Yet another budget build

DayTrader

DayTrader

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 13, 2008
Messages
90
Needed: motherboard (must be micro ATX to utilize current case), cpu, psu, ram (onboard graphics are ok for this one......no other parts needed)

What I have so far:

Option 1 - AMD

ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX $79
or
GIGABYTE GA-MA74GM-S2 AM2+/AM2 AMD 740G Micro ATX $50

AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core $60
Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V Power Supply $35
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ $48

since I'm not planning on getting her a gpu, I'm wondering if the more expensive board is worth the money. $222 vs $193

Option 2 - Intel
GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro $53
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz $120
Same RAM and PSU as above $83
Total: $256
or swap processors for this Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz and bring the total down to $206

No oc-ing, gaming or anything fun like that........just real basic internet surfing/e-mailing. I'm trying to keep an eye on expandability down the road if she needs to add storage, graphics, etc.

Her $ limit is about $300 but she'd like to keep it closer to $250 or maybe even $200.

thanks in advance.

mike
 
I recommend this build instead over the Intel build and AMD setup:
$160 - AMD Phenom II X3 710 CPU + ASUS M3A76-CM AMD 760G mATX Motherboard Combo
$45 - Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5C2 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM
$55 - Corsair 400CX 400W PSU
-----
Total: $260 plus tax and shipping.

You get a significantly better PSU, better mobo with more room for expansion and CPU upgrades and a slightly faster CPU for just $4 more than the Intel setup. In terms of best bang for the parts and quality, the above setup is better than the AMD setup you chose.

If you really need to save money, the AMD setup and Gigabyte mobo you chose will be a good choice IF you replace the shitty Thermaltake with the Corsair PSU above.
 
Sorry I didn't get back sooner to say thanks Danny Bui! Went with your suggestions and my co-worker loves her "it's soooo much faster" computer :) . Thanks a lot for the help.
 
DayTrader said:
Sorry I didn't get back sooner to say thanks Danny Bui! Went with your suggestions and my co-worker loves her "it's soooo much faster" computer :) . Thanks a lot for the help.
Click to expand...

No prob man. Glad to see the PC is up, running and working fine.

But no pics?? :D
 
Lulz......always with the pics... ;)

truth is, I stuffed everything into her eMachines case and got to work copying her hd to my machine, reformatting her drive, reinstalling everything and so on. I wanted that one out of my hair so I could get back to MY issues -- like looking for a new wireless router, new storage hd, trying to find a better way to organize my files so I can reformat/reinstall my os more easily, and so on.....yanno? :)
 
DayTrader said:
Lulz......always with the pics... ;)

truth is, I stuffed everything into her eMachines case and got to work copying her hd to my machine, reformatting her drive, reinstalling everything and so on. I wanted that one out of my hair so I could get back to MY issues -- like looking for a new wireless router, new storage hd, trying to find a better way to organize my files so I can reformat/reinstall my os more easily, and so on.....yanno? :)
Click to expand...
LOL!

Understandable. :)
 
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