New light gaming rig

[racecar56]

Approximate Purchase Date: Possibly about 2 weeks

Budget Range: $650 at max

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, multimedia editing, online & offline videos, web browsing

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse and monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg

Country of Origin: United States

Parts Preferences: AMD CPU and video card with an ASUS or Gigabyte motherboard, known good brand of all other components

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1440x900

Additional Comments: I want quietness. Silence if at all possible.

I believe I will be running this with Windows 7 AMD64 and Debian GNU/Linux (also AMD64) together. This will be used with a 19" HP LCD.

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CPU:
AMD Athlon II X4 640 $99.99
or
AMD Athlon II X2 250 $60.99 (takes $39.09 off from total)

Motherboard: ASUS M4A87TD EVO ATX $99.99

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+ $37.55 shipped

PSU: Antec NEO ECO 400C $44.99
Might be underpowered

Video card: Sapphire 100287VGAL Radeon HD 5670 $76.98 shipped

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 2x2GB DDR3 1333 RAM $44.99

Case: Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower $72.98 shipped

Hard drives:
Western Digital WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3GB/s 3.5" HDD $42.28 shipped
Western Digital WD10EARS 1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3GB/s 3.5" HDD

Total: $573.75

Any suggestions?

 

[MadAdmiral]

I don't really like anything in that build. You're wasting a lot of money on a flashy case, especially when there's cheaper ones that look the same. In addtion, that 160 GB HDD is going to be essentially useless. It's tiny and it's really slow. It's also expensive. A 500 GB Samsung Spinpoint F3 is only $50. Here's something much better:

CPU/HSF: X4 955 and the Scythe Mugen $176 with shipping (with $10 gift card)
Mobo: ASRock 870 Extreme3 $90 (the single PCIe 2.0 slot version is more expensive)
RAM: Corsair XMS3 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latnecy 9 $30 after rebate
GPU: HD 5770 $100 after rebate
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $65 (possibly cheaper elsewhere)
PSU: XFX 650W $65 after rebate (overkill, but smaller ones are the same price)
Case: Rosewill Challenger $70 (with shipping) or Antec 300 Illusion $73 shipped

Total: $673 with $80 of rebates and a $10 gift card.

A bonus to this build is that you'd be Crossfire ready, if you ever decided to do that. It wasn't on purpose. The board I like for non-Crossfire builds (the ASRock 770 Extreme3) was $3 more expensive (shipping), and the XFX PSU is dirt cheap despite being a great unit.

 

[racecar56]

I don't really like anything in that build. You're wasting a lot of money on a flashy case, especially when there's cheaper ones that look the same. Here's something much better:

I'll add links and prices in a bit.

CPU: X4 955 $140 (with $10 gift card)
Mobo: ASRock 770 Extreme3 $75
RAM: Corsair XMS3 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latnecy 9 $40 after rebate
GPU: HD 5770 $100 after rebate
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $65 (possibly cheaper elsewhere)
PSU: XFX 650W $65 after rebate (overkill, but smaller ones are the same price)
Case: Rosewill Challenger $70 (with shipping) or Antec 300 Illusion
HSF: Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B $43 shipped

Total: $598

I put the 900 instead of the 300...fixing.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I also made some changes while you posted that. I'm also counting the rebates in the total price, so if that doesn't suit you, drop the CPU from the X4 955 to the X3 435. That'll save a good $70.

I also did not check for any combos. I'm sure there are some.

EDIT: I found a combo with an X3 and HD 5770 that'll save you $6, if you go that route.

Or here's a combo with the X4 955 and the Scythe Mugen that'll save $7. I've added that to the original post.

 

[racecar56]

To clear up the two hard drives, you see I was thinking about using a separate hard drive for the OS. The secondary is 1TB because this is replacing a dumb dying, poorly partitioned and filling 750GB Seagate.

 

[MadAdmiral]

That actually doesn't do much to help in terms of speed, especially since you're using a much older drive. The F3 1 TB would still be faster than an old 160 GB drive even if it was full.

Of course, you've still technically got room in the budget (if you count rebates, which I've never had an issue getting them before), so you could pick up a Samsung Spinpoint F4 320 GB, if you really wanted a boot/OS drive. It's a touch faster than the F3, but it's $51 after shipping. You could also wait for SSDs to get a lot lower in price and pick one of them up, but that won't happen for a while.

 

[racecar56]

Ok, so go for a single Samsung hard drive, a better CPU and a better graphics card?

 

[MadAdmiral]

You also get a better board, faster RAM and a better PSU with it too. Of course, it is more expensive, even after rebates.

 

[racecar56]

You also get a better board, faster RAM and a better PSU with it too. Of course, it is more expensive, even after rebates.

I'll admit to you, I don't feel comfortable buying ASRock as I've heard many people complain about them, and even a friend that told me to buy Gigabyte (which I later did and I was happy). Have you had a good experience with them? Hope I'm not being annoying. :lol:

 

[aznshinobi]

^ Uhhh whut? Are you sure they're referring to the NEW Asrock boards? The new ones are beastly! They really own the old ones and have the best value on the market. Here is an example of a recent Asrock board. (not the 870 Extreme3 but still applicable)
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1098/pg2/asrock-extreme4-p67-and-fatal1ty-professional-p67-vs-x58-with-core-i7-950-review-asrock-p67-extreme4.html

Also here is a review on the 870: http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/asrock_870_extreme3,10.html

Anyway, you could check out my 600$ build in my siggy, change the 925 to a 955 and your total should be about 610$.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Really? ASRock constantly wins awards and gets great reviews. In fact, I can't think of the last time an ASRock board was in a review or comparison where it didn't beat out the competition...

I haven't had any trouble with them. I do typically consider them a little less in quality next to Asus and Gigabyte, but they're still high quality.

 

[racecar56]

^ Uhhh whut? Are you sure they're referring to the NEW Asrock boards? The new ones are beastly! They really own the old ones and have the best value on the market. Here is an example of a recent Asrock board. (not the 870 Extreme3 but still applicable)
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1098/pg2/asrock-extreme4-p67-and-fatal1ty-professional-p67-vs-x58-with-core-i7-950-review-asrock-p67-extreme4.html

Also here is a review on the 870: http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/asrock_870_extreme3,10.html

Anyway, you could check out my 600$ build in my siggy, change the 925 to a 955 and your total should be about 610$.

I doubt it. I don't even know if they were talking about AMD boards or not, but I know they love AMD and consider them #1 for graphics and CPUs.

Really? ASRock constantly wins awards and gets great reviews. In fact, I can't think of the last time an ASRock board was in a review or comparison where it didn't beat out the competition...

I haven't had any trouble with them. I do typically consider them a little less in quality next to Asus and Gigabyte, but they're still high quality.

Yeah, I've heard a few bad things about them, probably about POST-related issues. I have no proof if what they were saying was due to another component or they just got a DOA, or even if it was true.

I've been researching on ASRock, and now I find they are a spin-off from ASUS. I'm much more convinced now. The 870 Extreme3 looks like a fairly good board, too.

 

[aznshinobi]

Yes it is.

An analogy for you is Asus is like Toyota and Asrock is like Lexus. Toyota owns lexus but lexus likes to market itself freely. Also Asrock is cheaper than Asus. So everything except pricing regards to that analogy.

 

[racecar56]

Okay I've got a new list!

Mobo: ASRock 870 Extreme3 ATX Motherboard $89.99
CPU & Video card: AMD Athlon II X3 445 + Radeon HD 5770 Combo $195.99 ($165.99 with rebate)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen CPU Cooler $42.98 shipped
Case: Rosewill Challenger ATX Case $69.98 shipped
RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) RAM $49.99 ($29.99 with rebate)
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ SATA HDD $64.99
PSU: XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W ATX Power Supply $94.99 ($64.99 with rebate)

Total before rebates = $608.80
Total after rebates = $528.91!!

 

[aznshinobi]

Very nice! GL with the build.

 

[racecar56]

I found out that the rebate for the PSU would expire in 5 days from now, so I grabbed the PSU so I wouldn't forget later.
I also noticed users complained about the PSU's EPS cable being too short, so I grabbed a 12" extension with it just in case.

 

[MadAdmiral]

The thing about the rebates are that they tend to cycle. As soon as one expires, another one that's exactly the same begins. I've never seen that XFX PSU without a $30 rebate on it, and it's been around for well over a year.

 

[aznshinobi]

^+1

 

[racecar56]

I bought the parts. The fun begins when they all come!

 

[racecar56]

They came, I assembled the comp. I had a bit of trouble bit then I found I didn't connect the correct video cable to the monitor in the past. :lol:
I'm typing this message on it. Right now it's running Debian but when Windows comes, I'll install that and then "fix" Debian. Then I should not need to do much more.

I successfully unlocked the Athlon II X3 into a Phenom II X4 B45. It also OC'd the CPU a bit. All's great so far!

EDIT, just in case anyone peeks here: It's May 15th, now this computer is 2 months old. Windows 7 has since been installed. In the past, it had a BSOD issue and weird crash problems, but then Service Pack 1 was installed and all is great, now. Only thing is that the computer is actually somewhat noisy with a wind whoosh, but that really is not a problem. Gotta have *some* cooling for a quad core CPU and a 5770.