Advertisement

Register for free to remove this ad

Thanks a lot!!

This thread is fantastic. I just spent the past hour on Toms Hardware trying to get up to date on what processors/boards/RAM are out these days (I last built a machine several years ago when video cards were still AGP and PCIe was just coming around and dual-core was brand spanking new). I browsed to CAG real quick to see if there were any hardware threads and I found this.

Very nice and thanks.

i havent been really pc gaming a whole lot lately...
been using the same build for about a year now... waiting till 6g and usb 3.0 are in. My q9550 died for some reason a few months ago so ive been using my q6700 cpu.

The whole Nvidia 3d vision thing is catching my eye. Anyone have any info or feedback on it? I have 120hz tv but I see them trying to force feed their own lcd bundles

Originally Posted by Bragarb07 hey guys, where can I find used high-end computer parts other than ebay? theres some forum like CAG but for people selling their PC stuff? thanks

Not sure about high-end stuff, but I bought a computer from Pacific Geek, and it was good.

http://www.pacificgeek.com

If anybody remembers that terrible thread I started trying to fix my computer I figured it out. It was the usual suspect, memory. Apparently all three sticks of my ram went bad at the same time and somehow the stick my roommate lent me was incompatible. Jesus Christ.

Anyways this is the ram I just bought:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146731
Why does DDR2 have to be so damn expensive now? Just a year ago this was probably going for $50. I think I'm going to go hang myself now.

DDR2 prices skyrocketed, they're now 200% of what they used to cost in the spring/summer. I dont think they're coming down anytime soon either. Factories are trying to balance making both DDR2 and DDR3 chips so they're not meeting the demand for DDR2 since they shifted some concentrations to DDR3. Also the dollar weakening doesn't help either.

Here's what I got so far:
Gigabyte EP45-UD3R
GSkill 2gb 800 ram
CD/DVD burner
HEC PC case

What I'm hopping to get:
XFX 4890 or XFX 4670
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 GHz e8400 or Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8Ghz e7500
PSU 700w(ocz,or corsair)

Originally Posted by aihuman Here's what I got so far: GSkill 2gb 800 ram What I'm hopping to get: XFX 4890 or XFX 4670

Might wanna bump it up to 4GB of RAM by adding another 2x1GB. Also is the 4890 vs 4670 depending on budget? 2 completely different cards from 2 completely different performance and price classes.

In a rash decision, I just bought a e5200 processor for $40 on a Black Friday deal...Can anyone suggest a sample build for <$400? (Cheaper the better of course).

I'm NOT looking to game on the PC (maybe Fallout 3, but no FPS's). What I REALLY need to do is HD video editing of home movies. It's impossible on my present Dell 4600 (yeah the PC-from-Hell -- but I won it in a contest). I get lag, stutter, you name it. Have had to burn DVDs for the family unedited (not good).

Other info that might help:
-I figure I could salvage the DVD burner (IDE) and monitor (DVI-D) from the old PC, but that's about it.
- have a ton of apps on the old HDD (plus XP, sp3) that I would like to image and transfer to the new PC. Suggestions on doing that (e.g. use Acronis) would be greatly appreciated.
- I haven't built a PC 'from scratch' before but have some tech-aptitude.

Reading the first page of this thread, I saw the <$300 'non-gaming' setup but don't know if it's suitable for video editing needs. The other e5200 setups on p.1 under 'media center PCs' are over $400. I've read of partial combos in hours of web-surfing, but no complete setups.

If this task is impossible, please let me know that too!

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

DaBoltz, I've put together a build for you. Total should come to well under $400 after shipping/tax/rebates:

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=11199351

It has a AMD Radeon 4670 video card so it should run many recent games respectably. You can reuse your DVD burner and monitor no problem.

The only problem I see is that many times when people transfer/clone the same hard drive with the same Windows (XP/Vista/7) to a new computer with a different motherboard, Windows will tend to blue screen a lot. I do believe that Acronis 2010 might have options to clone the image of your existing HDD for the purpose of moving to a different motherboard, but that's the research you might have to do since I have not use Acronis for that purpose yet. In short, my recommendation is that save yourself the headache down the road, and just do a clean install of the Windows XP on the new build, and install all your applications back manually, then transfer your old files back over to the new HDD. It does sound like a lot of work, but it's the best and cleanest way to setup your new computer. People usually only use clone software (such as Acronis) to transfer from old HDD to new HDD on the same motherboard.

Originally Posted by SOSTrooper Might wanna bump it up to 4GB of RAM by adding another 2x1GB. Also is the 4890 vs 4670 depending on budget? 2 completely different cards from 2 completely different performance and price classes.

It's a budget and I want this computer put together thing.Right now my parts are just sitting on my desk collecting dust.

Originally Posted by SOSTrooper DaBoltz, I've put together a build for you. Total should come to well under $400 after shipping/tax/rebates: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=11199351

Such a quick reply! I was expecting a much later reply on a holiday weekend. Thank you VERY much for your work on this!

Originally Posted by SOSTrooper In short, my recommendation is that save yourself the headache down the road, and just do a clean install of the Windows XP on the new build, and install all your applications back manually, then transfer your old files back over to the new HDD.

I was afraid of that. I got some favorite apps that I can't re-install (from givawayoftheday.com, lost install disks, etc). Oh well, chalk it up to "the cost of moving"...Thanks again for the quick reply and build specs. Will place to order tonight.

It's impossible to get it to $200 nowadays. Memory prices are way too high to make it possible. $300 is very hard to get to without lots of sacrifices.

AMD Athlon II X2 240 + GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H Micro ATX motherboard - $103
WINTEC 2GB (2 x 1GB)DDR2 800 - $44
WD Blue 320GB - $48
LG DVD Burner - $27
Rosewill R103A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower with 350W Power Supply - $30
GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS PCI Wireless Adapter - $17

Total: $269

Or you can also pick the following cases + power supply for $10/$20 more. Looks better at least.

RAIDMAX Scorpio Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply - $40
HEC Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 485W Power Supply (your original choice) - $50

All the cables and accessories you need come with the case and motherboard. So you don't have to buy anything extra. You may find yourself needing to get 1 or 2 case fans for your case, but you can do that later.

Actually my build is better even at $70 less. The CPU you picked out is a single core, while the one I picked is dual core. Everything else between your build and mine are similar. It's all about finding the best deal, especially when it comes to CPU and mobo combo. And yes you can put an micro ATX mobo into an ATX case.

All of my e5200 parts are still in the process of shipping...Then I saw this combo mobo and processor ($70 AR). I picked up the combo just now with minimal thinking as I didn't want to miss out on it. I was thinking of keeping the mobo that comes in the combo. Since I'm 'starting over', could I use this memory? With Amazon FSSS, saves me some $ vs. Newegg...I just don't know if the new GA-M68M-S2 can take 2.1v memory as it's set for 1.8v.

Thanks in advance for your help again.

Originally Posted by DaBoltz All of my e5200 parts are still in the process of shipping...Then I saw this combo mobo and processor ($70 AR). I picked up the combo just now with minimal thinking as I didn't want to miss out on it. I was thinking of keeping the mobo that comes in the combo. Since I'm 'starting over', could I use this memory? With Amazon FSSS, saves me some $ vs. Newegg...I just don't know if the new GA-M68M-S2 can take 2.1v memory as it's set for 1.8v.

First of all, the Athlon II X2 550 outperforms the Intel E5200. So if you're going to pick a combo to keep, definitely keep the AMD one.

As for the 2.1V memory on a 1.8V motherboard, typically many motherboards will allow you to adjust the voltage in the BIOS. But if in the worst case that the motherboard doesn't have this option, then the motherboard will downgrade the memory speed to something like 667MHz or 800MHz (instead of the 1066MHz being advertised) and delay the timings to compensate for the undervoltage that the motherboard is supplying. The system should run stable, and nothing will be fried, the only sacrifice is that the memory will run at slower-than-advertised specs, but you won't notice any difference. So in short, it should work.

I'm actually glad you live near a Fry's. They have some insane combo deals for the past week. I missed out on the i5 750 + Gigabyte mobo for $190 AR deal last week, would have gotten one to put into my HTPC.

SOSTrooper, thanks again for your helpful advice! I'll stick with the AMD. Hopefully I can adjust the voltage in the BIOS of the new mobo.

Crazy how I'm spending more on memory than on the CPU+mobo!

This is a fantastic thread, but may I recommend this graphics card:
HIS H483FN512P Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

I'm borrowing my friends until Christmas (mine is donezo) and hoooooly crap, I might just pay him for it. I was playing MW2 maxed TOTALLY out at 60+ frames. It's niiiice even if you're not on a budget.

Originally Posted by alexconcarne This is a fantastic thread, but may I recommend this graphics card: HIS H483FN512P Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card I'm borrowing my friends until Christmas (mine is donezo) and hoooooly crap, I might just pay him for it. I was playing MW2 maxed TOTALLY out at 60+ frames. It's niiiice even if you're not on a budget.

This item is has been deactivated on Newegg.

Muchisimas thanks to the OP and others for this thread. I wish I'd thought to look for it 2 weeks ago.

Hey guys, awesome thread im really thankful. I've learned alot on this thread and wana get into pc gaming.

Heres what i might get in a few months: https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/M...px?ID=16817528

Any feedback? good to go? all parts good and compatible? Thanks