My first build, please comment

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bcohen4

New Member
Please leave constructive criticism on how to improve this build. It is a semi-budget based build. It will be used for school work with MS Office, some light gaming (actually very light) and in the future Adobe CS3. I think I want to stick with XP for now. I'm wanting to keep it around $800 and have something that will last for a while without having to replace much (although I know the mobo isn't that great). thanks.

Processor: AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103249

MOBO: BIOSTAR A770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138106

Memory: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

PSU: PC Power & Cooling S61EPS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005

Graphics Card: EVGA 256-P2-N751-TR GeForce 8600 GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130085

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262

DVD ROM Drive: Sony NEC Optiarc Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827101131
 
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venkatm

New Member
The specs seem a little low. Have you thought about getting a dell? They usually have some good promotions (just check http://slickdeals.net) but i don't think they have any deals going on at the moment. If you don't need the computer to last you a life time i would go with a dell. I've seen them break a lot after 2-3 years but I would still buy one. If you want to secure your investment in a dell computer, I would just get an extended warranty. But then again that also adds up in the price :)
 
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Steelshivan

New Member
Everything looks good to me besides the DVD-rom drive instead of a DVD burner. As for your mobo, it doesn't have SLi capability or many advanced overclocking features, etc. But it should be more than what you need, and most importantly, it is considered a very RELIABLE motherboard. SLi is pointless unless you want to waste money anyway.
 
cohen

cohen

New Member
Looks good, as said above, should've got a DVD burner... and maybe a better graphics card... but looks good.... my stuff (it sig for details) i use for the surfing the net, IM + office and it works fine, you should be happy with it.
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
Thats a crap motherboard, plus it doesnt even support the 9850 regardless of what deal newegg says. If your going to run a 9850 get a 790 Asus/DFI or Gigabyte board with heatsinks on the mosfets and all solid capacitors. Plus like said above, get a DVD RW instead of just a ROM.
 
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UriA702

New Member
yes, it does support the phenom.

Supported CPU
CPU Socket Type AM2+/AM2
CPU Type Phenom FX / Phenom / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64 X2
FSB 2600MHz Hyper Transport (5200 MT/s)

2600 mhz hyper transport = phenom supported.
 
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UriA702

New Member
Get a sata DVD-Burner instead of a dvd-rom. For the price of that processor I would go with Intel; Intel's quad core CPUs surpass AMD's quad core CPUs.

If you do decide to stick with the Phenom that Mobo will be fine, as long as you don't overclock.
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
UriA702 said:
yes, it does support the phenom.

Supported CPU
CPU Socket Type AM2+/AM2
CPU Type Phenom FX / Phenom / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64 X2
FSB 2600MHz Hyper Transport (5200 MT/s)

2600 mhz hyper transport = phenom supported.
Click to expand...

Never said it didnt support the Phenom. I said it doesnt support the 9850 Phenom. Get your facts straight!
Show me the 125 Watt 9850, it doesnt even support the 9750! That board will not run a 125 watt Phenom processor. Unless you like the idea of getting him to run a processor on a board that will burn up the mosfets with no way to RMA it because he ran a unsupported processor.
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/mb/cpu_support.php?S_ID=321
 
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Steelshivan

New Member
IxBLACKHEARTxI said:
It's ok,the only weakness I see is that 8600Gt
Click to expand...

Which will suit his needs just fine. Re-read his original post and uses of the system.

It seems like every time someone runs a build by this forum, people cite the video card as a weakness unless it has an 8800GT or better, regardless of the uses of the system. Not everyone in the world is 15 years old and not everyone builds a computer system to play Crysis.
 
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bcohen4

New Member
thanks for all the quick feedback everyone, I really appreciate it.

haha, cohen, nice name
 
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StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
The build looks fine if you upgrade it to a better board, the 9850 pull alot of watts and in the long run I dont think you will be pleased with it. Plus that board is a lower end 770 on top of that. As far as the video card, if a 8600GT is all you need the card will be fine.
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
If the Quad has a defected core they disable it and sell it as a Tri core. Makes them money, other wise they would have to trash can it. But right now the 2 lower end Tri cores are the only ones worth it. The top 8750 is the same price as the 9550 Quad. But just having 3 core and the same amount of L3 the quads do might be a advantage at some things. 3 cores just seems weird.
 
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