands at all. If it's not compatible, I would probably just buy the cheapest card that supports dual-monitoring.
Click to expand...

Yeah that Ti4600 is definitely not compatible since it uses the AGP interface. Cheapest card you need is this:
Asus EAH3450/HTP/256M Radeon HD 3450 256MB PCI-E Video Card - $35

What games are you playing anyway?
 
Ah, for some reason I thought the PCI Express 2.0 port was an AGP port... That wouldn't make much sense though. (If it isn't obvious yet, I haven't really kept in touch with any developments in hardware.)

So, I guess we'll throw the ASUS EAH3450 into the build.
 
If you are going to OC and are looking for a good heatsink, check out the Xigmatek S1283 plus retention bracket (important).
 
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