$400 Build

PSU + HDD you can save a little whilst gaining extra storage:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.524434

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.524435

or instead, get PSU + GPU bundle, which comes out $10 after MIR, but will net you a better video card, and better power supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.514500

There are some offers on Rosewill cases + optical drives that will save you a few $, but not a whole lot.

For a cheap build it is looking pretty good. Only thing I would try to change if you can fit it in budget, is swapping from Biostar to near any other brand of motherboard
 
Nice, thanks guys!

@Aastii, yes, I looked for another brand, but could not find one in that price range with ACC. :(

Sucks you can't add combos to a Wish List...
 
could you afford $10 extra to go for:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176

instead?

Or were you planning on taking advantage of the deal, but you couldn't list it?

=EDIT=

also, looking through the power supplies, they have a lot of the good brands lower end units on offer for cheaper than the xclio unit you chose, cheaper by quite a lot. If you don't use any of the combo deals I linked, and instead get the PSU seperate to another component, you can save a good $10-25 by getting a different unit. That would free up the money for the better motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371029

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256060

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139017
 
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Aastii said:
could you afford $10 extra to go for:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176

instead?

Or were you planning on taking advantage of the deal, but you couldn't list it?
Click to expand...

Has anyone had any experience with Customer Support from either Asrock or Biostar? I personally have not. They're both budget brands are they not?

I guess the odds of getting a bad board from any manufacturer are there, but support could make the difference.

Also, the build was supposed to be $400 max, so I'm already over budget. :o

I'll slip this board into the Public Wish List and see if he notices. :D
That is, unless the parts were already ordered.

Yes, I would have taken advantage of the deal, but couldn't add it to the wish list.

Thanks for the input everyone! :good:

EDIT:
I'm not sure I understand, Aastii. All the power supplies you listed are the same price
as the one I chose, except for the Corsair, which is about $5 cheaper.?
 
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Bodaggit23 said:
Has anyone had any experience with Customer Support from either Asrock or Biostar? I personally have not. They're both budget brands are they not?

I guess the odds of getting a bad board from any manufacturer are there, but support could make the difference.

Also, the build was supposed to be $400 max, so I'm already over budget. :o

I'll slip this board into the Public Wish List and see if he notices. :D
That is, unless the parts were already ordered.

Yes, I would have taken advantage of the deal, but couldn't add it to the wish list.

Thanks for the input everyone! :good:
Click to expand...

ASRock = an off shoot of Asus. Asus is the parent company of ASRock, so support is the same for both, and Asus support is very good.

ASRock is the lower end Asus range, but they are still very good boards, just not as good quite as Asus or Gigabyte are. Comparing them to Biostar though, is like comparing a steak cooked by a world class chef to a burger you get at the side of a motorway, Bioware boards and support are shockingly poor

This probably should have been asked earlier, but what will the system actually be used for? Would it not potentially be better to get an Ahtlon II rather than Phenom II to drop prices if you go for the ASRock board instead? It is a budget build, so I can only assume that it won't be used for anything extremely intensive, so the different won't be noticed between the 2 processors
 
Ok, cool. Thanks for the info. :good:

Well, the person is going to play games on it so I thought the Phenom would be better.

At the last minute I found the MSI GPU that has a better cooler than the one I previous chose, so with the $15 savings, I bumped it up to the Phenom.
 
As far as PSU's, The antec unit aastii linked has an $11 coupon code on it right now.

I'd get the corsair unit though, as far as sub $50 power supplies its one of the better ones.
 
So, I slipped in the Asrock board and my client didn't say anything. :D

Thanks for the board suggestion Aastii.

Now they have the option of adding a second GPU in the future also. :good:
 
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Question:

Does the Phenom II NEED to have an 8pin CPU plug?

The board has tape over the "extra" 4 pins. It also
has tape over the "extra" 4 pins inthe 24 pin power
connector.

To me, this implies that it is Optional.

8pin-1.jpg
 
All of these PSU's will have 8-pin(or more likely 4+4) cpu connectors and either 24 pin or 20+4 pin mobo connectors. I don't see the point in not using them.
 
Drenlin said:
All of these PSU's will have 8-pin(or more likely 4+4) cpu connectors and either 24 pin or 20+4 pin mobo connectors. I don't see the point in not using them.
Click to expand...

Of course I would use the 8pin plug if the PSU has it,
but what if it doesn't?

The sticker on the board implies the 8pin to be optional.

How do you know when you NEED to use all 8 pins?

I don't see a spec on the Xcilio PSU that states an 8pin...
http://www.xclio.com/products/products-psu-good-500w.htm#details
 
Necessary? No Recommended, absolutely. A single 4pin is rated to 150W according to ATX specs. The Goodpower 500W has an EPS12v 8pin connector though IIRC, haven't used one in 2-3 years now so i can't so absolutely that it does.

I'd still tend to recommend the previous units listed by the other posters, the Antec unit especially.
 
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bomberboysk said:
Necessary? No Recommended, absolutely.
Click to expand...

I was hoping you'd reply to this thread. :good:

The Xcilio has already been purchased.

The main reasons: 500watts and two 6pin PCI-E connectors.
Hopefully it has an 8pin. Oh well if it doesn't. :o

Thanks again for all the input guys, it's much appreciated.

I'll let you guys know if she UNLOCKS! ;)
 
Ok, so the PSU had a 4+4 CPU plug, thankfully, so no worries there.
The motherboard plug was also 20+4. Yay.

Bummer, I couldn't get the other 2 cores unlocked.
I'm thinking lack of the "Hybrid" option in the BIOS.?
I tried ACC plus every other option I could think of,
and every option I found online with no luck either. Idk

On the bright side, it's a smoking fast X2! I'm very impressed.
Puts my Athlon II X2 to shame...of course.

The HD4650 is a very good budget card. Plays Portal on high at
200-300fps at 1027x768. Bad Company 2 looked pretty good also
on Medium at same res.

It's a pretty nice looking case for $30 also.

Overall I'd be happy to own this pc, especially for the money.
Hope the owner thinks so too. :D
 
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