Budget Build - Please Advice

[mwiz79]

Hi,

Am planning for a long pending upgrade (still running a P-3 on the desktop ). Don't wish to spend too much and won't be using the system for gaming as such. So bascially looking for a budget system which should be good for multimedia, work, programming, occasional DVD ripping and DivX encoding etc and should be OK for at least couple of years. Already have a Monitor, keyboard, mouse so will save on those. Few queries here:
1) does it make sense to go for a Sempron based system? or Athlon 64 (single core)/Athlon_X2 would be better?
2) Would Onboard graphics be OK (no high-end gaming of course)?
3) I want a decent soundcard though. Considering various Creative cards.
NewEgg lists 1) Audigy2 ZS SB0350($65), Live! 24-bit ($26), Audigy 2 Value SB0400 ($64), Audigy SE SB0570 ($29), Audigy 4 SB0610 ($72). All seem to be 7.1, which one is good enough (value for money wise)? Is Audigy SE ok? btw can I plugin my guitar into any of these?
4) Which motherbaord/Minimum RAM and type/HDD type?

Shall be grateful for any help in identifying components for this budget build...

TIA,
M

 

[yourmothersanastronaut]

What is your actual budget? How much are you willing to spend on this computer? Do you have any brand preference or do you just want the best for your money?

 

[mwiz79]

My budget is around $400 at the maximum (excluding monitor, keyboard, mouse). The system should be reasonably good for tasks I mentioned for about 2-3 years atleast (tough requirement?). certainly aiming for maximum bang for the buck.

btw no brand preference (or AMD/Intel loyalty ) as such!

Thanks,
M

 

[windego]

The Audigy2 ZS comes with a front panel which connects to the PCI card inside your box. The front panel has inputs and outputs. I personally use it for headphones and guitar.

My guitar sounds cool when playing through my z-5500 speaker system. I also found the EAX audio effect(haunted caven) sounds excellent, it gives a nice echo when playing riffs.

The Audigy2 ZS is a bit pricey, but the front panel is worth it if you like playing the guitar through your soundcard/speakers along with songs. I also capture my guitar playing through my card using audacity(available on windows/linux).

$400 is quite tight for a decent build. You would have to go with all budget parts for that amount. Audigy2 ZS would also be out of the question probably.

 

[sweetpants]

eegh 400 bucks is kinda tight, usually at that price range I would start looking at a prebuilt system (Dell, HP) and such.

 

[mwiz79]

Thanks for the inputs. Lets just say $400 budget only for processor/mobo/RAM/soundcard. Cabinet, PSU and HDD separate!
Does it make sense now?

btw can I boot off the newer systems off my old PATA HDD?

 

[MindFlare327]

This is the best I could find for $400...actually found this for a friend of mine, but it might work for you as well.

Case : POWMAX CP0327PL-4 Window Black/Silver SGCC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 400W PSU - Retail $29.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811145047

Motherboard : ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 Socket 939 ULi M1695 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $64.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157081

Processor : AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 2000MHz HT 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail $99.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103539

Memory : CORSAIR XMS 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory - Retail $55.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145416

Hard Drive : Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3200820A 200GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM $78.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148145

DVD-RW/CD-RW : Lite-on SHW-160P6S04 16x8x16xDVD+RW / 16x6x16xDVD-RW / 48x24x48x CD-RW $32.99 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827106013

CPU Cooler : ZALMAN CNPS7000B-Cu LED 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan - Retail $38.99
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835118119

Total $400.94

Hope it helps, let me know what you think.

 

[yourmothersanastronaut]

This will be tough to do. It's hard to build a system from scratch for that little money. What can you salvage from your old computer? Case? Optical/hard drives?

I'm pretty sure you won't be able to find a dual core for cheap, so you'll have to go with a single core. As much as it pains me, I would say to get a cheap CPU from Intel with hyperthreading. Since you won't be gaming, but you'll be doing video encoding, that will provide the best performance. Up until AMD's dual cores, Intels have historically held the crown for price/performance in the encoding arena. AMDs were the best pretty much everywhere else.

OK, check this configuration out. Link

It's not great, but it's under $400 without shipping.

3.06GHz P4 w/ HT
1 GB of RAM (single stick)
160GB SATA hard drive
Foxconn uATX motherboard w/ onboard video
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 case (very nice, my friend has the windowed version and loves it)
Thermaltake 430W power supply


No sound card, couldn't afford it, but the onboard will be decent. I left a lot of room to upgrade. The single stick means you can add another GB later for 2GB and run them in dual channel without being forced to run at 2T (slower command rate). 160GB for lots of room for encoding movies. You won't be able to plug your guitar in, only the more expensive sound cards come with front panels that let you do that.

If you could up your budget to $450, then you could afford a sound card, but now it doesn't look like you'll be able to do so.

 

[mwiz79]

Thanks MindFlare327 and YAMM.
YAMM: wasn't able to open the wishlist you created at NewEgg!
MindFlare327: Can't I just use the stock cooler? I think I'll upgrade the RAM to 1 GB atleast. Can I drop-in a X2 3800 (about $149) in the same mobo ?

Lookslike $400 is a very tight budget and for a reasonably good system I'll have to bump it up a bit (a lot)! :roll:

So what is the minimum I'll have to spend for a decent system? And what would be the be config like?

 

[zrawas]

How about this:

CPU: AMD X2 3800+ Socket AM2 - $150

Mobo: ASRock Socket AM2 with Geforce 6100 - ~$71

RAM: Patriot 2x512MB DDR2 667 - ~$110

Sound Card: Creative Audigy2 ZS - ~$70

Total: ~401 ( with shipping)

 

[yourmothersanastronaut]

You forgot a hard drive - very important if he wants to store anything...like Windows...

Fixed link right here...