help me build under $700

[fatcat]

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.

The 2600 is rather weak card and can't allow much game but saying that going for the 8600 GTS is even worst is completely BS. It's far superior than the 2600 and like I said pretty much on par with the 1950 pro. I don't know where you've seen the 2900 Pro at 200$ but those I have seen are more in the neighbourhood of 300$.

 

[Noya]

Don't buy your PSU's from newegg...it's one item they ALWAYS overcharge on, not to mention the lack of free shipping.

$65.99 shipped ($55.99 after rebate)
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-vx-450w-power-supply/q/loc/101/205466485.html


Oh yeah, go for the Intel e2160. Overclocked, it will outperform ANY current AMD processor.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/09/12/pentium_dual_core/

 

[speedlingz]

you must know i never done overclocking before and i see that the AMD 5000 black edition is a good option for a newbie like me

 

[suferDoc]

Dude, forget overclocking for now. Forget AMD--Intel is the way to go today --and I'm an AMD guy from way back.

Build the Intel rig, pick out a video card you can afford from THG's recommendations. Load your games and play. Then overclock if you want to. Take your time to learn how and go in small steps. The Intel box is going to run like a rocket without overclocking, anyway.

 

[bcboy]

Dude, forget overclocking for now. Forget AMD--Intel is the way to go today --and I'm an AMD guy from way back.

Ditto, times a million. I used to be a total AMDemon, but now its AMDead.

 

[killz86]

you must know i never done overclocking before and i see that the AMD 5000 black edition is a good option for a newbie like me

intel is easier to o/c then amd. right now. like on my quad the only thing i need to change is Front side bus. 800 to 1066 anit nothing for the e4400 or e4300 or the dual-core ppl have been knowen to get 3.2 on the e2140 and 2160

 

[vaker5]

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail - 36.99

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

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - 69.99

Open Box: HIS Hightech H195PRF256DDN-R Radeon X1950PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - 99.99


Rosewill RP550-2 ATX12V v2.01 550W Power Supply - 51.99

A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1A16K - 56.99

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - 19.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6550 - Retail ... ECS P35T-A LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard Combo - 234.98$



Total = 680.52

Now this setup is pretty killer for the price you can save 30 by ordering the e4500 combo with same motherboard but i recommend the e6 series, the performance is astounding!! Good Luck!!!

 

[killz86]

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail - 36.99

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

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - 69.99

Open Box: HIS Hightech H195PRF256DDN-R Radeon X1950PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - 99.99


Rosewill RP550-2 ATX12V v2.01 550W Power Supply - 51.99

A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1A16K - 56.99

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - 19.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6550 - Retail ... ECS P35T-A LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard Combo - 234.98$



Total = 680.52

Now this setup is pretty killer for the price you can save 30 by ordering the e4500 combo with same motherboard but i recommend the e6 series, the performance is astounding!! Good Luck!!!

yes. but you cant put a cheap psu in the system. it is in the tier 4 or 5 list of psu's and you can not skip on the psu because if you do you will be feeling dumb when you mobo/cpu goes up because of the cheaply made psu

 

[vaker5]

A few friends of mine used rosewill and they havent experienced any problems...

 

[bcboy]

Why, oh why, would you shell out a whole bunch of money for new components that run a lot faster, and therefore require more power, than your current rig, then dummy it down with a cheap PSU? It's like buying a Corvette with a 4-cylinder engine in it. Sure, it'll look nice, but it's definitely not gonna perform properly...

 

[physx7]

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!

What OS are you planning on using?

 

[speedlingz]

I'm just planning on using XP, don't want to shell out extra $$$ for another OS.
I'm already considering buying intel stuff instead of AMD now. I think over clocking is not for me and I'm just going to use everything at their stocked stage. Any comments, suggestions?

 

[bcboy]

Well, even at stock, the newer Intel C2D chips will perform better than AMD equivalents. But, you're gonna pay more for them. If you think you might want to overclock in the future, then I recommend Intel for that as well, as the C2D has better heat and power-usage profiles for that sort of thing. But, if you're trying to build a budget computer, then performance isn't your main concern anyway, cost is. In that case, go with AMD. They will heat up quickly if you try to overclock them, and they won't perform as good, but the CPU and motherboard will cost an average of $75-$100 less.