Borred computer experts I need your help

90T04

New Member
Mar 30, 2005
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Tucson, AZ
www.azsupras.com
I have about $650 dollars to spend, and I am trying to build the most powerful computer that I can for the money. It will be a home computer used for some light video editing, and powerful multitasking. Here is what I am looking at, tell me what you would change. Oh, and that money includes a 22" monitor.

Processor:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Processor BX80571E7400 - 2.80GHz, 3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB, Wolfdale-3M, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket 775
119.99

Motherboard:

Gigabyte EP45-UD3L Motherboard - Intel P45, Socket 775, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0
99.99


PSU
Coolmax / CX-450B / Black / 450-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / Power Supply
44.99

Case
Cooler Master Elite 330 Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB and Audio Ports
44.99

Ram
OCZ SLI-Ready Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2x2048MB)
14.99

Video Card
Sapphire Radeon HD 3650 Video Card - 512MB DDR2, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV
54.99

DVD/CDrom
LG GH20LS15 DVD Writer - 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 12x DVD-RAM, 48x CD-R, 32x CDRW, Black, SATA, Lightscribe
39.99

Keyboard
Logitech - Classic Keyboard 200 USB
14.99

Monitor
Acer X223Wbd 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - 2500:1, 1680 x 1050 (WSXGA+), VGA, DVI (HDCP), Black
149.99

USB card reader
Ultra MD2 5.25" 4 Port USB 2.0 and Card Reader
24.99


That puts me a little over $600

Tell me what you all think, dont be afraid to tell me how retarded it is, cause its my first time building one, and I just started researching a couple days ago.
 

GrimJack

Administrator
Dec 31, 1969
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I'd pass on the Gigabyte MB. I've built a lot of machines, and the only MB I've had fail in the last 10 years or so is a Gigabyte... AND they refused to replace it.

Asus all the way for me now.

It's worth spending the extra few $$$ on a 24 inch monitor. Chances are you'll have the monitor long after the rest of the machine has been tossed in the junk heap.
 

Piratetip

Far From Maddening Crowds
Staff member
Super Moderator
Dec 30, 2005
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Looks good to me.

Might want to listen to GJ on the mobo, I have never owned a Gigabyte one so I can't comment on that.

Components are damn cheap these days for what you can get.

What about the HDD? Are you moving up to serial ATA or not?
 

90T04

New Member
Mar 30, 2005
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Wow, Im suprised that im not too far off...

Thanks for the info on the Gigabyte Grim, I will stay away from them.


And yea I forgot to include the HDD, I was planning on a 500GB SATA by western digital. I think it was only 50 dollars or so.

Thanks for the info!
Ryan
 

JASONA70

nomnomnom
Oct 27, 2006
743
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socal
I would go with Asus when it comes to motherboards, I had 2 gigabytes and they both failed on me. It might be a bit pricey but it is well worth the money, in fact I'm using an Asus laptop right now :love::love::love::love:

oh btw I don't see HDD listed.

also try looking through

www.slickdeals.net
and
www.spoofee.com

These are great websites when it comes to electronics and other essentials. ( a lot of computer parts and monitors)
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
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Fort Worth, TX
Where are you going to buy from? Newegg has that case a bit cheaper. Also seeing a lot of other components you listed for quite a bit cheaper...

Personally, I'm not a fan of a tool-less drive holders as vibration is what kills drives in the end and the better it's mounted to the case the better the case can dampen it. Also, with only one 120mm fan at the back, it's not enough cooling for my tastes...

Check reviews of each product because even the best maker sometimes put out complete garbage products, and some of the worst makers put out gems (my graphics card is a gigabyte and it's been solid for years now)

Don't cheap out on a PSU. If the PSU doesn't give clean voltage, it puts wear on components. Also, 450watt might be a little weak for a modern computer...
 

IwantMKIII

WVU MAEngineering
Jun 12, 2007
2,477
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Perkasie, PA
I have built some very serious machines recently. Approaching $7000 on one unit alone:

[thumb]http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/7817/0910081815yh6.jpg[/thumb]

[thumb]http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/6086/0910081831sk8.jpg[/thumb]

I would suggest upping that power supply to the 6xx range for upgrades down the road. Video cards are demanding more and more power lately. I would highly reccomend searching on Newegg.com for COMBO deals with motherboards and CPUs. You can probably get a good ASUS with a Intel Quad core deal for a decent price. Not many programs at all utilize quad cores, but they are more and more recently. I would def go with ASUS over GB anyday. Its all i use.

If in your budget, find a motherboard that utilizes DDR3, or one you can upgrade it to down the road. It does have some major advantages, though is pretty expensive right now. Memory is the biggest bottleneck in the machine above because it only uses DDR2-800.
 

90T04

New Member
Mar 30, 2005
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Thanks so much for your guys opinions and advise.

I priced all that stuff through tigerdirect.com, but I was going to go back and see if newegg had any of it cheaper.

I'll see if I can stretch it to include an Asus DDR3 motherboard a better case/PSU.
 

Doward

Banned
Jan 11, 2006
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Alachua, FL
Antec makes a wicked good case.

Seriously, if you are REALLY budget oriented, AsRock makes solid mobos as well. Spring for PC1066 ram, as you'll want that overhead when you overclock that CPU to 3.4+Ghz ;)
 

pbasil1

Fully built 1JZ project
Jan 30, 2008
402
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Huntsville,AL
Scrap it all, i just built a better system, with the same case you chose, for just a few dollars over budget, but then theres a bunch of rebates to go with it all.
 

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IwantMKIII

WVU MAEngineering
Jun 12, 2007
2,477
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0
Perkasie, PA
pbasil1;1281472 said:
. Windows 7 will have full utiliazation of quad cores and future multi core processors.


explain and source please. define "full utilization". Does that just incorporate the OS or the software within the OS as well that may not be multithreaded?
 

SupraOfDoom

Starcraft II ^^;;
Mar 30, 2005
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I believe they are still out bench marking but still I believe per dollar AMD is better. I don't really follow this anymore either though.

Also, I don't know if I'd go w/ a 500w ps... I'd go a bit higher maybe 600-700... just incase you want to do sli / crossfire or add a bunch of other things down the road.

Yeah I'm running windows 7 and xp dual boot... I still prefer XP :/.
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
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Fort Worth, TX
Intel was beating them in price as well, AMD's fighting to catch up but has been losing the game since the core 2 duo's came out...

Also, I don't care WTF M$ says, I refuse to run anything but server OS's because of idiotic parade float features that do nothing but hog RAM and slow down my games.