Budget AMD 3800 X2...first build.

[Noya]

Hi, a friend of mine that's currently using a HP PIII has finally decided to upgrade. Office, Poker, CD & DVD burning is probably what he'll be using it for. Here's a list of build items. I know, I should probably have AM2 instead of 939. The total is $501 and some change. Does it look okay? Am I missing anything besides monitor/XP?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3800BVBOX

ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: A8N5X

Patriot Signature Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model PSD1G400KH - Retail

LINKSKEY LKA-CR15B 19-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader/Writer - Retail

SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP2504C 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Rosewill R103A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: R103A

NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A - OEM
Model #: ND-3550A BK OEM

LITE-ON SK-1789/BS 2-Tone PS/2 Wired Slim Keyboard - Retail
Model #: SK-1789/BS

Sunbeam FireLine Optical Mouse MS-2011-BK-BL Black 3 Buttons 1x Wheel USB Optical Mouse w/Blue Light - Retail
Model #: MS-2011-BK-BL

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Model #: ARCTIC SILVER 5

GENERIC 18" 2-Head Red SATA (SERIAL ATA 150) Cable Model SERIAL ATA 18 - OEM
Model #: SERIAL ATA 18

 

[k-]

go am2, its not that much more, and get 2gb of ddr2 800, its still not that much more, 100max.

oh and also, get a video card..... and more power supply, at least 400-450........

 

[Ragnarok]

Hi, a friend of mine that's currently using a HP PIII has finally decided to upgrade. Office, Poker, CD & DVD burning is probably what he'll be using it for. Here's a list of build items. I know, I should probably have AM2 instead of 939. The total is $501 and some change. Does it look okay? Am I missing anything besides monitor/XP?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3800BVBOX

ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: A8N5X

Patriot Signature Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model PSD1G400KH - Retail

LINKSKEY LKA-CR15B 19-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader/Writer - Retail

SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP2504C 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Rosewill R103A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: R103A

NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A - OEM
Model #: ND-3550A BK OEM

LITE-ON SK-1789/BS 2-Tone PS/2 Wired Slim Keyboard - Retail
Model #: SK-1789/BS

Sunbeam FireLine Optical Mouse MS-2011-BK-BL Black 3 Buttons 1x Wheel USB Optical Mouse w/Blue Light - Retail
Model #: MS-2011-BK-BL

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Model #: ARCTIC SILVER 5

GENERIC 18" 2-Head Red SATA (SERIAL ATA 150) Cable Model SERIAL ATA 18 - OEM
Model #: SERIAL ATA 18

Well 2GB of ram would be best, but for just office, poker, and cd burning 1 GB should do fine. Get a video card =), I'd say if you want to do some gaming to get the 7600 GT it's only 160, 130 if you get one with a good rebate, and it will run oblivion fairly well.

 

[choirbass]

yeah, i went to asus website looking up the motherboard, it didnt have an integrated GPU that i saw... so, unless you have an extra PCIe GPU laying around, i agree that youll have to invest in one too... which, is probably gonna require a more capable PSU... ...i know im only reiterating what was already said, but yeah...

also, IF heavy gaming isnt going to be done, you could go for something like the Asus A8N-VM CSM NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6150B + nForce™ 430
Socket 939 mATX Motherboard (sorry, i just copied the whole name lol)

but... unless youre stuck on getting that particular motherboard that you brought up, one with an integrated gpu might be a more affordable alternative... and you could invest in a gpu later too

also: a quality PSU shouldnt be skimped on anyhow though... definetly do not go cheap qualitywise there... (aka, general rule of thumb, spend at least ~$60 on just the PSU alone (not counting when its on sale), such as from thermaltake, or another well known reputable brand... you might end up really regretting it otherwise, as in, you could very possibly end up with parts in your computer fried due to a subpar PSU malfunctioning)

 

[Noya]

For what he will be using this PC for, I think a dedicated graphics card is overkill. So I should just find a board with integrated graphics and he can upgrade if he ever wants to play games.

And you guys honestly think the cheap PSU with that case won't handle a fairly effecient, non-OC'ed CPU, 1 HDD, and a gig of ram?

What about the 939 boards and processors with the lower prices? Isn't socket AM2 also redundant? Wasn't it just a refresh (DDR2 support) until K8L makes an appearance? The benchmarks are nearly identical. And I'm sure this PC would hold him over for a few years atleast (with some more RAM and maybe a GPU if he wants to game).

Thanks for the input so far.

 

[shadowduck]

And you guys honestly think the cheap PSU with that case won't handle a fairly effecient, non-OC'ed CPU, 1 HDD, and a gig of ram?


Thanks for the input so far.

CHeap PSUs fry components. Enough said.

 

[Noya]

And you guys honestly think the cheap PSU with that case won't handle a fairly effecient, non-OC'ed CPU, 1 HDD, and a gig of ram?


Thanks for the input so far.

CHeap PSUs fry components. Enough said.


Okay, let me ask you this. I am using a Compaq :roll: from 2004. It has an ineffecient by comparison to the X2, P4 @ 2.93 Ghz, 1.5 Gb PC3200 RAM (I added a gig), 160gb SATA (I added a 250gb SATA), and I added a 6600GT. And it's stock PSU is rated at 300 watts I think. Why has nothing messed up in the year+ since I've upgraded. This thing pretty much runs 24/7.

 

[choirbass]

well, you certainly cant say that every single PSU thats bundled with a tower is going to fail... but if you are investing a substantial amount of money in something, you would want to at least try to prevent hardware failures... ...cheap PSUs are also one main part that often gets overlooked and dismissed when people complain about their system being unstable, crashing, locking up, stuff like that, and alot of times, a cheap PSU can very well be the culprit of such behavior... when all other troubleshooting fails.

edit: after a year or 2 of using the same PSU, its efficiency goes down anyhow... so for instance, what may originally start out as a brand new 800watt PSU... 2-3 years later may only be efficient upto 700watts or so... and if you try to load it with more than it can efficiently handle... you start running into problems... the degrading efficiency applies to all PSUs though, i just picked random numbers, but, thats what happens after awhile.

 

[tiremaker101]

IMHO the only thing you need different is a better power supply....ever thing else is fine , unless your buddy wants to get into gaming

8O

 

[Noya]

Valid points indeed. I'll tell him to up his budget. Thanks.