Sweet spot system

[alcattle]

I am thinking about a new system but not spending fortune. I guess the biggest question right is CPU. Core Duo looks nice but not in my range.

I play some games, have a decent vid card (6600-256) and lots of drives so ideas on Mobo and CPU pairs please.

Big Al in Seattle

 

[BaldEagle]

Need to know what size PSU and age of PSU
Memory type and speed
Graphics card agp or PCI-E
Drives IDE or SATA
What do you need it to do?
Last but certainly not least what budget are you looking for

 

[GeorgeH]

I usually set a budget. Currently:

Motherboard under $100
CPU under $200
Memory about $200

I can always find hard drives, and misc other parts around the house.

I could build reasonable machines for $200 less

Motherboard under $100
CPU under $100
Memory about $100

 

[alcattle]

PSU - new in box Antec truepower 430 w

Memory depends on MB, 1 gig min, prefer 2 gig or easy upgrade

Graphics Card g-force 6600 -256 apg8x also have the TV card (haugphuge??)

Hard Drives - a couple 250-300 gig, new in box SATA and IDE

I want it for a DVR, a games machine(WoW) and web browsing/email. I don't need to O/C (sorry if that is heresy around here) so stable is key.

I hope to buy the rest of the parts<$500

Big Al in Seattle

 

[akhilles]

Core 2 Duo E4300 $179.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115013

ASRock 775Dual-VSTA $57.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157092

G.SKILL 1GB F2-5300PHU1-1GBNT $91.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231106

Pioneer DVR-111D $32.49
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827129001

Rosewill R604-P BK 120mm Fan Mid Tower $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811147058

About $391 before tax & shipping.

Get another gig of ram if you want. The 2GB version is more than expensive than 2 sticks of 1 gb.

On the mobo page, click specs for details. Supports AGP/PCI-E/DDR/DDR2. Not a gaming/oc board. Good for what you do.

 

[alcattle]

All Right, thanks Akhilles. I was not finding an Intel MB that had AGP and most of the AMD mb were the 939 socket. Not sure about the DDR/DDR2 slots. Are the RAM boards dual channel or do you need 2 boards? Other than that I like the combo.
I do have cases and DVD Drives and if the Vid cards works(for now) I can get 2 gigs of RAM I think.

Why not just go to the core 2 duo for the small difference in price, as the 64-3800 will be stuck on the 939 boards.

Big Al in Seattle

 

[WackyTabacy]

If you dont want to spend a lot of money and stil want a decent mobo go for Asrock!
Id still get a intel dual core though, what about the E6300?
Wacky.

 

[alcattle]

I am sure they are good boards but the AGP vid card is the catch. Show me one that works and I would look at it.
I went with the e4300 for the price, and I still have upgrade paths to the e6300 or a core quad.

Big Al in Seattle

 

[WackyTabacy]

Asrock has a mobo with a AGP and a PCI express slot!

 

[celewign]

Bah, PSUs are overrated. Get some 10$ PSU, it will be fine.
-cm

 

[alcattle]

CM, why pay for a PSU, the one you get with the case always works better.
Wacky, got a link or number to the MB?

Big Al in Seattle

 

[celewign]

Especially those quality Powmax PSUs.
-cm

 

[alcattle]

I always use good ol' Dell PSU for all my high end systems

Big Al in Seattle

 

[celewign]

I took my contacts out of my eyes, buy my eyes still burn. I'm a bit worried and irritated.
-cm

 

[alcattle]

What ? 167 W more than you can handle? on a good day, if the sun is down, and the Solitare is paused.

Big Al in Seattle

 

[celewign]

I don't know. My eyes have had allergic reactions to the contacts in the past, but these contacts were supposed to put an end to that. Something like little bumps forming inside the eyelid causing discomfort. Arg. Maybe it's because I spend half of the damn day staring at a screen. It's LCD though... sooooo.. Oh well.
[/b!tching ends]
-cm

 

[alcattle]

Asrock has a mobo with a AGP and a PCI express slot!

The only one Newegg has does not list the Core Duo on the processor list

ASRock MB

 

[celewign]

Why would you want it? AGP is getting more expensive that PCIe. Or maybe it IS.
-cm

 

[alcattle]

That is the card I have now, getting a new one would cut back other parts like more RAM

Big Al in Seattle

 

[WackyTabacy]

Look on the Asrock site.
The mobo numbers are: 4Core Dual-VSTA
775 Dual-VSTA and
775 Dual 880 Pro.
LOL,
Wacky 8)

 

[WackyTabacy]

PS did you know that: Asrock has exellent overclockers!
Asrock is a division of ASUS!
Asrock wins a lot of rewards!
Asrock has all kinds of cool gadgets, like mobos with
upgradable cpu sockets and stuff!

 

[akhilles]

newegg isn't the best place to look for up-to-date specs.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=775Dual-VSTA&s=n

Yep, c2d & dual channel ram ready.

 

[celewign]

Wacky, you suck for posting twice in a row.
-cm

 

[WackyTabacy]

Well exuse me!!!! :roll:

 

[alcattle]

I like it. so far we have:

E4300 Core 2 Duo ~$160
775Dual-VSTA ASRock MB ~60
2x1gig DDR2 667 Memory ~$200 not sure here
NForce 6600-256 AGP 4/8x have
300 gig SATA HD have
16X dual DVD have
Mid Tower Case have
430 W Antec PSU have

So $420 I have all the little stuff and XP pro, new in box I know there are still tweaks left, so thoughts and ideas????

Big Al in Seattle