PC Build Opinion

[sideswipe]

so my wife has expressed interest in my online game so time to put together a PC. Was going to do this after 1st of year but she wants to be up & running soon so now a lower budget comes into play. Just looking for feedback to see what you guys think.

Case is going to be simple $20 - $40 nothing to write home about
Motherboard looking @ various 1's somewhere around $65ish
Processor going dual-core, either Pentium (not core 2) or X2 AMD's
Ram = 4gb DDR2 800 (prices vs. preformance this is sweet spot)
Hard Drive - 320gb Western Digital SATA2 (room for few movies & pictures)
Power Supply - 460w Cooler Master
Video Card - 9500GT 512mb(DDR3 version) or 9600GSO 384mb ($50 - $60 range)

1280 x 1024 is resolution running either 17" LCD or 21" CRT haven't decided yet

also wife will only use this for about 6months (then will be resetup for Media Center/kids PC dual-use)
This build will come in under $400 closer to $350ish

[dave29]

You forgot an optical drive and an OS.

I would seriously think about going to a core 2 duo though. You can get an E7200 for under $100.

[harsh]

Looking at the requirements for some of the hotter games (ie Sims 3), I think you might want to set the bar a little higher than your nVidia choices. You'll probably save around $60 by going AMD. The O/S is going to put a big hurt on your budget as dave29 warns.

[-Draino-]

If you are going to only spend that amount of money, just buy a DELL, HP, IBM or whatever. You can get the whole package including a flat screen monitor for $400.00

It doesn't make much sense to build your own and not go with much higher quality equipment.

I think you will be sorry for wasting you money and time to put together a system as you have speced out.

At least if you buy mainstream you will get a warranty, support and something that will work well together.

I have built all of my systems (9 of them), but I only bought the best (the best at the time) and although there are many advantages of doing your own custom builds, if you don't buy the best, then what's the point.

As you can see from my sig line I bought a DELL this time around. I don't need their support but heck, a warranty to me is a freebie if I need it.

[sideswipe]

1st off this is going to be online gaming initially, DDO specifically why the specs arent high end, just looking @ cheaper for the time being. (used the cheaper version of 9500 for about 2mo not bad for that resolution), in 6mo wife will take over my PC which will have Phenom II X3 720? black edition 6gb of ram & 4830 video card just fyi so long term for games she will be fine (just giving info but you can see specs are fine for sim3 etc 6mo down the line)

2nd thanks for info on 7300, will look @ low end core 2's now also but amd price point is hurting Intel

OS - will run my retail version of XP on here temporarily until buy either OEM Vista or 7 Home Premium

Dell/HP - even with corporate discounts (Employee Discount Pricing) im cheaper building

Optical Drive will only need 2 be in for install, so will use a spare for now, then just run all my other stuff off network/usb sticks

[JD*]

If you are going to only spend that amount of money, just buy a DELL, HP, IBM or whatever. You can get the whole package including a flat screen monitor for $400.00

It doesn't make much sense to build your own and not go with much higher quality equipment.

I think you will be sorry for wasting you money and time to put together a system as you have speced out.

At least if you buy mainstream you will get a warranty, support and something that will work well together.
QUOTE]

Not worth it unless you like support fron India and a proprietary motherboard. As the OP says, he will save money building himself. Especially with some of the insane prices and rebates right now.

[QUOTE=sideswipe;2150882]1st off this is going to be online gaming initially, DDO specifically why the specs arent high end, just looking @ cheaper for the time being. (used the cheaper version of 9500 for about 2mo not bad for that resolution), in 6mo wife will take over my PC which will have Phenom II X3 720? black edition 6gb of ram & 4830 video card just fyi so long term for games she will be fine (just giving info but you can see specs are fine for sim3 etc 6mo down the line)


Go with your gut. FYI, the folks over at Tech Power Up will provide you will additional recommendations based on your budget and what specs you give them as you did on here. They usually recommend Newegg, I tend to go with Tigerdirect and Amazon to save tax in CA.

[sideswipe]

Thanks JD, never checked out Tech Power Up, personally I do all my shopping on newegg, but get all my info from either their cust feeback, anandtech, & tomshardware (toms also has charts)

Also w/Dell's & HP's is the power supplies most are usually only 250w even that low end of video cards require (without chance of frying something) 350w. To upgrade usually requires special size due to smaller cases (not always but do I wanna drop $80 on PC Power & Cooling 500w Dell & then do video card on a brand new PC?)

[houskamp]

If your not going core2 I wouldn't waste my time building it..
the cheapest core2 from dell would have more guts than a p4 with a video card (and you can always add one later to make the machine go a few more years)..

[wilbur_the_goose]

I think the XBOX is a helluva gaming machine

[sideswipe]

If your not going core2 I wouldn't waste my time building it..
the cheapest core2 from dell would have more guts than a p4 with a video card (and you can always add one later to make the machine go a few more years)..

yes you are correct, but i said dual-core Pentium (not P4) thinking about it now they are core duo's (the stripped down versions of core 2 duo's) ie. E5200 lines (maybe not this exact model just an example)

[houskamp]

yes you are correct, but i said dual-core Pentium (not P4) thinking about it now they are core duo's (the stripped down versions of core 2 duo's) ie. E5200 lines (maybe not this exact model just an example)
That's close to what I have in my old laptop (yes it actualy has a desktop chip in it, you should see the heatsink)
core2 stomps that machine, night and day difference....

[Hansen]

For an OS you might consider buying the Win 7 Home Premium upgrade that is currently available for $49 until July 11 since you have an XP license. Install the Win 7 RC for now and when you get the pre release purchase of Win 7 in October, load that on the system. Since you're going to eventually use it as a media PC, Win 7 is the way to go. Easy and cost effective solution.

[dave29]

For an OS you might consider buying the Win 7 Home Premium upgrade that is currently available for $49 until July 11 since you have an XP license. Install the Win 7 RC for now and when you get the pre release purchase of Win 7 in October, load that on the system. Since you're going to eventually use it as a media PC, Win 7 is the way to go. Easy and cost effective solution.

I was just about to suggest the same thing.:)

[sideswipe]

For an OS you might consider buying the Win 7 Home Premium upgrade that is currently available for $49 until July 11 since you have an XP license. Install the Win 7 RC for now and when you get the pre release purchase of Win 7 in October, load that on the system. Since you're going to eventually use it as a media PC, Win 7 is the way to go. Easy and cost effective solution.

Love Win 7 but I thought the downloads currently (after 1st month) were only good for 1month, Im currently running Win 7 RC 64-bit, does that key work or will I get a new 1 from M$

[drded]

The Windows 7 RC downloads are good until February next year. You will need to do a clean install at that time to install whatever system you want to upgrade to or revert to.

The $49 version available at Best Buy, Newegg, Amazon and others is Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade, available October 22. You order and pay now and the product will be shipped in October. The offer expires 7/13 if I remember correctly. The retail on the product will be $119.95.

Dave

[sideswipe]

so upon looking found this for setup:

E5200 Intel Pentium Core-Duo
MSI mATX motherboard
2 x 2gb ddr2 800 ram Corsair or Kingston
160gb Harddrive
nVidia 9500GT 512mb video card
Rosewill? case
460w Power Supply Cooler Master

price is about $320


now that got this build may have brightside & have some extra $ comming in, if so will go with higher end motherboard/processor/hard drive/video card

looking @ 790 chipset AMD board & then a 720 Tri-Core & 640gb black edition western digital/4850 ati instead

this + larger power supply & case would add add'l $250 to build but would have more than twice the pc

[Stuart Sweet]

Before committing to building, check out Fry's, newegg and other retailers. Pre-built PCs are so cheap now it sometimes doesn't make sense to build your own unless you have specific requirements.

[sideswipe]

easy overclocking potential :D

O/E's dont have this option (mostly) & will do a moderate overclock to processor bring it up to about 3.2 - 3.4 range (yes the cheaper intel goes higher but is 2 cores vs 3 for more future proofing