My first ultra low price build. Any suggestions.

joev623

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: soon BUDGET RANGE: as low as possible

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: mainly hd movies, some light video encoding, internet, and many other basic uses.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: I dont need hard drives, monitor, or mouse and keyboard.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: whoever has the best deal.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Im sure you guys wont recommend crap parts. Looking for some quality at a good price.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: no

MONITOR RESOLUTION: (examples: 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Im looking into building a quality pc at an ultra low price.

So far I have this built as follows.

AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103694

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227362

NZXT Beta Series CS-NT-BETA-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146055

COOLER MASTER RS-460-PSAR-J3 460W ATX12V V2.31 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171046

LITE-ON Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner LightScribe Support - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106280

My only concerns for this setup are the psu. As i am trying to keep it cheap. Thats the best i could do. The total came to 322.08 shipped. Any suggestions or is my first attempt at building my own going ok. Thanks for any help
 
2xxECR.jpg

$23x since you dun need that HDD hehe
 

skora

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Click on my index link in my sig then the $400 system. You'll find a less expensive case or a $40 delived case near the bottem. Also look at the DVD drive.

And when you are using the bbc for links, you need something between the close and open bracket. Just throw in there like GPU or Mobo.
 

joev623

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what other company would be considered to manufacture quality psus? I was also wondering if the mobo would be good for learning how to overclock. THis will be my test system. keeping it cheap so i can keep the losses down just in case;). If all goes well, then i will spend more money on other components.
 

skora

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For a quality PSU, you're not going to get out for under $40. Even in my bargain basement budget build, I picked that corsair. But OCZ makes an acceptable PSU, but all their mail in rebates just expired, so they aren't filling the $30-$40 market right now. Antec except their Basiq line, PC Power and Cooling. Silverstone, Seasonic.

Overclocking is much safer than it used to be way back in the day. You have to really do something stupid or deliberate to burn up a system OC.
 

skora

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Better than the cooler master, YES.
Better than the Corsair. NO.

For the same price, get the corsair, and it has free shipping where the OCZ doesn't. So that will add another $8 to the price.
 

joev623

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Then i guess im staying away from the ide. Im at $330 and it sounds alot more reliable now that the psu is of quality build. I was wondering if anyone knew if that mobo can unlock the extra cores on that cpu. Ive heard of people doing it with the 550 be, but as the combo deal is too much of a temptation, im going to go with the 545.
 
I believe that board has a working BIOS for unlocking however one must also have the correct/known stepping of Callisto for best chances of unlocking. I have been helping peeps where i'm at with steppings/mobos/BIOS version for Callisto unlocking but the lack of data particularly for Callisto 545 is making it difficult :(
 

joev623

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well guys, i went ahead and got the callisto 550. Boy does this computer beat the hell out of my old p4. I also got all 4 cores unlocked, and stressed tested that for about 6 hours. All is working good. Only problem I see is that im going to need a better hsf. The stock sucks bad. Any suggestions for a good hsf?