"the best bang for the buck" builds

[k-]

These lists are for the people who are completely new to building a computer and are not quiet sure which one to buy. I already had the list before, and i might as well put it up.
These are ALL from www.newegg.com

low-end (internet surfing, word, e-mail, light gaming.. and such)
$500

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Orleans $91 (Since they went down alot.)
Gigabyte GA-M55plus-S3G Socket AM2 $90
CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 6400 $109 (very good)
Sapphire X850XT $105 after $30 rebate (amazing deal)
RAIDMAX xB ATX-528B Black $20 (looks decent)
FSP Group AX400-PN 400w $41.5
WD Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM $43
$499.5


mid-end (multitasking, upgradable path,pretty much anything)
$1200

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 $340 (zipzoomfly price since newegg doesn't have it yet.)
Abit ab9 pro $160 (good, stable, mobo)
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM (F2-6400PHU2-2GBZX) $178 (cheapest one with 4-4-4-14 timing)
eVGA 7900gt $240 after $30 rebate (life time warranty)
Cooler Master Centurion 5 black $35 after $10 rebate. (good case)
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 $80 (great psu)
WD Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM $80
NEC DVD-rw Drive Black $31
$1166

Please note that this was built for myself and not others. Feel free to suggest me if anythings wrong.

*another thing is that they aren't including S/H, so expect to pay a little bit more.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Questions:

Why would you go with an SLI capable motherboard for a Internet surfing/e-mail/light gaming system?

Why go with an X800GTO? I would think onboard would be more than sufficient for a low-end/non-serious gamer system.

These are the things that make me go, "Hmmm..."

-Wolf asks

 

[k-]

yeh, mobo's a mistake but the comp was for light gaming as well, which an integrated gfx can't just do. x800gto pretty much does everything on low settings.

I switched it.
ty.

 

[pollenpaul]

I like the lists, and am going to do the mid end build, any suggestions to lower the price a little, so that I could include a monitor. Like get the E6300 instead of E6600?

 

[kaotao]

X800GTO does better than that...at least for now.

 

[k-]

yeh, if you drop down to E6300, you will save about $200 and not lose a lot of performance if you oc it until the E6600 level which I think it quiet possible.

But don't go lower the gfx card or the memory as you will lose a lot of performance esp. in gaming.

gl.

 

[Wolfshadw]

What's the purpose of your mid-end build? Is it a general purpose system? Strictly gaming?

If it's general purpose, do you really need a 7900GT graphics card?
If it's strictly gaming, do you really need a 250GB Hard Drive?
Regardless of purpose, do you really need an Intel Core 2 Duo?

I'm certainly not knocking K-'s lists, but there are a lot of different options depending on where you want to take this system.

-Wolf sends

 

[kaotao]

I see why you put the X800gto in there. For light gaming you'd expect to see maybe the x1300, but the X800gto for $90 is cheaper (in most cases), and you'd get more bang for the buck.

 

[k-]

its says right near it.
mid-end (multitasking, upgradable path,pretty much anything)

It's for people who listens to music, does light photoshop, burn/rip cd's and game like me

Oh, and as i said, this is a mid-range build and I chose Conroe because it the most "bang for the buck" as conroe is cheap if you think about its performance.


*Once again, This was for myself

 

[k-]

Yeh, i was thinking about that too but just by performance. x800gto out performs x1600 easily and is able to be oc'ed into x800xl easily.
'cuz the intention was the best performance for the money. and the gfx card was on sale.

BUT, if you think about the features and technology, sure x1600 is a good choice too.

 

[Flopmouth_Fish]

I don't see why anyone would take an X800GTO over this X850XT for $105.

 

[k-]

oh, nice find, i'll switch it.

 

[ShadowdogKGB]

Ok I gotta take issue with a few of those things. I fix computers for little old ladies, young mommies, and dudes that just don't care about computers. The best bang for your buck is all a matter of perception. For just a tick under 300 bones you can have yourself a Socket 754/6100 comp for internet/light gaming that is just worlds better than what most have that I deal with. I mean I'm still fixing 500Mhz P3's with Win98.

Yeah this is THG but the real world is clueless.

 

[Flopmouth_Fish]

You should mention in your initial post that all those prices don't include shipping.

 

[jaguarskx]

For just a tick under 300 bones you can have yourself a Socket 754/6100 comp for internet/light gaming that is just worlds better than what most have that I deal with. I mean I'm still fixing 500Mhz P3's with Win98.

Yeah this is THG but the real world is clueless.

I would consider that a bit too low end. There is really no upgrade path for a S754 CPU.

 

[k-]

You should mention in your initial post that all those prices don't include shipping.

done. Any more suggestions.