The Official Budget-Conscious Dream Machine!

Well, I'm planning on building a new gaming PC by the end of the month and this what I've chosen. Let me know what you think.


ASUS A8N-E Motherboard

Athlon 64 3200+ CPU

ASUS Nvidia GEFORCE 6600 256MB PCI EXPRESS Video Card

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR Memory

Samsung 120GB 7200RPM SpinPoint 8MB SATA HARD DRIVE Model SP1213C

SAMSUNG Black IDE DVD Burner TS-H552U/BEBN BLK-OEM

As for the case and PSU I'm still undecided. How much power do you think would be appropiate for this system?

One last thing: I've found some great deals that I dont want to miss. Do you think I should start buying components now or do you think I should buy everything at the same time, perphaps to save me the trouble of having a defective component and not know about it until I build the PC?

Thanks a lot! I'll appreciate the help!

 

I'm building a pc for gaming pretty quick here and I got this list of components from tigerdirect.ca(im canadian)was wondering if ths looks all right for about 1000$ bucks.

Network Cable
C184-27195::CTG 25ft Cat6 550Mhz Snagless Patch Cable Yellow (1 lbs) 15$

Case
B452-1124 :: Just4PC 747 ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Front USB and 425Watt Power Supply - Black (19 lbs) 53$

CPU
CP1-A64-30009 E :: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ / 512KB Cache / 2000MHz FSB / Socket 939 / Venice Core / Processor with Fan (1 lbs)
215$

Harddrive
TSD-160M R :: Maxtor / DiamondMax Plus 9 / 160GB / 7200 / 8MB / SATA-150 / OEM / Hard Drive (Refurbished) (3 lbs)
80.99$

Keyboard+Mouse 48$

Memory
C13-4901 :: Corsair Value Select 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz CL2.5 (0.5 lbs)
68$

Motherboard
S458-1204 :: ECS nForce4-A939 Socket 939 ATX Motherboard / PCI Express / Audio / Gigabit LAN / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA (2 lbs)
108$

Headphones 21$

Video Card
P56-2716 :: PNY Verto GeForce 6600 GT / 128MB DDR3 / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card (1 lbs)
203$

Shipping/Handling 64$
Tax 123$
=1,000.50$

 

hi Mr_Magnon

only one thing i can see is the memory , its better to go for a gig atleast when gaming. otherwise all seems ok

ah also check to see if the power supply that comes with the case is atx 2 , and that it has enough power on the 12v rails about 25 amps and up on the 12v should be ok

this bundle might be a good option

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1534278&Tab=11&NoMapp=

 

Why does he get a reply and I don't?

 

yeah the pc case that i picked was bunk. Im buying a diffrent case now and thanx for the bundle deal that you found. Saved me some cash. Also how far do you think the athlon 64 3000 will go for overclocking?

 

mr_magnon - the 3000 venice isnt bad at overclocking, but it might be worth going for a 3200 upwards for overclocking , because the venice's multiplier is locked at x9, however in general venice cores clock quite well.
the maximum i had mine running stable at was 295 x 9 = 2.66 ghz . but for overclocking you will also need to look into better cooling, and a good case with good heat disipation.
also worth making sure that the motherboard you opt for has good reveiws for overclocking as some might be nvidia nforce4, but this doesnt mean that they will overclock well, you need to check they have good voltage options for the cpu, memory ,nforce chipset.

might be worth you looking in the official overclocking thread in these forums, there is a lot of advice in there.

ManuelJ - i didnt get a mail informing me off your post, anyway my previous post answered your power question, and as for a case the soprano by thermaltake is a sound case

 

Ive heard the dfi infinity is good for overclocking, if not any reccommendations on a better motherboard and do you know of any good cooling fans that are not to expensive?


D452-2035 :: DFI NF4 Infinity NVIDIA Socket 939 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID

 

well i think the dfi is a bit expensive, fair enough it overclocks well, but like all motherboards it has had its problems.

the msi k8n neo4 ultra platinum ,is a very similar board , it has had its problems also bios ect but mine has been stable for overclocking , a nice amount of features.

there is also a foxconn motherboard which seems to be well received by a lot of reviewers, its nforce 4 again, i know most people think of foxconn as a budget board maker, but they also make alot of the intel boards which get rebaged.

http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=listarticles&secid=4

have a browse through the reveiws on here. when buying motherboards its always worth checking the returns policy on them incase of a dodgy board.

cpu coolers, right that is a good question, it does depend on how good you are at fitting stuff, as alot of the more modern coolers take a while to fir correctly.

i must admit i do like my vapochill micro ultra quiet, but it was a right sod to fit. i also have an amd system running with the Zalman CNPS7700-ALCU which is a good cooler , easier to fit than the vapochill.

the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64, is also a good cooler, it might be worth asking on the cooling thread about peoples experiences, or maybe the thread already contains the info you require .

 

Ok, so maybe I jumped the gun and posted in the wrong place. I'm new here but looking to build a new system, and now that I see this thread, I guess I am building a budget system for gaming. I didnt want to repost the whole thing in 2 places, so please see my post in the official computer building thread, its currently the last post, and probably my only other post in this area of the forums. I need help getting better stuff for the same money as I have outlined there. If it is appropriate, please move my post to this thread.

 

any tutorials online on how to build a pc or on this forum site?

 

There are no novice PC building guides around here, but as you can see there are plenty of threads with good infomation. Some general internet searches can yield many guides and sites specifically geared toward step by step.
What level is your experience if any?
We can give direct advice if needed.
Research is definately a must before building. Spend a lot of time reading. Pick the parts carefully. Give some infomation about your specific needs and budget.

 

Research is a crucial step in building a PC. But before you get started with your research you should ask yourself a few simple questions regarding its intended use. If it's for surfing the net and word processing then you probably don't want an SLI board and two video cards. If gaming is your intent then you should consider a board with SLI and you can start with a single video card for now and pick up a second one when you can afford it. Whatever you decide to do, I recommend that you do your best to build against obsolescence.

 

I dont really see how the words "Budget conscious" and "Dream machine" can actually go together in the same sentence (unless ofcourse you have an rather high budget) dream machines that really are "dream machines" tend to cost quite a lot in as much as you wouldnt build a super computer on a budget of £200 infact youd be lucky to build a computer and still be able to afford a monitor of any kind on that kind of budget

 

SypherTek

I think what you're saying is that a "Buget dream machine" is an oxymoron. LOL

 

I built my PC a year ago so it was my dream PC back than. I believe you can build it now for about 350 bucks. Cost me about 600.

Asus P4p800-VM Mobo - $90

1 gig Ram Corsair Value Select - $90

P4 2.4 Gig CPU Socket 478 1MB cache - $110

Case w side fan and lights - $15 bucks

300 Gig Western Digital - $80

Mobo Comes with onboard Vid Card - free

Mobo is pretty good. Doesnt have PCI-E but its dual channel. Everythings great and FSB is true 800 checking with CPU-Z.

The only thing I changed was my vid card. I got a Geforce FX 5200 for free from my room mate. He bought an ATI.

 

@jvwheel

I was just looking around, and I went to look at the RaidMax case you were talking about and there it was. My case. I bought it at fry's about 8 months or so ago. It's really a great case. The lights are a great touch. I saw it and thought it looked really cool, and it was only like 20 more bucks then the case I needed, plus it had room to grow, and it looked WAY better. BUT, when I got home and got it running I was speechless. It's even more beautiful in person than any picture you could see. A++ on this case all the way.

 

CPU: 3.8 ghz dual core 64bit (actually i'm not sure if there is a dual core running at 3.8)
Nvidia NForce 4
16GB RAM

but obviously this is very expensive

 

Ok, so I built my first computer back in December, as an early xmas present from my wife. (She got to have our 92 firebird painted, which cost the same)

I am super happy with the results, and it really wasnt hard at all. All cables and needed parts were included, and the only complaint I have is that the door hinge was a little flimsy, although I could care less, because I dont like having a door over the optical drive anyways. Its pretty darned quiet without any special modifications, and I'm not using the special ducting included for the GFX card or CPU, temps are running great with the rear fan set at medium (although I dont overclock).

Battlefield 2 plays near flawless for me, and elder scrolls: oblivion looks and plays great, as did Half Life 2. I can not explain how much better this was than my old POS system, other than to say that playing BF2 went from looking like the original doom to looking like Half Life 2. I went from a 2.2Ghz system with GeForce FX5200 vid card, and a gig of ram, to what is listed below. Total cost just before xmas was ~$1000 US before $80 in rebates, as I already had a 200gb Hard drive, DVD burner, and 19" monitor, All parts were from newegg to save on shipping and to not have to deal with different customer service groups if something went wrong. I could have saved $20 total by buying 3 of the pieces from 3 separate companies, but didnt feel it was worth the effort.

1 DISCOUNT FOR PREFERRED ACCOUNT
Item #: COM $-2.99
Item(s) shipped from CA Tracking Number: #1ZW098R41216755737
Track 1 ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131569
For Asus Tech Support, Please Call 502-995-0883 or http://helpdesk.asus.com/ $92.00
Track 1 XFX PVT42GUAD7 Geforce 6800GS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814150118 $205.00
Item(s) shipped from NJ Tracking Number: #1Z5AE6661216807075
Track 1 AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3700BNBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103539
For Retail AMD processor, please call 408 749-3060 for service after first 30 days. For OEM AMD processor, we will service for 30 days only. Please verify the Processor matches your order Prior To installation. IMPORTANT: Always pack your CPU well for return. We will refuse your RMA if we received it as DAMAGED! $235.00
Track 2 CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model VS1GB400C3 - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145505 $161.00
Track 1 Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2 - OEM
Item #: N82E16837102059
Please Note CD keys are listed on the outside of the plastic wrap accompanying your product. $92.95
Item(s) shipped from TN Tracking Number: #1Z04WF351217018887, #1ZR4149E1216808376
Track 1 Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V V2.0 for AMD & Intel systems Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129155 $99.99
Track 1 Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS 70SB035000000 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16829102162
Creative Labs (800)-998-1000 $93.00
Subtotal: $975.95
Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $42.10
Rush Order Fee: $2.99
Printer-friendly Version Amount Paid: $1,021.04

 

looks like everybody left to the OFFICIAL PC BUILDING THREAD

lol

 

AMD Athlon64 3800 or 4000 CPU = $250 - $210
Intel Pentium4 3.0Ghz CPU = $220
These processor r good and cheap...for low budgetz...