$400 build, thoughts?

onipar

onipar

Member
Hi all. I've already posted this stuff in a fragmented sort of way in a separate thread (and gotten a TON of great hep and advice), but I wanted to stick my completed build (not yet purchased) here for final thoughts.

This is for my parents and will be used for net, music, internet video and *maybe* dvd. No games.

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz: $77.99

GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-USB3: $82.99 (after $10 rebate)

Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID VN400A1W2N: $39.99 (after $10 rebate)

Corsair Builder Series CX V2 430-Watt: $34.99(after $10 rebate)

Asus 24xDVD±RW Drive: $20.99

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB): $22.99

Seagate - Barracuda 1TB: $55

Windows 7: $6 (I get that through my college, a deal for professors)

$342.43 (after all rebates)


Anyway, I'm wondering how this looks, if I'm missing anything important, if there are better/cheaper options for any of the components, and generally if it's an okay build (This will be my first).

I appreciate all the great advice I've received already. Thanks!

EDIT: The final build specs.

AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Heka 2.8GHz: $55.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm CPU Cooler : $14.99 (after $10 rebate)

GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-USB3: $82.99 (after $10 rebate)

Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID VN400A1W2N: $39.99 (after $10 rebate)

Corsair Builder Series CX V2 430-Watt: $34.99 (after $10 rebate)

Seagate - Barracuda 1TB: $58.29

Asus 24xDVD±RW Drive: $20.99

G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800): $29.99

COOLER MASTER R4-L2R-20AC-GP: $7.63

Windows 7: $6 (actually, ended up installing Ubuntu)

HP 20" S2031 HD Ready Widescreen LCD Monitor: $74.19

$475.35 -$40 in rebates.

TOTAL: $435.35
 
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onipar

onipar

Member
I decided to add an extra fan since the case only has the one exhaust fan. I probably don't *really* need it for this rig (in fact, I'm pretty sure I've gone a little overboard with certain components considering what this system will be used for...) but for an extra $7, what the hell.

Decided on the Thermaltake Thunderblade 120 mm 4 Led Case Fan that I'll use as a front intake.

The new total is $350.10 (not counting another few bucks I'll blow on a anti-static wrist band).

I'm pretty much into the "deal seeking" phase of my build, making sure there aren't any better prices, coupons, or sales before I pull the trigger.

But I'm still open to suggestions if anything in the build seems out of place, or if you know of a deal that would drop the cost. Speaking of which, is there a particular day of the week that newegg ends it's sales? More than a few of these components are on sale, and I'd hate to wait too long and have the prices go back up...
 
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Benny Boy

Benny Boy

Active Member
onipar said:
I decided to add an extra fan since the case only has the one exhaust fan. I probably don't *really* need it for this rig (in fact, I'm pretty sure I've gone a little overboard with certain components considering what this system will be used for...) but for an extra $7, what the hell.

Decided on the Thermaltake Thunderblade 120 mm 4 Led Case Fan that I'll use as a front intake.

The new total is $350.10 (not counting another few bucks I'll blow on a anti-static wrist band).

I'm pretty much into the "deal seeking" phase of my build, making sure there aren't any better prices, coupons, or sales before I pull the trigger.

But I'm still open to suggestions if anything in the build seems out of place, or if you know of a deal that would drop the cost. Speaking of which, is there a particular day of the week that newegg ends it's sales? More than a few of these components are on sale, and I'd hate to wait too long and have the prices go back up...
Click to expand...
Any promo's should be dated on the product page or in the email eblast members only promos. If there's a rebate you can look at the rebate info page for that critiria.

I was going to mention that fan but as you say it wasnt critical ... a quiet one would be good imo, say 17dba or less. It wouldn't have to be high rpm(which would make it louder).

Another option would be 1600 memory.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193

You found a 1TB hdd for $55?
 
jonnyp11

jonnyp11

New Member
they had them at bestbuy a little while ago, but bb has finally gotten back up with newegg on thos prices, but they are still lower, 1tb caviar black for 130, which newegg has for like 210 and 250
 
M

Mosely22

Member
on a side note, wouldn't it be awesome if they made mp3 players with 1t-3tb capacities! lol.....

yeah newegg is good for some things and expensive for other things
 
onipar

onipar

Member
Mosely22 said:
yeah i was wondering where he found that 1tb for $55....good find man!
Click to expand...

I got really, *really* lucky.

On Friday I was searching for HDDs and noticed for the first time how high they suddenly jumped (then read about the Thailand floods and all that). I was ready to have to pay upwards of $100 for just 500 GB, and then I found the Seagate 1 TB Barracuda HDD.

You'll see the drive is now up to $129!!! But on Friday, it was $55 (plus tax). I nearly crapped my pants. I figured it was some sort of out of stock item or a mistake.

So first I try to order online and it says "no shipping available for this item." But it says I can ship it to the store. So I try that, and it changes to "unavailable" after I click "check out."

I was ready to let it go at that point, but for the price, I figured I might as well try calling Best Buy. After being put on hold for close to 10 minutes, they come back and say there are 2 left in the store, and yes, only for $55!

(Again I crap my pants).

I told them to hold it and went straight there. On the way I started thinking I might buy both for that price, but when i arrived and asked for the one they held for me (of course) they couldn't find it!

I ran to the shelf and unbelievably, there was still the one left. :D

So that's my cheap HDD story. :cool: A lucky find to be sure. That on top of the $6 Windows 7 were the two lucky breaks that kept this build within the price range I wanted. Although the IT guy at the college said they only have the "update" disk for windows. He said that in the past the update versions given to the college for sale to us professors actually *did* work for new, complete installs, but he wasn't sure if that is still the case.

If it doesn't work I'm going with Ubuntu Linux and putting widows 7 on my other comp.

By the way, Benny Boy, thank you for the tips. I do think I'll go with that memory you posted. A few extra bucks, but seems worth it.
 
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onipar

onipar

Member
Mosely22 said:
oni, where did u start building your parents pc? newegg?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I haven't purchased anything (except the HDD and windows) yet, but almost everything is from Newegg, except the fan, dvd drive, and anti-static wristband, which I'm getting from Amazon.
 
M

Mosely22

Member
man, that is 1 heck of a story! perfect timing man!

i just talked to my friend who got the 3tb hitachi external disk drive about 2 weeks ago and he got it for $119.99. he told me today, i almost crapped myself. i told him that since this flood has happened, its hard to even get a 1tb for that price!
 
onipar

onipar

Member
Mosely22 said:
man, that is 1 heck of a story! perfect timing man!

i just talked to my friend who got the 3tb hitachi external disk drive about 2 weeks ago and he got it for $119.99. he told me today, i almost crapped myself. i told him that since this flood has happened, its hard to even get a 1tb for that price!
Click to expand...

Sweet price on that! Yeah, perfect timing for sure. If I waited another hour, I'd have been screwed. :p

Oh, Benny, I switched the fan out to the COOLER MASTER R4-L2R-20AC-GP which has 19 DBA (instead of the 30+ of my other choice, and is actually a few pennies cheaper on Amazon too. Thanks again for the tip.
 
onipar

onipar

Member
Benny Boy said:
np, glad to. Pics of the build - or it didn't happen:D
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Ha, absolutely. I'm bringing these specs to the IT guy at the college where I work for last minute changes/advice tomorrow. After that I'm pulling the trigger on the purchases.

I'll hopefully get to the fun stuff sooner rather than later, but these are the few weeks of the semester, so my grading load is about to explode. But yeah, pics for sure.

:D
 
M

Mosely22

Member
ill def like to check the pics when you get everything set up! love that feeling when buy a new computer and set it up! feels AWESOME!
 
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