New Budget Computer Computer Challenge

Ok computer experts. I have a suggestion/request. If anyone has the time and inclination, could you please do all the newbies a HUGE favor and post the absolute best possible PC someone could build with a maximimum budget of $1000. Please also include links that show where we can order - that way we can also see the price breakdown. Also please include the following...

1. Motherboard
2. Processor
3. Hard Drive (120 GB minimum, 250 GB preferable)
4. RAM (1 GB minimum - one stick for future expandability to 2 GB)
5. Case
6. Cooling system (fans, etc.) - must be quiet and power-efficient
7. Basic required accessories (DVD/CD burner is probably the only thing)

A 17" or 19" flat panel monitor would be a nice bonus. But I'd say spend the $1000 trying to optimize items 1-7. Also don't worry about accessories such as keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc. We'll assume even newbies already have that.

There are TONS of questions that newbies have about building a PC and it's too overwhelming to try to be an expert on everything. So if some of you PC building experts could compile a list along with links for where to order, the newbies (myself included) could just buy whatever you lay out for us.

Let's also assume that this PC will be suitable for gaming (although it doesn't have to be top of the line...just good enough for Diablo, Age of Empires, Diablo, or whatever other common favorites). Case doesn't have to be flashy. Just quiet and power efficient.

THANK YOU!!!

 

Let's just make it a little easier as well and assume we'll buy everything from newegg.com so it's a quick one-stop-and-shop order and we can also save on shipping.

Thanks so much!

 

We have a thread on this.......

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/93097

 

im no expert but for 1000 usd i would suggest these:

1. ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131517

2. AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103562

3. SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822152025

4. Kingston ValueRAM 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820141307

5. ASPIRE X-CRUISER-BK Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811144151

6. 3x ARCTIC COOLING AF8025 80mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing Case Cooling Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835186003

7. BenQ 16x DVD+R DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model DW1625 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827101642

8. Wise Wing W902DB Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor DVI - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824104001

the total comes to $957 but that doesn't include shipping so with shipping it will be around a grand. Hope that helps you.

EDIT: the only thing you didnt include was a vid card in your list so if you want one take out the moniter and go with this: SAPPHIRE Radeon X1800XT 100154 Video Card - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102007
if you get the x1800xt you can also get the amd x2 4200+ for $317 so i would suggest that.

 

Yes, I see there is a thread on this...but it is a bit outdated, so I thought i'd start a new thread to raise some interest again.

Thanks for the post sukhvail. This is exactly what I was looking for and had in mind. Hopefully others will post similar suggestions as well. Very helpful.

 

glad you found it helpful. but if you want to go for the new am2 processors, i would go for this:

processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.0GHz / 1MB Cache / 2000MHz FSB / Socket AM2 / Dual-Core (Windsor) / Processor with Fan
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2207238&sku=CP1-AM2-3800X

mobo:MSI K9N SLI Platinum NVIDIA Socket AM2 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Dual Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2219333&sku=M452-2822

Ram: Corsair Value Select 1024MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz Memory
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1026780&CatId=1554

if you have a bit more money, go for this mobo instead:Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition NVIDIA Socket AM2 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / Wirelss 802.11b/g / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2224204&CatId=0

it has some more features and i prefer asus over msi, but if you dont have that extra $$$ the msi mobo will be fine.

 

Sukhvail...

Thanks again. This is the original setup I was considering a couple months ago...

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 1GHz HT 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor $357

ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard- $76

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB of ram (2 x 512MB) $66

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $75

eVGA 256-P2-N369-T6 Geforce 6600 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 $99

LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache ATAPI/E-IDE DVD Burner With LightScribe $53

Do you suggest swapping any of these components with anything you've suggested?

 

Sukhvail...

This site seems to have some great deals on custom PC's...

http://www.cpusolutions.com/html/index.htm

What do you think? This might be easier than ordering all the parts separately and having to build your own. Is there any one or two or three on this page that you think is especially good and a good value?

I was just looking at the gaming PC's, and they look pretty good and nicely valued as far as I could tell.

 

your original build is alright but i would go for the am2 parts because it is the newest technology and for a comp for a grand, you want the newest technology in your computer. i see you had dual chanell ram in your previous build so i would go for something like this:
OCZ Value Dual Channel 1024MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz Memory (2 x 512MB)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1283735&CatId=2262

the computers on that site wont be able to come close to the one you will have with the parts i suggested.

 

You can get a Geforce 7600GS for $99 right now.

 

@ShBm - yo dude where from, cus im kinda looking for new upgrades all the time

 

wow that is a good price but the x1800xt will easily outperform that. it is supposed to be compared to some of the better models of the 7900

 

This is what I bought about 2 months ago.
Biostar Micro ATX T-force 6100 939 for $69 with 4.86 shipping
Western Digital WDC2500 250gb SATA-150 OEM harddrive 86.00 and 4.81 in shipping

2gb 2-1gb modules A-Data ADC PC3200 Dual Channel with red heatsink 139.99 with 4.81 shipping

Computer case with 3 80mm fans and four 5.25in bays and side window with lights on the side window and headlights in the front. Case has handle. really nice. Only thing I don't like about it is that it gets scratches and marks really easy. Plus it is cheap steal and plastic so when I clean it daily (because I hate dust) the colors of the case is fading. Reduce clean to once a week and still is fading. Case is by Lynksis 21.99 and 15.99 shipping

AMD San Diego Core 3700 1mb cache with stock heatsink and fan 213.00 free shipping

NEC ND-3550 Dual Layer DVD R+- opitcal drive 37.99 and free shipping

I have no graphic card since mobo has onboard graphic card.

MS XP professional SP2. OEM 119 plus free shipping

Total cost was about 740 dollars or so. Even with a 160 dollar graphic card and adding a 50 dollar fan and heatsink I shouldn't spend more than $950 dollars. Even with out the fastest fans or heatsink my cpu is overclocked to 2.4ghz with no adverse effects, temp is not more than 45 degrees c plus front side bus is sat 2040mhz and memory is overclocked to 404mhz. No hiccups or anything.

 

Thanks novice BB.

How is the onboard graphics card? Good enough for gaming? Or would you recommend a separate mobo and graphics card?

Any chance you could send links for where you bought this stuff at those prices? Or at least just mention where you bought them from? I'll probably just order everything from newegg. I've bought from them before and had a good experience. Quick shipping and reasonable prices.

Thanks.

 

@ sukhvail - yeh but doesnt the x1800 cost quite a bit more, plus i dont relly play games too often , i just want a ggraphics card which sounds cool plus is cheap and does a gud job when i do play games

 

To Dougisjc: Yes the onboard graphics is real nice but not enough for the advance gaming. Now for basic gaming it is good enough and the my dvd playback is awesome but if you are a gamer and like your bench marks I would suggest getting a graphic card. With the Biostar T-force 6100-939 MATX mobo that I have it supports up to 4gb of dual channel ddr and PCI-express x16 graphic card so when I am ready to upgrade I can. I got this board because of the case will be able to blow plenty of air around the components and because of its overclocking tools. Pretty damn good for a Micro ATX board. Plus it supports PCI expressx16. Now it only supports up to 2 SATA harddrives so I suggest you get one that is large enough for you liking which shouldn't be hard.

Oh with the price of my total computer I forgot to include the SATA 24pin Power supply. It is 400watts and very stable. 25.99 plus 6.99 shipping. Supports up to 4 SATA harddrives and has all the power connectors you can need. Now is this a gaming psu-no but for basic computing, adobe photo shopping and things like that it is great plus it is handling my system that is slightly overclocked.

 

I'll take a shot too:

Motherboard $115:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130049

or

$136 for SLI in future:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130048

CPU AMD 3500+ AM2 $200:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103633

HDD 250GB Same as a previous poster $80:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822152025

RAM 2GB $180:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227089

Case (allow $40):
You should really pick out your own...

Cooling System same as a previous poster:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835186003

DVDRW (allow $35):
Get a Pioneer, Lite-on, BenQ, or NEC... They are all the same price

Video Card x800GTO2 $160):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102674

PSU ($200) ($220 for SLI):
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=T51XE

The total here would be around $1025 so maybe $1100 with S&H. Of course you do not need to get the PSU I recommended, that is however one of the best... You can get a silent PSU for $100 from PC Power & cooling which would knock the price down to about $925 or around $1000 with S&H. You can also choose a differnt brand and get a good enough PSU for $50.

The reason I went to the 3500+ rather than the 3800+ is that it is an extra $100 and the performance difference will not be that great. Also, you will probably be upgrading the CPU to Dual Core when they are more common.

The reason I chose the x800GTO2 is because the is the best card for the money. Basically, x800GTO2 unlocked and overclocked is almost a 7800GT and for only $160!!!

 

I don't like the MSI board because it only has one PATA connection so it can only support 2 dvd drives and I am about to get another one so that will make four in all. I will wait till prices come down and till I get reports on how the AM2 is performing. That harddrive is a nice choice and memory is very good choice. Will wait till see what Nvidia and ATI next graphic card so I can get the last or next to last generation graphic cards at a much lower price.

 

You can try this Motherboard ($80):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128009

The cap on RAM is 4GB though. That is overkill now, but I suspect that Vista will have something to say about that...

As for the next gen video cards, you can take a look at current 3DLabs cards to get an idea of the features. Just note that those 3Dlabs cards are not meant for gaming and suck at it, so don't go out and buy one for that sort of thing.

The x800 series will not drop much in price, but the current series will. Not stuff like the 7900GTX or x1900xtx, but the ones like x1800xt and 7800GT. Look at the 5950Ultra and 6800 Ultra for an idea.

Yeah, those AM2 are very pricey. The FX one is over $1000 and the X2 are over $500. Within 2 months they should fall 10% or so, but the big drop should be around November when they are in every AMD store bought PC.

 

Is this RAM a good deal?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141224

Not sure what kind of RAM is the best to buy. DDR2 SDRAM? Unbuffered? Number of pins? Not entirely sure what these things mean and what is best.

Thanks for your help.

Also...I'm looking into buying a flat panel monitor. I hear 17" monitors are actually better than 19 inch because 19 inchers try to fit the same number of pixels as a 17 inch, just within a 2 inch bigger screen. So the pixels are therefore bigger and the picture doesn't look as great.

That said....i'm trying to find the best possible 17" monitor under $200. Is 700:1 contrast ratio, 8 ms response time, and DVI pretty much the only essentials?

Thanks again friends.