Help Budget Build

[neozengar]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Now - September

BUDGET RANGE: 200 - 300

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: school work, surfing the internet, watching movies, light gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speaker,

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg

PARTS PREFERENCES: any

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I am going to college upcoming fall and just want to build a very stable system for general use. Very little gaming. I have been doing some reserach on the internet, I figure I would like to buy a system that fit the budget and will overclock easily for the future.

PARTS


Case: Rosewill R379-SM Black/ Silver 0.8mm SGCC Steel Slim MicroATX Computer Case with ATX12V Flex 300W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147098

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128357

Processor: Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

Videocard: Not needed at the moment

Memory: Still looking

PSU: see case.

HD: Prefer a WD hardrive with low price. Prefer speed over size.

Thanks for the help as this is my first time trying to build a computer. I heard good things about the e5200's overclock ability so I hope I can spend less on the cpu and OC it a little to get more performance. Any suggestions of changes are welcome. Thanks!

 

[hunter315]

no, ditch that case and PSU, rosewills are crap PSUs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005&Tpk=ea380
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147074

I would really suggest waiting until you can atleast get together 500, or look into prebuilt systems at your price range because that brings you upto 197 and we havent even accounted for RAM or a hard drive yet.

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227420

Cheapest Caviar Black HDD brings you $18 over budget
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320

 

[gkay09]

^+1 for the PSU...
Get that Antec 380 and any cheapo case...that is a better buy than that Rosewill PSUs...

For his use, he necessarily doesnt have to go with the WD Black...
WD 320AAKS is also a faster one...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074

Cheaper RAM...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227269

 

[neozengar]

Thanks for the information. I will definately change the PSU.

I was also thinking, for the same price as e5200, I could have gotten this CPU

AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail 69.99 AC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681&Tpk=x2%20250

The motherboard for the low price I was thinking about was this:
ASUS M2A74-AM AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 740G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131391

This turn out to be about the same price but would you recommend going with this combo instead? Once again, gaming is not my priority and I would want the best bang for the buck at the moment. I would also like to overclock my system in the future. Thanks

 

[gkay09]

If you are not much concerned about the gaming performance, then the X2 250 is also a good option...

But the E5200 is certainly a very good buy if you intend to overclock it...
I would suggest you get this...

CPU cooler
Scythe Mugen 2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093

And actually you can even reach very high speeds say 3.8GHz(some say 4GHz is very much possible) with this type of cooling...
but if you want you can buy the CPU cooler later too...
I have seen people overclock this chip with stock cooler till 3GHz with no problems...But above that it is highly advisable that you get that CPU cooler...

Good RAM with free Shipping...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

 

[neozengar]

I see, I am not planning to overclock anytime soon, maybe a year later or so. Also, I have been shopping around for good power supply, I see that many of you recommended the antec ea380. Will this corsair 400cx be just as good? Since both of them have great reviews and similar price on newegg, which one should I go with?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

 

[tecmo34]

I see, I am not planning to overclock anytime soon, maybe a year later or so. Also, I have been shopping around for good power supply, I see that many of you recommended the antec ea380. Will this corsair 400cx be just as good? Since both of them have great reviews and similar price on newegg, which one should I go with?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

I would go with the Corsair 400cx if fits into your budget over the Antec EA380. The Corsair has the higher wattage (not by much though... ) and has a larger 12V rail, which is always helpful.

 

[megamanx00]

If you're going with the onboard video then the X250 with the 740G will provide you with better gaming performance than the E5200 with the G31. The video on a 760 board is much better though (the 740G only has SM 2.0 while the 760G is DX10 and like 3x faster). I say you should look at this board for your budget build

ASRock A780LM $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157153