Looking for an Inexpensive Build.

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dudeguy1235

New Member
Okay, I'm sure everyone feels that same way and everyone has seen this post 1000 times before, but I don't have much money. I go to high school and work at a gamestop for goodness sakes. I am willing to spend up to 1000$, the less the better ya know? My computer is very outdated, about six years old, and I am looking to custom build a new one. I don't need a keyboard or monitor or anything like that.

Here is what I want as far as hardware goes:
A Core 2 Quad
At least 2g of Mem
500g of hard drive space

I want to be able to play pretty much any game that's out right now, not on the highest settings, although that would be nice. I'm really open to anything besides those specs. I feel like if I'm gonna get a computer, I don't want to have to upgrade it anytime soon; besides maybe some more mem.

Thanks for helping out everybody!
 
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I know it is personal, but if money is that tight for you, maybe you should just keep it till you go to college and spend it on a nice laptop. For 1 grand, u can get a killer laptop or desktop.
 
This is the System I am planning on. HAs nice upgradability. only $725. All parts are from newegg.com.

Gaming Computer



RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WB Black 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid-Tower Foldout MB Computer Case Price: $79.99

Antec NeoPower 650 Blue 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply Price: $89.99

ASUS M2N-SLI AM2 NVIDIA nForce 560 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard Price: $86.99

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor Price: $84.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Price: $59.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive Price: $49.99

EVGA 512-P3-N861-TR GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card Price: $99.99

LG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech Price: $23.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD Price: $99.99
 
The parts 63083 chose are good. But I think a few items should be replaced.

All the following parts are at NewEgg.com:

Replace the RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WB Black 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid-Tower Computer Case with this:
XION Solaris XON-403 Black with Green LED Light Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $40


Replace the Antec NeoPower 650 Blue 650W power supply with this:
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W ATX12V Power Supply - $75 (has a $25 mail in rebate as well)


Replace the 4 gigabytes of G.SKILL RAM with this:
SUPER TALENT 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $38
(2 gigabytes of RAM should be sufficient for what you are going to use this computer for)
 
About the laptop. I have a macbook for school, but I still want to be able to play games and would rather not play on a laptop. I really like the one build I've seen on this post so far, but I would really like to get a Core 2 Quad.

I thought about making these changes to the previous build:


BIOSTAR TForce TP45D2-A7 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Instead of the other mother board
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Instead of the other CPU

How does that look? I was also thinking about going with the second case that was posted.
 
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dudeguy1235 said:
About the laptop. I have a macbook for school, but I still want to be able to play games and would rather not play on a laptop. I really like the one build I've seen on this post so far, but I would really like to get a Core 2 Quad. I don't think I could just switch the CPUs though.
Click to expand...

If you want an awesome Intel processor might I steer you toward the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale processor (price $165). It is a very good Dual-Core processor that will not bottleneck against any program you want to put it up against.

Here is a good motherboard the E8400 processor would work with:

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L - $87

If you really want an Intel Core 2 Quad-Core processor look at the Q6600 Kentsfield processor.
 
BIOSTAR isn't known for high quality. I would avoid the motherboards they manufacture.

Look at the GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L motherboard specifications.
 
cbelmo159 said:
Heres mine plus you need a PSU, Case, Disk drive, and operating system

Mobo- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138109 $50

CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103211 $60

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098 $40

VGA- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130085 $80

HDD- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136112 $55

Adds to 285 plus another 150 - 200 for the OS, Drive, case and psu. Let me know what you think
Click to expand...

links are broken
 
Alright, I've sort of put together a rough build. Lets see what everybody thinks:

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard

EVGA 512-P3-N861-TR GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

XION Solaris XON-403 Black with Green LED Light Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600

Antec NeoPower 650 Blue 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

LG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner w/ SecurDisc Tech Black SATA Model GH20NS15

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ

The total comes to $640.92 from New Egg. I still an OS but I have no idea what to go with. I was thinking Windows Vista 64 bit. Any thoughts, ideas, different parts? I look forward to feed back. I'd add hard drives later on if possible and maybe more memory some time in the future, maybe even a second disc drive. Once some more cash comes in of course.
 
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Although you may be trying to go on the cheap, a GREAT case is the Antec 900. It is able to fit anything you can throw at it, and will be good for at least another 4 years.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=Antec%20900
An AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103249
ASUS M3A78 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131340
Western Digital Caviar GP WD5000AACS 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136149
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166
ZEROtherm BTF90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887002
LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136153
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136153
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
BFG Tech BFGE88512GTSE GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143119

Final Total- about $836
My Incredible help-priceless
 
All the components you chose look good to me so far.
I would go with Windows Vista 64-bit for an operating system. Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit is $99 on NewEgg currently.

I also voiced my opinion about the 4 gigabytes of RAM already in my previous post. In my opinion 2 gigabytes of RAM is sufficient. But, if you don't mind spending extra for double the RAM, go for it.
 
You should not need any new heatsink beside what Intel gives. Unless your planning to overclock.
 
I would suggest Q6600 over phenom because it is better performer and consume less power

I'm not sure why IrishLard is suggesting AMD instead of Intel ! Probably he is doing that just because he hates Intel
 
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