Building new system...need help

[calypso-325is]

Hey everyone, I'm going to be building a system for my dad at home and needed some suggestions. He only uses it basically for surfing the web and watching movies. However, I'd like it to be powerful enough to play some games (not at extremely great settings, just able to handle them). He already has a case, monitor, power supply, and dvd-rom. Basically he needs a mobo, cpu, ram, video card, sound card and a hard drive. I was leaning towards going the AMD route and he wants to spend around $700, $1000 max. Thanks in advance.

 

[Treyshadow]

First off this is a great system that is not overclocked. It will run circles around most basic in store machines, but many here would go the overclocked route. All prices from Newegg.com.

Athlon 64 Socket 754 3400+ Retail with Heatsink and fan (3 yr warranty) - $219
DFI LanParty UT NForce 3 250GB - $105
Corsair Value Select 3200 - $113
Maxtor Diamond Max 10 300GB hard drive - $194
Any Nvidia 6600GT or equivelant ATI card less than 200 bucks - $200
BenQ 1620 Pro OEM 16x DVDR - $55
no need for sound card since he it has onboard audio

Total: $886

You could add a sound card, change the hard drive to save some cash or go with 2 160GB drives for some Raid love. All in all this is a stellar system for a home machine that plays a few video games. I would dare say it is better than half of the machines at big lan events.

 

[calypso-325is]

Anybody else have any suggestions?

 

[Roguer]

The system posted above is a great system, however I would modify it to a s939 socket proc/board. You will pay more now, but you will be able to upgrade it for a long time to come, while with the s754 you won't be able to.

 

[heero884]

heres a silent pc i put together on newegg. (complete pc, without overclocking in mind, as quiet as can be, build it yourself, add to cart if desired)

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=1375396

basically its a
3200+ athlon64 socket754 with zalman heatsink
epox nforce3 250gb motherboard
1GB corsair value select ddr400
6600GT XFI video card with zalman heatsink
160gb samsun spinpoint hdd
16x nec dvd-rw drive
floppy
black antec slk3000b case
300watt seasonic psu
NO OPERATING SYSTEM (if this a problem let me know and ill fit one into the budget)

and it totals up to $1000 + tax and shipping

if you want to sacrifice quietness to cut costs let me know.

 

[Roguer]

heres a silent pc i put together on newegg. (complete pc, without overclocking in mind, as quiet as can be, build it yourself, add to cart if desired)

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=1375396

basically its a
3200+ athlon64 socket754 with zalman heatsink
epox nforce3 250gb motherboard
1GB corsair value select ddr400
6600GT XFI video card with zalman heatsink
160gb samsun spinpoint hdd
16x nec dvd-rw drive
floppy
black antec slk3000b case
300watt seasonic psu
NO OPERATING SYSTEM (if this a problem let me know and ill fit one into the budget)

and it totals up to $1000 + tax and shipping

if you want to sacrifice quietness to cut costs let me know.

I would not trust that PSU to power that system. Use something name-brand with a couple more watts.

Also, Winchester processors are recommended over newcastles

 

[heero884]

i have built 4 systems with that psu (2 of them were for myself in fact, as i would not recommend to others what i would not get myself), athough seasonic is not considered a big name to mainstream users, it is quite reliable and is very popular with silent pc enthiusiasts. the seasonic super tornado psu i have recommended is on par with a antec truepower 380 if you look at the rail ratings and is better imo.

the winchester is better than the newcastle but for the budget it did not fit in (more expensive motherboard and psu needed along with the more expensive processor)

 

[Harrkev]

The system posted by TreyShadow is mostly right-on. Of course you have some wiggle room. You can go for a slightly cheaper, but slower processor if money is tight. There are several manufacturers of mobos, so you are not locked into one brand. If you want to sacrifice some features, you might be able to save $20 on the mobo (but nothing wrong with DFI).

PS: Be absolutely certain that your power supply is up to snuff. If it is a couple of years old, then it is likely underpowered. If you buy new, get a good name brand. Another way to buy a power supply is go to the local store and buy the heaviest one -- that is usually the best one.

 

[ameoba]

You've got one hell of a budget for a 'basic' PC. For what you described, I'd probably go with a A64 2800+ and a Radeon 9600Pro but with the bigger budget you can get a nicer rig.

What's he coming from now & how strong is the PSU? If it's an older rig, you might wanna upgrade it to something with more Wattage (and maybe a P4 12V connector).

 

[groebuck]

Given what you described he would use it for -

I would go with the following-

Retail A64 3000+ - 158.00
Kingmax SuperRam series Dual Channel Kit 1GB - 97.00
Epox 9NDA3J 939 mobo - 89.00
Maxtor 200GB 7200 RPM 6B200M0 HDD - 119.00
EVGA 6600GT AGP -189.00

The onboard sound on the Epox is excellent and even has a digital out (rca type).

That would be 652.00 plus shipping to where ever. The 939 chipset gives you room for upgrades - getting the retail CPU gets you the heatsink to go with it - The mobo only has 2 SATA ports but if he wanted to add in a second 200GB drive he could do that and raid 0 it for close to half a terabyte of space lovin. 1GB of ram is a no brainer and the video card will play all of today's games at decent frame rates with eye candy turned on.

 

[Frallan]

Sempron 3100+ with a BIG cooling suggest Zalmann 7000 CU or 7700 CU
DFI LanParty UT NForce 3 250GB
Corsair Value Select 3200
Maxtor Diamond Max 10 300GB hard drive
Any Nvidia 6600GT or ATI 800XT
DVD-reader
OCZ 420W PSU

Leave the memory at a ratio and OC the CPU and Ull have good 3400+ to 3700+ performance at a part of the price (plus U get to fiddle with it)