New gaming/general use system - Under 600

.enigma.

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
81
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Gaming (call of duty, fallout 3), lots of internet browsing while listening to music and downloading music/videos. I use MS Word alot also.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

600 before tax and shipping

3) Where do you live?

Northern Maryland

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

Everything needed to build a good computer, except hard drives, graphics card, mouse/keyboard and speakers

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

GeForce 9800 GT Graphics Card

Hard Drives:
Maxtor 6 H500R0 SCSI Disk Drive
Maxtor STM3500630AS ATA Device
WDC WD800JD-75MSA1 ATA Device

6) Will you be overclocking?

Most likely not, unless i can do it without having to always monitor my computer after its done. If all i have to do is monitor it while i am doing the overclocking then i might.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

19 inch Sony monitor and a 19 inch wide screen Vizio HDTV that i use as a monitor

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Before christmas
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

Nothing too advanced just room for expansion.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?

No, i have Vista now but i would want to upgrade to windows 7

 
1080P? If so, what games do you play? Because a 9800GT is a bit dated for 1080P gaming.

A newer HDD, like a Samsung F3 500GB for $55, or the WD6400AAKS or AALS would be MUCH faster than any of the drives you listed, so I'd definitely suggest buying at least one new drive; especially since IDE controllers are no longer native to chipsets (3rd party controllers). You can get external enclosures for those drives for under $12, or you can sell them.

Here's some builds by HG:
Build 1

Athlon X2 240 Regor 2.8ghz + Radeon HD 4830 + 19” Viewsonic LCD


Rosewill R102-P-BK MicroATX for $29.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147111

Corsair 400CX 400W for $49.99 ($15 MIR) w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX for $79.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHZ for $58.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688

HIS Radeon HD 4830 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161260

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 for $74.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200RPM SATA300 16MB Cache for $55 w/ free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

Viewsonic Series 19” LCD for $119.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116095

Total: $558.92 w/shipping



Build 2

Athlon X2 250 Regor 3.0ghz + Radeon HD 4770 + 19” Viewsonic LCD


Rosewill R102-P-BK MicroATX for $29.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147111

Corsair 400CX 400W for $49.99 ($15 MIR) w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX for $79.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

XFX Radeon HD 4770 + AMD Athlon X2 250 Regor 3.0GHZ both for $172.98 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.300856

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 for $74.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200RPM SATA300 16MB Cache for $55 w/ free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

Viewsonic Series 19” LCD for $119.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116095

Total: $582.92 w/shipping



Build 3

Athlon X4 620 Propus 2.6ghz + Radeon HD 4830 + 19” Viewsonic LCD


Rosewill R102-P-BK MicroATX for $29.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147111

Corsair 400CX 400W for $49.99 ($15 MIR) w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

AMD Athlon II X4 620 propus 2.6Ghz + ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 785G Micro ATX for $158.99 + $7.56 shipping on mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304701

HIS Radeon HD 4830 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161260

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 for $74.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200RPM SATA300 16MB Cache for $55 w/ free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

Viewsonic Series 19” LCD for $119.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116095

Total: $578.93 + $7.56 shipping = $586.49 w/shipping



Build 4

Athlon X2 240 Regor 2.8ghz + Radeon HD 4830 + 22” LG Flatron LCD


Rosewill R102-P-BK MicroATX for $29.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147111

Corsair 400CX 400W for $49.99 ($15 MIR) w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz for $58.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX for $79.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

HIS Radeon HD 4830 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161260

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 for $74.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200RPM SATA300 16MB Cache for $55 w/ free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

LG W2242T-BF 22” LCD for $159.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005132

Total: $598.92 w/shipping

*If you have an optical drive already then reuse that.

I've replaced the Seagate cuda's in his original post with Samsung F3's instead -- they're faster.
 
I actually would reuse his 9800GT video card and put together an AMD Phenom II X3 720 build with 4GB of DDR3 Ram. This should be doable for $500. If he reuse his 9800GT video card and Maxtor HDD, then a Core i5-750 can fit his budget.
 
1080P? If so, what games do you play? Because a 9800GT is a bit dated for 1080P gaming.

A newer HDD, like a Samsung F3 500GB for $55, or the WD6400AAKS or AALS would be MUCH faster than any of the drives you listed, so I'd definitely suggest buying at least one new drive; especially since IDE controllers are no longer native to chipsets (3rd party controllers). You can get external enclosures for those drives for under $12, or you can sell them.

Here's some builds by HG:


I've replaced the Seagate cuda's in his original post with Samsung F3's instead -- they're faster.

I like the options there, but i was leaning towards spending some extra money on a CPU (A AMD Phenom II X4 ) and reuse the 9800GT card for a month or two untill i can afford a good video card upgrade. Maybe even buy one from the start since I dont need a new monitor

Im leaning to do the same with the Hard drives, although ill probably buy one new one like you suggested.

Im definitely going to go with the G skill RAM and one of the hard drives


I actually would reuse his 9800GT video card and put together an AMD Phenom II X3 720 build with 4GB of DDR3 Ram. This should be doable for $500. If he reuse his 9800GT video card and Maxtor HDD, then a Core i5-750 can fit his budget.

Do you recommend i get DDR3 over DDR2 if i were to go with a AMD Phenom II X4
 
Yes. DDR2 RAM is almost as expensive as DDR3 RAM is now, and the price of DDR2 RAM will only go higher in time.
 
Do you recommend i get DDR3 over DDR2 if i were to go with a AMD Phenom II X4

DDR3. DDR3 RAM will be cheaper in the future so future RAM upgrade will be significantly cheaper. In addition, you'd have a greater chance of compatbility with new AMD AM3 CPU. And finally: DDR3 isn't that much more than DDR2 RAM
 
Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W + Antec Threehundred both for $109.94
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304805

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz + GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX both for $193.99 ($15 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.295032

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 for $93.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB for $54.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

LG Black 24X Sata DVD Burner for $27.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

Total: $480.90
Shipping: $11.87
Total: $492.77 w/shipping



Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W + Antec Threehundred both for $109.94
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304805

AMD Phenom II X4 955 + ASUS M4A78-E 790GX both for $250.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.299393

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 for $93.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB for $54.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

LG Black 24X Sata DVD Burner for $27.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

Total: $537.89
Shipping: $11.88
Total: $549.77 w/shipping



Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W + Antec Threehundred both for $109.94
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304805

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz + GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3L both for $314.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.305921

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 for $93.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB for $54.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

LG Black 24X Sata DVD Burner for $27.99 w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

Total: $601.98
Shipping: $11.87
Total: $613.76 w/shipping
 
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