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Yet another budget build

S

Super.Elk

n00b
Joined
Jan 12, 2009
Messages
5
Im pretty set on what im going to go for, having read through most of the threads in the last few pages. My main concerns are on the motherboard, so hopefully I can get some feedback on that. Ive never built an Intel PC before, so I went with AMD. If its a flat out better deal though, Im willing to go Intel. As for the videocard, I had a real bad experience with ATI over my last card which kinda pushed me away from them. Im willing to give it another go, since I know cases like mine are the minority, but if the Nvidia offering is just as good thats really what Id prefer to use.

1) What will you be doing with this PC?
-Primarily games. Nothing too crazy though, I mainly play WoW and CoD.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
-Im looking to spend around 650 total, though im willing to go a bit higher if I have to.
3) Where do you live?
-Rhode Island
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
-Ill expand in the parts im looking at below, but I need everything except a Moniter/Keyboard/Mouse
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
-I dont plan on reusing anything beyond whats listed above.
6) Will you be overclocking?
-Possibly. Im trying to avoid adding a HSF due to the budget, so for now no. Its a definite possibilty in the future though.
7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have?
I have a 19" LCD
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP, really. Im bumming my gf's laptop when its available, so I want something new soon.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Nothing as far as I know, especially with my budget
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
No, the budget I guess is really 450 after Vista.



Anyway, with that done, heres what I was looking at (all pulled from Newegg)

Antec Sonata III 500 ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply 100.00
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 26.00
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 55.00
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 110.00
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 40.00
Foxconn M61PMV AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard 45.0
MD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition 79.00
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 99.00

Shipping is around 35 bucks, but if I can find the case at Best Buy down the road (checking after I post this) then I can cut the shipping down to around 15. Assuming I cant get the case there, the total shipped cost is about 675, which is a bit more than what I want to pay (though im willing to if getting it down 25 bucks takes too much away.)

Anyway, hopefully this is clear enough. Any suggestions and help are greatly appreciated, thank you!
 
Your prices are off a bit:
- Sonata III is $130
- That 9800GTX is $160

Also, I'm not 100% sure that Foxconn mobo will support that CPU (Nice going Foxconn for not posting a CPU support list).

Hmm, for $650, I'd go with this setup:
AMD Athlon64 X2 7750 CPU & Biostar TFORCE TA790GX AMD 790GX Motherboard Combo - $163 Shipped
G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM - $40 FS
Sapphire 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB PCI-E Video Card - $155 FS
Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $75
Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner - $26 FS
Antec Earthwatts 430W PSU - $40 FS
Cooler Master Elite 332 ATX Case - $47 FS
Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1 OEM - $100
---
Total: $646 shipped plus tax

You get a faster and larger hard drive, better motherboard, and just as fast video card for ~$30 less than your above setup. The only tradeoff of note was the PSU but the EA430 is based on the same platform as the EA500 in that Sonata III case so you're not losing any quality. In addition, the EA430 is more than enough power for that kind of system
 
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Youre correct about the prices, I skimmed over the details in the cart. The videocard is "110" but you then pay an additional 50 for the CoD5 that comes with it. Its listed on a different line than the card though, so I completely missed it. A similar situation happened with the case. Thank you for pointing that out to me.

Everything you posted looks great though, so unless a really convincing reply comes in before tommorrow afternoon, I think im going to go for it. I really appreciate your help, thank you!
 
fromeo85, is there any particular reason why you went with the PC-7B plus II case and the ASRock motherboard?
 
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