Help building a intel core 2 duo 3.33 ghz with as much ddr2 memorry

[davidgreve67]

yes i have 2 questions first is it cheaper to build Intel Core 2 Duo 3.33GHz or is it cheaper to buy http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3906460&CatId=2628. i need a operating system.also i want it to be able to upgrade to 16gb memory. in addition i dunnot know how to build a computer local mom and pop store cost 69.99 to put togther. another thing is i only need a 1gb cheap graphics card card because i am building this computer to play chess on. a small hard drive of 80 gb will be enough for now. the case can be a cheap one from portatech.com or new egg.com or any where else you find it as i will be building my main computer in 6 months and dont care for a super case just something cheap will do..

the reason i am asking to build is because i wanna see if i can get more memory than what i have found at tiger direct sorry if what i am saying is all scrabled up but i am disabled and need help.
so in advance i really apreciate you taking the time to build one so thank you

 

[Deemo13]

If are you are playing is chess, that computer would work fine. If you are gaming, that's a different story.

 

[manofchalk]

If all you are going to do is play chess. Spend a $1 on a good iPhone/Android app.

 

[Guest]

save yourself ~$100
Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 Refurbished Netbook - Intel Atom N450 $239.99

you also don't need to spend for a monitor

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Honestly it depends on what level of chess you play at. If you are a master or grandmaster level player and using something like Houdini or Rybka or even Deep Fritz or Deep Junior you want the fastest computer you can put together. Like an i7 with 16-32GB of RAM and a good SSD. I actually helped a FIDE grandmaster put together a system for these levels of programs about a year ago. A chess programs ELO rating is based on the hardware it's running on.

Now if you are not the next Kasprov in training you can get away with much less. The chess program integrated in Windows 7 runs fine on my cheap 1.3Ghz AMD APU laptop although even I can beat it on level 10 over 65% of the time. I never played in any legit tournaments to get a real USCF rating but back when I used to play a lot I was pretty even with a guy rated about ~1800.

We used to have a blast playing 1 and 2 minute Blitz games on Pogo.com back in the late 90s-early 2000s. There were about 10 of us who had 50,000 games or more. We got good enough to play 70+ moves in a minute. It was the only way to beat the cheaters who believe it or not would use chess programs to look like good players. People will cheat at anything. Pogo ruined it when they started running ads in between games though.

So you tell me what level of play you are looking for and I can recommend some hardware.

 

[davidgreve67]

well ive taken lessons from chess ims at icc and now play at a 2400- 2500 depending on if im have ing a good game so the software i prefer is hiarcs 13.2 sometimes you right houdini is a good one but. and one more thing the guy earlier is right i dont need a monitor either. so yeah and i forgot to mention my budget for this computer is 369$ max budget minus 69.99 to pay someone to build it as i am disabled. and thanks for the replies you seem very smart and know your stuff. plz keep in mind hiarcs recommends 2.93 ghz core 2 duo

 

[k1114]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220187&name=Desktop-PCs For a similar price, you can get modern hardware. You don't want to be looking at old stuff unless it's off of craigslist or similar which will be a lot cheaper. I can usually find an i5 system at a similar ~$350 price but none right now. At this price range, a prebuilt will be cheaper with better specs.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

^ I completely agree. With a budget that low a prebuilt is the way to go. With the money saved on paying someone to build it you have $450 and for that you can get something several generations faster than that Core2 system you were looking at.

This expires soon but if you can manage $499 here is an i5. You can always add more RAM later and an SSD. An SSD might even help a chess program more than RAM.

http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/dell-vostro-270/42078.aspx

Here is an i3 for $429.

http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/dell-inspiron-slim-tower/41943.aspx

Even though the i3 and the Core2Duo are both dual core parts the i3 is a much newer architecture and 20% or more faster clock for clock. It also has Hypertreading giving it 2 extra virtual cores. In every way it's a better CPU than an old Core2Duo.

You an keep an eye on the good deal sites and something better might come along depending on how quickly you need the computer. These are my favorites that I visit every day.

http://www.logicbuy.com/

http://slickdeals.net/

 

[k1114]

You'd have to go with used or refurb otherwise a custom build gets close in price (taxes with a new prebuilt or building fee with a custom build).
I5 at $475
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/lbYj
or with i3 at $400
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/lc0n

 

[davidgreve67]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220187&name=Desktop-PCs For a similar price, you can get modern hardware. You don't want to be looking at old stuff unless it's off of craigslist or similar which will be a lot cheaper. I can usually find an i5 system at a similar ~$350 price but none right now. At this price range, a prebuilt will be cheaper with better specs.

yeah your right i found one with more memory thanks what do you think of this one http://www.brownbox.com/gateway-dx4860-desktop-pc-intel-core-i3-2120-3-3ghz-6gb-ddr3-1tb-802-11n-dvdrw/

 

[davidgreve67]

Best answer selected by davidgreve67.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

yeah your right i found one with more memory thanks what do you think of this one http://www.brownbox.com/gateway-dx4860-desktop-pc-intel-core-i3-2120-3-3ghz-6gb-ddr3-1tb-802-11n-dvdrw/

That's a pretty decent setup for the price.