$600 PC creation limit, need advice.

Kaseius

Hello, H&A. I recently received a PC as a graduation present, however, the hard drive in it was failing and I've decided to simply return it and build a PC from scratch.

I have a video card (BFG GeForce 8400GS or something like that).

I don't know much about brands or what's all the best choice over other things, but I'm looking for at least 2GB of RAM, and I guess a dual-core 1.8ghz or something equal to that. This will be used mostly for playing WoW, so it's nothing too fancy. I'd like a good, reliable HDD (doesn't need to have massive space though).

tracertong

does the $600 include a monitor or do you already have one ?

Raslin

Just to let you know, the 8400GS is a really low end card. You will probably get pretty bad framerate if you use it. Anyways, here's my suggestions:

2 gigs(2 x 1gig sticks) Wintec Ampo Ram(Offbrand, but great reviews, and I personally use it, works great).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161677

Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 2.6GHz Black Box Edition(Crazy overclocker, but will run quite fine stock too. Gives you breathing room in the future)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194

GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 AM2 ATX AMD Motherboard(Can't personally recommend, but good reviews, and the price is right)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128014

Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive(Can recommend heartily. Love this HDD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148261

Rosewill TU-155 Black Mid Tower Computer Case 400W(20+4 pin) Power Supply(Again, I can recommend this. Yeah, there's an included powersupply, and its not one of the greater names. It will handle these specs fine, and it fits the budget. Its not exactly expensive, so you can upgrade down the line when you need to without feeling like you double-paid)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147001

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 3850 256MB GDDR3 Video Card(Good card, performs great for its price. Trust me, you'll thank me for budgeting in a better video card).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102714

ASUS Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM(Can't personally recommend, but I myself cant stand IDE drives)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135151

$592.72 after shipping, and you have a nice computer.

Kaseius

tracertong wrote: »

does the $600 include a monitor or do you already have one ?

I already have one.

I wouldn't mind a better card Raslin, but the problem is that my monitor is a bit old so it doesn't go too high in resolution; the best I would be able to do is just max out settings while playing on either 1024x768 or 1158x900 or something weird like that.

Many thanks for the list, if other people could chime in with some advice on good purchases or if you could simply agree with Raslin in saying that these are decent parts, it would be very much appreciated.

an_alt

If you see any cash in your future, I'd go with Intel. I just built a PC from parts, but it's in Canada so the prices would be off, dollar be damned. Asus or Gigabyte mobo that supports 1333 FSB, Core 2 Duo @ 2.3Ghz (best bang for the buck right now), 2 Gigs of RAM (the OCZ DDR2 @ 800 was the price point for me, even though the board supports DDR3), any SATA HD and optical that fits the price range, an Nvidia 7900GS was on sale for $100, and a Corsair power supply worked for roughly the same price as what you're looking at.

The advantage of going Intel right now is that I can overclock that 2.3 to a 3.3 on stock cooling as well as upgrade the processor to a quad core or extreme in a year when chip prices fall. If you take AMD right now, you're looking at a new CPU, mobo, and ram to upgrade.

Don't take my word for it. If you're in the market for a $600-$1000 desktop, there's no reason not to go with Intel right now. Look at hardware reviews and upgrade paths. I'd really like for AMD to keep fighting Intel, but the choice right now is obvious.

Comahawk

an_alt wrote: »

If you see any cash in your future, I'd go with Intel. I just built a PC from parts, but it's in Canada so the prices would be off, dollar be damned. Asus or Gigabyte mobo that supports 1333 FSB, Core 2 Duo @ 2.3Ghz (best bang for the buck right now), 2 Gigs of RAM (the OCZ DDR2 @ 800 was the price point for me, even though the board supports DDR3), any SATA HD and optical that fits the price range, an Nvidia 7900GS was on sale for $100, and a Corsair power supply worked for roughly the same price as what you're looking at.

The advantage of going Intel right now is that I can overclock that 2.3 to a 3.3 on stock cooling as well as upgrade the processor to a quad core or extreme in a year when chip prices fall. If you take AMD right now, you're looking at a new CPU, mobo, and ram to upgrade.

Don't take my word for it. If you're in the market for a $600-$1000 desktop, there's no reason not to go with Intel right now. Look at hardware reviews and upgrade paths. I'd really like for AMD to keep fighting Intel, but the choice right now is obvious.

As far as I know, AM2+ boards are backwards compatible with AM2 chips... They are somewhat pricey right now though. The one I'm looking at ran in the $250 range Canadian.

Daedalus

Comahawk wrote: »

an_alt wrote: »

If you see any cash in your future, I'd go with Intel. I just built a PC from parts, but it's in Canada so the prices would be off, dollar be damned. Asus or Gigabyte mobo that supports 1333 FSB, Core 2 Duo @ 2.3Ghz (best bang for the buck right now), 2 Gigs of RAM (the OCZ DDR2 @ 800 was the price point for me, even though the board supports DDR3), any SATA HD and optical that fits the price range, an Nvidia 7900GS was on sale for $100, and a Corsair power supply worked for roughly the same price as what you're looking at.

The advantage of going Intel right now is that I can overclock that 2.3 to a 3.3 on stock cooling as well as upgrade the processor to a quad core or extreme in a year when chip prices fall. If you take AMD right now, you're looking at a new CPU, mobo, and ram to upgrade.

Don't take my word for it. If you're in the market for a $600-$1000 desktop, there's no reason not to go with Intel right now. Look at hardware reviews and upgrade paths. I'd really like for AMD to keep fighting Intel, but the choice right now is obvious.

As far as I know, AM2+ boards are backwards compatible with AM2 chips... They are somewhat pricey right now though. The one I'm looking at ran in the $250 range Canadian.

also, AM2+ chips are backwards compatable with AM2 boards; you can use your old AM2 board or buy a cheap one and plug a phenom into it. The HT bus won't be quite as fast, though.

imperial6

The Twice and Future Computer Thread

I would recommend the budget build there, which is basically what Raslin said. The 5000+ would indeed be a better choice if you have the money. A couple things though...first I wouldn't mess around with a cheap power supply, I always say pick a corsair model, but any of the brands in that link's rec list would be fine. Pick something with at least 28A on the 12V rail(s). Plan on spending at least $50 for your power supply and $50 for your case. Also just throwing this out there, I don't have personal testimony but the gskill ram gets good reviews and costs $50 right now for 2 gigs.

Kaseius

Thanks for the link; sorry I missed the other thread. I'll continue to use this one unless it becomes a problem. Here's the list I came up with so far:

Rosewill TU-155 Black 0.8mm SGCC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 400W Power Supply

GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard

HIS Hightech H385F256NP Radeon HD 3850 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2 65W Processor Model ADO4800DDBOX

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T OEM

WINTEC AMPO 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 3AMD2667-2G2K-R

Anything I should change or purchase (new power supply)? The total came to 555$ with shipping included, so I still have a bit of space.

imperial6

Yeah, 17A on the 12V rail isn't going to cut it. The 450w corsair is $65 at the egg after rebate, plus shipping, so it will put you a little over budget though. Actually, for your case just get this, it's the same brand and still 0.8, just $5 cheaper, doesn't come with a power supply, and comes with 2 120mm fans instead of 1 80mm fan. That would put you at around $615-620.

Oh, almost didn't see the ram. There's a chance you won't notice a difference between ddr2 667 and 800 (pc 5300 vs pc 6400), but there's a chance you will (probably not now but maybe down the line as things become more demanding), and it's all of 6 bucks more to get the 2g ddr2 800 gskill. I would do it.

Oh yeah, also: Western Digital has a better rep than Seagate right now, and there shouldn't be a difference in price. But Seagates are still good, so do what you will

Kaseius

Alright, here's the updated list:

Rosewill R5601-BK 0.8mm SECC Screw-less Dual 120mm Fans ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

HIS Hightech H385F256NP Radeon HD 3850 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T OEM - OEM

CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX ATX12V V2.2 450W Power Supply - Retail

CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model VS2GBKIT667D2 - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2 65W Processor Model ADO4800DDBOX - Retail

Total with shipping included comes to $633 or so. I tried to find this 6$ better RAM that you spoke of but had no luck finding it, and I feel that it's not a huge deal anyway; I don't plan on playing much other than WoW, and if I do, it'll probably be played on lower settings.

Is this everything I need to put my computer together? Will I have all the fans needed, without having to buy anything fancy and extra like.. thermal paste or anything?

imperial6

I meant this, but I'm sure you'll be fine with what you got. There should be thermal paste that comes with your hsf that comes with your processor. You might want to get a third case fan if you can't take one from your current rig, but that might not be a big deal if you keep your pc in a cool room where it gets plenty of breathing space.

Edit: nevermind the fan, I just looked at the case again, it's designed for 2. It looks like you can stick one in the side vent, but that's probably not necessary as your hsf will be pulling air in from there.