Building a new computer, but nothing extreme

aeroripper · 02-28-2007, 11:27 PM

I would like to start pricing my new rig with this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103759

My ideal specs:

- Dual core (might have to get a new fan for this chip since it sounds like the stock one is crap).
- New motherboard, I'm completely nub about what motherboard to go with, especially for this chip. Ideally I would like it to be a AMD motherboard since my chip is AMD and my video card will probably be ATI.
- 2gb good\fast ram, not value ram or anything.
- Pretty good graphics card, but not top of the line. I'm thinking $200 max.
- New hardrive, not to proficient with hardrives nowadays, I would like to replace this old 40gb 7200rpm with something bigger and a lot faster if possible.
- New case with great cooling (so I can actually keep my case closed!), but nothing beyond $80-$90 at the far end of the spectrum
- Already have a nice new ATX 550W power supply I bought in my previous thread about the x1650xt video card I bought that didn't work, so I won't need that.

That's about it, and I'm aiming for all this to be < $600. Any help would be welcome, or recommendations. I just want something that's going to last me for a couple of years while still being a great gaming machine, but not necessarily cutting edge.

SmokingTarpan · 03-01-2007, 11:13 AM

Hah! That's the same processor I was looking at yesterday. I was also looking at the following mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813128014

I'm a pretty big fan of Gigabyte mobo's, but it seems that they're lacking in AMD X2 compatible boards at the moment.

As far as mobo's in general go, it really depends on if you're looking for SLI capability. If not, you'll chop a good chunk off your price. ASUS boards aren't too bad and generally work well with AMD chips. Here's a selection of ASUS boards for under $100 that are X2 ready:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...SubCategory=22

For RAM, I recommend Corsair, but that can be expensive. Patriot RAM also saved my butt when one of my Corsair sticks blew out, so I recommend them as a secondary choice. No matter what though, you'll be spending between $2-300 for 2gb of ram. Looks like right now Newegg has a deal on 2x1 gig of ram for $206 plus a $40 mail-in rebate.

Hard Drive. Definitely want to go to an SATA drive if you're still using an IDE. Faster and more reliable compared to IDE drives at the same speed. I've long been a fan of Western Digital, but Seagate and Samsung are fair as well. Not sure how much space you need, but Newegg has a 160gb HDD for $60 from Western Digital.

Video card is going to cost you, but here's a good comparisson guide from Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/...for_the_money/

You want a PCIe card. Looks like there's a pretty decent card from ATI in the $175 category. Also, the last page of the review has a chart that puts ATI and nVidia cards in comparisson so that you can see not only how the competition sizes up, but also how far of a jump your new card will put you ahead of your current one.

The case I'll leave up to you and others to discuss, since it's never been a huge thing for me. If you go with that processor and some of the cheap/mid-range components I've listed here, your price range jumps up between $7-800. That's without a new case, remember. The processor and video card make up a huge chunk of that cost, so you might have to wiggle on one or both. And 2gig of RAM is going to cost you no matter what, sadly.

edit: Also forgot to mention that, as of now, only nVidia has video cards that are DX10 capable. ATI seems to be lagging sorely behind in that respect, which is sad because I'm an ATI fan. It's not necessarily an issue now, but as DX10 games come out and Vista becomes more popular, it will be a factor to keep in mind.

Black_V!per · 03-01-2007, 12:07 PM

To keep a computer below $600 with the requirements your asking is pretty hard... Last night i tryed to throw toegether a few parts in a wishlist at newegg, and wasnt able to keep it below $750 (Including, 2GB DDR2-800, PCIe GFX, Proc u wanted, Mobo, HDD, and case).

=Sarc= · 03-01-2007, 01:26 PM

$600 is definitely not enough for a budget gaming PC that will last 2 years. You'll have to skimp a bit more on the processor, stick to 1GB RAM, a really cheap mobo, and a video card that will not last 1 year. Add on a HDD and case, you're tacking on at least another $150.

aeroripper · 03-01-2007, 01:53 PM

Yeah, I may have to bump up the price a little. I could for the time being just go with 1gb of corsair ram and expand later on. Probably be getting a sata harddrive that's not to expensive, and probably just reorder my x1650xt video card I had to return last time lol.

SmokingTarpan · 03-01-2007, 03:19 PM

If you could go without a new case, that will also cut a good chunk of money off of your expense. New cases these days tend to be expensive unless you're going with just a crappy aluminum thing. And you can definitely get a good SATA HDD for cheap. Check this one for $60:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136036

When looking at cost, here's a general breakdown of cheap (under $100) vs. expensive (over $100) components:

Expensive: Processor, RAM, video card, plastics (case setups), monitor
Cheap: System board, HDD, CD/DVD drive

Power supplies can fit in either category, depending on what you're looking for. Keep in mind that these general trends are for buying non-top-of-the-line equipment; this doesn't mean it's bad gear, just that it's for buying things that aren't on the bleeding edge. Everything gets expensive once you hit the front edge.

I would say that, with all the things you would like to replace, building a rig that isn't top quality but that will definitely last you for 2-3 years will be in the $800 range. Good news is that when you rebuild again after that, you'll likely be able to hold onto some of what you buy now, like the case and HDD (assuming new technology doesn't become standard).

Black_V!per · 03-01-2007, 03:23 PM

This is what I was able to conjure up last night, its not 100% i did it around 3am. Most of the parts are lower end brands, but should be more than efficient for you.

Case (Has HUGE side fan) - $49.99
Video card X1950pro (512MB RAM) - $194.99 (-$10 for mail in)
2GB DDR2-800 OCZ - $175.99 (-$20 for mail in)
Abit Mobo (One PCIe so no SLi down the road) - $73.99
AMD64 X2 5200+ - $229.00
250GB HDD - $69.99

$793.95
30 bucks in mail-in rebates
$763.95 (I had it cheaper last night, but i couldnt remember what parts I used, and of course different things can be changed to make it better/cheaper)

If you decide to lower the CPU or GFX or RAM you could save a good 50-150 bucks doing so, which will bring you back to your area of taste.

aeroripper · 03-01-2007, 04:08 PM

Wow thanks black viper. I have a question about SATA drives since I'm completely nub about them. How do they connect to my mobo and what kind of power plug do they use?

Also I'm not worried about SLI or anything.

=Sarc= · 03-01-2007, 04:19 PM

Most motherboards come with SATA and IDE cables. The Abit board that Black Viper posted comes with 4 SATA cables. They connect like any other cable.

If your PSU is fairly new, you'll have SATA power connectors on it. If not, you can always buy adapters.

Black_V!per · 03-01-2007, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =Sarc=

Most motherboards come with SATA and IDE cables. The Abit board that Black Viper posted comes with 4 SATA cables. They connect like any other cable.

If your PSU is fairly new, you'll have SATA power connectors on it. If not, you can always buy adapters.

Yea, every Mobo i've seen for the last 4 years have had SATA slots built in, and any PSU can power them even if it means your going to need a adapter. If your PSU is like 1 year or newer its got SATA power connecter built in. The only thing to watch is the difference between Serial ATA150 and SATA 3.0GBs, they should be completely compatible with each other...

SmokingTarpan · 03-01-2007, 11:15 PM

Here's the wiki for SATA. You don't have to read it, really, but since you're new to SATA I thought it would be a good show since it has pictures of what that type of data and power connection looks like (if you don't already know).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ata

And yea, SATA 3.0gb are supposed to failsafe to SATA150 if the controller on the system board doesn't match.

Zoopy_T · 03-02-2007, 10:55 AM

I have Seagate drives and theres a jumper on the back to switch from 1.5 to 3. The jumper comes in the 1.5 position though.

Banyan · 03-05-2007, 04:56 PM

Don't skimp on the power supply. The Dual Core chips and even more so, the new graphics cards will need a powerful PSU in the 600-700W range. It's important that you get a quality one that doesn't fluctuate.

02-28-2007, 11:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
aeroripper Join Date: Dec 2005 Age: 25 Posts: 2,280	Building a new computer, but nothing extreme I would like to start pricing my new rig with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103759 My ideal specs: - Dual core (might have to get a new fan for this chip since it sounds like the stock one is crap). - New motherboard, I'm completely nub about what motherboard to go with, especially for this chip. Ideally I would like it to be a AMD motherboard since my chip is AMD and my video card will probably be ATI. - 2gb good\fast ram, not value ram or anything. - Pretty good graphics card, but not top of the line. I'm thinking $200 max. - New hardrive, not to proficient with hardrives nowadays, I would like to replace this old 40gb 7200rpm with something bigger and a lot faster if possible. - New case with great cooling (so I can actually keep my case closed!), but nothing beyond $80-$90 at the far end of the spectrum - Already have a nice new ATX 550W power supply I bought in my previous thread about the x1650xt video card I bought that didn't work, so I won't need that. That's about it, and I'm aiming for all this to be < $600. Any help would be welcome, or recommendations. I just want something that's going to last me for a couple of years while still being a great gaming machine, but not necessarily cutting edge.

03-01-2007, 11:13 AM	#2 (permalink)
SmokingTarpan Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,445	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme Hah! That's the same processor I was looking at yesterday. I was also looking at the following mobo: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813128014 I'm a pretty big fan of Gigabyte mobo's, but it seems that they're lacking in AMD X2 compatible boards at the moment. As far as mobo's in general go, it really depends on if you're looking for SLI capability. If not, you'll chop a good chunk off your price. ASUS boards aren't too bad and generally work well with AMD chips. Here's a selection of ASUS boards for under $100 that are X2 ready: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...SubCategory=22 For RAM, I recommend Corsair, but that can be expensive. Patriot RAM also saved my butt when one of my Corsair sticks blew out, so I recommend them as a secondary choice. No matter what though, you'll be spending between $2-300 for 2gb of ram. Looks like right now Newegg has a deal on 2x1 gig of ram for $206 plus a $40 mail-in rebate. Hard Drive. Definitely want to go to an SATA drive if you're still using an IDE. Faster and more reliable compared to IDE drives at the same speed. I've long been a fan of Western Digital, but Seagate and Samsung are fair as well. Not sure how much space you need, but Newegg has a 160gb HDD for $60 from Western Digital. Video card is going to cost you, but here's a good comparisson guide from Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/...for_the_money/ You want a PCIe card. Looks like there's a pretty decent card from ATI in the $175 category. Also, the last page of the review has a chart that puts ATI and nVidia cards in comparisson so that you can see not only how the competition sizes up, but also how far of a jump your new card will put you ahead of your current one. The case I'll leave up to you and others to discuss, since it's never been a huge thing for me. If you go with that processor and some of the cheap/mid-range components I've listed here, your price range jumps up between $7-800. That's without a new case, remember. The processor and video card make up a huge chunk of that cost, so you might have to wiggle on one or both. And 2gig of RAM is going to cost you no matter what, sadly. edit: Also forgot to mention that, as of now, only nVidia has video cards that are DX10 capable. ATI seems to be lagging sorely behind in that respect, which is sad because I'm an ATI fan. It's not necessarily an issue now, but as DX10 games come out and Vista becomes more popular, it will be a factor to keep in mind. __________________ [squadl] "I am the prettiest african-american, vietnamese..cong..person." -SugarNCamo

03-01-2007, 12:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
Black_V!per Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Kingman AZ. Age: 20 Posts: 1,442	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme To keep a computer below $600 with the requirements your asking is pretty hard... Last night i tryed to throw toegether a few parts in a wishlist at newegg, and wasnt able to keep it below $750 (Including, 2GB DDR2-800, PCIe GFX, Proc u wanted, Mobo, HDD, and case). __________________ Start counting, when you reach infinity tell me. If you can read this you've got to much time on your hands.

03-01-2007, 01:26 PM	#4 (permalink)
=Sarc= Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 4,460	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme $600 is definitely not enough for a budget gaming PC that will last 2 years. You'll have to skimp a bit more on the processor, stick to 1GB RAM, a really cheap mobo, and a video card that will not last 1 year. Add on a HDD and case, you're tacking on at least another $150. __________________ JO Guides & Tutorials Team Element - It's who you game with.

03-01-2007, 01:53 PM	#5 (permalink)
aeroripper Join Date: Dec 2005 Age: 25 Posts: 2,280	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme Yeah, I may have to bump up the price a little. I could for the time being just go with 1gb of corsair ram and expand later on. Probably be getting a sata harddrive that's not to expensive, and probably just reorder my x1650xt video card I had to return last time lol.

03-01-2007, 03:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
SmokingTarpan Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,445	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme If you could go without a new case, that will also cut a good chunk of money off of your expense. New cases these days tend to be expensive unless you're going with just a crappy aluminum thing. And you can definitely get a good SATA HDD for cheap. Check this one for $60: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136036 When looking at cost, here's a general breakdown of cheap (under $100) vs. expensive (over $100) components: Expensive: Processor, RAM, video card, plastics (case setups), monitor Cheap: System board, HDD, CD/DVD drive Power supplies can fit in either category, depending on what you're looking for. Keep in mind that these general trends are for buying non-top-of-the-line equipment; this doesn't mean it's bad gear, just that it's for buying things that aren't on the bleeding edge. Everything gets expensive once you hit the front edge. I would say that, with all the things you would like to replace, building a rig that isn't top quality but that will definitely last you for 2-3 years will be in the $800 range. Good news is that when you rebuild again after that, you'll likely be able to hold onto some of what you buy now, like the case and HDD (assuming new technology doesn't become standard). __________________ [squadl] "I am the prettiest african-american, vietnamese..cong..person." -SugarNCamo

03-01-2007, 03:23 PM	#7 (permalink)
Black_V!per Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Kingman AZ. Age: 20 Posts: 1,442	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme This is what I was able to conjure up last night, its not 100% i did it around 3am. Most of the parts are lower end brands, but should be more than efficient for you. Case (Has HUGE side fan) - $49.99 Video card X1950pro (512MB RAM) - $194.99 (-$10 for mail in) 2GB DDR2-800 OCZ - $175.99 (-$20 for mail in) Abit Mobo (One PCIe so no SLi down the road) - $73.99 AMD64 X2 5200+ - $229.00 250GB HDD - $69.99 $793.95 30 bucks in mail-in rebates $763.95 (I had it cheaper last night, but i couldnt remember what parts I used, and of course different things can be changed to make it better/cheaper) If you decide to lower the CPU or GFX or RAM you could save a good 50-150 bucks doing so, which will bring you back to your area of taste. __________________ Start counting, when you reach infinity tell me. If you can read this you've got to much time on your hands.

03-01-2007, 04:08 PM	#8 (permalink)
aeroripper Join Date: Dec 2005 Age: 25 Posts: 2,280	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme Wow thanks black viper. I have a question about SATA drives since I'm completely nub about them. How do they connect to my mobo and what kind of power plug do they use? Also I'm not worried about SLI or anything.

03-01-2007, 04:19 PM	#9 (permalink)
=Sarc= Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 4,460	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme Most motherboards come with SATA and IDE cables. The Abit board that Black Viper posted comes with 4 SATA cables. They connect like any other cable. If your PSU is fairly new, you'll have SATA power connectors on it. If not, you can always buy adapters. __________________ JO Guides & Tutorials Team Element - It's who you game with.

03-01-2007, 11:15 PM	#11 (permalink)
SmokingTarpan Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,445	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme Here's the wiki for SATA. You don't have to read it, really, but since you're new to SATA I thought it would be a good show since it has pictures of what that type of data and power connection looks like (if you don't already know). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ata And yea, SATA 3.0gb are supposed to failsafe to SATA150 if the controller on the system board doesn't match. __________________ [squadl] "I am the prettiest african-american, vietnamese..cong..person." -SugarNCamo

03-02-2007, 10:55 AM	#12 (permalink)
Zoopy_T Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 1,641	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme I have Seagate drives and theres a jumper on the back to switch from 1.5 to 3. The jumper comes in the 1.5 position though.

03-05-2007, 04:56 PM	#13 (permalink)
Banyan Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Frederick, Maryland Age: 42 Posts: 278	Re: Building a new computer, but nothing extreme Don't skimp on the power supply. The Dual Core chips and even more so, the new graphics cards will need a powerful PSU in the 600-700W range. It's important that you get a quality one that doesn't fluctuate.

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