$700 Budget Blu-ray/HD movie and general use rig

[eclipse_46]

Greetings,
This is my first post on the forums, although I have read a lot in the articles sections and have spend a lot of time browsing on the forums. A friend and I recently built and i-5 rig which turned out wonderfully, especially considering it was our first experience with computer building. We are planning on building another computer with a $700 budget this time around. I'll follow the asking format so I don't get in trouble.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: ASAP

BUDGET RANGE: $700 or so.. not doing rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Watching Blu-ray movies and internet browsing

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers,

PREFERRED WEBSITE: newegg.com

OVERCLOCKING: Doubt it

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Building it for a friend of a friend and he wants to be able to run a monitor upstairs with his desktop and a LCD tv downstairs.

Here is what I've come up with.. Would love opinions and other input.

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model SH-S222A
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151175

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131603

SAPPHIRE 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231180

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

LG Black 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Combo LG Blu-ray Reader & 16X LightScribe DVD±R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136162

I didn't include a tower because he was going to pick it out. I was looking at the NZXT M59- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058

The price without the tower included came to like $650, so it would end up right around $700.

Thanks for your time and any help provided!

 

[obsidian86]

i would imagine the 620 athlon would be better suited to this build

 

[rockyjohn]

You have an excellent build – obviously you have researched it quite a bit, But I can suggest a few changes:

Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard – Retail - $70 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

The above is the same price as the ASUS mobo but is a two time winner of the Customer Choice Award for AMD mobos at newegg. More importantly, I prefer the UD – ultra durable - construction, see this link for more info:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gigabyte-ultra-durable,2094.html

:In addition to the UD construction, advantages include:
1. Can Use DDR3 1333 memory in multiple channels, ASUS only shows as one channel
2. Has 4 PCIe x1 slots compared to only 2 for ASUS – but has only 2 PCI slots – one less than ASUS
3. Has 2 Firewire ports on back plate compared to none with ASUS
4. Has Coaxial S/PDIF Out port as well as optical


Memory
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH – Retail - $99 with free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231276

This memory costs only a few dollars more but has better timings at 7-7-7-21. Seldom will you find a way to increase performance for such a small cost. Note that the spec sheet for the memory shows that it is compatible with the mobo selected above:

http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=223

Graphics Card
XFX GTS 250 512MB PCI-Express Video Card - $100 AR
http://www.frys.com/product/5865993?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Note that despite all the hype given ATI cards, when you look at the THG selections of best graphics cards at various price levels, the nVidia cards virtually rule the roost in the $85 to $150 price range with 4 of the 5 cards recommended in that range. One is the GTS 250 – the best card for $110 – and here you get it for $10 less thanks to a rebate.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-310-5970,2491.html

Power Supply
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7 – Retail - $45 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

Your selection of the Corsair PSU shows you understand the importance of having a quality PSU. However, like most things you can also spend too much on a power supply in relation to the quality of the rest of the system and find an advantage in redistributing some of the money.

In this case, 500w is more than ample for your system with only on graphics card. You might like to run it on this power supply calculator – I think you will find that as formulated you will need much less than 400w so 500w provides a nice margin of safety or expansion.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

In addition, the PSU listed above is ranked highly as shown in this ranking put together by many participants over the course of several years years where it is ranked as Tier Two the same as the Corsair you selected:

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

The $45 savings can be applied to a better case, a CPU or graphics card upgrade, or saved towards your next system or upgrade.

 

[belial2k]

"Note that despite all the hype given ATI cards, when you look at the THG selections of best graphics cards at various price levels, the nVidia cards virtually rule the roost in the $85 to $150 price range with 4 of the 5 cards recommended in that range. One is the GTS 250 – the best card for $110 – and here you get it for $10 less thanks to a rebate. "

I agree with most of your other points, but this one is a bit off. When the article was written the 4850s were approaching $150, that is why they lost their status as the best buy in the $100 range. Now there are a couple of models priced at $99, and for a home theater build they are a much better choice, although a bit overkill. You could probably get by with the built in graphics of a 785 chipset, or at most all you will need is a 4350 for watching blu ray and other non gaming uses.

I do agree with going with a slightly different MB...since you are getting a 550BE you should make sure the board you choose has had good success unlocking the cores. A little research here can make the difference between having a dual core and a quad core.

 

[eclipse_46]

First off, I would like to say thanks to everyone who has replied so far. Really good information. Rockyjohn, great information and a nice concise presentation. I switched out the ASUS mobo with the GIGABYTE and the G.SKILL I had with the G.SKILL Ripjaws. As I see it now, I am staying with the HD 4850. I am only going to purchase hardware through newegg and the lowest they have the GTS 250 is $140.