Budget Build - Mobo Help

[robertito]

It's been over a year since I did my build last February and I've been a bit out of the loop since then. I know what I'm doing for 90% of the built but with the discontinuation of most P35 mobos I'm really lost. What would a good budget mobo be?

Heres the plan for the rest of the system:

CPU: E5200 $73
Mobo: ASUS P5Q
RAM: A-DATA 2gb (2x1GB) $27
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 380watt included with case
Case: Antec NSK4480B $80
Hard Drive: WD Caviar SE16 320GB $55
GPU: My HD3850, I'm getting a MSI 4850 $0
OS: Windows XP $90

Total budget is ~$450

The computer is for my mom and will be used for general office use and my brother will do some gaming on it, monitors native res is 1024x1200 so the 3850 should handle it fine.

So any help on the motherboard, RAM, or a good deal on a PSU would be greatly appreciated. Any other comments would be awesome too, like I said it's been a while, is that CPU good still for the price?

Tottaly unrelated: Did nahelm or i7 or whatever its officially called now as good as all the hype was? Has it revolutionized the CPU as we know it? :lol:[

 

[theAnimal]

ASUS P5Q SE/R for $80.

Change the HDD to WD Caviar SE16 320GB for $55. It's faster as well as having more capacity.

$40 Antec Earthwatts 380W would be plenty of power.

For the RAM, 2x2GB of Mushkin or G.Skill DDR2 800 rated at 1.8V.

 

[robertito]

That's perfect, I'm not familiar with Asus boards, been a gigabyte guy from day 1, so I would not have thought of that, thanks.

I'll get that HDD too. I'll edit the original post to show that.

Any other comments/suggestions?

 

[geofelt]

You might want to look at an Antec case which includes a psu like the NSK4480B for$79.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129032

Also, check out Antec's B stock list.
Here is a NSK4400 B for $30 w/o psu:
http://www.antec.com/Detail.bok?no=576

As always, check out shipping costs; cases are heavy and it can cost $20.

 

[aevm]

You could also try this:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz AM2+ 95W black edition - Retail $63.50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103300

GA-MA78GM-US2H $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128379

If you look at this chart, it shows that the AMD 7750 at stock beats the E5200 at stock, while the E5200 overclocked to the max beats the AMD 7750 overclocked to the max. If your budget includes a good aftermarket cooler and you are willing to overclock then get the E5200. If not, get the AMD 7750.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2008/12/22/athlon-x2-7750-vs-intel-e5200-oc-review/9

 

[robertito]

Now that I think of it I was originally planning to use that case PSU combo when i first planned this build last year (mom ended up thinking the computer was good enough)

Even with $20 shipping it would be cheaper than separate. Thanks.

EDIT: @ aevm: Is the difference substancial? Also how easy to install are AMD CPUs vs. Intels, I have absolutely no experience with them? I can overclock a little but maximum OCing is time consuming and I'm not to comfortable with it. Is the Kuma an overall better choice as far as price to performance goes?



SUPEREDIT: Ok after reading some charts and articles I think that the X2 7750 will better suite my needs. It's better at stock and since I won't overclock immediately, maybe down the road, it will work better, PLUS it's cheaper.

So, here's the new arts list for final critiquing:

CPU:AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 $64
Mobo:GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-US2H $80
RAM:A-DATA 2gb (2x1GB) $27
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 380 watt included with case
Case: Antec NSK4480B $80
HDD: WD Caviar SE16 320GB $55
GPU: My HD3850 $0
OS: Windows XP $90

Total: $396

Thanks for all the help!

 

[geofelt]

If you don't mind the rebate game, you can get 4gb of corsair ddr2-800 ram for $25:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

If you are a student, look into an academic license for vista.

 

[robertito]

^ Nice find.

I'd prefer to stick to XP, just because it's mainly my mom and brother's to use and I'm not sure they want to switch to Vista. I'm a Hight School student, could I still get the academic Lisence version? Or do I have to be in college?

 

[battlemarz]

Most academic licenses I use require you to have a .edu email address. Not positive on it though.

I would also say go for 4gb of ram, no reason not to with the prices so low.

 

[aevm]

LOL, if you can get 4 GB for $25, how much can you save by getting only 2 GB?

With a 2x2GB kit and XP 32-bit and that video card you will see only 3.5 GB out of 4 GB (or maybe 3.25 GB, but it's less likely). Don't worry about it, it's normal.

 

[geofelt]

^ Nice find.

I'd prefer to stick to XP, just because it's mainly my mom and brother's to use and I'm not sure they want to switch to Vista. I'm a Hight School student, could I still get the academic Lisence version? Or do I have to be in college?

I think you only have to be a legitimate student of any kind. The academic license is a promotion for Vista, not XP. Look for the 64 bit version of vista home premium. There is really no difference to the user between XP and vista, but the 64 bit version has lots more internal security protections, and it lets you make use of 4gb of ram and more. With the home premium version, you get the media center application. It lets you watch TV on your PC if you have a tuner card.

Look for an upgrade version of home premium instead of OEM. It should cost less.
Upgrade is a retail version which gives you support from microsoft, unlike OEM(AKA system builder),
and allows a more hassel-free ability to transfer the os to a different pc(motherboard).
For $10, microsoft will send you the 64 bit DVD.
I saw Vista home premium upgrade recently at Costco for $85, amazon for $89.
There is a legitimate two step instalation process to install an upgrade version
You install vista from the cd, but do not initially enter the product code.

Just tell the install which version you bought, and do not activate.
After it installs, you have a fully functional vista for 30 days.
Step 2 is to insert the cd again, while running vista and then do an upgrade.
This time, enter your product code, and activate.
After activation. you may delete the initial version which is named windows.old.

For an amusing insight to vista and XP, google "mojave experiment"

 

[robertito]

Geofelt, thanks for the explanation, I'll look into it. I've actually seen commercials for Mojave experiment, seemed interesting. I just have to check with my mom nad brother, whomm I've said, are going to be the main user's. I have vista so i can show them how similar it is.

Aevm thanks for the warning, I knew that already but I forgot how much isn't recognized.


Another OS question, what's up with Windows 7, is it out or not and does it look like and improvement? I don't plan on getting it I'm just curious as to your opinions.

 

[Fruity]

Another OS question, what's up with Windows 7, is it out or not and does it look like and improvement? I don't plan on getting it I'm just curious as to your opinions.

Personally, I'm loving it. Downloaded the Ultimate 64Bit. It seems to have cleared up some of the annoyances that Vista has but still seems to be a bit hungry for power. Saying that, 3Dm06 benchmarks come out a lot better on Win7 than they do XP on my PC - except for CPU score which is lower.

 

[geofelt]

Geofelt, thanks for the explanation, I'll look into it. I've actually seen commercials for Mojave experiment, seemed interesting. I just have to check with my mom nad brother, whomm I've said, are going to be the main user's. I have vista so i can show them how similar it is.

Aevm thanks for the warning, I knew that already but I forgot how much isn't recognized.


Another OS question, what's up with Windows 7, is it out or not and does it look like and improvement? I don't plan on getting it I'm just curious as to your opinions.

A beta or test release of W7 is out, and seems to work well. I have tried it, and it seems much the same as vista, and largely problem free. If you already have Vista, I see no compelling reason to dump it anf buy a new W7 license. One issue is that anti-virus support is limited. The beta expires in august, so it is not a cheap long term deal. General availability might be in august, but I think it will be november.

 

[robertito]

Ok thanks for the help, I'll probably skip Windows 7 and just get the next one, I should be thinking of a new build by then anyways, or at least some kind of upgrade.