Any Way to Build a Conroe System for 500-700

[PJ101]

Ok I have a really limited budget. I want to build near September or later. 500-700 based around the e6300. I want to overclock. What I don't know is will there be a board that will overclock well for around $100. 1 or 2 gig ram on this budget. I also need a cheap dvd drive and a harddrive.. so basically everything but the OS.

 

[1Tanker]

Ok I have a really limited budget. I want to build near September or later. 500-700 based around the e6300. I want to overclock. What I don't know is will there be a board that will overclock well for around $100. 1 or 2 gig ram on this budget. I also need a cheap dvd drive and a harddrive.. so basically everything but the OS.

Your really going to be stretching the budget for an E6300/mobo/RAM/HD/DVD and will you be needing a case/PSU?What about graphics card?

 

[YO_KID37]

http://www.asrock.com/product/ConRoeXFire-eSATA2.htm
Try this motherboard. Fourm users
Please List Links to Motherboards that are Conroe Compatable. Sub-200$s would be really neat

I need one to go along with my E6600 or EX6800(if uncle does'nt cheap out on 1400$ price tag)

 

[Mind_Rebuilding]

Ok I have a really limited budget. I want to build near September or later. 500-700 based around the e6300. I want to overclock. What I don't know is will there be a board that will overclock well for around $100. 1 or 2 gig ram on this budget. I also need a cheap dvd drive and a harddrive.. so basically everything but the OS.

You should buy a lower end processor.

 

[PJ101]

Yes i need a graphics card. Figure $100 for the case/psu (antec Sonata 2 with 450 watt included) Now.. please help with the rest. I need an ok overclocking board

 

[PJ101]

Buy a lower end processor.. what's the point. If i am going to upgrade it's going to be something seriously better with a great potential for upgrade. I figured i could get a cheap graphics card (anything beats my fx5500) for a half year or near christmas and get a better one. I thought about getting 1x1gig stick of ddr-667 and then getting another when i have the money.. What does everyone think

 

[The_Abyss]

I think you should try posting this in the Homebuilt forum.

 

[vsamaco]

Is an intel based system a necessity?

 

[jaguarskx]

Ok I have a really limited budget. I want to build near September or later. 500-700 based around the e6300. I want to overclock. What I don't know is will there be a board that will overclock well for around $100. 1 or 2 gig ram on this budget. I also need a cheap dvd drive and a harddrive.. so basically everything but the OS.

$700 is barely enough.

Below is a list of components for that budget. Prices includes shipping


Core 2 Duo - E6300 - $220

ASRock ConRoeXFire-eSATA2 - $89

Antec NSK 4400 Black/Silver Case w/ 380w PSU - $89

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JS 120GB - $65

BenQ Black 16X DVD Dual Layer Burner $35

G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 667 - $85

GIGABYTE 7600 GS - $118


Total Price including shipping = $701

I highly recommend spending an additional $50 for a nVidia 7600GT. Spending more money on Corsair or OCZ RAM is also recommended.

You also gotta toss in money for a keyboard and mouse if you want new ones.

A new LCD monitor will push the total cost to $900 - $1000.

 

[ocnewb]

Well according to this article:
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802&p=1

They were able to get the E6300 To about 2.6ghz on stock cooling. Thats about 700mhz faster than stock. You didnt say how much you wanted to OC it, but that is pretty damn good on stock cooling. However they used a very good OC mobo. Your request is possible however you will need to skimp out on some of the "luxuries".

So here is what I suggest

CPU: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=2280517&sku=CP2-DUO-E6300 :210

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811164040 This thing has great reviews for its price and comes with 3 80mm fans: $25

Mem: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227029 : $96 after mail in rebate

Mobo:This is tough, I suggest waiting for the new nvidia boards to come out (soon) : a guess $120

Vid Card:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814135185 : $100

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106 $43

PSU:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817148027 $30

Aand what ever cdrom/burner you want

All that will cost you about $624 b4 shipping

 

[YO_KID37]

Also Recommend Not going with Asrock if you are considering any type of overclocking. It's almost A Garbage Board :x if seen from a Overclockers perspective. Otherwise a great Stock mobo for a budget Conroe Build

 

[ocnewb]

Indeed, if u want to OC(as you said u did) dont go with those mobos suggest above. Wait a month or so like you said you were going to, prices will stabilize and the list i posted above will more than likely drop, there will be more mobos out, and in your price range with decent oc ability. Memory isnt that huge with these cpus, just be sure to go with some DDR2 800. I have read articles where they tested the high end mem against the low end mem in conroe systems and there wasnt much of a difference, certainly not enough to warrant spending 50-100+ dollars or more.

 

[RichPLS]

It will overclock some... but the point is backwards compatiblity and economical... for that is is just fine...
Looks like the AsRock would be a great entry level budget system board, and if you wanted to upgrade it later, your $80 mobo investment is at least minimal...

 

[jaguarskx]

PSU:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817148027 $30

That's an Aspire powersupply. A no namebrand in my book. It's something to avoid.

For PSUs I recommend established namebrands like:

Antec
Enermax
Fortron
OCZ
Seasonic
Silverstone


The Case & PSU combo I recommended from Antec.

 

[PJ101]

Ok Lets say the case, psu, and cpu are all taken care of... That leaves me $400 for a dvd drive, graphics card, memory (i think just 1x1 gig stick for upgradability), harddrive

I have extra computer fans around the house that i can use.. especially since this most likely wont put out that much heat. Remember any graphics card is an improvement for me (look at my sig). So a really cheap on (75-100) would be ok until christmas

 

[jaguarskx]

Ok Lets say the case, psu, and cpu are all taken care of... That leaves me $400 for a dvd drive, graphics card, memory (i think just 1x1 gig stick for upgradability), harddrive

I have extra computer fans around the house that i can use.. especially since this most likely wont put out that much heat. Remember any graphics card is an improvement for me (look at my sig). So a really cheap on (75-100) would be ok until christmas

I would stick with my original recommendations:

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JS 120GB - $65

BenQ Black 16X DVD Dual Layer Burner $35

G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 667 - $85

GIGABYTE 7600 GS - $118

Switch out the RAM for the following:

OCZ S.O.E 1GB RAM - $108 shipped

You can replace the 7600GS with the better performing 7600GT:

BIOSTAR VP7603GT21 Geforce 7600GT 256MB - $154 including shipping and after mail in-rebate

Do so will still leave you some money left over; about $38.

----------------------------------------------

If you are going to buy a new GPU around Christmas (I assume you want a DirectX 10 capable GPU), and you only want to spend $75 - $100 for now, then consider the:

POWERCOLOR X800GTO - $96 shipped

 

[PJ101]

Thanks for the help jaguarskx.. Those plans look great, now to convince the parents that this is what i want to do

 

[nubetube]

Please keep in mind that if you buy your chip from tigerdirect that it is OEM. Meaning it is only the chip and does not come with any heatsink+cooler. Zipzoomfly's is retail...

 

[RichPLS]

www.shopblt.com also sells retail Core 2 Duo CPU's

Click the link then search for these following terms to pull up just the Conroes...
Core 2 Duo 65nm

 

[sojrner]

For PSUs I recommend established namebrands like:

Antec
Enermax
Fortron
OCZ
Seasonic
Silverstone


The Case & PSU combo I recommended from Antec.

totally agreed, I would also throw PCpower and cooling as another top brand psu maker. You pay for them, but they are arguably the top brand.

Your reccomendations are great on everything though, would not change a thing.

@ the OP: whatever you do, get 2 sticks of ram regardless of how much you get total. Dual channel is a must, and a single stick will kill performance. If you are upgrading the video card later anyway, I would skimp on that in order to get 2 sticks of ram. JMO, but no sense struggling over which video card to get if you are upgrading it anyway in a few months.

 

[RichPLS]

Here is a great price on a Fortron Epsilon 600watt PSU for $111
best price I have seen for this unit.

 

[PJ101]

DDR2 Ram isn't labeled at dual channel though... so is it? I know there is SLI and EPP for DDR2.... ugh can someone explain all this. I at least understand that dual channel with ddr doubled the bandwidth to 6.4gb/s for ddr400 is it the same with ddr2?

 

[sojrner]

a single stick is not dual channel, it is just double the data rate (ddr) of "regular" sdram. (ddr2 is essentially a smaller process for ddr) all current intel and amd chipsets (and therefore most mobos) support, and get the best performance for the proc by using two sticks. Once 2 sticks are present then the mobo runs the ddr ram in dual channel mode. That is how you get the full bandwidth touted by amd and intel for their current procs. (i.e. amd socket 754 is not current )

so the ram itself is not dual channel, the mobo/chipset is. Any ddr/ddr2 ram runs in dual channel w/ 2 sticks (minimum) on a dual channel mobo.

 

[Eviltwin17]

anything asus, msi, big name stuff for around $70- $80 will do you fine. At least thats my experience with them for amd systems. I havent had an intel system in almost 2 years.