Review/Help - $400 Gaming Build

[plaztik]

So I had around $700 budget about a week ago(original thread)... but my old dependable truck(with about 300k miles on it) must have sensed that I had money and it decided to break down!!!! So after just replacing a Fan Clutch, Water Pump, Ignition Coil & Wire, Spark Plugs & Wires, and a complete Timing Set; my new budget to around $400

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$400, yes tax & shipping is included
3) Where do you live?
California
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, Heat Sink & Fan, Ram, Graphics Card, HDD, Power Supply
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
One of the 3 ATX cases I have, PATA Dvd Drive
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably not, looking for long term.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
17inch CRT
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Couple of weeks.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
None in particular.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yep I got that covered in 32bit and 64bit XP, Vista, and 7

NEWEGG:

$75.99 - AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz
$79.99 - G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333
$19.99 - Rosewill RCX-ZAIO-92 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
$64.99 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"

Newegg Total = $263.74

AMAZON:
$64.99 - Biostar AMD Motherboard A880G+
$59.99 - Corsair Memory Cx Series ATX 500
$64.99 - HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ 1 GB (128bit) DDR3
$0.80 - Sata to Pata Converter

Amazon Total $194.12 - $50 Credit = $144.12

Total = 407.86

I've used some parts from the original thread, Danny Bui did an awesome job. I'm curious to see if anyone can find some better deals or if I've listed any incompatible parts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dangman]

Since you're not overclocking, the stock HSF that comes with the CPU will be just fine. As such I recommend getting this CPU from Amazon:
$90 - AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition CPU

Roughly $15 cheaper than your planned CPU but slightly faster.

HDD wise, get that Samsung drive from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinp...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1296762354&sr=1-1

Since you're gaming, you really don't need 8GB of RAM. So drop down to this Patriot 4GB RAM set:
$40 - Patriot PSD34G13332 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

Now use the savings from the above changes towards a faster video card like this HD 5750 1GB for $110:
http://www.amazon.com/HIS-Radeon-Di...LIVM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1296762595&sr=8-9

If you still have some cash leftover, definitely spring for this XFX HD 5770 1GB video card:
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-Di...4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1296762564&sr=1-4

 

[E4g1e]

So I had around $700 budget about a week ago(original thread)... but my old dependable truck(with about 300k miles on it) must have sensed that I had money and it decided to break down!!!! So after just replacing a Fan Clutch, Water Pump, Ignition Coil & Wire, Spark Plugs & Wires, and a complete Timing Set; my new budget to around $400

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$400, yes tax & shipping is included
3) Where do you live?
California
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, Heat Sink & Fan, Ram, Graphics Card, HDD, Power Supply
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
One of the 3 ATX cases I have, PATA Dvd Drive
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably not, looking for long term.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
17inch CRT
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Couple of weeks.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
None in particular.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yep I got that covered in 32bit and 64bit XP, Vista, and 7

NEWEGG:

$75.99 - AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz
$79.99 - G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333
$19.99 - Rosewill RCX-ZAIO-92 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
$64.99 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"

Newegg Total = $263.74

AMAZON:
$64.99 - Biostar AMD Motherboard A880G+
$59.99 - Corsair Memory Cx Series ATX 500
$64.99 - HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ 1 GB (128bit) DDR3
$0.80 - Sata to Pata Converter

Amazon Total $194.12 - $50 Credit = $144.12

Total = 407.86

I've used some parts from the original thread, Danny Bui did an awesome job. I'm curious to see if anyone can find some better deals or if I've listed any incompatible parts?

Thanks in advance.

I second Danny's advice to get all of the parts from Amazon because Newegg charges sales tax to California residents.

 

[plaztik]

Since you're not overclocking, the stock HSF that comes with the CPU will be just fine. As such I recommend getting this CPU from Amazon:
$90 - AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition CPU

Roughly $15 cheaper than your planned CPU but slightly faster.

HDD wise, get that Samsung drive from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinp...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1296762354&sr=1-1

Since you're gaming, you really don't need 8GB of RAM. So drop down to this Patriot 4GB RAM set:
$40 - Patriot PSD34G13332 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

Now use the savings from the above changes towards a faster video card like this HD 5750 1GB for $110:
http://www.amazon.com/HIS-Radeon-Di...LIVM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1296762595&sr=8-9

If you still have some cash leftover, definitely spring for this XFX HD 5770 1GB video card:
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-Di...4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1296762564&sr=1-4

Awesome, you are the man!

All parts you listed comes to Order Total: $406.09 well within my budget!! I'm still skeptical about the Packaging of the HDD. But I'll give it a try anyway.

Thanks again!

 

[Dangman]

No prob.
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