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Build for 400 or so

P

P!rate

Move Like a MoFo
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Messages
6,073
BUDGET IS 400 messed up in the title

I am building a computer for my brother's birthday, my budget is about 400, maybe a bit more, I dont want to go too huge, I'm guessing he should be straight with a 9600gt, as i have that and it works fine.

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

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$400 i guess they are included

3) Where do you live?
Northern VA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
Hard drive (probably no more than 250gs), video card, ram (3g or less should be fine), case, power supply, cd drive, mobo

(im probably forgetting something but pretty much all the internals of a comp + cd drive.)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Standard keyboard/mouse, might be buying a monitor, would like to keep build around 400 so i can buy a monitor for 100.

6) Will you be overclocking?
never

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
18.5 inch monitor, going to be buying it, most likely this one, going to stay under 20"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254054

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Before the end of march

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
No specific needs.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Have both 32 and 64 ultimate windows 7


Sorry if it seems like I already know what I want, I guess I kind of do, but the whole integration of ram/motherboard to psu has always gone over my head. I've built 5 desktops so far.
 
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Please come back in the second week of March and ask for advice then. Or move up your build/buy date to before February 28th, The reason being is that most of our build uses combo deals to save you money. However those expire at the end of every month. So whatever combo deal we recommend to you right now will not be available in March. So if you want up to date advice on deals and such, then your best bet would be to wait till the second week of March and ask for advice then. By then, we should know what combo deals are out.
 
Alright well if I changed my deadline to sometime this weekened/week is that close enough?
 
P!rate said:
Alright well if I changed my deadline to sometime this weekened/week is that close enough?
Click to expand...

Are you near that Microcenter located in Northern Virginia? If so, then, yes that deadline is close enough.
 
Yes, sorry had a family emergency and deadline got pushed back more, now I am getting it ordered at the end of tonight if that's possible.

Thanks a lot for the help Danny!
 
Won't be back till late tonight so won't be able to setup a good build for you till then.

Sorry!
 
$110 - AMD Phenom II 840 CPU + Gigabyte GA-MA478LMT-S2 AM3 760G mATX (From Microcenter)
$40 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$90 - XFX HD-485X-ZNFC Radeon HD 4850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$45 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$21 - LG GH24LS50 DVD Burner
$54 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 ATX Case
---
Total: ~$400

Use promo code "XFX3113" to shave off $13 off that video card. Yes that video card is faster than the 9600GT. There is no cheaper worthwhile card right now IMO and AFAIK.
 
nice build dan, I'd probably switch the card for a 5770 though. extra cost would be worth it IMO
 
Danny's build is pretty solid. But there would be a couple changes I would make. 1st the PSU I would change it to the CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 based on the JohnnyGURU review it will do fine & its cheaper +has a MIR making the end cost 20 bucks (40 before rebate). Next I would swap the memory out to a Single 4gb Stick just incase he wants to upgrade later he will be able to without replacing the current ram. You loose dual channel now, but I think thats better then replacing it later rather then just adding to it. Other then that, if you can scrape up the extra cash for a 58x0 series card I would, But that 4850 for the shipped cost of 77 bucks is going to probably be Best bang for buck for sure.

Edit: Nix what I said about the PSU.. The New Eco 400 Danny linked 7 hours ago has gone down in price to 45 shipped & if you use Promo code EMCKGKB29 its 35 shipped. you may have to subscribe to there newsletters, but at 5 bucks less shipped definitely get the antec.
 
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Is there any motherboard/cpu combo you recommend? its out of stock, ordering now..

Damn it might have to ask for another redo for the entire list, lots of the deals are expired, had this ready to ship in the cart, yet hadn't gotten paid from my job then, and didnt have spare cash. Could you recommend me another?
 
P!rate said:
Is there any motherboard/cpu combo you recommend? its out of stock, ordering now..

Damn it might have to ask for another redo for the entire list, lots of the deals are expired, had this ready to ship in the cart, yet hadn't gotten paid from my job then, and didnt have spare cash. Could you recommend me another?
Click to expand...

Still the same budget? I ask because a similarly/faster performing setup right now is gonna cost another $50:

$126 - AMD Phenom II 840 CPU + ASUS M4A78LT-M LE Socket AM3 AMD 780L mATX (From Microcenter)
$41 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$125 - PowerColor AX5770 1GBD5-H Radeon HD 5770 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$45 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$20 - LG GH22NS50B DVD Burner
$44 - Antec Earthwatts Green EA-430D 430W PSU
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 ATX Case
---
Total: $451 plus tax and shipping
 
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