Budget system (whats everyone think?)

[d00mb0x]

Looking to build a system that can play some of the older games now and eventually upgrade the vid card to get to the newer games. My budget was about 400$ So many people said it wasn't possible yet I seem to have achieved it. Everyone tell me what you think, oh and greetings! This being my first post and all

Case and PSU - 29.99
Rosewill R214P-BLK Black SGCC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 400W Power Supply

Motherboard - 79.99
IGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Processor - 65.99
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Processor

Memory - 56.99
A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Hard Drive - 47.99
HITACHI Deskstar 7K160 HDS721616PLAT80 (0Y30002) 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA133 Hard Drive

Windows (not much to look at here) - 89.99
Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack

Fans(X2) - 1.99 (each)
Rosewill RFA80L-B 80mm Blue LED Case Fan

TOTAL: 392.91

Tell me what you think guys!


EDIT: plan on getting a new case with a better PSU. will force me to drop my HD down quite a bit. New build soon to come

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

looks good. next time type the parts saves lots of time

 

[d00mb0x]

Thanks for the speedy reply, added parts underneath links.

EDIT: One more thing, do you guys think it would be a good idea to upgrade the PSU to a 600W when I upgrade the video card?

 

[d00mb0x]

Budget gaming system V2.0

Motherboard - $80
GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Memory - $57
A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Windows - $90
Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2B 1 Pack

Processor - 66$
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Processor

Hard Drive - $50
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

DVD Drive $18
Sony NEC Optiarc Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s

Case - $19
Rosewill R6422-P SL Black/ Silver SGCC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Power Supply - $33
COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RS-430-PMSR/P ATX12V Max: 400W (Continuous), Peak: 430W Power Supply 90~132V / 180~264V (Selectable) Nemko / TUV / cUL / CE



Tell me what you think. Think I got about everything now.

 

[Sigadigah]

I dont know how much lee way you have in your budget but so far your build looks decent. As to the matter of getting a new psu when you get a new video card, I know its hard, but its cheaper to just buy a decent power supply now than get a cheap one now and a decent one later, even if it means waiting another week or two for more cash.

Continuing with the subject of the budget, if you can even bump up your budget by $50-$100 bucks i think it will do wonders. You could then get a solid psu from the start, throw some more money at the processor and hard drive. I beleive you can get 250 and 320 gigs for not much more than the $50 you are already specced out for.

For instance: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144417
$65 for 250 gigs, for another 15 dollars you nearly double your hard drive space, for that kind of return it would be a waste to buy the 160 gig.

If your budget is really tight, I would wait or find means to dig up more cash (i.e. mow lawns, sell some stuff, etc) rather than splurge now when a little bit more would go a long way

 

[d00mb0x]

Well I actually wont be able to buy this until christmas time (was calculating money in there to get as of this). So I should be able to get up some more money by then. As of now this is where the system stands untill I can get more money. This should be doable, however I have events in the meantime that I cannot ignore (promised events with other people). So some things still cost money, but I may be able to get a little more than this budget. How much higher would you suggest going on a PSU? That one seems pretty solid for now?

 

[nachowarrior]

go with a 2.4 your memory won't run at full speed at 2.1.

the only time i ever bought an a-data stick, it was DOA. try wintec for on the cheap memory

other than that i have no opinion because it's mostly preference.

save a few more dollars... and get a decent case... you will keep it for a while.. believe me... my 120 dollar antec is pretty nice and held up over the years (b.t.w. if you get an employee discount somewhere, 120 dollar case drops to 20 dollars) yeah.. my case.. anyway. have fun

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

How about this for a mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813185083

That cuts your mobo price in half, giving you more money for a PSU.

And PC chips, I've used their stuff, seems decent actually, my mom's system is running one since about 2-3 years ago on an old socket A system.

For the Windows, just my opinion if your doing gaming, might as well jump to Vista, you are already spending 90 bucks on XP, go with Home Premium Vista, it's not much more, and will support DX10, and I think Vista is getting better and will moreso after SP1. It's your rig though.

I agree with nachowarrior, I don't know A-Data, but I can say I've used Wintec, and nothing bad to say about them at all.

If you are going with a DVD drive, if you don't have a burner, look at one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010100005+1036506653&name=DVD+Burner

Personal opinion on PSU's, for something cheap, I'm liking ultra myself. They have the ultra v-series, their budget line, I found a 400 watt on ebay new for 32.90 shipped, regular 55 bucks on tigerdirect.

Check out this link, cases on newegg with free shipping. That case might cheap you found, but look at the shipping price....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010090007+4808&name=Free+Shipping

Spend five bucks extra on something with free shipping, I think you'll get a nicer case, and when you have to work with it and look at it, I think you will be happier with something heavy duty.

Put it this way, I had an old chieftec case, got a new rosewill for my new build, but it's not as nice, I took everything out of the rosewill, am repainting the chieftec into blue, and have moved everything into the cheiftec. You will be happier with a nice case, trust me.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

P.S., On the PSU, I have heard bad things about the ultra X-connect though, but I used one for years and it was fine.

 

[Zorg]

d00mb0x,
You went from one really crappy PSU to another really crappy PSU. If you don't want to be buying another system in the near future I suggest you get a quality PSU. The Corsair 450VX or another of at least equal quality.
I suggest that you check your PSU choice against the Official XS Tiered PSU Manufacturer Brand Listing Phase III or you will be sorry.

If you decide to get one of the tier 5 PSUs be sure to come back when it destroys your system, so that other people may learn from your pain. Also, when you come back here asking why your setup is crashing all the time be sure to list the model of the junk PSU that you are using.

Best of luck

Zorg

 

[nachowarrior]

find and read the psu faq here on toms... that should point you in the right direction... it helped me a lot... i never knew crap about psu's and i've been passively looking for hard facts on them and that faq seems to be the way to go. and yes...wintec rocksorz... i'm getting ready to buy another 2 gig kit for a new build up... and sadly... he is right about games and Shista... xp will only be supported for about another 2 months. I'd personally recommend linux... and i'm pushing for linux games with every post! haha. but yeah, shista... it's going to be a huge headache, but go for it for the new fall line up of games. xp is a waste

 

[d00mb0x]

I'm looking over my system yet again (like the 14th revision) and will let you guys know what I decide on. And just because a game is released doesn't mean that it has to be Vista. Bioshock looks amazing and is out on XP as well.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Doom, do what you want, but I am just telling you that myself, I would not waste my money on XP. Vista is not much more, and you can tweak it down some as well. Personally I use vista and do all my games on it, not too many probs, and it'll get better, and has been as updates come out.

 

[Zorg]

Yeah, we need more beta testers for Vista. Get Vista and do your part to help them turn it into an OS almost worth having.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Lol, sorry Zorg, I've messed with it, and I have no complaints honestly, and UAC(User account control) can be disabled, can of course do updates how you want, take the aero on or off. But I think it's getting better. Right now I'm running an Athlon 3500+ at 33 degrees in vista. Very stable, nice OS. I'm sold. I guess for myself, I could not justify putting money into an old OS like that. That's my humble opinion, but for Doom, it's your rig man, if you want XP, by all means, it's still a good OS

 

[d00mb0x]

Current plan is to wait untill SP1 (I know that shouldn't be too long from now) and then is when I planned on upgrading. I am still working with my build, reading a lot of reviews.

 

[Onus]

I agree with the comments on getting a quality PSU. For decent quality at the low end of the price scale, look at FSP. Be aware though, that their listed ratings are peak; continuous is typically 50W lower.
The low-cost CoolerMaster cases are pretty nice, like the ones in ohiou_grad _06's link. They have tool-free drive mountings and decent airflow. They come with a 120mm rear fan, and have space for another one up front.

 

[zenmaster]

Another Good PSU are the "EarthWatts" by Antec.
The 380w is as cheap at $20 AR at the moment.
The 430w is only $30 AR.

 

[shadowmaster625]

dont skimp so much on the psu. you could really regret it! If you're upgrading later then you might be ok.

and yeah get a SATA HD. This is your bottleneck, so you dont want to exasperate it any more than you have to! Plus you might run out of that 160 gig really quick...

 

[Wolfshadw]

While I don't have a problem with cheap cases (one of the two I recently purchased cost less than the 120mm fans I put in there), I did learn this:

There is little to no point in having a front intake fan, if the case you install it into does not have front intake holes or slots for cool air to pass through.

I didn't see any on the two cases you've linked so far and your second build did not include the two 120mm fans.

-Wolf sends

 

[rosecityotters]

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 Case
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811119047
$39.99 + $10 MIR (mail-in rebate)

COOLMAX 500W
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817159066
$39.99 + $10 MIR

GIGABYTE AM2 nForce 570 SLI
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128014
$89.99

AMD Athalon X2 4000
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103774
$65.99

EVGA 7600GT (since your going with XP...if u decide vista get 8600GT)
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130062
$89.99 + $15 MIR

WINTEC AMPX 2GB 2x1GB DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820161030
$54.99

SAMSUNG SpinPoint 200GB SATA 3.0 gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822152022
$54.99

SAMSUNG DVD-RW SATA
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827151141
$29.99

TOTAL: $465.92
TOTAL after MIR's: $430.92

The case is nice, my friend has one and loves it...great ventilation and looks smooth. The PSU is good budget quality plus allows you room to add HD's, fans, DVD drives, SLI, etc.

 

[mlhm5]

I would go with an intel e2160 for less than $80 and an ABIT P35-E motheboard - you can easily OC the e2160 to 3.2Ghz and the board will be ready for the Penryns next year.

Lots of performance and upgradability for $30+.

 

[Shadow703793]

First NEVER SKIMP on the PSU. I have seen many problems from people with bad PSU's ( if $ is an issue, keep the bad PSU for short as possible and get it replaced with a good PSU ASAP.)

I would also suggest that you look in to an Intel set up with a E21xx, cause they can be OC'ed for decent proformence and when you want to upgrade you can swap in a good quad core, providing you have a compatible motherboard.

 

[Zorg]

Hogwash. Ive used coolermasters extemes for quite a while now. Built 24 workstations with them and using one in my own overlclocked system and one in my friends low end am2 system. Somehow they are in tier 4, but they are great. Solid, heavy, quiet and no issues with any of them yet.

That's not my list, I didn't classify them as tier 4. You use them all you want, even recommend them, have a good time I don't care. It doesn't change the fact that they are junk. If I had a nickel every time I saw a post about how someone loves their junk PSU I would be rich. Party on Garth.

 

[Zorg]

Lol, sorry Zorg, I've messed with it, and I have no complaints honestly, and UAC(User account control) can be disabled, can of course do updates how you want, take the aero on or off. But I think it's getting better. Right now I'm running an Athlon 3500+ at 33 degrees in vista. Very stable, nice OS. I'm sold. I guess for myself, I could not justify putting money into an old OS like that. That's my humble opinion, but for Doom, it's your rig man, if you want XP, by all means, it's still a good OS

I used RC1 and had no problems with it. I didn't do much more than load it and play around with it for a while. I ran it with AERO with a Northwood 2.4 OCed to 2.7 with no problem, and now I am running a Q6600 so that's not my concern. But I do appreciate you giving me the update on how I can use Vista. On Vista's side I understand SP1 is supposed to be significantly better. I personally don't like MS's attempt to foist all the DRM on me, so they can go pound sand. I will get Vista when the security updates for XP go away and not a moment sooner. Like I said, keep up the good work spreading Vista's benefits, we need more beta testers.