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DonMarco
graphics fucker
Joined: 06 Dec 2006
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 Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:59 am Post subject: [ Poll ] Talk about building PCs. Your own, that is. |
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I'm not really into PC gaming, but then I got a free copy of Vista, so you know I can't let it go to waste.
CPU: $83 + Free shipping
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor.
800MHz Front side bus
2MB L2 cache
Mobo: $55 - 10 = $45 + free shipping
Foxconn M7VMX-K LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7050 / nForce 610i Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Max 4GB DDR2 800, 2 slots
PCI Express x16 slot: 1, PCI Express x1 slot: 1, PCI slots: 2
Micro ATX, 24-pin power pin
RAM: $53 - 5 = $48 (-$30 mail-in rebate)
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Video Card: $70 (-$30 mail-in rebate)
EVGA 256-P2-N762-TR GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported
That's the big four. So far up to $250, which isn't a bad number, should you upgrade/build once every three or four years. The mobo has a GeForce 7 chipset and 4GB of RAM- plenty for Vista. It's also capable to take faster CPUs, should the price come down in a few years. Also, I don't see Windows 7 needing 4GB, no way no how. The video card is only 256 MB, but GDDR3. Cheap and "powerful enough".
All that's left is the power supply and case. Chances are, you already have one or the other. The video card takes a 6-pin PCI-E cable, but can also use two Molex connectors instead. 400-watt and up. Many, many options even looking at just the ones with free shipping. I kept my case and spent $30 on a power supply.
Also! But not necessary!
HDD: $60 + free shipping
Hitachi, Seagate, Western Digital all have 500GB 7200rpm SATA hard drives at this price.
DVD burner: $20 to $25 + free shipping
DIRT CHEAP. Get SATA or IDE, whatever floats your boat. SATA gets you better airflow, I guess. IDE get the job done and has been around for decades.
Media reader: $22
nMEDIAPC ZE-C98 All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader with USB/IEEE 1394/e-SATA Port/HD Audio Ports
Damn awesome media reader. Adds ports to the front of the case. Does have a problem sticking out or in too much, but if your case has a shield on it, who really cares? Mine has no shield and I still don't care. It's that awesome (for the price and all).
Case fan (80mm): $4
SILVERSTONE FN83 80mm Case Fan
It's a 90mm fan you can fit in most 80mm mounts. Quiet, too. Adding more fans if your case can take 90mm or 120mm or larger is never a bad idea. They draw only a bit of power and help everything work faster and last longer. Space hard drives, wrap up cables, clean out dust at least once a year.
Case fan (PCI): $10 -3 = $7
Rosewill RFX-100B 90mm PCI Slot Case Cooler
You can never have enough cooling. I put it on top of my video card, in the PCI-E x1 spot. It cools the underside of the card, I guess. Never measured how much it actually cools though. I will!
You crazy PC gamers out there, what are your setups? I'm curious only because my brother may build one right after he graduates in a few months and he'll have closer to $800-1000 to blow.
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DonMarco
graphics fucker
Joined: 06 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 4:43 am |
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| GcDiaz wrote: |
2GB of RAM
Already have the HDD, power supply, and twin DVD-RW drives. Got a floppy drive too but I guess it's time to let it go. Total cost was $400 with no mail-in rebates (too late to claim them now, it seems - anyway, too much work for $10). |
That RAM is fucking expensive as hell, man. Even after the $30 rebate (which is still good). Looking at the mobo, is there any reason you went with this one?
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DonMarco
graphics fucker
Joined: 06 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 5:38 am |
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| Toptube wrote: |
This is what I'd buy right now for a micro atx board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186138
It costs almost double, but that other board lacks even basic features like dual channel memory support. Nvdia's boards lately have also lacked in bios features. This Gigabyte actually has a lot of bells and whistles that more expensive boards would have. Also, Gigabyte has been building their boards lately with good capacitors and good power components, so that's nice.
The layout is a bit better than that foxconn, too. Which is pretty important considering the tight spaces this board will be used in and also helps a lot when using a full size video card. |
Wrong link up there- but here's my rebuttal, nonetheless.
The only problem I had with my Foxconn mobo is that there's only room for one IDE ribbon. So instead of two optical drives I only have one and my old 80GB hard drive plugged in. It was also in my price range ($50ish), maxed out at 4GB of RAM, and is incredibly easy to overclock with. For the bare-knuckles no-thrills $300 Vista PC I wanted, it's more than adequate.
I assure you that (in three years) my next computer will most likely be built around a cheapo i7 CPU and have triple channel DDR7 RAM and SATA 22x DVD burners and what not. But, for now, I'll just be sitting here, twiddling my thumbs while getting 45 fps in WAR with all effects turned on.
| Toptube wrote: |
and this is the beauty that will sit atop my Q9300
OCZ Vendetta II with an white LED aftermarket fan |
Cool. I saw these types of CPU fans today at Comp USA. My 2.5 GHz dual core runs about 29-31 Celsius under light load with the stock fan at 50%. When I clocked it 3.0 and 3.3 it never got above 50 Celsius.
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DonMarco
graphics fucker
Joined: 06 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 2:22 pm |
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Just ended up collecting two. Had one old CD burner and one "new" DVD burner. Kept them in case one drive stopped working fine. I burned a lot of CDs for my car, burned DVDs to free up space on my hard drives.
I'm thinking of setting up a RAID 1 with the mobo using a second 500GB SATA-II drive after the summer.
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DonMarco
graphics fucker
Joined: 06 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:53 am |
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| negativedge wrote: |
WRU PCIe x16 |
Pfft. The board I picked (in the first post) was half the price and had a PCIe x16.
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