$600 Gaming and general use PC

[nadroj1485]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: I can wait a few months if I will save a significant amount of money, however I am ready to purchase now otherwise.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, watching movies, and general use.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, and speakers.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Whichever I can get the best price on.

PARTS PREFERENCES: None

OVERCLOCKING: Possibly in the future. SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050 is fine with me.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

How does this build look?

Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P

Patriot 4gb DDR2 800mhz

AMD Phenom II x2 550BE

WD Caviar Blue 640GB HD

Total from TD after rebates, cashback, and shipping=$282.96

PC Power and Cooling 750W

Total from ZZF after rebates and ebillme=$40.00

Antec Three Hundred

Total from buy.com after $25 coupon=$33.05

Sapphire ATI Radeon 4870

Total from SuperBiiz =$120

Total from All=$476.01
I still need to pick out a monitor, still have a CRT from my last build to use until I find a good price though.

Am I missing anything besides a DVD drive? I have an old IDE one I am willing to use until I find a good price on a SATA version. I also have a cdkey for XP home but will need to find my actual CD for installation. I know the power supply may seem like to much but I just wanted to future proof it incase I decide to OC or crossfire at a later time. Other than that is there anything I can change to get a better build without adding a lot to price?

Thanks.

I will mostly be using this computer for gaming and watching movies, but it will also serve as the family computer.

 

[k0unit]

Looks good, but dual-core systems are peaking now. You may want to look into X3 and X4 configurations.
You haven't picked a cooling device, if you plan on OC'ing the stock cooler won't handle much past 3.2GHz. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019

I wouldn't buy it now though, it'll pull you out of your budget if a monitor needs to be in there as well.

And a good monitor--
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236056

 

[beef1218]

You build looks fine. The PhenomII 550 should be fine. The difference between that and X3 720 in gaming is very small.
You may want to pick a DDR2 1066, and a Caviar Black HD for better performance.

Bye the way, for the $30 saving using eBillme at Zipzoomfly.com, I thought it only worked with order above $100.

PS. How did you find a $25 saving coupon for Buy.com? That is awesome!

 

[nadroj1485]

Thanks for comments.

You are correct on eBillme only being for orders over $100, the power supply is $100 before $30 MIR.

The buy.com discount I found from this thread. I signed up for the complete savings trial using a paypal virtual cc and recieved my discount code three days later.

 

[ragsters]

Get the WD 640 Black for $64.99 at newegg using this coupon code.
EMCLTLN34 (deal ends 6/8/09)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

 

[beef1218]

Thanks for comments.
The buy.com discount I found from this thread. I signed up for the complete savings trial using a paypal virtual cc and recieved my discount code three days later.

I see. I also tried that before but only got $10 coupon.
Make sure you cancel that before it starts to charge you.

 

[nadroj1485]

I see. I also tried that before but only got $10 coupon.
Make sure you cancel that before it starts to charge you.

Yeah I was expecting to get screwed on it which is why i just used paypal virtual CC and closed the card immediately after signing up. Luckily everything went through though and I got the $25 code a couple days later .

I pulled the trigger on everything but the video card, I am going to wait for a nice price on a 260 core 216 with cod5 and just use my old card until then. I also upgraded the hd with the caviar black as suggested for $65 .