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Building a PC on a low budget. Need some help
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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24. November 2008 @ 17:46 |
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PhysX won't make a real difference. With the better image quality, HD video playback, power consumption and price, the HD4850 is just the all round better product.
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JaguarGod
Senior Member
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25. November 2008 @ 00:50 |
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Ok. Thanks to both of you
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JaguarGod
Senior Member
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25. November 2008 @ 17:14 |
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More questions cause of some deals...
1. On the motherboard, can I do better than the Gigabyte board without breaking the wallet, or is the Gigabyte board a very good board. I am not too familiar with Motherboards, so I am not sure if this was recommended solely because of the price or because of the quality.
OK, so here is where I am at so far:
CPU $180: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
RAM $70: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145197
PSU $80: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703019
GPU $135: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770
Total: $465
Left would be Fan/heatsink and Motherboard
Gigabyte recommended motherboard: $88
Total up to $553
Which brings me to question #2:
2. Heatsink/fan. I do not know which heatsink/fan is good. I just picked this one out of the blue:
$49: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118003
would something like this be better:
$58: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001
or
$68: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109125
That would take the total up to $602 - $621
or, is the stock heatsink & fan good enough? I want this PC to last a very long time. When I upgrade, I give my former PC to my parents and I would want it to last 5 - 10 years minimum... About 2 for me and 5+ for them.
My Current PC died on me and I fear it was either due to the PSU ruining my Video card (used a no name 450Watt PSU) or my video card dying (x700Pro). I bought this PC in 2002 and it was still pretty good since I used Windows 2000 and kept it very light in terms of apps. It screwed up about 3 months after I changed the PSU. I had the stock 230Watt PSU. There were no problems with the 230Watt, just my moms PSU was acting up and I thought giving her mine would be best. Now, I can't give her my old PC, or I have to find an AGP video card and Pretty Good PSU for that one so she can have an upgrade to her 700MHz PC...
3. Instead of the Heatsink and fan, would it be better to invest the money in a Raptor HDD instead?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 25. November 2008 @ 17:16
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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25. November 2008 @ 17:50 |
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I recommend that board mainly because it's cheap, but also because it does everything most people need.
Newegg do not stock Thermalright products, they just haven't removed them from their site from over 2 years ago when they last stocked them. I recommend grabbing an Ultra-120 with 120mm fan from http://www.performance-pcs.com if you want the best cooler for quietness and superb performance. For most people though, the Tuniq Tower is a similar performer, so get that. It's significantly better than the CNPS9500.
You do not HAVE to have a good CPU cooler for a Q6600 if you're not overclocking, but it's recommended, they will get very hot with the stock cooler as Intel have stopped providing coolers that do a good job in favour of ones that just about get the job done, to save money.
Your old PC almost undoubtedly broke due to the power supply, cheap PSUs are ALWAYS bad.
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JaguarGod
Senior Member
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25. November 2008 @ 18:11 |
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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25. November 2008 @ 18:13 |
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The NZXT Alpha is a fine case for the price, I can confirm that.
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JaguarGod
Senior Member
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25. November 2008 @ 22:36 |
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Thank you very much! I appreciate all of the help you and the others have given me in picking out my components.
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JaguarGod
Senior Member
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25. November 2008 @ 23:56 |
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Edit:
How do the rebates work? It asks for an invoice. Is that the order status screen or is that something I will get in the mail with my components?
If it is the order status screen, is it possible to export that so that I can have a friend print it? I do not have a printer.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 26. November 2008 @ 00:18
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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26. November 2008 @ 03:33 |
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I wouldn't know, I'm not from the US and so don't/can't use rebates.
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JaguarGod
Senior Member
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26. November 2008 @ 05:30 |
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hmm... hopefully I'll figure it out :P $135 is a lot of money.
I can't wait till the components get in. I also need to pick up some Arctic Silver and a wireless adapter. I can get both of those from stores though. It should be a fast system and a huge step up from the old one.
Now, I am considering fixing the old PC. I have to figure out what BIOS it has so I can decipher those beep codes... I am pretty sure it is related to the video card as there is no display and before the display completely disappeared, it showed a message with "Rialto" in it. I think that is what ATI called the PCI=>AGP bridge. It would be nice to give my parents a decent PC. Theres freezes up just surfing the net. All the eye candy out there is more than the 10 year old system can handle :P
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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26. November 2008 @ 06:27 |
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Can you find out what the motherboard is? It should have a model number printed on it somewhere, even if its specific to the manufacturer of the PC.
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JaguarGod
Senior Member
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26. November 2008 @ 23:38 |
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I found this:
http://logicalplus.stores.yahoo.net/gainle3mogap.html
It looks like a Lexington 3 motherboard?
I took the Video card out and cleaned the heatsink and I am getting the "Railto...Atombios" or whatever screen and the beeping stopped now.
When it did beep, it was 1 beep immediately followed by 2 short beeps, then a pause and two short beeps again.
Crap... Went to check order status and this was on the front page at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...8-358-_-Product
For only $13 it looks like I could have gotten a Motherboard Upgrade. Don't even know how I didn't see this yesterday... Maybe it wasn't on sale :P
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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27. November 2008 @ 08:16 |
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Yeah those beep codes usually imply bad video card (or bad connection to it)
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JaguarGod
Senior Member
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27. November 2008 @ 13:03 |
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hopefully it isn't the AGP slot... Do you think it could be possible that the card is not getting enough power from the power supply?
I don't know if this PC is worth upgrading a motherboard with... Basically only the CPU would stay and I don't think I can find an AGP board any more... Basically it would cost the same price as building a new desktop with a C2D.
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AfterDawn Addict
1 product review
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27. November 2008 @ 13:29 |
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" Please Read!!! Post your questions only in This Thread or they will go unanswered:
Help with development of BD RB: Donations at: http://www.jdobbs.com/. This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 27. November 2008 @ 13:30
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JaguarGod
Senior Member
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27. November 2008 @ 14:47 |
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^^^Thanks, but I already ordered all the components for my system.
This might be an option for my friend though. I have to see if he is definitely going to build a PC. If he is, then we might work on that build and figure it out based on his budget (less than mine as he does not do video editing, encoding, and such).
@sammorris,
I decided to go for the Gigabyte EP45-UD3P, so I ordered that one as well. This way, if I do decide to play some games, I can always Crossfire, and I get some extra features. I figure, I will either take the DS3L back, use it for a 2nd build, or sell it for a small loss. Shipping was free, so it's no big deal.
Edit #2: I am looking for some type of wireless adapter for internet connection. I've always used a network card (no longer have one), but I see USB Adapters. Are these the same as a network card, or is that for something else? Also, what would work best (reliability).
The PC will be approx 30ft away from the router and there is 1 wall (plaster). In the room with the Router, there is a PC and a TV (with digital converter box). My room has a 2.4GHz wireless phone (base is in another room), a clock radio, LCD TV (direct connection to house antenna), PS3, PS2, VCR, and 5.1 DVD player.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 27. November 2008 @ 18:21
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