I've been asked by a friend to put together a $600-ish machine for his family. They want to do some editing of Mini-DV footage, so they need 1394/firewire, and he's got elementary-school aged kids, who'll want to do whatever such kids want to do. Not a gaming system, though, and no OC to start with. His wife's freaked out by Vista, so I'll build it with XP or XP/64. They'd like a little expandability (though they're realistic, for this price) which is why I went with this MB.
Here's what I'm thinking:
MB: BIOSTAR TForce TP45D2-A7 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7200
RAM: OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2N10662GK
GPU: POWERCOLOR AX3650 512MD3-P Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
CASE/PSU: COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKA1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Real Power Pro 550W Power Supply
HDD: Western Digital Caviar GP WD5000AACS 500GB 5400 to 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
DVD: ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T
1394: Rosewill 2+1 Port Firewire/1394a Low-Profile PCI Card (Cable Bundle) Model RC-501 - Retail
This setup comes in just south of $600 at Newegg. Any price/performance mistakes I've made here?
P.S. When running an Intel system there is no need to go with DDR2 1066, DDR2 800 with good timings is going to do better, especially if there is no OC.
Since this is not a gaming machine, the Sonata may be a better choice. The RC-690 cools better and can fit huge graphics cards, so I usually recommend that one, but here it's not important.
Upgrade the hard disk to WD6400AAKS, it's a lot faster and you notice it when editing videos if they are large.
+1 for HD 4670.
Spend $13 more on RAM and get 4GB of DDR2-800 instead of 2GB of overclocking RAM. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227269 Actually, it's only $5 more because it's a combo with that BioStar MB and saves you $8 that way.
I'd get Vista Home Premium 64-bit. The wife will adapt eventually, and it's better for the kids to grow up learning the new interface than the old one. Also, XP-64 can be a big incompatible pain some times, and XP-32 won't see all 4GB of RAM.
If you can stretch the budget to a quad do it, it's better in video editing (if the software is smart). It's also going to last longer. $190 Q6600 (retail) is better than $120 E7200, especially without overclocking. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115017
Message edited by aevm on 09-11-2008 at 09:53:37 PM
As mentioned, that PSU isn't great, but may be sufficient for this build. Still, one of the alternatives provided by aevm would be a better choice. I also agree on the HD4670.
For no-muss, no-fuss, get DDR2-800 RAM that will run at the JEDEC standard 1.8V. This Mushkin is $56 after MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 820146692. For the optical drive, get a Retail version which will include the software, including the decoder that the family will need in order to watch movies.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827106264, or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827106265 if you want Lightscribe.
------------------------------There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283
Which would give you a total of 563.52 with shipping The board has firewire. This will give you double the RAM and a better video card than your suggested build. Since you will be doing video editing the triple core CPU will probably serve you better depending on which app you use. The power supply in the case is fine for this build, but it will need to be upgraded should you desire a more powerful card. If your interested in crossfire you can go with the
Apevia PSUs are nasty. I owned an Apevia case (X-QPACK2) and although the design was great, the execution and quality control were so bad I ended up junking it as well (its included PSU had gone straight into the grabbage without ever tasting A/C).
------------------------------There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283
^LOL...I used my x-qpack psu for 3 years on my old gaming rig...it did however eventually die while moving...fortunately a friend of mine kept his psu from his x-qpack (since he didnt trust it) and gave it to me...in the end I ended up selling the rig in order to fund my current rig...must admit, i do miss that sexy x-qpack case...
------------------------------AMD64 X2 6000 + Biostar Tseries 770 + 4gb DDR2 800 G.Skill + Thermaltake WingRS case + Raidmax 530w modular PSU + 200gig internal WD HD + 250gig external WD HD + 500gig external Simpletech HDD + Belkin Wireless G PCI receiver + Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD4850
Reply to Ahslan
I've built a couple of systems on the X-Dreamer II and I never really had a problem. I chose the X-Dreamer for my build rather than the X-Dreamer II since the glowing front face, while cool, was a little distracting for me. Unfortunatly the X-Dreamer is more difficult to work with than the X-Dreamer II, hence from now on I'll just disconnect the blue front LEDs of an X-Dreamer II if they say they don't like the glowing front ^_^. The PSU in the X-Dreamer II is also a little better than the X-Dreamer, but I don't mind since I swapped it out for my Fortron and put that PSU in my old Athlon 3000+ build
------------------------------Playing X-Men Origins: Wolverine Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @3.24 Brisbane | GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4 | 4GB Mushkin DDR2 1066 | Plextor 760A| 2x 3850 512M CF| WD 1TB Black| Fortron Blue Storm II 500W | APEVIA X-Dreamer Black | Win XP Pro & Vista Buisness 32bit
Reply to megamanx00
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