Can You Make it Cheaper?

[jackbravo]

Ladies and Gents,

Same old story. I'm a newbie, looking to build my first rig. My problem is I love tech, so my eyes are bigger than my wallet. Here's what I go so far:

Power Supply-------CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V---------------------------69.21
Case------------------Antec Three Hundred Case-----------------------------------------------------50
Motherboard--------MSI X58 Pro LGA 1366 Intel X58-----------------------------------------------170
CPU-----------------i7 920-------------------------------------------------------------------------------245.51
CPU Fan-------------OCZ Vendetta 2-------------------------------------------------------------------35
Graphics card-------Geforce 260------------------------------------------------------------------------170
Hard Disk------------Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB----67.49
DVD Burner--------Samsung Super WriterMaster--------------------------------------------------25
Memory--------------3x2 ddr3----------------------------------------------------------------------------80

Total------------------------------------------------------------------------------912.21

Goal------------------------------------------------------------------------------740
Difference-----------------------------------------------------------------------172.21


Any ideas to cut this down in price, such as a lower power gpu (looking for something good at 3d), changing to the core 2 duo (of course...but like i said, i love new tech and i'd rather not do that), etc etc. I've considered cutting out the dvd rom, the cpu fan and 1/2ing the ram.



Any ideas or expertise would be appreciated. I'm not into heavy gaming but I will be doing some 3d graphics stuff. Is this impossible?

 

[aevm]

Cut out the CPU fan. Apart from that, it's already as cheap as possible for an i7 build. You can reach your price goal if you get an E8500 or a Phenom II 920, I guess, but with an i7 I don't see it happening. Sorry...

I'm not sure about the graphics card. What exactly do you intend to play and at what resolution? Maybe you'd be fine with integrated video or some cheap 8400GS or similar.

 

[waynec121]

Yea sorry to say it but for a $740 budget i7 is not the way to go.

 

[MykC]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074 WD 320GB AAKS $55 (save $20)
Drop the GPU for a 4670 (save $120)
Drop the Case entirely (save $50)

$18 to spare.

edit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148147 1GB DDR3 $18 (save $60)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148221 2GB DDR3 $28 (save $50)
Drop the cooler (save $35)

 

[aevm]

Drop the case entirely??? That might work if you're single with no kids or pets, maybe...

 

[MykC]

Extreme circumstances call for extreme measures.

lol, I can see a great you tube video of a cat touching the computer out of its case and meowing after getting shocked.

 

[4745454b]

You CAN use some junk case until you save up the $$$ again. Same with the CPU cooler, sound card, second drive for RAID, etc. I would try to stick with the 6GBs of ram, unless the OP doesn't have the 64bit version of windows. Then drop down to 3GBs and upgrade once you get 64bit.

What games and what resolution? The GTX is pricey, unless you game above 16x10, you don't need it either. Grab a cheap 4850/4830 for 16x10 gaming.

 

[MykC]

With the GPU swapped out, the cooler dropped and the ram dropped to 2GB, you could play Half Life 2 and Doom 3 no problem, max settings.

 

[Outlander_04]

the usage is for 3D ?

what program?

 

[aevm]

Extreme circumstances call for extreme measures.

lol, I can see a great you tube video of a cat touching the computer out of its case and meowing after getting shocked.

Or two cats chasing each other on carpet and then giving the MB and CPU a massive electrostatic discharge...

 

[jackbravo]

Though the imagery of the two cats getting fried is fairly enticing, I prefer to go with a case.

That being said, I'm not opposed to bringing down the gpu. I've considered the 4850 512 at $110 (currently at newegg), which would save 50$. Dropping the cooler would save another $35. Total = $85 saved. I'll add $10 to my budget also.

I'm not running any specific programs, but I am reconstructing 2d images into 3d images and playing around with the 3d stuff. Images are 512x512 and 8 bit. They would be transferred over the internet and cached on my computer while I'm looking at them.

Monitor is 24" 1900x1200. I have xp pro.


Any other ideas out there? I know for a while I could have gotten the 4870 512 for $110, but I wasn't building then .

Thanks folks.

 

[jackbravo]

Also, I'm considering the 4670 with 1gb ram.....will handle the monitor, the 3d recons, light games, video encoding?

Thx

 

[aevm]

Video encoding will depend on your CPU and HDD, and not at all on the GPU. I suspect that the 3D reconstruction will do the same.

What are your favorite games? Give us a name or two and we'll find some benchmarks.

 

[jackbravo]

ah...the gaming part is very light. i do more stuff like starcraft/brood wars/ - sc2 when it comes out. i don't really do any FPS games.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[theAnimal]

Get an Antec NSK4480 case with Earthwatts 380W for $90.53 shipped.
http://www.buy.com/prod/antec-new-solution-series-mini-tower-case-w-earthwatts-380w-psu-silver/q/loc/101/204901695.html

Or a Corsair CX400 PSU for $42.96 shipped.
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-400w-cx-series-12v-atx-80-plus-certified-power-supply/q/loc/101/209253909.html

 

[jackbravo]

thanks for the reply. i actually just got the power supply, and I'm afraid trying to return it is going to cost me more than i save. ( i was planning on the geforce 260...prolly shoulda asked these questions before I bought any components).

 

[dirtmountain]

Get this case, at $35 after the promo code and free shipping it'll save you about $30-$35 over the Antec 300.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147114
a $50 after rebate 4670, saving $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125244
use the stock cooler, -$35
get 3x1 GB of DDR3 at $45 after rebate, saving $35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227376
total savings about $220, all these are stop gap measures to allow you the i7 build, you can upgrade as the money becomes available

 

[jackbravo]

sweet!
Thx!

 

[jackbravo]

actually the antec 300 cost #45 at microcenter, so 50$ with tax...but still, any savings is great!

 

[2flow]

your $200 above your target, its probably not going to happen.

but you can cut out that video card. You say youre not a gamer, and from what your describing (8bit 512x512)all you need is a $100 card. It should handle it with ease.

I am assuming you dont have spare parts laying around. Get the retail CPU which comes with a fan. Your $50 case, Keep it, you need to protect your investment. Keep the ram, you'll appreciate it. The only other areas you can cut is your motherboard/CPU.

 

[jackbravo]

i think that's the conclusion i've come to as well......i'm just gonna have to fork over the extra $100 for the build, with a 4850 ($110 currently....anybody see it any lower?) ....

 

[jackbravo]

Alright, I think my final build is starting to take shape:

Power Supply-------CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V---------------------------69.21
Case------------------Antec Three Hundred Case-----------------------------------------------------50
Motherboard--------MSI X58 Pro LGA 1366 Intel X58-----------------------------------------------170
CPU-----------------i7 920-------------------------------------------------------------------------------245.51
Graphics card-------ATI HD 4850 512mb------------------------------------------------------------------------110
Hard Disk------------Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB----69.99
DVD Burner--------Samsung burner--------------------------------------------------23
Memory--------------3x2 ddr3 1600----------------------------------------------------------------------------70

Total------------------------------------------------------------------------------807.71

Goal------------------------------------------------------------------------------740
Difference-----------------------------------------------------------------------67.71

 

[megamanx00]

Yeah, if you want to cut the price anymore you really have to drop down to a Phenom II. I would say go with a Phenom II 720 BE, a good 790GX board 4GB of Mem, and a Radeon 4870 512/4850 1GB. Next month the RV740 chips will be out so getting two of those in crossfire would provide some serious performance for the price, or at least it will force down the price of a 4830 and two of those would be pretty much the same save for some extra heat and power draw.

 

[cjl]

Dropping to a Phenom II 720 is a huge drop in CPU power, and for an image processing type rig, that's not what you really want. While that suggestion would be great for a purely gaming build, it isn't at all right for this setup. I'd say the final build posted by jackbravo is pretty good honestly for the price.

 

[4745454b]

i7 system with 6GBs of ram and a 4850 is down to ~$800 folks. I consider this pretty amazing.