Need some help with a budget build....

G

gregnash

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
2,164
Normal questions answered.....

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Photoshop, web surfing, encoding, vpn to work machine and may get back into some gaming with this machine (WoW, Starcraft II, Diablo III and WAR).
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$300 shipped (would like to stay around this but can spend more if needed)
3) Where do you live?
NV
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, MB, Ram, and GFX
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Lite-On DVD-RW, OCZ Modstream 420w PSU, generic case
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
22inch LCD Westinghouse
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next two to three months max
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
USB 2.0 (min of 4 slots), RAID, Firewire, Single GFX support,
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yea still have an XP key and Vista318 Key as well as Win 7 key

Here is what I am looking at currently... Don't really want to go with Intel since I have been an AMD supporter for sometime now......

AMD 7750 Kumo
Foxconn A7DA-S
G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800
XFX ATI 4830
Total Cos: $319 with s/h
 
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gregnash said:
Probably about 4yrs old... maybe 5yrs but that is VERY max
Click to expand...

Hmmm, might need to get a new PSU. 4 years old on a PSU of questionable quality, not exactly that good of an idea. If it's 5 years old, definitely not a good idea.

I recommend getting this PSU at a minimum:
$55 - Antec Earthwatts 430W PSU
 
Ok bumping this back up top.
I have been doing some thinking and really this thing is not going to be used for much else other than normal business tasks (word, excel, etc) along with some web surfing, photo editing and the occassional game (depending on what is out and catches my fancy).

The thing is I now have an X360 and so my buddies and I have switched over to that primarily instead of pc gaming. So this might have the occassional game on it like when/if Diablo III and StarCraft II come out but that would be a rare chance.

With that said, I would like to keep this as low power as possible.
I do plan to add AT LEAST one 1TB drive to this as my photo collection is quickly growing. I figure that I can go with the onboard video (of if needed dump my old 7600GS into it) for video as I do not believe that photo editing is GPU intensive.

So with that said here are the new requirements:
1.) Power Savings setup
2.) Decent/Good Onboard video (if there is such a thing)
3.) At least 8gb of RAM compatible
4.) Dual Core at minimum
5.) At least 4 USB slots built in and headers for more
6.) Vista Compliant
7.) System should be able to run 1680x1050 without a problem
8.) Onboard raid controller

Think that is enough for now. Oh and I will need to pick up a new PSU so quiet is the key with this system, thinking of getting the Corsair 520HX as that seems to have some really good reviews and is said to be silent.

Also, if an aftermarket HS/Fan is better for the whole "quiet" thing please feel free to recommend one.
Budget is still around the same $500 but will increase if needed.
 
Ok well after looking at Intel/AMD boards that are ATX size with onboard graphics I dont think this part will happen. There is one board that offers a 9300 chipset that I might grab but looks like I will be using my 7600GS for the time being instead.
 
What about just using a mATX mobo? It doesn't sound like you need all of the expansion ports offered by an ATX mobo.
 
Yeah I was thinking about that but wasnt sure if I wanted to do that or not. Since my current board has no firewire and only 2 USB ports (that work) I had to buy an extra USB card as well as Firewire card.

Any suggestions on which mfg would be more power friendly? Intel 5200 vs. AMD 4850e? Both are 45watt processors.
 
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As you said, they're both 45W CPUs, but the E5200 will perform better at that stock speed.
 
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