Building a system < $400. advice pls.

[reddevil6]

get this GPU it is cheaper an about 10-20% better.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102703
the ram is good.
the MOBO will do.
if u can try an get a AMD 5xxx.
the case looks good.

 

[Nick_Escalantes]

thanks red for the advise, i swapped the video card for the one you showed... and I'm thinking about replacing the 4000+ 2.1 ghz with a 5200+ 2.7 ghz... $50 more... it is worth it gaming wise?

 

[daisymtc]

I've been looking at this motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138081

compared to this one I was going to buy..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131249

Biostar is not too bad.
However I would suggest getting ASUS M3A instead if you go for AMD

 

[reddevil6]

thanks red for the advise, i swapped the video card for the one you showed... and I'm thinking about replacing the 4000+ 2.1 ghz with a 5200+ 2.7 ghz... $50 more... it is worth it gaming wise?

any time.
an yes it would be worth it for gaming, an everything else.
2.1 is not really enough for newer games!

 

[oscaryu1]

any time.
an yes it would be worth it for gaming, an everything else.
2.1 is not really enough for newer games!

Sure, if 2.1GHz is not enough for gaming, then my E2140 @ 1.6GHz must be suffering...

Speed doesn't mean everything.

Oh, and if you get the 2600, you'll definitely need a new PSU. ATI sucks MUCH more power than nVidia.

 

[2048Megabytes]

I am surprised no one has said anything about the BioStar motherboard you have selected.

Here is the moderator's advice on the below brand motherboards:

* AOpen
* ASRock
* BIOSTAR
* ECS
* Intel
* PCCHIPS

Why am I blacklisting these brands? With the exception of Intel, they all have a track record of low performance, cheap parts (resulting in direct failures and sometimes consequential failures i.e., motherboard fails and then also causes something else to fail). Intel was included because their motherboards don't offer anything useful that can be had from any other (even budget oriented) manufacturer. These are just suggestions though.

http://www.computerforum.com/375489-post3.html



I would look through the following brands of motherboards for your upgrade:

ASUS
A-Bit
Gigabyte
MSI

 

[Nick_Escalantes]

after all the reading about psu's, i'm thinking about buying this Apevia 500 W for my build

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148027

In addition to this XION case w/ a 450 psu and I will swap out the psu's since I read that this 450 psu doesn't even have SATA connectors.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208005

You guys think this 500 W PSU will be enough to power a 5200+ 2.6 ghz, w/ the 2600 GPU card,

 

[reddevil6]

that PSU is not the best but it will power your computer.

 

[oscaryu1]

Apevia PSUs have been known to melt... still want it?

 

[Nick_Escalantes]

i don't want my system to catch on fire

 

[oscaryu1]

Good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339001&Tpk=hec+orion+585W

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182088

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010

Much better

 

[Nick_Escalantes]

that orion 585W PSU is nice, i would get it but it only has 1 SATA connector. I need 2, HDD, and DVD RW.

 

[oscaryu1]

Get something like this: http://www.supermediastore.com/4-pin-to-sata-cable.html

PS - I have the exact PSU powering my rig right now, as I am posting to you

 

[Nick_Escalantes]

i just threw this sata adapter in the cart

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812105409

this is the video card i'm going w/ currently... Radeon HD 2600XT 512mb.... dont want to spend over $100.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102703

 

[oscaryu1]

That's a fine card. Good luck mate

 

[maroon1]

get this GPU it is cheaper an about 10-20% better.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102703

Thats completely untrue

check this review
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3023&p=5

8600GT performs on par with HD2600XT (GDDR4 version)

And the one you posted is the GDDR3 version

Also, HD2600XT is not cheaper than 8600GT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127286

8600GT cost only $71 after MIR. And it comes with a free game

 

[Nick_Escalantes]

Here's the final order, received everything today except the case... of course! from CA to RI, in 2 days... thanks newegg, but my case is still in PA? for some reason they decided to fly the parts in, and send the case by truck...

cpu
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210

mobo
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138081

mem
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066

gpu
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102703

psu
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339001

case
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208008

hdd
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

along w/ dvdrw, floppy... hopefully this will be better than a PIII 800 Mhz, 128 MB MEM, onboard video HP.