$300 Budget basic computer

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tomhrxbfg

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Feb 11, 2012
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18,640
Approximate Purchase Date: Early May

Budget Range: $300

System Usage from Most to Least Important: multitasking, surfing, school work, light gaming (not a priority)

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS (gona use ubuntu dual boot w/ windows server 2008 r2--free for student)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: microcenter, newegg.com, ncix.com, amazon, etc

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024 for now, will upgrade later

Additional Comments: need to be fast and efficient in multi-tasking, ie 30 tabs (while researching) on firefox, itune, 5 ms word, 3 excel, msn, 10 pdf etc all on together. Also needs to be quite. I may add a discrete graphics card later to have some light gaming. I have researched some parts, feel free to leave comments. Thanks a lot.


Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper Xtreme Series, Division 2 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($19.99 @ Microcenter)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: OCZ 600W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($41.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH22NS90B DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $281.93
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

The motherboard I can get free in microcenter if i purchase fx4100
ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS Socket AM3+ 760G mATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0379475

Also, this mobo says it has onboard video, does that mean I could ignore discrete graphics for now and still power up the machine? Thanks.

I'm also looking at this deal from tigerdirect
Barebone kit..for $270 after rebates
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1429933&Sku=B69-0461
 
Solution
mattatcomputer
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Hey there

I am currently also looking to build a budget computer and I have compiled a list of components that I will buy. It is an Intel build so perhaps it will give you a different perspective ( it is also cheaper than your build). And sorry it is compiled with the UK in mind rather than USA.

Case + PSU: 50 pounds
http://www.ebuyer.com/220863-coole [...] 30-kkpl-gp

RAM: 20 pounds
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-PC [...] 921&sr=1-2

Processor: 95 pounds
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-LGA1 [...] =1-1-spell

Optical Drive: 10 pounds

Your hard drive

Motherboard: 48 pounds
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Intel+1155+H61+%28B3%29/Gigabyte+GA-H61MA-D3V+GEN3+Intel+H61+%28REV+B3%29+Socket+1155+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=48248
 
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If your're not getting a discrete Video Card, Intel is the way to go. The Intel HD 2000/3000 stomps the competition.
A Sandy Bride Pentium or i3 are the best options for your price range.
 
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And to answer your question about the Motherboard being a viable alternative comes with ATI radeon hd 3000 which is now almost obsolete with pretty much all new games and will play games in 2011 in low frame rate at best. The Intel i3 2120 comes with an intel hd 2000 which is an improvement, not much of one, but acceptable for 'light gaming'.
 
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Solution
LtDan, you could not be anymore wrong. The Intel 2000/3000 are decent improvements for Intel's predecessors but are garbage compared to ITS competition. The APUs in the Llano chips stomp on Intel's iGPUs. Intel is improving but their iGPU tech isn't anything compared to the APUs.

As for your build tom, that build you have is solid. However, you don't need a 600w let alone one that costs so much. I say this because all of the prices from PCPartPicker is after rebates and discounts. So the price is not necessarily reflecting what you will actually spend. If I had a rough estimate that build is about $400+ in real price.

Another thing, that HDD is backordered, you will not find an HDD That cheap until next year. Let alone recieve the drive until probably next year when WD has its factories running again.

Check out my $350 build here:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore
A little over your budget, but generally this is what you want for your budget. The Llano chips have a the APU (Graphics) integrated into the chip and they are quite good in performance. The CPU themselves aren't bad either. They'll perform in light gaming much better than the Intel 2000/3000.
 
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ops, meant to pick aznshinobi as best answer, overlooked one post... Oh well, all of your help are very good.

I am going to get a discrete card later (like 6850/6870), the onboard graphic is just for normal use like word processing, not games.
 
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