1st Time Computer Builder: View on Price/Quality/Components?
Posted in Desktops on July 22nd, 2008
I want a PC that's a Value Performer, or the capability to run most games, and serves as a good entertainment Computer. Here's the part I'm planning to buy, tell me what you consider the PRICE /QUALITY/Part's compatibility.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400 Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor
-Price: 149.99 (Newegg)
-Hyper Transports: 2000MHz, L1 Cache: 128KB 128KB, L2 Cache: 2 x 1MB, 64 bit Support: Yes
4GB DDR2 PC2-6400 (2X2GB)
-Price: 53.99
SEAGATE 320GB 7200RPM 16MB IDE ATA H.Drive
-Price: 69.90
Asus nVidia NF590 motherboard
-Price (249.91) Average, Google Checkout
http://www.lagoom.com/ASUS_Motherboard_C…
Sapphire HD 4850 512MB PCI-Express Video Card
Power Supply: OCZ Technology Silencer 610 ATX12V & EPS12V
-$109.79
-ATX12V & EPS12V Power Supply, Fans: Ball Bearing Single, 90V AC to 264V AC, Output Power: 610 W
Apollo Steel ATX Tower Case: $92.87
SilenX iXtrema Pro Fan (2 x $15.99)
Thermalright Ultra 120 EXTREME CPU Cooler $
Answer:
what a ripoff. i dunno why people keep pushing newegg. here's the personal i got about 2 weeks ago (estimated price breakdown in parentheses):
($200) AMD Phenom Quad Core Processor 9750
(incl) AMD SOCKET AM2 STANDARD COOLING FAN
($100) ASUS M3A MOTHERBOARD
($30) KINGSTON 2GB DDR2 800MHZ PC6400
($50) Western Digital 500GB SATA2 7200rpm 16MB Hard Drive
NO OPTICAL DRIVE
($80) nVidia GeForce 8600GT 512MB HDTV PCI-Express Video Card
(incl) 6-CHANNEL DIGITAL SOUND ONBOARD
(incl) 10/100 ETHERNET ONBOARD
($50) BCC VOYAGER MID-TOWER ATX
($30) SPIRE PREMIUM CASE COOLING SYSTEM
($20) OKIA A-POWER 580 WATT
$615.00*
If I got the same computer with your processor, it would have been $450.
www.computerlx.com
Also, www.pricewatch.com has the latest prices daily.
Answer:
All those components, with the exception of the brandless RAM(which probably wont' be a problem) come from very reputable manufacturers. You should have an excellent machine which will last you a very long time.
I WOULD, however, recommend you go with Intel right now, because AMD is going schitzophrentic with processor sockets, so next time you upgrade your CPU, you'll probably have to upgrade your motherboard and RAM too.
Answer:
If that system is within your budget, it should work nicely for most games for sure.
No real recommendations other than to be sure the Cooling is sufficient. Make sure you’ve a beefy cpu cooler as well as enough case fans..
In my experience, first time builders forget about the cooling issues, and today's graphics cards and cpu's can get very hot..
Hope this helps..
Answer:
All of that’ll work but if I were you I would switch the motherboard and processor to intel. You can purchase the wolfdale 2.4 GHz dual core for $125 and that will overclock way superior than the athlon.
Answer:
Personally you do have a good value pc for what you are buying, even though let me recommend some changes.
Why are you buying an sli motherboard? There is simply no reason, instead just get a good single 16x pci slot motherboard, and use the extra cash to buy a Hd 4870 instead, that change will probably max out your value as well as getting you the third fastest graphics card on the market, behind the GTX 280 and the 9800 X2.
If you make that change you’ll be getting the ideal possible value.
Your motherboard is costing you $250, you can get a good single slot amd motherboard for $100, spend the $100 saved on the 4870 and spend the extra $50 on a lower end Phenom cpu so you get 4 cores.
Answer:
You should use an Intel Core 2 Duo processor rather than an AMD because they perform much superior and run cooler, even if the AMD has a higher GHz number than the Core 2 Duo. I suggest Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale. Check out http://www.cpubenchmark.net/ for real performance.
BIOSTAR TForce TP43D2A7 is a cheaper MoBo and it's still very good; you don't need what you selected.
You could probably get by with 2 GB ram, but if you're gonna use Vista 4 GB is a good idea so I'll leave that.
Think about the EVGA 512-P3-N862-AR GeForce which is a real powerful gaming video card, and think about the JATON Video-PX8400GS_LX which is much less expensive and can still run most games well.
You can get a cheaper Cooler Master case.
The hard drive is decent, but the Wes. Dig. Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS at $90 is 640GB and it's also 3 GB/s.
You should be using Newegg.com for buying personal parts like this.
Answer:
Heres the power supply(PC power and cooling is owned by OCZ) for 94.99 after rebate with free shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…
I’ve the 860 watt version–great PSUs
I've never heard of Apollo cases but heres a great aluminum one on sale for under 70–has a video showing the case off:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/…
I'm an Intel fan but I do know that there are newer crosshair boards out for only $20 more:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDet…
I assume you know that, if you ever plan to run SLI with that board, you will need 2 Nvidia cards and, with 2 8800GTs and above, a larger PSU. For the same amount of money you could purchase this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…
and this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…
then, if you wanted to down the road, add a second 4850 and run crossfire at full-blown X16 per card. The X48 chipset rocks and the E8400 will overclock extremely well. They state you only need 550watts to run 2 4850s.
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