Yet another noob seeking advice..

R

Rycon

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
97
Alright lets get to the point..

Im very computer savy, but it has been a long time since ive upgrade my peice of crap, HP P3 900 mhz gforce 4 mx <-- lol.

It is now time to upgrade, i have saved a bit of money but I am on a tight budget since I did just recently get married.

I have been looking and looking and i just dont know how to decide, I dont care if I have to build the computer myself, I just need alot of power for a good price. I assembled my computer that I thought would be nice on Tigerdirect.com (Picked the parts out individual) with the rebates there offering it would come to about $450, but im willing to spend more then this as long as its not too much, lets say I dont want to go past AROUND $600.

Dont get me wrong, im not asking, WHAT DO I BUY! Im just seeking advice based off of what I want.

Heres what I NEED

Alot of power. (I do alot gaming, image editing, and i want to get into DVD's.)
(I dont need the insane latest and greatest power machine, im just looking for best bang for buck with something thats performance orientated.)
A decent amount of storage.
A decent graphics card with TV Out.
PCI-E (Because as I have read, AGP is giving way)
Reliability. (Im afraid of buying somthing that will last 2 months and become a door stop)

Heres what I PREFER (Stuff thats optional, if it has to give way for the best deal, so be it)

Neon lights on a buetifull case with a thermo on the front (Always wanted it :D)
DVD Combo (I can buy it later if need be)
Upgraded sound (Im not sure this relys on motherboard or external sound cards or speakers, if its speakers, forget about it)
A warranty.

What I DONT need. (But if they happen to come with it without costing, no big deal)
Mouse/keyboard
NIC
Monitar
PCI USB Card
Floppy Drive
OS

Ive been looking on ebay and it seems like they have some killer deals with 3 year warrantys but I just cant figure out what the catch is. Im afraid of investing in something I will run into problems down the road, like non-upgradeable, hardware failure, ect.

ANY advice you guys can offer me is greatly apreciated, such as what NOT to get, where to look, is ebay a good place? Anything you recomend. Just remember my budget, im willing to spend the money but im not about to go get a freaking dell or somthing, I am very capable of building a computer.

Thanks.
 
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 - $162.99
GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express - $107.99
G.Skill F2-6400CL5S-1GBNQ 1GB (2x 512MB) DDR2 800 RAM - $89.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s - $89.99
eVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB PCI-Express - $109.99
XClio 450BL ATX 450W Power Supply - $37.99
------
Total: $589.95 Plus Tax and Shipping

Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs are the current CPU performance champs. So that should be plenty of power for your gaming, image editing and DVDs. That Seagate hard drive I chose has 320GB of hard drive space AND a 5 year warranty. The 7600GT graphics card is one of the best mid-range cards out there. And 1GB of RAM is a decent amount of RAM for any system.

So this system should be good enough for you.
 
Thanks guys I really apreciate, this system looks pretty good, I guess I have to overlock it once I get it assembled.

I apreciate the help!
 
unless you plan on overclocking the stock c2d hsf should be more than enough. and depending on what case you go with will determine if you need better fans or not.
 
Well yes I do want to overclock it (To a STABLE level).

I cant seem to find the 5 year warrenty for that harddrive on newegg.

I was thinking of these cases that is recomended in the post schulz posted. Of course I would love a really flashy one, airflow seems to be more of the concern.

ba21145.jpg

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=BA21145&CartID=done&nextloc=


5124886.box.GIF

http://shop1.outpost.com/product/5124886?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
 
Rycon said:
Well yes I do want to overclock it (To a STABLE level).

I cant seem to find the 5 year warrenty for that harddrive on newegg.
Click to expand...

Click the "Manufacturer Info" tab on that hard drive page. There's the five year warranty.
 
If money is really tight then look into the x2 3600 Brisban and TForce 550 mobo combo at Newegg ($150) pair it with the freezer64 pro heatsink fan and you can save $100 over the C2D setup.
 
That mobo+processor combo looks very interesting, are we talking a huge performance difference? Seems like people have been able to succesfully overlock, and with the fan/heatsink im guessing I can overclock without worry?

Again, the cases, any advice?

Thanx again guys for all the help.

Once I get this all figured out, im buyin today! Cheers!
 
Overclocking C2D cpu's could hardly be easier. I'm running an E4300 (stock 1.8ghz) at 3.3ghz using the stock heatsink/fan. That's an 83% overclock for free using the cheapest C2D cpu.

I've been an AMD fan previously, but C2D's rock their world. Only thing I'd add is save some money on a video card and get one off of Ebay. You can get a 7900GT for the price of a new 7600GT.

Specs in sig.
 
Wow you just made this decision really hard now..

Well i found a 2 month used 7900 for $140 on ebay, might be worth it.
 
It's up to you man. You're gonna be living with whatever case you choose so it's up to you for case choices.
 
That case it is then.

Ok PLEASE one last plead for help..

The decision between the C2D and the AMD..

Can anyone offer me any advice..

So far my total with the AMD (and a DVD player, and that case) + shipping is $620 - $20 rebate.

Seems like a pretty good deal, but is it worth the jump?
 
For that price and your limited budget in mind, I say go for the AMD build. While the C2D build I set up for you will be faster than the AMD build, the problem is that my setup does not include a case or a DVD burner.

If you can swing in another $100 or so, then I'd say go for the C2D build. But with your limited budget, go for the AMD build.

And oh yeah, make sure you click "buy this combo" when you go to the mobo page. Otherwise you won't be able to get the combo deal. And remember that Combo Deal does not have a HSF so you're gonna have to add an aftermarket heatsink as well. The Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 64 seems to be one of the top ones now.
 
Wow this decision is killing me..

while im thinking..

Do i need to buy any cables or extra crap?
 
Screw it, im going C2D, and thanx for that link for that harddrive, il take that too, never again am i going to worry about HD space..

lol.

Thank all VERY much for the help (Expecialy Danny Bui), im sure il be very happy with this setup.

Again before i order, do I need to buy any cables or anything?
 
Rycon said:
Screw it, im going C2D, and thanx for that link for that harddrive, il take that too, never again am i going to worry about HD space..

lol.

Thank all VERY much for the help (Expecialy Danny Bui), im sure il be very happy with this setup.

Again before i order, do I need to buy any cables or anything?
Click to expand...

once upon a time i had 2 250 gig drives and one 400 gig drive and thought that would be enough. of course that was after i had only an 80 gb and though 80gb with a 250gb would be enough. now i have 7 400gb drives along with those original 2 250's ;). its still not enough!!! :). enjoy!
 
did u try any of the ram from ewiz? they had 2 gb of supertalent for like 100-120 bucks. not a bad deal
 
Nah i think a gig is enough.. lol..

Im about to order, again, anything im forgetting?
 
if u spend 40 bucks more, i'm sure u can finda x1950pro for about 150 shipped :)

but i think ur good to go! :)
 
Rycon said:
Screw it, im going C2D, and thanx for that link for that harddrive, il take that too, never again am i going to worry about HD space..

lol.

Thank all VERY much for the help (Expecialy Danny Bui), im sure il be very happy with this setup.

Again before i order, do I need to buy any cables or anything?
Click to expand...

No need to buy any sort of cables. Since you're buying all new, then every cable you need should come with the motherboard and videocard. So you're set man. Have fun with your new PC!
 
Hey man i ordered all the parts, I cant wait to put it together, really, thanx again for the help I know you probly answer the same thing over and over.

Il post to tell you how its doin, though i doubt anybody cares lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top