540 Dollar Custom Build

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etzelr1990

Member
Okay so I want to spend around 500 dollars on a custom build, I am looking to use it for games like WOW, CSS, etc. Also possibly Microsoft server applications as well, however rarely. Hard drive size does not matter, I have many computer parts at home, so OS,Optical Drive,Monitor,Keyboard,Mouse, are all not needed in this build. Also I realize the power supply is from Rosewill the key is i want a good custom build with HIGH resale-ability.

Combo Deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.563620

Amd Quad Core,
Rosewill Case, w/500watt psu
MSI 880G Mobo,
GSkill 1333mhz Ram.

Gskill Solid State Drive 60gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231414

XFX 5770 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447

540 shipped
 
Slacker7

Slacker7

Member
High resellibility is not going to happen because constant new hardware releases make today's new technology obsolete in a matter of 3 months and often just weeks. Sandy bridge is here and AMD is right around the corner with their new offerings. The 5770, while still a decent card pales in comparison to the latest offerings.

Second, with a few exceptions psu units that come with a case are poor quality.

G Skill is great memory and the Quad core Propus is a decent cpu but it doesn't have L3 Cache.

I'm not being negative for the sake of negativity (I really like AMD and have done many builds with AMD processors/mobos) but I am responding to the high resellibility.

It will make a decent gsming rig and you should be able to do upgrades as needed.
 
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etzelr1990

Member
Slacker7 said:
High resellibility is not going to happen because constant new hardware releases make today's new technology obsolete in a matter of 3 months and often just weeks. Sandy bridge is here and AMD is right around the corner with their new offerings. The 5770, while still a decent card pales in comparison to the latest offerings.

Second, with a few exceptions psu units that come with a case are poor quality.

G Skill is great memory and the Quad core Propus is a decent cpu but it doesn't have L3 Cache.

I'm not being negative for the sake of negativity (I really like AMD and have done many builds with AMD processors/mobos) but I am responding to the high resellibility.

It will make a decent gsming rig and you should be able to do upgrades as needed.
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I see theres another combo deal that includes

# Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz
# ASUS LGA 1156 Intel H55 Motherboard
# G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 1333mhz
# COOLER MASTER HAF 912
# COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus 700W
# G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 60GB Solid State Drive
# EVGA GeForce GTS 450

that is 560 after rebates, however you get the dual core instead of the quad granted you can always get an i7, but i am not going to for awhile. I am guessing overclocking here is the solution and going with option number 2. It's just I always loose a lot of money every time i build a computer and craigslist rarely has any gems.
 
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Drenlin

Drenlin

Active Member
That's still a low quality power supply. The PSU is the very last unit that you should skimp on when building a computer.

The only Cooler Master PSU's on the market that aren't awful are the Silent Pro/SP Gold ones.

That build also uses a dead platform. There's still some upgrade room there, but not all that much compared to their newer platform, and the resale value will be awful. (granted, no computer component has "good" resale value...)


Unless the machine in your sig has died or something, I don't really see a reason to replace it yet. I wouldn't put an OC'd hexacore on that mobo since it only has 4-phase power, but one of the AM3 Phenom II quads should be able to get within 3.8GHz-4GHz on it. Even your 940 should be able to o much higher than 3GHz. (It's unlocked for a reason)

Couple that with a newer graphics card or a second 4850, and you've got a much more effective upgrade for the money. An Athlon quad and a 5770 would actually be slower than what you have, especially since WoW and CS:S don't use DirectX 11.
 
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etzelr1990

Member
Drenlin said:
That's still a low quality power supply. The PSU is the very last unit that you should skimp on when building a computer.

The only Cooler Master PSU's on the market that aren't awful are the Silent Pro/SP Gold ones.

That build also uses a dead platform. There's still some upgrade room there, but not all that much compared to their newer platform, and the resale value will be awful. (granted, no computer component has "good" resale value...)


Unless the machine in your sig has died or something, I don't really see a reason to replace it yet. I wouldn't put an OC'd hexacore on that mobo since it only has 4-phase power, but one of the AM3 Phenom II quads should be able to get within 3.8GHz-4GHz on it. Even your 940 should be able to o much higher than 3GHz. (It's unlocked for a reason)

Couple that with a newer graphics card or a second 4850, and you've got a much more effective upgrade for the money. An Athlon quad and a 5770 would actually be slower than what you have, especially since WoW and CS:S don't use DirectX 11.
Click to expand...

Yeah i had to sell the one in my signature, reason why I am looking for a new one atm. I meant overclocking the the i3 if possible, if you could just build me something that you would personally buy it would be appreciated.
 
Drenlin

Drenlin

Active Member
Here, try this on for size:

CPU + Mobo- Athlon II x4 640 + Asus M4A79XTD EVO- $184 ($15 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871

GPU- MSI Radoen HD5770- $135 ($35 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127476

RAM- G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR31600 2x2GB- $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231427

HDD- Spinpoint F3 1TB- $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

DVD- LG GH24NS50- $17
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

PSU- Seasonic S12II 520W- $66
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

Case- NZXT Beta EVO- $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146059

Total cost: $562 shipped, $512 after rebates.
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That will give you room to add a second 5770 at some point, and everything (CPU included) will transfer over to an AM3+ motherboard when the time comes.

The Athlon won't be as strong as an OC'd i3, but the cost of it wouldn't have allowed for the 5770, and definitely wouldn't have allowed for a mobo that supports 8x/8x crossfire.
 
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etzelr1990

Member
Drenlin said:
Here, try this on for size:



That will give you room to add a second 5770 at some point, and everything (CPU included) will transfer over to an AM3+ motherboard when the time comes.

The Athlon won't be as strong as an OC'd i3, but the cost of it wouldn't have allowed for the 5770, and definitely wouldn't have allowed for a mobo that supports 8x/8x crossfire.
Click to expand...

Well thank you very much for your time I do appreciate it and I can always OC the athlon instead. And lets be honest "crossfire" is nice but is it really useful? They are always going to make a single card which is better.

My bad adding a second card would be cheaper then purchasing a new one duh lol.
 
Drenlin

Drenlin

Active Member
etzelr1990 said:
Well thank you very much for your time I do appreciate it and I can always OC the athlon instead.
Click to expand...
No problem. :)

The Athlon still won't be as strong as an OC'd i3, since they're monster overclockers, but you should still be able to get it to round 3.6-3.8 stable with a good cooler, which should be plenty.

My bad adding a second card would be cheaper then purchasing a new one duh lol.
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Yep, that's really the most useful way to use multi GPU setups. Two 5770's is about the same as a 5850...you'd have to pay a lot more than ~$100 to get the same performance out of a new single GPU card.

I have a similar setup...Athlon II 635 and a 5770, with a 790X mobo.(790GX without the onboard graphics) My plan is to add a second 5770, then upgrade to an AM3+ mobo, followed by a third 5770, and then a Bulldozer CPU. My PSU is going to hate me but I'm pretty sure I'll have enough power as long as I don't OC the poop out of everything.
 
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Drenlin

Drenlin

Active Member
Well that was just my plan...wasn't suggesting you follow suit. Just throwing some ideas out. :)

I'm assuming a 4870 GX2 is some flavor of 4870X2? If so, it's about as powerful as two 5770's in crossfire, which is in the same ballpark as a 5850 or 6850. As long as you don't want or need DirectX 11, it's a pretty beefy card and a good match for the Athlon 640.

How much are you looking at paying for it, though?
 
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