Tom's Hardware > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > New System Build > My first ultra low price build. Any suggestions.

My first ultra low price build. Any suggestions.

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - My first ultra low price build. Any suggestions.

Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!

Ask the community Add a reply

Bottom Search this thread

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
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103694][/url]

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

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

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

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

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
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106280][/url]

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

Add a reply

That PSU is a POS and is just waiting to melt a system. The little red voltage switch on the back is a dead giveaway of a very low quality PSU. The Corsiar 400CX is about the cheapest quality PSU I'd ever trust a system to. It will power up to a 4850.

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail $49.99 - $10 MIR

Reply to shortstuff_mt

$23x since you dun need that HDD hehe

Message edited by batuchka on 08-15-2009 at 08:02:50 AM

Reply to batuchka

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.

------------------------------ TheAnimal's - HOW TO ASK FOR BUILD ADVISE - Use this FORMAT
sKora's Design Guide
Reply to skora

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.

Reply to joev623

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.

------------------------------ TheAnimal's - HOW TO ASK FOR BUILD ADVISE - Use this FORMAT
sKora's Design Guide
Reply to skora

Would this psu be the better choice.

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC ... - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341016

sorry about links. still tryin to figure them out.

Reply to joev623

That ocz psu has a combo deal with an ide burner. Is there that much of a difference between sata and ide burners?

Reply to joev623

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.

------------------------------ TheAnimal's - HOW TO ASK FOR BUILD ADVISE - Use this FORMAT
sKora's Design Guide
Reply to skora

Your mobo is only oging to have 1 IDE plug so you can have just 2 devices. How many HDD do you have and are they sata or IDE?

If you buy the DVD burner from zipzoomfly for free shipping and the Corsair PSU, it will be cheaper and better than the OCZ combo.
https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] ps=homain2

------------------------------ TheAnimal's - HOW TO ASK FOR BUILD ADVISE - Use this FORMAT
sKora's Design Guide
Reply to skora

So the corsair psu has enough power for the setup. I do plan on having 4 hdd and trying my hand at overclocking.

Reply to joev623

my hdds are sata by the way.

Reply to joev623

The 400CX is a high quality PSU and will easily power your system. Especially since you're just using the onboard GPU.

Reply to shortstuff_mt

That mobo has 5 sata connections. So do you want all small sata cables, or introduce the wide ide in there also? Its an airflow killer if you're going to OC.

------------------------------ TheAnimal's - HOW TO ASK FOR BUILD ADVISE - Use this FORMAT
sKora's Design Guide
Reply to skora

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.

Reply to joev623

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

Reply to batuchka

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?

Reply to joev623

Ask the community Add a reply

Tom's Hardware > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > New System Build > My first ultra low price build. Any suggestions.

Go to:

Help |
Forum rules

There are 1114 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Page generated in 0.352 seconds

Focus On

My first ultra low price build. Any suggestions.

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - My first ultra low price build. Any suggestions.