Need advice for budget system motherboard

[ComputerCustomizer]

Hi all,
I am on a really tight budget, but I was planning on building a new system and I thought that the Gigabyte 965-s3 and a Pentium D 925 would be a good choice because of the oc'ing possibilities and the price. Plus it, would allow me to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo once the price is lower. Does anybody have a better suggestion (My budget is under/around $300 for RAM, CPU, and Motherboard)?

 

[zenmaster]

I would go AMD my friend.

I almost always say C2D but in this case I say AMD.

1) You can get a cheaper MB.
2) A cheap X2 for about $65 will still work very well and much better than the Pentium you listed.
3) The current AM2 motherboards will support the next generation AMD chips when they ship.

The result is you get a better system now and you will still be able to have a very good system in the future when AMD ships the next generation of chips.

I can't recommend a particular AMD Mobo, however, since I dont really follow them as closely.

The S3 mobo is a good choice if you are stuck on Intel.

 

[pongrules]

That's good advice if you can't wait until the end of July for the C2D price drops.

 

[ComputerCustomizer]

I'd still prefer Intel. I really want to have the option to upgrade to a C2D or a C2Q later.
Thanx
Any ideas for a better deal on Intel parts?

 

[pongrules]

Then that motherboard, the DS3, is a good choice. If you want to "Future Proof" a little more, check out the new P35 boards. Not sure what the difference is in price, but they are made to handle the new processors that Intel's going to be coming out with later in the year. They have a higher FSB and are expected to be even faster than the current C2D's.

 

[o1die]

Newegg dropped the ds3 to $95 with free shipping. The e4300 is $114 including heatsink. And 2 gigs of wintec ddr2 5300 is only $58 shipped. That leaves you with about $32 for a cheap pci-e video card if needed.

 

[ComputerCustomizer]

What about the ASUS P5LD2 R2.0 :?:
ComputerCustomizer

 

[o1die]

You asked for a budget system, and my suggestions are pretty good. Definately get the e4300 over any 9xx series Intel cpu. And the $95 ds3 is a bargain, but if you don't overclock, the P5LD2 should be fine also. Generally, any onboard video board will be a little slower and have fewer overclocking settings in the bios.

 

[bigblack]

Newegg dropped the ds3 to $95 with free shipping. The e4300 is $114 including heatsink. And 2 gigs of wintec ddr2 5300 is only $58 shipped. That leaves you with about $32 for a cheap pci-e video card if needed.

This choice makes perfect sense and fits your budget, marginally so, but it does. You have a slightly better alternative for the mobo at the exact same price and with free shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128042

The absolutely cheapest alternative would be this mobo from Asrock:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157107

It is very versatile as it will accept any older AGP card you may still have or a newer PCI-E. It also leaves you some slack in your budget. You could buy this video card (Nvidia 7300):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127273
and upgrade to a better card when you can afford it.

Of course, get the e4300 and the memory that o1die advised.

Good luck.

 

[ComputerCustomizer]

How well does the ds3 overclock?

 

[yakyb]

very very well

 

[ComputerCustomizer]

That's good. If I got the e4300 I would want to push it to at least 2.5 ghz
Thankx

 

[zenmaster]

It will OC to 3.0Ghz w/o the slightest issue.

The DS3 and E4300 is an outstanding combo.
In fact, that was my last build and my system was anything but "Budget".
(Toss in 3 HDD, Dual Monitors, 4gb of RAM, etc...)

That was simply the best bang for the buck with more expensive CPUs not really giving anything.

 

[ComputerCustomizer]

Thanx
To get the money for this build I am planning on selling my 896 (2X64, 2X128, 2X512 sticks) MB of RAMBUS memory, which I hope will provide enough money.