the low cost / high performance thread

[nhobo]

Any idiot can spend $5 or 10 grand and have a hot setup. What's the *least* you can spend on a hot rod PC? Post your setup hardware, cost and benchmarks here.

 

[xsamitt]

Curious about this myself.

Would love to build a kick ass system for the least possible.

 

[jakeradden]

I don't have this, but for Price/performance here's what I'd go
All prices from the Egg.

Pentium D 805 LGA 775 2.66gHz OEM - O/C at least to 3 or 3.3 @ 59.99
OR
Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Allendale 2.0GHz LGA775 Processor @ 139.99
Arctic Silver 5 Compound @ 5.99
Cooler Master RR-LCH-P9E1 CPU Cooler @ 34.99
ASUS P5L-MX LGA 775 Intel 945G Micro ATX Motherboard @ 76.99
EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR Geforce 7900GS 256MB 256-Bit GDDR3 PCI-E16 KO Video Card @ 149.99
Or
Sapphire 100189L Radeon X1900GT 256 GDDR3 PCI-E16 VIVO Video Card @ 129.99
Coolermaster Centurion 5 Case @ 49.99
Rosewill RP550V2-D-SL 550W SLI Ready-ATX 12V V2.01 Power Supply @ 62.99
Corsair ValueSelect 2GB DDR2-800 RAM @ 84.99

Option 1: Pentium D, Geforce 7950GT Total Price: $525.92
Option 2: Core 2 Duo, Geforce 7950GT Total Price: $605.92
Option 3: Core 2 Duo, Sapphire X1900GT: $585.92
Option 4: Pentium D, Sapphire X1900GT: $505.92

I think that that's a decent build... Upgradeable to 4GB of RAM, to a E6600 or whatever, etc, replace Mobo and GFX for SLI, or an 8800, whatever.

 

[goldragon_70]

It realy depends on what your going to use your computer for. My set up was about $1665 including tax and shipping. my set is in my sig.

 

[Rripperr]

The thing is, what/which applications or benchmarks are you looking at? All of the major items; CPU, mobo, RAM, HDDs, GPUs; they all have an effect on the overall performance of the PC in applications and benchmarks.

I could have a 4.0 ghz C2D with PC-10,000 DDR2 and stick it with a 7600gt. It would tear up SiSandra and Divx and some other apps, but it would completely suck compared to a 4300 Allendale paired with a 8800GTX in 3dMark '05 or '06 or in FPS measurements in most games. These could further be skewed by the HDDs, as two (or three) WD Raptors in RAID are going to make a bigger difference than a single Hitatchi PATA drive.

While good values and smart purchasing (along with some system savy) can yield some high-end performance, it's never going to match what somebody with some limited PC knowledge and $5000-$10,000 can get. A 4 Ghz (water-cooled) E6300 is still gonna get stomped by a stock QX6800 in any multi-threaded app. So maybe what your REALLY looking for are just some medium-high end systems.

 

[nhobo]

Actually, what I'm looking for is a counterpoint to the stupid 'spend a mint' threads. Let's assume a good all around performer, suitable for general business use (including CAD) and gaming on a 20" screen, not specialized uses like video encoding. Should also be upgradeable and a capable overclocker to get the best bang for the buck.

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 $129.99

Core Duo E6420 $189.00

ASUS Radeon X1950PRO $164.99

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 $95.99

Western Digital WD2500JS 250GB SATA 3.0 $64.99

LITE-ON 20X SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe $41.99

HIPER 580W PSU $99.99

LIAN LI PC-7A plus II Mid Tower Case $89.99


total $879.93

Not real cheap, but a good quality, reasonably high performance system with a lot of features, easy to upgrade and overclock.

 

[Rripperr]

Here's a pretty good setup:

Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS(black)- Full Tower ATX case-
$ 149.99

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1; Intel socket 775 w/680i SLi motherboard -
$ 239.99

Intel Core2Duo E6600-2.4 GHz, 4MB L2 Cache. LGA socket 775 -
$ 227.00

ENERMAX Galaxy EGX850EWL- 24 Pin,SLi, 850W Power Supply-
$ 279.99

Zalman CNPS9500LED- 92mm Heatsink-
$ 53.99

Arctic Silver 5- Thermal conductivity compound-
$ 5.99

BFG 8800GTX OC- G80 Core(600 Mhz), 768MB GDDR 3 (1800 Mhz)-
$ 579.99

2 X 2 GB(4 (TOTAL) x 1GB)Super Talent 240Pin DDR2 800 (CAS 4) DC RAM -
$ 148.99
(4 GB total)
$ 297.98 TOTAL

2 X 320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10, 16 MB Cache, SATA 3.0 -
$ 94.99
in Raid 0, 640 GB total storage -
$ 189.98 TOTAL

Plextor 18X DVD/CD Burner IDE -
$ 99.99
2nd, ditto-
$ 99.99

Thermaltake 18" round floppy Cable -
$ 3.49

SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS 24-bit -
$ 182.99
_________
TOTAL $ 2,411.36

Monitor/speakers/KB and Mouse not included
All prices @ NewEgg 5/6/07

 

[nhobo]

$2,400 without a monitor, mouse or keyboard is not exactly a cheap setup. We're talking bang for the buck, not big budget.

 

[crackdlr]

from a computer "guts-only" setup (ram, video, cpu and mobo)

Gigabyte ds3 $129

core2 duo e4300 $114.50

Corsair XMS ddr2-675 2x1GB $89.99

Sapphire 1950xt 256MB $189.99

comes out to $524 and should handle most any game (except the new dx10 type) with excellent results @ stock cpu speeds, and should overclock like a champ if you want to harness the rest of all that untapped cpu potential.

 

[r0x0r]

$2,400 without a monitor, mouse or keyboard is not exactly a cheap setup. We're talking bang for the buck, not big budget.

True. I'm struggling to put together a better system at the price range you gave with your build.

You might be able to get the case and PSU for the same price as the PSU if you use this (and if the X1950 fits and 450W is enough)...
(ANTEC Lifestyle Sonata II)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129155

Could save a few bucks on the card as well...
(EVGA 7900GS)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130056 $129 after rebate.

Could you tell this n00b how to create a hyperlink? I don't want to keep posting ridiculously long addresses.

Also WTF just happened to TH? I just hit refresh and there's a new logo and colour scheme! Everything is centered; waah!

 

[r0x0r]

Well, everything was centered in the preview. This is screwed up! It's too white!

 

[alcattle]

The trick to links is to use the URL Buttons. Go to the web site you want to link and copy what it says in the address bar. Come back to your message and click on the button, a window opens where you paste the link, click a button and a window opens for the the description of the link. Click the button and you have the link. Preview a couple to get the hang of it.

 

[nhobo]

The Athenatech A5719BB case has a 500w PSU, good ratings and is $10 less. Better yet, it does *not* have a door over the optical bay. The eVGA 7900GS is a great buy.

 

[enforcerfx]

from a computer "guts-only" setup (ram, video, cpu and mobo)

Gigabyte ds3 $129

core2 duo e4300 $114.50

Corsair XMS ddr2-675 2x1GB $89.99

Sapphire 1950xt 256MB $189.99

comes out to $524 and should handle most any game (except the new dx10 type) with excellent results @ stock cpu speeds, and should overclock like a champ if you want to harness the rest of all that untapped cpu potential.

Best list so far. Ill just add onto it.

Arctic cooler 7 pro $30
160GB SATA $55
Windows XP $85
Forton 450w $50

That would make it a good setup.