Need a new rig... cheap

[akahuddy]

Hey guys, one of my college (poor) buddies needs to build a new computer. He's a CS major who will use it for compiling and rendering. He does a bit of light to medium gaming. He also puts on a few TV shows. My boy also needs to be able to convert from conventional music and video into digital media. He'd probably build it sometime later in the spring or early summer.

I'd like to see what you guys can come up with to get him a good price/performance mix that will land in the $700-800 with either C2D or 939 before we throw in peripherals, monitor, and speakers. No need to worry about OS... he gets them for free through the university. It only needs 1GB of RAM for now. He can drop in a second later.

Here's what we got so far:
PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954
Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119068
HD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144415
Optical Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827131039

$191 current total after rebates

If you guys want, just do a complete build.

 

[1Tanker]

Hey guys, one of my college (poor) buddies needs to build a new computer. He's a CS major who will use it for compiling and rendering. He does a bit of light to medium gaming. He also puts on a few TV shows. My boy also needs to be able to convert from conventional music and video into digital media. He'd probably build it sometime later in the spring or early summer.

I'd like to see what you guys can come up with to get him a good price/performance mix that will land in the $700-800 with either C2D or 939 before we throw in peripherals, monitor, and speakers. No need to worry about OS... he gets them for free through the university. It only needs 1GB of RAM for now. He can drop in a second later.

Here's what we got so far:
PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954
Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119068
HD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144415
Optical Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827131039

$191 current total after rebates

If you guys want, just do a complete build.

Okay, i'm not sure whether you mean $700-$800 including what you have picked, or on top of.
I've created a list which may be way over, if the other items were to be in the price. This setup will overclock nicely as well.

RAM: A-DATA 1GB-$118.99+$4.99 S&H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820211064

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3-$108.99+$6.13 S&H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128017

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300-$188.00..Free S&H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115005

or

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300-$189.00...Free S&H
If he plans on overclocking, get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115013

Video Card: eVGA Geforce 7950GT KO 512MB-$260.99+$5.64 S&H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130061


PSU: OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI-$114.99+$8.02 S&H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817341001

Comes to $817.74 before rebates or any taxes(if applicable). GL

 

[jaguarskx]

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300-$189.00...Free S&H
If he plans on overclocking, get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115013

Video Card: eVGA Geforce 7950GT KO 512MB-$260.99+$5.64 S&H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130061


PSU: OCZ GameXStream OCZ600GXSSLI-$114.99+$8.02 S&H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817341001

In a few weeks the E4300 will drop to it's suggested retail price of $163. It is $189 now due to high demand. IIRC, sometime in Q3 the E4300 will drop to $133.

The 450w PSU from Fortron will be enough even to power a GeForce 7950 KO. Most people overestimate how big of a PSU they need even with other potential upgrades.

The 7950GT doesn't really use that much power compared to other GPUs. Xbitlabs.com have measured the 7950 to consume 61.1w. The KO version should only consume a few watts more.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce7950gt_3.html

Refer to the following links for GPU power consumption:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/power-noise.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf8800_11.html

For CPU power consumption refer to the following:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2duo-shootout_11.html

 

[akhilles]

350w is enough to power 7950gt. However, the next time you upgrade the video, you may have to upgrade the 350w. Some people overestimate the power consumption because they WILL upgrde the video & don't want to upgrade the psu as well. Like some people buy tower cases larger than needed.

 

[1Tanker]

350w is enough to power 7950gt. However, the next time you upgrade the video, you may have to upgrade the 350w. Some people overestimate the power consumption because they WILL upgrde the video & don't want to upgrade the psu as well. Like some people buy tower cases larger than needed.

Yeah, that's why i upgraded it to the 600w OCZ. Eventually, he may want a DX10 card, so this way he'll have more juice available...and it still fit into his $700-$800 budget.

 

[akahuddy]

That looks like a pretty good parts list although for the amount of gaming he does, a 7600GT or little X1600 card would probably suffice for the amount of gaming that he will be doing.

Thanks for your help guys.

 

[1Tanker]

That looks like a pretty good parts list although for the amount of gaming he does, a 7600GT or little X1600 card would probably suffice for the amount of gaming that he will be doing.

Thanks for your help guys.

If that's the case, you could substitute the 7600GT for the 7950GT, and go with 2GB of RAM..2GB of RAM is nice, especially if he ever gets VISTA.


eVGA GeForce 7600GT 256MB: $129.99 + $5.64 S&H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130062


Patriot 2GB DDR2 667: $249.99 + $4.99 S&H..(nice $45 MIR).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220095