Build Advice Request: 500$ all from newegg

[Nagstaku]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mostly coding, light photo editing, and some sound authoring.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
500$'ish, has to include shipping, and no sales tax here.
3) Where do you live?
Oregon 97205
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.
Tower, PSU, motherboard, CPU, RAM, videocard, DVDRW, mild overclocking is okay so HS/F if necessary, HD (anything over 320gb is fine really), SSD for OS and main apps would be nice if it can fit in the budget.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Will be using keyboard, mouse, 2x22" lcd's with DVI, (so i just need a new tower).
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
2x22" LCD's DVI
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
within 4 weeks, if a crazy deal is now, could probably spring on it.
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.
onboard sound. lol. preferrably a board good to OC the proc.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I already have 64-bit windows 7 to put on it.

Notes: This is for my friend. Big bonus if we can fit a modern faster SSD (30-120gb is fine, they're like 130$ right?) with a storage HD extra. Motherboard can be openbox/refurbished (I've used those for my last 8 computers.) Quad core nice but not necessary, especially if there's a good cheap overclocking dual core. I figure it should have a videocard, but nothing special; Older gen stuff is fine (8800gt would be awesome if we could pick one up for like 40$ but I don't see em anywhere, especially newegg). 4gb Ram is fine for now, can always pick up 4 more later.

I'm almost considering selling him my q6600@3.0ghz w/ 8800gt, MSI p35d3, 4gb DDR3 600w antec PSU, Tuniq tower, DVDRW and 2x 74gb raptors in raid 0 for 500$. It fits the bill perfectly so I guess we're here to see if we could beat that as a price per performance point.

Thanks for the help!

 

[E4g1e]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mostly coding, light photo editing, and some sound authoring.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
500$'ish, has to include shipping, and no sales tax here.
3) Where do you live?
Oregon 97205
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.
Tower, PSU, motherboard, CPU, RAM, videocard, DVDRW, mild overclocking is okay so HS/F if necessary, HD (anything over 320gb is fine really), SSD for OS and main apps would be nice if it can fit in the budget.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Will be using keyboard, mouse, 2x22" lcd's with DVI, (so i just need a new tower).
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
2x22" LCD's DVI
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
within 4 weeks, if a crazy deal is now, could probably spring on it.
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.
onboard sound. lol. preferrably a board good to OC the proc.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I already have 64-bit windows 7 to put on it.

Notes: This is for my friend. Big bonus if we can fit a modern faster SSD (30-120gb is fine, they're like 130$ right?) with a storage HD extra. Motherboard can be openbox/refurbished (I've used those for my last 8 computers.) Quad core nice but not necessary, especially if there's a good cheap overclocking dual core. I figure it should have a videocard, but nothing special; Older gen stuff is fine (8800gt would be awesome if we could pick one up for like 40$ but I don't see em anywhere, especially newegg). 4gb Ram is fine for now, can always pick up 4 more later.

I'm almost considering selling him my q6600@3.0ghz w/ 8800gt, MSI p35d3, 4gb DDR3 600w antec PSU, Tuniq tower, DVDRW and 2x 74gb raptors in raid 0 for 500$. It fits the bill perfectly so I guess we're here to see if we could beat that as a price per performance point.

Thanks for the help!

At that price you will not be able to get all of the components that meet your requirements at all. You will have to add at least another $300 to $500 to that budget, making the total $800 to $1,000. This is because the cost of a GPU that does dual monitors at 1080p eats up well over half of that budget, leaving absolutely no room at all whatsoever to get the rest of the components that are anything better than extremely shitty (read: parts that will very likely die out or burn out or blow up on you in just minutes or even seconds).

 

[tiraides]

Here's what you could get right now:

$80 - HEC Blitz Black Steel Edition case and Biostar A880G+ combo
$110 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (with $10 off promo code AMDNE7192, ends 7/31)
$30 - Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 CPU cooler
$29 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 DIMM
$117 - Crucial m4 64GB SSD
$6 - Bytecc 2.5" to 3.5" adapter bracket
$40 - Hitachi 500GB SATA 3Gb/s HDD (with $5 off promo code EMCKCHJ25, ends 7/27)
$35 - XFX Radeon HD 5450
$19 - LG GH24NS70 SATA DVD burner
$50 - Antec HCG-520 520W PSU (with 10% off promo code Julsv10, ends 7/31)
=====
$516 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

Shipping rounds out to roughly $10 extra, but you're receiving about $35 in discounts due to the combo deal and the promo code specials. The HD 5450 is more than enough for non-gaming tasks.

Contrary to E4g1e's comments, you could get most of what you want -- quad-core, SSD plus HDD, some overclocking -- for $500, but he's right on one key point: this rig isn't the best. The case is cramped, the motherboard has next to no OC-friendly features, and the video card is worthless for gaming. To make the most out of your rig using your $500 limit, you need to omit the SSD; that frees up money for more RAM, more storage, and (possibly) a better video card or a more OC-friendly motherboard.

 

[Magnus]

Here's what you could get right now:

$80 - HEC Blitz Black Steel Edition case and Biostar A880G+ combo
$110 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (with $10 off promo code AMDNE7192, ends 7/31)
$30 - Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 CPU cooler
$29 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 DIMM
$117 - Crucial m4 64GB SSD
$6 - Bytecc 2.5" to 3.5" adapter bracket
$40 - Hitachi 500GB SATA 3Gb/s HDD (with $5 off promo code EMCKCHJ25, ends 7/27)
$35 - XFX Radeon HD 5450
$19 - LG GH24NS70 SATA DVD burner
$50 - Antec HCG-520 520W PSU (with 10% off promo code Julsv10, ends 7/31)
=====
$516 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

Shipping rounds out to roughly $10 extra, but you're receiving about $35 in discounts due to the combo deal and the promo code specials. The HD 5450 is more than enough for non-gaming tasks.

Contrary to E4g1e's comments, you could get most of what you want -- quad-core, SSD plus HDD, some overclocking -- for $500, but he's right on one key point: this rig isn't the best. The case is cramped, the motherboard has next to no OC-friendly features, and the video card is worthless for gaming. To make the most out of your rig using your $500 limit, you need to omit the SSD; that frees up money for more RAM, more storage, and (possibly) a better video card or a more OC-friendly motherboard.

Nice job! Personally, I would forgo the SSD as it doesn't significantly aid the intended use other than to speed boot times. I think the money would be better spent on a better MB like the ASUS M5A99X EVO.

 

[E4g1e]

Here's what you could get right now:

$80 - HEC Blitz Black Steel Edition case and Biostar A880G+ combo
$110 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (with $10 off promo code AMDNE7192, ends 7/31)
$30 - Xigmatek Gaia SD1283 CPU cooler
$29 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 DIMM
$117 - Crucial m4 64GB SSD
$6 - Bytecc 2.5" to 3.5" adapter bracket
$40 - Hitachi 500GB SATA 3Gb/s HDD (with $5 off promo code EMCKCHJ25, ends 7/27)
$35 - XFX Radeon HD 5450
$19 - LG GH24NS70 SATA DVD burner
$50 - Antec HCG-520 520W PSU (with 10% off promo code Julsv10, ends 7/31)
=====
$516 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

Shipping rounds out to roughly $10 extra, but you're receiving about $35 in discounts due to the combo deal and the promo code specials. The HD 5450 is more than enough for non-gaming tasks.

Contrary to E4g1e's comments, you could get most of what you want -- quad-core, SSD plus HDD, some overclocking -- for $500, but he's right on one key point: this rig isn't the best. The case is cramped, the motherboard has next to no OC-friendly features, and the video card is worthless for gaming. To make the most out of your rig using your $500 limit, you need to omit the SSD; that frees up money for more RAM, more storage, and (possibly) a better video card or a more OC-friendly motherboard.

Thanks for that build suggestion, especially since the OP will not be gaming. My statement assumed that the OP would be gaming at least occasionally.

 

[Nagstaku]

Wow that's a great build. The only change I might consider is using a GT 220 instead, as it would have around double the memory bandwidth (a 64 bit mem-bus is low!). Anyway, I see they have them for the same price about; 25$ after rebate. Heres the gpureview page showing differences http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=617&card2=625 very useful.

Also the SSD and PSU went up in price adding about 10$. Grand total with 3-day shipping and a GT220 is 550.18$ and then I have a 20$ MIR to send in. I can't believe shipping is only 10.69$ (!)

ehh, on second thought, i guess that gt220 has nerfed ram, only 500 instead of 800 (!). I guess I will probably stick with HD 5450 since it's low power consumption. Also, doesn't it make more sense to swap the ram with two sticks for faster bandwidth? I like mushkin, would probably go with these for the same price

 

[Dangman]

Also, doesn't it make more sense to swap the ram with two sticks for faster bandwidth?

The difference is only 5% under the most ideal of conditions. The problem with going with a 2x2GB set over a single 4GB stick is that it's gonna limit you to only 4GB of RAM with that mobo. A single 4GB stick of RAM will still allow you to upgrade to 8GB of RAM later on with that mobo.

 

[ASIA911]

Stay away from Biostar A880G+. Worst POS motherboard ever. Bios default setting is mess up and you have to figure out why some stuff in Windows 7 isn't working properly because of the stupid BIOS. Still can't figure out why USB_1 and USB_2 no longer working. Even a PCI USB controller card plug in isn't working either with the proper driver. Recognize all the USB controller in Device Manager but nothing happen when plug into them. Only USB that are working are the one on the back of the motherboard. JUSBV1 and JUSBV2, why the fuck do they even need that? Just making thing even more complicated.

Better get a motherboard that work right out of the box.

 

[tiraides]

Have you bought everything yet? If not, when were you planning to buy everything?

I ask because tomorrow is August 1, and NewEgg's promo codes and combo deals will change then, which means that we'll have to assemble a different $500 build.