• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Super Budget SW:TOR Build Help

Z

Zallith

n00b
Joined
Sep 27, 2010
Messages
26
Looking to help my brother build his first rig, he is leaning towards laptop and as a gamer I know he can get alot more bang for the same buck with a custom built desktop.



1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, mostly MMO's (Solid Processor)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
400 without tax, with shipping

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
US, Chicago area.

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, MB, HDD, DVD Drive, PSU, Case, OS

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 a GTX460 and 4 Gigs of G-skill cookie cutter ram.

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Have to get a monitor, would hope to be playing in 1080

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next month or so, if hard drive prices show a coming down point I would wait for it.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? etc.
None of this is very important, I would like the machine to be capable for 2 years, but with the limited budget that is a stretch.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No, would get a 64 Bit OEM
 
$400 won't even get you close to building a rig if you need to cover monitor and OS in that. In fact, the Mobo+CPU alone will come out well over 200, leaving you chump change to buy a HDD, DVD, PSU, and Case after deducting 100 for OS.
 
Even then, it'd be a pretty tight (AKA, impossible) build. Here's a breakdown of what you would need:

OS: $100, leaving $300 left

PSU: If you want to run the 460, you'll need a decent one. Lets say Antec ECO 620:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031 - $60
Leaving you $240

The cheapest case I'd be able to recommend would at least be $50-60, leaving you $190

DVD drive: cheapest you can get is $20, leaving you $170.

HDDs are pretty expensive now, even a 500 Gig one will costs $80

This leaves you all of $90 for a CPU+MoBo. You're looking at a single core processor with the most basic of MoBos. Think intel Celeron/AMD Sempron.
 
You can get two-generation-old dual cores+mobo for $90. (Core 2 Duo.) If you really hunt, you can find AM3 mobo and dual-core CPU for about that, too. Yeah, they'll be fairly low quality, but serviceable.

And if you're paying $100 for your OS, you're doing it wrong. Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM for $69 at various online stores. That's $30 more for your motherboard/CPU, which can push you into X3 territory.
 
Look at Dell, or HP's (or any PC builder) budget systems, and hope for a free PCIe slot, and a good enough power supply. That is about the only way on your budget.

Edit: Upon further review, you can build a Core i3 2100 ($112.49 w/promo code), Cheap Biostar mobo ($39.99 with promo), cheap a$$ case w/500w ps ($38 w/shipping), MS Win7 ($99.99), cheap DVD-ROM drive ($14.99), and a cheap HDD ($80) for slightly under $395 with shipping. This is assuming you have DDR3 memory. If you go with a sandy bridge Pentium, you could save $20.00 or so to invest in a better mobo, or something.

Edit #2: This is from Newegg.com
 
Last edited:
If you would like to help, please link to these cheaper processor+mobo combos, as I don't know of any reputable retailers that offer such prices after tax+shipping.

Same goes for the OS, even direct download versions cost $70+ minimum, and most of these are from no-name sites, and require you to have access to a DVD burner to burn a boot disc.
 
Hell, here you go:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.790392

Tack in Newegg's cheapest DVD burner ($16.99) and even their $99.99 copy of Windows, and you're at $406.97 shipped.

If you can make do with a DVD-ROM instead of a DVD burner, you can shave $3 off.

That gets you a Rosewill mid-tower with 450W power supply, GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-S2P AM3+ motherboard, AMD FX-4100 quad-core processor, 4 GB DDR3-1333 Corsair memory, Seagate 1 TB hard drive, LG DVD burner, and Windows 7 Home Premium OEM. Slap in your video card, and you're good to go. (With spare RAM you can sell, even, to get some money back, now that I notice you already have RAM - you specify "G.skill cookie cutter", but not what type, that would also define the choice of motherboard unless you get it with RAM and sell your existing RAM.)
 
"trust"? I ran dual Radeon 4870X2s on a 620W power supply for a few years, no problems.

If it works, it works. It has a one year warranty (Rosewill is big enough to honor their warranty,) and in a year you can upgrade to something just as powerful, but less power consuming, and be perfectly safe. (edit: Or just buy a new power supply a year down the road.)

It's within the budget, and it will work. For a high-end gaming rig, sure, splurge on the power supply. For a "must be cheap" rig, get what works.
 
Last edited:
CharonPDX said:
And if you're paying $100 for your OS, you're doing it wrong. Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM for $69 at various online stores.
Click to expand...
Which online stores? And are they actually reputable?

I concur with Tsuyoi: Don't use a generic PSU for even a low-end gaming system. From my personal experiences, it's simply not worth the risk running a generic PSU.
 
First of all, the GTX460 is a huge power hog. Just because you can run two 4870s on a 620W PSU doesn't mean any 450W psu can runa GTX460.

The MINIMUM requirement for a GTX460 in fact is 450W, and that's a GOOD PSU. The one packaged with the Rosewill case is definitely not a good psu, as can be expected in a $50 PSU+Case combo.

In fact, if you read through some of the reviews for that product, you'll note it's plagued with issues. The manufacturing is extremely flimsy and cheap, and chances are your PCIe card (the GTX460) won't align, forcing you to bend the back panel. The 120mm fan is done on a budget, and will run extremely loud. The PSU has very few connectors, and are of insufficient length to even reach the top slots in the case itself.

Yes, Rosewill may honor their warranty. But what if the bad PSU blows his MoBo, RAM, HDD, and GPU? Will Rosewill pay for all his parts? Does he want to go through the trouble?

Ultimately, yes the build may work, but there's just too high a chance of it blowing up in his face for me to recommend.
 
With this budget, it's either run it with a generic PSU, or abandon the build at this budget. Period. You are *NOT* going to get a decent PSU, along with even "acceptable" other components, at this price range.

My opinion is to go for the cheap PSU now, and replace it when you can afford to. With most computer hardware, "buy it now, upgrade it later" is a better bet than waiting - you'll just wait forever. And if the budget is set and available now, there is less risk of it being used for other things if you try to save up more to get a better PSU at build time.

Yes, there are plenty of "I never use inferior versions of component" <xyz>, but there are also "I never use Intel/AMD CPUs" and "I never use AMD/nVidia graphics cards." Buy what you want, that is within your budget, and replace what you want/can when you can.

I don't see anyone else suggesting an actual way to accomplish this build.
 
That's the point we've been trying to push across, it's NOT possible to get a build for this price. It would be a much wiser choice to abandon the build for now, wait until OP has the required budget, and then get a decent build, than spend $400 to get one that the OP will be dissatisfied with to say the least, and that might damage existing hardware in the worst case scenario.

This isn't a case of "I never use AMD/Intel/nVidia", but rather an issue of "the suggested hardware is insufficient for your needs". I don't care what BRAND PSU they buy, even Rosewill has some decent ones, but it IS a problem if the suggested PSU isn't rated high enough to handle the listed hardware, and may end up damaging said hardware.
 
I stick with my suggestion: Get the combo now (which DOES meet the requirements of the GPU,) and save up $60 in the next few months to get a better power supply. (Or save up longer to get a lower-power GPU, but thinking more about it, getting a better PSU first does make more sense.)
 
Final choice is up to OP, just pointing out that Case+PSU has several significant downsides such as build quality, noise, reliability, and future upgrade compatibility.

But if OP is desperate to have a computer up and running now, by all means.
 
RAM is G.SKILL 4GB F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ, I was posting at work and did not realize I had the kit still in my signature.

I understand that this is a hellish build that is why I came here. My personal opinion is Asus MB, I5+, AMD 6800+, Cooler Master Case and a Corsair PSU. Unfortunately my brother isnt giving me much to work with, so I am attempting to make due with what I have, in the end I am sure I will have to squeeze him for more.
 
Zallith said:
RAM is G.SKILL 4GB F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ, I was posting at work and did not realize I had the kit still in my signature.
Click to expand...
That doesn't make sense: That's a DDR2 RAM set. Your sig rig only uses DDR3. It's completely incompatible with DDR2 RAM. So what set do you have? A DDR2 set or a DDR3 set?
 
F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT is what I have sitting at home. I am not sure what is in my case now, But I am pretty sure it is that ddr2 kit. So it appears to work on my rig?!? I will repost when I get home and check.
 
Zallith said:
F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT is what I have sitting at home.
Click to expand...
In that case, assuming that you actually have a DDR3 RAM set available, I recommend this setup:
$52 - Intel Celeron G530 CPU
$65 - Biostar H61MU3 Intel H61 mATX Motherboard
$86 - Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$17 - LG GH22NS90B DVD Burner
$50 - NZXT Source 210 Elite White with Black Front Trim ATX Case
$48 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
$100 - Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit OEM
---
Total: $418 shipped.

$18 over budget but it's your best bet for solid PC for the lowest price possible. Yes that 400W PSU will be enough to power the GTX 460. However, since you're not planning on building for another month, bump up this thread when you're 1-2 weeks away from buying the parts to get an updated recommendation for any of the parts.
Zallith said:
But I am pretty sure it is that ddr2 kit. So it appears to work on my rig?!? I will repost when I get home and check.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm 100% sure that's not the case. Unless you happened to perform an engineering miracle, you probably have a DDR3 RAM set there.
 
Do you know anyone near a Fry's or Microcenter. Alot of times you can get a cheap x4 bundle with board for around 100$ or even less
 
 
I have 2 F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK kits, dont know were the set in my sig is from.

I do have a Fry's relatively close to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top