what's the best bang for the buck...having only $800?

[ignitedforHim]

I have an old 1.4 pentium 4 pc right now that I need to get rid of, because I just want something that is going to be faster. I have $800 to spend on the tower alone, because I already have a good monitor. I also already have a harddrive to put in there, so I wont be needing that at all. I plan on using the PC for the basic Office stuff and internet, but I also want to run my TV through it with a capture card, so I want at least 256MB on the GPU, and a dual-core, preferably AMD x2, or opteron if anybody has instructions on how to over clock it. I also prefer asus mother boards because of their reliability, but I'm open for anything. What would you guys recommend?

 

[odd_bob]

I recently built a rig for under $700 (inc shipping) from NewEgg. Its solid and went together quite easliy. It might be a decent place for you to start.

Aspire QPACK chassis X-QPACK-NW-BK/420 74.99
Pentium D 805 (2.66ghz, 1MBx2, 533) BX80551PE2666FN 129.5
Foxconn 945G7MA-8KS2 945G7MA-8KS2 79.99
kingston DDR667 2x1GB kit KVR667D2N5K2/2G 239.99
LITE-ON SHW160P6S05 DVDR/W SHW160P6S05 35.99
Seagate 7200, 16mb cache, SATA, 250GB ST3250623NS 94.99

It adds up to about $650 (before shipping) but you can drop the hard drive (you said you already have one). You will probably also want to add a video card with capture capability, maybe an ATI all in wonder?

 

[smedlin]

the X2 will be more expensive then the pentium you showed. The X2 3800 is $300

 

[TheMaster]

This may work for you since you want a X2.

Rosewill R604TBLK-N Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W
BIOSTAR TForce6100-939 Socket 939 NVIDIA GeForce 6100
POWERCOLOR T55E-P03 PCI-Express x1 Interface TV tuner card - Retail
SAPPHIRE 100145L-GN Radeon X1600PRO 512MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Patriot 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model PDC1G3200LLK - Retail
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - Retai
BenQ 16x DVD+R DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model DW1625 - OEM


After shipping on newegg this came out to $791

Please don't buy the x1600, it performs worse than the x800 series :roll:

Also, more memory doesn't necessary mean more performance.
If you look at an x1600 with 512 mb of memory its still worse than an x850xt with 256. The x1600 simply doesnt have the power to use all that memory at higher resolutions where that extra memory would be usefull.

I would recommend something along the lines of a 7600 or x850/x1800gto.

EDIT: Sorry i saw that u need it for video capture, in which case if you're not planning on playing games at all it won't make a difference to you.

 

[sdrawkcaBgoD]

what's the best bang for the buck...having only $800?

A Las Vegas hooker.

 

[jaguarskx]

The amount of RAM on the video card does not affect how well it does capturing. It is important for games though. Also, are you looking at a single video card that will drive your monitor and also capture video as well like the Radeon All-In-Wonder series? Or are you looking at a separate capture card like the Hauppague? Are you going to be playing games as well?

The Athlon 64 X2 3800+ is $300 which leaves $500 left for everything else.

 

[Newf]

I have an old 1.4 pentium 4 pc right now that I need to get rid of, because I just want something that is going to be faster. I have $800 to spend on the tower alone, because I already have a good monitor. I also already have a harddrive to put in there, so I wont be needing that at all. I plan on using the PC for the basic Office stuff and internet, but I also want to run my TV through it with a capture card, so I want at least 256MB on the GPU, and a dual-core, preferably AMD x2, or opteron if anybody has instructions on how to over clock it. I also prefer asus mother boards because of their reliability, but I'm open for anything. What would you guys recommend?

So far you've gotten a number of interesting suggestions. Here's mine:
Asus A8N-VM CSM 939 microATX nF6150/430 $79+5 3/06
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131570
Powercolor T55E-P03 PCI-E x1 TV Tuner $85+5 (-$20Rebate) 5/06
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815117802
AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ $297+0 5/06
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562
Pick your favorite brand 2x1gig RAM $160
Lite-on or BenQ DVD burner $40-$50
Total so far about $660. I would add this Case/PSU but others may differ:
Antec Perf TX1088AMG Tower w/480 TruePower $139+19 3/06
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129159
The only hitch here- Windows XP for another $80+
The above system will do what you have asked for, be reliable as a stone and almost as quiet. It will not run the latest games well though, as the 6150 graphics are not intended for this.
Lately Intel has cut its price on D series dual-core Pentiums (for good reason!) Using an Asus mobo with one of these chips and putting the CPU savings into a good 3D gaming videocard is another option worth considering if games on the cheap looks good to you.
Also, this forum, as well as others, offer lots of advice on how to overclock safely...