New computer - Under $550

Discussion in 'Building a new PC' started by lazyfulne, Jan 27, 2010.

  1. lazyfulne

    lazyfulne Member

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    Hey, I'm pretty new to building computers and I wanna start with something that won't cost me more than $550... so far I have these parts in mind... All I need to know is if the parts are compatible with each other, and if I'm missing anything needed for a computer(Already have OS ready)

    I'm going to be using Windows 7 on this and use it mostly to watch movies/play old games like Warcraft 3..

    CPU - AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103687

    Motherboard - ECS IC780M-A AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135240

    Video Card - GIGABYTE GV-R435OC-512I Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Low Profile Ready Video Card - Retail
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125251

    Casing - HEC 66RCBB Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121096

    Power Supply - hec HP485D 485W ATX12V Power Supply - Power Cord Included - Retail
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339020

    Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098

    RAM - Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996684 - Retail
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226048

    CD/DVD Drive - LG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2010
  2. lazyfulne

    lazyfulne Member

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    Oops.. raise the budget to $550.
    forgot to add a monitor/speakers.
     
  3. lubricant

    lubricant Guest

    looks pretty good dude. might i suggest considering a 500 gig hdd also, you may find as time goes on that 4 gigs of memory would be a good upgrade.
     
  4. Jkyr12

    Jkyr12 Member

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    It's better to spend a little extra now to get the larger HD and more RAM now, than have to spend it now and again later.
     
  5. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    CPU: 10/10 - Very good value, reasonably efficient
    M/B: 3/10 - ECS stuff is very poor quality. Would recommend a Gigabyte alternative.
    GPU: 5/10 - Reasonable for the price, basic video functionality, but nothing better. No real reason to buy it, as AMD boards come with onboard graphics anyway, and this is no better, it can't play any recent games.
    Case: 2/10 - Very poor for the price. $60 is a lot for a cheap tacky HEC. Get this instead:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
    PSU: 0/10 - deathtrap. Get this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008
    HDD: 10/10 - Decent cheap drive.
    RAM: 9/10 - Normally 1066mhz memory is way overkill for a budget system, but since it's cheap, there's no reason why not. 4GB of RAM would be better though.
    Example:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184
     
  6. AfroKidd

    AfroKidd Guest

  7. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    I certainly don't. They're cheap for a reason. Look at the stuff that comes in the three you've posted. Low grade potentially unreliable memory (1), a poor quality case and PSU, which is not only unreliable, but also extremely dangerous, and parts that perform so poorly you'll wish you hadn't bought a PC at all.
     
  8. Xplorer4

    Xplorer4 Active member

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    Whats to check out? Sam summed it up pretty well, but lets not over look the Hitachi Deskstars. I would but a Seagate drive before I bought a Hitachi.
     
  9. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    They're far from ideal, but they're not the worst bit about those barebone "deals", not by a long way.
     
  10. AfroKidd

    AfroKidd Guest

    That is true but u can swap out some of the parts and still come out cheaper

    My first computer was a bare bone and it lasted 5 yeas wit me messin wit it and not dusting it regularly
     
  11. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Not the point, they're only cheap because the parts are crap. By buying better stuff you're just making it less crap and more expensive, you may as well do the job properly.
     
  12. AfroKidd

    AfroKidd Guest

    your right


    im just sayin crap parts dont usualy last for a while with me doing supid things to them
     
  13. Xplorer4

    Xplorer4 Active member

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    Theres an exception to every rule, and besides that you havent mentioned the parts in your barbone.
     

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