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$250 Gaming System

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jyjjy   10-25-2008 at 09:51:27 PM

Recycling HD/burner

AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 $40(free shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103215

pqi 2GB DDR2-800 $27(free shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820141300

ECS GeForce7050M-M Geforce7050PV/nForce 630a Motherboard $54(with shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813135086

PNY 9600 GT $85(free shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814133239

HEC MicroATX Mini Tower W/ 485W Power Supply $50(free shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811121053

Total = $256, no rebates to bother with

I realize 2x1gig ram in dual channel would be faster but I'd rather leave a slot open to add another 2gigs in the near future.
The only thing I'm not too sure about is the MB. This one costs the same after you consider shipping;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813186143
Better choice?
Any comments or suggestions(that don't raise the price) would be appreciated.

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m3d   10-25-2008 at 10:06:21 PM
- 0 +

I just picked up the the same BE-2400 for a home server but I picked up the Foxconn mainboard. I would say go with the 780V Foxconn just in case you ever want to upgrade to a phenom x4 and be able to utilize it's full potential. If upgrading is a possibility for you then I would say switch that memory and pay an extra $7 and pick this up
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227178

 

its 1066 memory so just in case you even want to pick up a phenom down the road you won't have to upgrade the memory. If do don't plan on upgrading then what you have is fine.

 

Also, don't forget to use the promo code AMD1068 for the BE-2400 and get $8 off.

 

Edit: This expires on 10/31/2008

 

Good luck.


Message edited by m3d on 10-25-2008 at 10:08:43 PM
------------------------------ Gigabyte EP45-UD3P|e8500 @4.0|2x 4850s 512MB Crossfire|Audigy 2ZS|2x2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800|WD6401AALS|
HannsG 28" HG281D|Antec 650W TruePowerTrio|G9 Laser Mouse|G15 Keyboard|
 Reply to m3d
dirtmountain   10-25-2008 at 10:07:28 PM
- 0 +

I would really go with the Foxconn. Much better upgrade path for the future.

Reply to dirtmountain
jyjjy   10-25-2008 at 10:28:38 PM
- 0 +

Nice, didn't know about the promo code.
I was think an Nvidia board to go with the Nvidia card would be a good idea. The ECS board does support Phenoms, just nothing over 95w. Doesn't seem to support 1066mhz memory though...

Reply to jyjjy
jpdykes   10-26-2008 at 12:32:05 AM
- 0 +

You do not need 1066MHz memory unless you are planning very large overclock, which you won't with an AMD system.

Check about the graphics card, I've seen 4670's at that price. Use the THG charts to understand relative performance, also factor in that driver updates on a new card may be worth ~5%, you won't get anything from the older NVidia card.

On a system at such a low budget you need to check the specs from manufacturers who can buy parts at less than retail and may offer better specs for the money.

If you do decide to build ensure that the system is upgradable as far as possible. Possibly check to see if you can build Intel and then add a faster processor later - it may be too expensive.

Jeremy

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to jpdykes
rcarm   10-26-2008 at 12:50:02 AM
- -1 +

Quote :

If you do decide to build ensure that the system is upgradable as far as possible. Possibly check to see if you can build Intel and then add a faster processor later - it may be too expensive.



???. intel i7 processors don't support lga 775.

Message quoted 2 times
Reply to rcarm
zenmaster   10-26-2008 at 01:00:43 AM
- 0 +

Definitely shoot for the 4670.
Totally blows away the 9600GT

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ If its good in theory but not in practice,
its not good theory.
 Reply to zenmaster
zenmaster   10-26-2008 at 01:05:54 AM
- 0 +

rcarm wrote :

Quote :

If you do decide to build ensure that the system is upgradable as far as possible. Possibly check to see if you can build Intel and then add a faster processor later - it may be too expensive.



???. intel i7 processors don't support lga 775.



He did not say anything about i7.....................

The OP will not be able to build a low-end Intel for that cheap (unless he does something along the lines of a (gag) celeron.)
However, he could still buy a low e2180 for about $70 and then upgrade later.
That is quite a bit more than $40 and it looks like the OP does not have lots of money so that could be quite a chunck of change.
But it would still allow for a significant upgrade at a later date to a non i7 chip.

------------------------------ If its good in theory but not in practice,
its not good theory.
 Reply to zenmaster
zenmaster   10-26-2008 at 01:05:54 AM
- 0 +

rcarm wrote :

Quote :

If you do decide to build ensure that the system is upgradable as far as possible. Possibly check to see if you can build Intel and then add a faster processor later - it may be too expensive.



???. intel i7 processors don't support lga 775.



He did not say anything about i7.....................

The OP will not be able to build a low-end Intel for that cheap (unless he does something along the lines of a (gag) celeron.)
However, he could still buy a low e2180 for about $70 and then upgrade later.
That is quite a bit more than $40 and it looks like the OP does not have lots of money so that could be quite a chunck of change.
But it would still allow for a significant upgrade at a later date to a non i7 chip.

------------------------------ If its good in theory but not in practice,
its not good theory.
 Reply to zenmaster
jyjjy   10-26-2008 at 01:22:00 AM
- 0 +

jpdykes wrote :

You do not need 1066MHz memory unless you are planning very large overclock, which you won't with an AMD system.

Check about the graphics card, I've seen 4670's at that price. Use the THG charts to understand relative performance, also factor in that driver updates on a new card may be worth ~5%, you won't get anything from the older NVidia card.

Actually that processor is supposed to overclock nicely.
The HD4670 is a nice card for those that need something small and power efficient but it doesn't make much sense otherwise. It's on par with the 9600gso and that's going for $50 or less after rebate. The 9600gt is a good bit better according to all of the reviews and it's cheaper as well at the moment($88 vs $85, $73 vs $60 if you include rebates).

Reply to jyjjy
jpdykes   10-26-2008 at 01:23:31 AM
- 0 +

Using an e2180 chip was what I was suggesting, dependant on budget really. Really in the hope that it gives good options for a later upgrade. You could do the same with an AMD chip up to a point.

I think looking for a prebuilt system might be worthwhile, at least for referance spec's.

Jeremy

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to jpdykes
jyjjy   10-26-2008 at 01:24:00 AM
- 0 +

zenmaster wrote :

Definitely shoot for the 4670.
Totally blows away the 9600GT

You are thinking of the 4830 or 4850 perhaps?

Reply to jyjjy
jyjjy   10-26-2008 at 01:36:50 AM
- 0 +

jpdykes wrote :

Using an e2180 chip was what I was suggesting, dependant on budget really. Really in the hope that it gives good options for a later upgrade. You could do the same with an AMD chip up to a point.

An e2180 is equivalent in performance to the BE-2400 but costs twice as much. I don't see how it makes sense to double the cost just to make an intel based system.

Reply to jyjjy
Cpt Deadboots   10-26-2008 at 06:59:00 AM
- 0 +

An E2180 will hit 3.2 easy with the stock cooler. It will perform on par with an E6850 at that speed.

Also, the 4670 is equivalent to the 4830... I thought the 4830 was only so named overseas.

Kudos on the cheap build. Looks great, but +1 for the Intel vote (although I would grab an E2140/2160 instead).

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 @ 3.06 GHz/1.275v - Zalman CNPS8700LED - Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L - 4 GB A-Data DDR2 800 @ 850 MHz/5-5-5-15 - XFX Core Edition GTS 250 1GB @ 738/1836/1100 - Seagate 250 GB 7200.10 hdd - Silverstone ST400 - Vista Ult. x64
 Reply to Cpt Deadboots
jyjjy   10-26-2008 at 09:37:27 AM
- 0 +

Cpt Deadboots wrote :

Also, the 4670 is equivalent to the 4830... I thought the 4830 was only so named overseas.

Kudos on the cheap build. Looks great, but +1 for the Intel vote (although I would grab an E2140/2160 instead).

Hmm... you are thinking of the... 3670?
4830 is the new slightly gimped version of the 4850, quite a bit better than the 4670(and also $50 more expensive.)
Newegg doesn't seem to even sell e2140/2160s any more. Lowest I'm spotting em for i still at least $25ish higher than the BE-2400 which is also supposed to OC to 3ghz fairly easily as well. I'm still not seeing how it makes sense. Seems like I'd be trading both money and current performance for a questionably superior upgrade path at some future point.

Reply to jyjjy
ohiou_grad_06   10-26-2008 at 02:41:34 PM
- 0 +

Someone needs to do some reading. I believe the 9600gt looks like a good card for 85. It should outperform the 4670. A 4830 should be closer in performance to say an 8800gt/9800gt. 4670 would be roughly equivalent to 9600gso, which is a step down from the 9600gt. All that considered, I think the 9600gt is a great buy.

For case/PSU, consider spending a little more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811121002

That is 10 bucks more than what you picked, but has a bigger PSU. Same brand. If that's the PSU I'm thinking of, it I think it has 2 12v+ rails, one with 19 amps, the other with 20 amps. Maybe give you a little more juice just in case something draws more power than expected, or you want to add more.

Message quoted 2 times
Reply to ohiou_grad_06
jyjjy   10-26-2008 at 07:38:28 PM
- 0 +

ohiou_grad_06 wrote :

Someone needs to do some reading.

Actually 3 people in the thread have suggested the HD4670 over the 9600gt. It's just weird.
I was thinking about that case with the better PSU. Figured I didn't really need it but I might get it with the money saved from the promo code for the CPU.

Reply to jyjjy
ohiou_grad_06   10-26-2008 at 08:10:13 PM
- 0 +

Well if it was 30 or 50 I could see that. But 10 bucks, it's almost a no brainer.

Reply to ohiou_grad_06
lunyone   10-26-2008 at 10:13:06 PM
- 1 +

Personally I'd go with a more tried and true PSU/case combo.
Antec NSK4480B Black 0.8mm cold-rolled steel construction ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 380W Power Supply - Retail
It's PSU is >80% efficient and has 27A on the 12v rails. I'm not sure how well the HEC PSU (xFactor) does. Yeah I guess it's $20 more, but I'd have piece of mind knowing that I had a quality PSU running my system. I know the PSU has a 3 yr. warranty, but not sure what the HEC has (maybe 1 yr??). It's up to you, but I'd seriously consider using a quality PSU for your build.
The CPU you listed is OEM, so it doesn't come with a CPU HSF. I'm going to assume that you already have one?? If not, you'll need to add one to it.

------------------------------ PSU Tiers
GPU Power
8800gtx w/e6600 OC'd will run on Antec 380w w/27A on 12v rail, PSU!!
 Reply to lunyone
Cpt Deadboots   10-27-2008 at 01:14:21 AM
- 0 +

ohiou_grad_06 wrote :

Someone needs to do some reading. I believe the 9600gt looks like a good card for 85. It should outperform the 4670. A 4830 should be closer in performance to say an 8800gt/9800gt. 4670 would be roughly equivalent to 9600gso, which is a step down from the 9600gt. All that considered, I think the 9600gt is a great buy.

For case/PSU, consider spending a little more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811121002

That is 10 bucks more than what you picked, but has a bigger PSU. Same brand. If that's the PSU I'm thinking of, it I think it has 2 12v+ rails, one with 19 amps, the other with 20 amps. Maybe give you a little more juice just in case something draws more power than expected, or you want to add more.




Depends on what you will be playing. The 9600 GT has better performance for games that don't require as much theoretical processing power. Crysis is much more enjoyable with an 8800 GS or a 9600 GSO (especially if you can grab a 768mb version) than with a 9600 GT.

The 9600 GT will prove better at higher resolutions (256-bit bus vs 192-bit, 512mb vs 384), but newer games are not playable on either card at resolutions above 1280x1024ish. At 1280x1024, the 8800 GS will keep up (you won't notice the difference in Source-based games or games that don't require shader processing power) or beat out the 9600 GT by a good margin.

Plus, no one ever takes into account the overclockability of the 8800 GS/9600 GSO. I got 700/1728/2070 out of mine - easy. Puts the card on par with a stock 8800 GT.

------------------------------ Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 @ 3.06 GHz/1.275v - Zalman CNPS8700LED - Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L - 4 GB A-Data DDR2 800 @ 850 MHz/5-5-5-15 - XFX Core Edition GTS 250 1GB @ 738/1836/1100 - Seagate 250 GB 7200.10 hdd - Silverstone ST400 - Vista Ult. x64
 Reply to Cpt Deadboots
ohiou_grad_06   10-27-2008 at 03:34:13 AM
- 0 +

I do have to say I do remember when the 8800 gs was around, the superclocked/overclocked versions of that were beating the 9600gt in some things. But for those prices, 9600gt sounds like a great deal.

Reply to ohiou_grad_06
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