Thanks to several of you - without who's guidance I would not have made it to today - I am finally ready to order the components for my new computer. However, I have a choice between three builds that I've selected, and once again I need the invaluable advice of tom's hardware forum members.
I will first post the common items.
Case:
ZXT HUSH Silver SECC Steel/ Aluminum/ Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Case fans:
Two COOLER MASTER R4-L2R-20AC-GP 120mm Blue LED Case Fan
(Note: I'm not getting these because of the LED, but because they move 90cfm air and have the lowest db rating of all of the 120mm >80 cfm fans.)
Power Supply:
hec HEC500TEWX 500W ATX12V Ver2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - OEM
(Note: I'm aware that this is a fairly cheap PSU. However, I've read reviews of hec products and they are apparently reliable. I think the main reason for the low cost is the fact that it is an OEM product. Otherwise it seems like it will meet my needs.)
Motherboard:
Open Box: ASRock K10N78M AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
(Note: Newegg open box policy does state that the item is tested for functionality. I feel comfortable buying open box items. Especially seeing as I easily found a dozen testimonials of positive experiences with such items. I am also aware that such items may be missing accessories such as cables or driver cds. I'd like to go ahead and say that I all ready have the necessary cables and I'm purchasing some cds to put the drivers on in case the driver cds are not in the package. I feel comfortable taking the risk - which is in my estimation small - to save the money because I am on a very tight budget.)
Memory:
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit
GPU:
Open Box: ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
(Note: See information about my stance on open box items above.)
Total USD (including UPS Guaranteed 3 day service to my address): 366.93
The main difference as you can probably guess is in the CPU (and associated fan and heatsink in one instance).
Here are two choices related by having the same cooler.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor (Total of 475.3 USD including fan/heatsink and common components.)
OR
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Brisbane 3.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor (Total of 470.74 USD including fan/heatsink and common components.)
BOTH w/
Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2
And the other choice is the:
AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition Kuma 2.8GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core Processor (Total 492.86 USD including fan/heatsink, thermal compound, and common components.)
(Note: The name says Athlon X2, but the description says Athlon 64 X2. Any information on this would be appreciated.)
w/
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler
using
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
I least like the Windsor. It seems like a limited power hog, and it is actually more expensive than the Brisbane.
The Kuma costs more, but I suspect it would be more powerfull than the Brisbane. So what do you guys think I should get?
I will first post the common items.
Case:
ZXT HUSH Silver SECC Steel/ Aluminum/ Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Case fans:
Two COOLER MASTER R4-L2R-20AC-GP 120mm Blue LED Case Fan
(Note: I'm not getting these because of the LED, but because they move 90cfm air and have the lowest db rating of all of the 120mm >80 cfm fans.)
Power Supply:
hec HEC500TEWX 500W ATX12V Ver2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - OEM
(Note: I'm aware that this is a fairly cheap PSU. However, I've read reviews of hec products and they are apparently reliable. I think the main reason for the low cost is the fact that it is an OEM product. Otherwise it seems like it will meet my needs.)
Motherboard:
Open Box: ASRock K10N78M AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
(Note: Newegg open box policy does state that the item is tested for functionality. I feel comfortable buying open box items. Especially seeing as I easily found a dozen testimonials of positive experiences with such items. I am also aware that such items may be missing accessories such as cables or driver cds. I'd like to go ahead and say that I all ready have the necessary cables and I'm purchasing some cds to put the drivers on in case the driver cds are not in the package. I feel comfortable taking the risk - which is in my estimation small - to save the money because I am on a very tight budget.)
Memory:
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit
GPU:
Open Box: ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
(Note: See information about my stance on open box items above.)
Total USD (including UPS Guaranteed 3 day service to my address): 366.93
The main difference as you can probably guess is in the CPU (and associated fan and heatsink in one instance).
Here are two choices related by having the same cooler.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor (Total of 475.3 USD including fan/heatsink and common components.)
OR
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Brisbane 3.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor (Total of 470.74 USD including fan/heatsink and common components.)
BOTH w/
Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2
And the other choice is the:
AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition Kuma 2.8GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core Processor (Total 492.86 USD including fan/heatsink, thermal compound, and common components.)
(Note: The name says Athlon X2, but the description says Athlon 64 X2. Any information on this would be appreciated.)
w/
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler
using
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
I least like the Windsor. It seems like a limited power hog, and it is actually more expensive than the Brisbane.
The Kuma costs more, but I suspect it would be more powerfull than the Brisbane. So what do you guys think I should get?