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1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
School Work (multiple internet tabs, pdfs, word, excel open at once), Web Browsing, Occasional Photoshop, Maybe light gaming (This is not too important. I occasionally play Age of Empires 3, Runescape [don't laugh], counter strike 1.6, and day of defeat 1.6 at 1200x800 with a Geforce Go 7400. I will be using integrated graphics and it would nice if it could handle these games, but by no means does it have to. I can do without.)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Aiming for around $750 or less, including monitor.
I know many suggest pre-built for such a low budget, but I have looked at dell and hp but they are charging about $529-559 plus tax without a monitor, and since I do not need to purchase Windows 7, I can build it for cheaper.
3) Where do you live?
US
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Power Supply (enough to handle a future non-top-of-the-line dedicated graphics card; think 4770 or 9800gt)
Case (I would like a small case [think dell studio size] or maybe even a slim one)
Hard Drive
Memory
CPU
Motherboard (matx would be great)
Monitor (22"-24")
DVD/RW Drive
2 SATA Cables if they are not supplied with the HDD and DVD/RW Drive
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I have Windows 7.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Possibly, but more than likely I will not be. I want something that will be fast at stock settings.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I plan to have 22"-24" monitor. I would like a minimum of 1680x1050 resolution.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Soon
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
No SLI, Crossfire, Firewire, and probably no RAID.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
I can download Windows 7 (both 32 and 64) for free from my university website.
==================================
Now that I have the obligatory form filled out, here is what I had in mind.
i3-530 (currently $109.99 using coupon code w/ free shipping from ewiz) [I would consider the g6950 that is a good $30 less if Intel did not make the graphics even worse]
EVGA matx h55 motherboard
2x2GB Gskill ddr3 1600 memory
WD 500GB Caviar Blue
Corsair 400W Power Supply
Sony DVD/RW Drive
HEC Microatx Mini Tower
NEC EA231WMi
2 SATA Cables; 1 for HDD and 1 for DVD/RW Drive
For a total of $778.38
And if I actually receive the rebates, it would be a total of $758.38
-------
The rest of my family has TN panel monitors (dell p2310 and dell s2409) and they do not seem to be too bad. So maybe I should purchase one of those instead and save about $100 if I use a coupon, since I am a little above my target budget.
I'm also wondering if an x3 435 + gigabyte 785g would be better for my use, since it would be ~50 cheaper.
I am also still iffy about which case to choose. I am considering the Cooler Master Elite 360. I've never heard of Nextwarehouse, but it has a lot of reseller ratings with a 4.5/5 star rating. Has anyone else ordered from this place before? I am also open to other suggestions for cases.
-------------------
And lastly, would I am looking for the upgrade to be not just greater than my current setup, but much greater (sans the graphics...I will add a discrete card later). Here is what I currently have (laptop):
t2500 - 2.0Ghz Core (Notice the lack of 2) Duo
2GB DDR2 Ram
Geforce Go 7400
120GB 5400rpm HDD (I am dual booting windows xp and windows 7, have all my programs installed, and have a 9.5gb recovery partition and still have 27GB left, so I do not require a large hard drive! I will not be dual booting on my desktop.)
With this in mind, would my current proposed build be much faster than this?
------------------
So please give me suggestions for my build, and let me know if my current build is actually good enough or if I can shave off any of the price. Any advice you could possibly give me, please do. If you cannot already tell, I am extremely indecisive, so help me decide! Thanks!!!
Edit: No Microcenter of Fry's nearby.
Edit2: Occasionally my use includes watching flash movies, and maybe I should include a quiet fan or 2 into my budget?
School Work (multiple internet tabs, pdfs, word, excel open at once), Web Browsing, Occasional Photoshop, Maybe light gaming (This is not too important. I occasionally play Age of Empires 3, Runescape [don't laugh], counter strike 1.6, and day of defeat 1.6 at 1200x800 with a Geforce Go 7400. I will be using integrated graphics and it would nice if it could handle these games, but by no means does it have to. I can do without.)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Aiming for around $750 or less, including monitor.
I know many suggest pre-built for such a low budget, but I have looked at dell and hp but they are charging about $529-559 plus tax without a monitor, and since I do not need to purchase Windows 7, I can build it for cheaper.
3) Where do you live?
US
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Power Supply (enough to handle a future non-top-of-the-line dedicated graphics card; think 4770 or 9800gt)
Case (I would like a small case [think dell studio size] or maybe even a slim one)
Hard Drive
Memory
CPU
Motherboard (matx would be great)
Monitor (22"-24")
DVD/RW Drive
2 SATA Cables if they are not supplied with the HDD and DVD/RW Drive
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I have Windows 7.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Possibly, but more than likely I will not be. I want something that will be fast at stock settings.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I plan to have 22"-24" monitor. I would like a minimum of 1680x1050 resolution.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Soon
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
No SLI, Crossfire, Firewire, and probably no RAID.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
I can download Windows 7 (both 32 and 64) for free from my university website.
==================================
Now that I have the obligatory form filled out, here is what I had in mind.
i3-530 (currently $109.99 using coupon code w/ free shipping from ewiz) [I would consider the g6950 that is a good $30 less if Intel did not make the graphics even worse]
EVGA matx h55 motherboard
2x2GB Gskill ddr3 1600 memory
WD 500GB Caviar Blue
Corsair 400W Power Supply
Sony DVD/RW Drive
HEC Microatx Mini Tower
NEC EA231WMi
2 SATA Cables; 1 for HDD and 1 for DVD/RW Drive
For a total of $778.38
And if I actually receive the rebates, it would be a total of $758.38
-------
The rest of my family has TN panel monitors (dell p2310 and dell s2409) and they do not seem to be too bad. So maybe I should purchase one of those instead and save about $100 if I use a coupon, since I am a little above my target budget.
I'm also wondering if an x3 435 + gigabyte 785g would be better for my use, since it would be ~50 cheaper.
I am also still iffy about which case to choose. I am considering the Cooler Master Elite 360. I've never heard of Nextwarehouse, but it has a lot of reseller ratings with a 4.5/5 star rating. Has anyone else ordered from this place before? I am also open to other suggestions for cases.
-------------------
And lastly, would I am looking for the upgrade to be not just greater than my current setup, but much greater (sans the graphics...I will add a discrete card later). Here is what I currently have (laptop):
t2500 - 2.0Ghz Core (Notice the lack of 2) Duo
2GB DDR2 Ram
Geforce Go 7400
120GB 5400rpm HDD (I am dual booting windows xp and windows 7, have all my programs installed, and have a 9.5gb recovery partition and still have 27GB left, so I do not require a large hard drive! I will not be dual booting on my desktop.)
With this in mind, would my current proposed build be much faster than this?
------------------
So please give me suggestions for my build, and let me know if my current build is actually good enough or if I can shave off any of the price. Any advice you could possibly give me, please do. If you cannot already tell, I am extremely indecisive, so help me decide! Thanks!!!
Edit: No Microcenter of Fry's nearby.
Edit2: Occasionally my use includes watching flash movies, and maybe I should include a quiet fan or 2 into my budget?
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