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Cantsleepnow
n00b
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2006
- Messages
- 1
Hey, first post here(so please be gentle).
A little background on myself
-I've been lurking around reading these forums for a little while now. I'd consider myself a noobie builder at best. I built a system for myself about 1.5 - 2 years ago, so most of the research I did then is mostly out of date now. I went with a huge steel case (for more room, protection, and airflow) and a big crt monitor. After hauling this rig back and forth to school a few times I wished I had went with something lighter
Anyway, one of my friends needs a new system and asked me to help him build it for cheap. Everytime I sit down to price out a budget system for him, I always find myself upgrading to best bang for your buck items. I've got a few thoughts for the build, but I figured I would ask you guys for advise to see if you could give me some better ideas.
Right now I think Quality/Reliability/Stability > Low Cost > Quietness > Looks. I'll probably be his tech support, but I don't want to be on call 24/7(i'm not that good at it anyway) so stability and reliability is high priority.
I was thinking that the Qpak looks like it would be good for a first time SFF build, but I was also considering the Antec NSK2400 because it comes with a 380w PS(the PS that comes with the Qpak seems like crap from reading previous posts). The antec is $85 and I don't think I could get a Qpak + a reliable PS for under that. On a side note, A flat screen monitor should be fine sitting on top of this case right...probably a dumb question.
The motherboard I was looking at is the ASUS A8N - VM 939 - $81. It's got decent onboard video, which could cut costs and seems reliable. I don't think he'll be doing that much gaming, so it should get him by.
Processor Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2000Mhz - $155. Seems to be a reasonably priced, decently fast chip. I went with intel on my first build(thought it was more stable/better temps), but after realized I should have done more research on the AMD side. The retail Heatsink seems to be the best option for the Qpak and I think it will work in the Antec as well.
This build with the Antec case and rest of the stuff I would put in comes to about $900 w/ shipping. I'm not sure if it would be better for him to go with a cheap Dell. I did a quick comparison and he could get a similar set up for about $600 probably (bigger case though). After useing my cousin's new $399 Dell I don't think this would be the best option ( seemed slower than it should have been to me). Also considering starting with a barebones, though I don't know if this would be a better/cheaper option.
If you were ablet to get through my long winded post, any advice you can give on quality/best bang for the buck items would be greatly appriciated.
A little background on myself
-I've been lurking around reading these forums for a little while now. I'd consider myself a noobie builder at best. I built a system for myself about 1.5 - 2 years ago, so most of the research I did then is mostly out of date now. I went with a huge steel case (for more room, protection, and airflow) and a big crt monitor. After hauling this rig back and forth to school a few times I wished I had went with something lighter
Anyway, one of my friends needs a new system and asked me to help him build it for cheap. Everytime I sit down to price out a budget system for him, I always find myself upgrading to best bang for your buck items. I've got a few thoughts for the build, but I figured I would ask you guys for advise to see if you could give me some better ideas.
Right now I think Quality/Reliability/Stability > Low Cost > Quietness > Looks. I'll probably be his tech support, but I don't want to be on call 24/7(i'm not that good at it anyway) so stability and reliability is high priority.
I was thinking that the Qpak looks like it would be good for a first time SFF build, but I was also considering the Antec NSK2400 because it comes with a 380w PS(the PS that comes with the Qpak seems like crap from reading previous posts). The antec is $85 and I don't think I could get a Qpak + a reliable PS for under that. On a side note, A flat screen monitor should be fine sitting on top of this case right...probably a dumb question.
The motherboard I was looking at is the ASUS A8N - VM 939 - $81. It's got decent onboard video, which could cut costs and seems reliable. I don't think he'll be doing that much gaming, so it should get him by.
Processor Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2000Mhz - $155. Seems to be a reasonably priced, decently fast chip. I went with intel on my first build(thought it was more stable/better temps), but after realized I should have done more research on the AMD side. The retail Heatsink seems to be the best option for the Qpak and I think it will work in the Antec as well.
This build with the Antec case and rest of the stuff I would put in comes to about $900 w/ shipping. I'm not sure if it would be better for him to go with a cheap Dell. I did a quick comparison and he could get a similar set up for about $600 probably (bigger case though). After useing my cousin's new $399 Dell I don't think this would be the best option ( seemed slower than it should have been to me). Also considering starting with a barebones, though I don't know if this would be a better/cheaper option.
If you were ablet to get through my long winded post, any advice you can give on quality/best bang for the buck items would be greatly appriciated.