My best use of $500?

[p3matty]

Looking to build a new computer this summer. Using mostly for internet/e-mail, music archiving/encoding/ripping, DVD backup, and very very light occasional gaming. Will be reusing case and DVD burner, btw. All prices at the egg. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

CPU - Intel E4300 - $117 with free shipping

Mobo - Gigabyte 965P-Ds3 (ver. 1.3) - $100 + 6.13 shipping

Memory - Corsair XMS2 2 GB 675 kit - $70 with free shipping

Video Card - EVGA 7300 GT (128 bit version) - $64 - 10 MIR + 5.64 shipping

Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 250 GB Perp. rec. - $67 with free shipping

P/S - Antec Smart Power 2.0 500W - $70 - 30 MIR with free shipping

Total - $500 shipped with $40 in MIR which will offset sales tax

Upgrades I'm considering to above outline -

Gigabyte P35-DS3R (+$40) - a bit more future proof for CPU I might never get (above board can still run Q6600 if I wanted to upgrade later), faster south bridge, anything BIG I'm missing?

Corsair XMS2 2GB 800 kit (+$43 - $30 MIR) - not a huge fan of MIR, but even if I get it, is it worth $13 with the E4300? This memory can still get E4300 to 3 mHz, right?

EVGA 7600 GT or 8600 GT (+~$25, +~$70) - both are much more powerful, but like I said, I don't really game. I do play C&C Generals, but the 7300GT is fine for that I would think. Only really considering 8600 for futureproof sake.

E4400 CPU - In July will be roughly same price. Most likely can wait that long anyway.


Any other suggestions? I'm hoping to keep costs low, as I'm not a "power user" by any means. I want something that will build easily, work consistently, and be usable by my standards (which isn't much) for a few years. Thanks for any help you might have.

 

[djgandy]

looks ok. The question is what do you currently have and what do you plan to do with the old parts?

 

[hashbrown]

I would like to throw in my own combination. All of these parts that I have chosen, I feel are the best that you can afford. Please take a look.

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S - Retail $32.99

Rosewill R330-P-BK Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $17.99

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $52.99

BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 550 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $79.99

MSI NX8600GT-T2D256E OC GeForce 8600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail $124.99

FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX450-PN, 12cm FAN, version 2.2, 2 SATA, PCI Express, 450W Power Supply - Retail $57.99

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail $80.99

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADO3600DDBOX - Retail $67.00



That makes a total of $514.93 without shipping or the rebates. There is a $10 rebate on the motherboard. The only other thing I would add is to buy a 120mm fan to replace the fan currently in the case. I would place the 120mm in the rear for exhaust, and if you want you could take that 80mm and place on the side of the case or the front for intake. Using both of the fans will add to the over all amount of noise your tower is putting out, so you don't have to use the 80mm.

I do not know if you intend on overclocking, but the parts that I have listed are all very capable of overclocking if that is something you want to resort to in the future instead of upgrading.

All of these parts are well known and quality brands, except for the Rosewill, but their cases are acceptable for budget systems.


Hope this helps you out, and have fun with your build!