help me build under $700

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speedlingz

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Oct 25, 2007
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going to be the first time i build a comp, very low budget system $500-650 if possible 700 i guess, only looking to keep updated with games and play them without a problem, don't really do much besides that.
I plan to overclock the cpu i have below, does everything look ok? any recommendations? everything compatible with each other? Did i miss anything? I am a newbie!


AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Black Edition Processor Model ADO5000DSWOF - Retail
$129.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194

GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$74.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128034


SAPPHIRE 100208L Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
$99.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102700


A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1A16K - Retail
$56.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066


ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
$19.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185125


Rosewill RP550V2-S-SL 550W SLI Ready-ATX12V V2.01 Power Supply - Retail
$59.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182030


COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$49.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068


Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$69.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262


Total amount = $614.68 tax and shipping included
 
ok for $700 i can get you a nice intel setup. and you can go o/c mad on it


Intel Dual-Core E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E2160 - Retail $84.99 shipping free

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $94.99 shipping $5.84

A-DATA Extreme Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVD1A16K - Retail $69.99 timings 4-4-4-12-2T with $15 mail in rebate shipping 4.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 520W Power Supply - Retail $119.99 with $10 mail in rebate
shipping free

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $49.99 Free shipping

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $69.99 shipping Free

POWERCOLOR X1950PRO512MBAC Radeon X1950PRO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $169.99 plus $40 mail in rebate Shipping Free

or

POWERCOLOR 26XT 256M/D3 HDMI Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $107.99 with $10 mail in rebate shipping $5.84

both video cards have life time warrentys and after market coolers.


Total with 1950pro $659.99

total with 2600XT $597.99

shipping $10.83 with the 2600XT $16.67

both of them dont inclued mail in rebates

this computer will be a beast when you o/c it. the dual-core series overlocks like mad and if you want you can get a aftermarket cooler.







 
sure but i want to use the amd 5000 black edition because of the unlocked mutipliers making it safer to over clock because i am a newbie, i'm not so pro on this
 
690G motherboards are newer and in my estimation better (less power, more likely to work with AM2+ chips). Asus M2A-VM's are solid and allow overclocking the ram (with the caveat of not being able to tweak memory timing), I've had mine at 250 at 2.1V.

The board you've got listed has a max V for ram at 1.8V, which is something to consider if you're wanting to push memory speed up.

There is at least one 690G board that allow you to set memory timing. I don't remember which one, that might be just the ticket.
 

Better than Rosewill, not as good as Corsair. Just acceptable. Unless they changed it, I think TT's still have a 5 year warranty.

When overclocking, you want the voltage to be as pure as possible. This would make the Corsair the best choice.
 
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Black Edition Processor Model ADO5000DSWOF - Retail
$129.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194

GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $74.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128034


SAPPHIRE 100208L Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
$99.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102700


A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1A16K - Retail
$56.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066


ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
$19.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185125



CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX ATX12V V2.2 450W Power Supply - Retail
$79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003


COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$49.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068


Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$69.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262


Total amount = $640.65 tax and shipping included.




So that would me my new build just replacing the power supply like tlmck recommended. So everything is ok right? The parts and everything are compatible with each other? I just want to know because it would be my first time building a computer and I don't want to screw it up already by buying the wrong stuff. Anything else i need to know please don't hesitate to tell me.
 

You should be good to go.
 
I just want to know because it would be my first time building a computer and I don't want to screw it up already by buying the wrong stuff.
Click to expand...
That's definitely the wrong stuff! Dude trust me, forget AMDinosaur! Intel is making a serious comeback with the c2d chip and the soon to be released 45nm chips. Yeah, sure, the 5000+ Black has no multiplier lock. That's nice. I'd still put my o/c'ed e6550 (locked at x7, can still get it to o/c easy enough) up against it for temperature comparisons. And I have seen many reports of the e6550 topping 3.33GHz without any special cooling, without any voltage changes(3.5GHz with 3rd-party cooling and extra voltage, 4+ with water-cooling). According to the THG review of the 5000+ BE, ya gotta up the voltage to 1.45 to get 3.3GHz outta that P.O.S. Guaranteed, at that voltage, yer gonna need a good cooler. At 3.1GHz the 5000+ BE won't need a cooler, but it won't perform as good as the e6550 at 2.33GHz. This is in part because of the HUGE difference in L2 sizes(512Kb for the 5000+ vs 4MB for the C2D; that's 8x more!).

But, if you go Intel, you'll need a different mobo. The Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus I chose for my setup has excellent O/C abilities, and only costed about $50 more than the one you listed.

Also, in my opinion, nVidia makes a superior video card too. Might as well junk that ATI card at the same time :)

I myself was making this decision no more than a week ago. That's how I found THG in the first place. I was gonna go AMD too, since my old computer was an Athlon64 3000+. But after realizing that the new C2D chips were so much better than anything AMD had to offer, there was no contest.

The truth of the matter is, it's your money. You won't spend as much on AMDumpster/ATIgnorance parts, but you won't get as much performance either.

My new system cost me about $800 (without OS):
Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus Motherboard with nForce 650i hybrid chipset
Intel Core 2 Duo e6550 2.33GHz w/4MB L2 cache
2x Kingston DDR2-800 Dual-Channel 1.0GB
Zotac GeForce 8400 GS 256MB GDDR2-800 (459MHz GPU)
Vista Ultimate

Even with the semi-cheap RAM my system still runs 3.0GHz, no extra cooling, no voltage changes, no BSOD's, just pure power...

The choice is yours. Make the right one.
 
intel when oced will smash any amd system. intel is better for ocing even if you are new. at it. you can hit 3.2 on the chip of the list i made. or you can run it at 2.8 with out changeing the vcore. or if you want get the E4400 and o/c that all intel c2d o/c very easy
 
I hate to agree with the previous 2 posters, but if I had to do it again, I would go with Intel. You may pay a bit more in price for a similarly clocked stock processor, but with enthusiast-related features accounted for there is no contest. Intel's will overclock with stock heatsinks etc. AMD's won't. I have an X2 6000+ in my compy and it won't overclock past 3.15 ghz without crashing during gaming. There's no reason it shouldn't do better in my setup.

I also advise against the 2600, as it generally shows poorer performance for gaming. I'm not much of a sapphire fan, either.

However, if you're dead-set on an AMD, research other motherboards besides the m61p-m3. If you're looking for overclocks etc. this board is somewhat limited. The memory is synchronous and is limited to 1.8v stock up to 2.1v where most enthusiast RAM is rated at 2.2v to work at optimal timings.

Hope this helps, and let us know how it's going.
 
lol the only reason im going with amd is because its cheaper. But I am open minded, so can you guys help me build a intel based cpu which a newbie like me that never overclocked before can overclock easily. $700 is my dead on limit. $650 would be the best bet, but if not than $700 i guess. Seems like you guys don't like amd and ati! :O
 
dude if you already have all the other components, the mobo, chip, and ram i listed will cost you about 700. that's what it cost me. and yeah, Asus make overclocking damn neat, and even automatic if you want, for up to 110% while under load, 100% (or less depending on power settings) while idle. Add that to the super-efficient C2D and your set. Sure, if you don't have the other stuff (case, PSU, DVD, HDD, GPU, etc) then your going to go over 700. It's worth it. I'll be honest with you guys: if I wasn't worried about getting electrocuted by it, I'd try to mate with my new toy. Okay, so not quite that much, but its pretty damn sweet.
 



look at my post above. it has a cpu that will o/c like mad and is in your budget
 
ALL heatsinks need goop. No ifs, ands, or butts. But I'm tellin' ya, you won't need one with a c2d...well, you'll need the stock one lol...
 
The Arctic cooler comes with it's own thermal paste. However, if you have to reset the cooler later, or you mess up the initial install paste somehow, you will need fresh paste. Always good to have a tube of Arctic Silver laying around.

If you go with killz86's Intel system above, all you would need to change is the MB, CPU, and the cooler to a Freezer 7 Pro. This article will help with the overclock. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/pentium-e2160.html
 



I certainly agree here, you better get a 1950 pro for some decent gaming. Even if it doesn't support DX10 it's a lot better than the 2600 xt in this regard. If you really need DX 10, I would suggest the 8600 GTS which supports DX 10 and is pretty much on par with the 1950 pro price and performance wise.
 
The only worthy choice for a gpu for this is a 2900pro if you are willing to put in $200 extra, it is cheap and fast and that is all you need. Cheap, fast. honestly the 2600 is rubbish, and going for an 8600 is even worse. if you can buy beg or steal $200 then do so you will be very pleased compared to the crappy cards you have in there.
 
ill take that video card out for now, just going to get one later.
so im good to go on everything? over clocking is easy for this cpu (amd 5000 black edition) without any harms right? because i never done it before!
 
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