new replacement computer help

Hey all. My dell 5150 is gone and not worth the money to fix it. I might have to get another dell, which i am not in favor of. I'd rather build one, especially since i built one a couple of months ago with all your help and it works great.

Now, if I have to go with a dell, what do you all think of the vostro, precision, and optiplex series. This computer is not really going to be used for gaming purposes. It is mainly to use the internet, word, excel and such.

If I build one, can you guys throw out some parts for ideas. I do not need a monitor, hard drive, or cd/dvd roms. So what I really need is a motherboard, case, powersupply, processor, and memory. I have 2 sticks of 256MB DDR2 400, but I don't think that will be good. My preferred price is around $500 USD, but that is workable if needed. With my other computer, i got my parts from newegg, so that would be the best.

 

Ewww. No Dell.

- CPU

- board

- RAM

- Case N PSU

$504.92

You could overclock the cpu and ram. It'll be pretty quick even without that though.

(sorry about the links not working right, too lazy to fix.)

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115030 - CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131232 - board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565 - RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024 - Case N PSU

Fixed. Write links exactly like I have done and they will automatically become hyperlinks.

The last P5N board I had from Asus was awful though, so I'm a bit wary of the new one. It's very expensive considering what it is as well.
I'd recommend going with this board instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050

Additionally, I'd recommend this case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119094
and this PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003


CPU and RAM are fine.

 

Oh my, that's not even the board I meant to give him. Meant the Asus P5K-E
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131196

 

That one's supposed to be pretty good. I kind-of hedged my bets after two failed Asus boards though (both within a year of purchase). They both had nvidia chipsets, so I'm not sure who to poke fingers at, but suffice to say I'm now avoiding both to be on the safe side. Replacing something like a stick of RAM is easy, but a motherboard is a pain in the proverbial...

 

Well there's always this one!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188024

 

Hmm, was never really impressed with the earlier EVGA nforce boards...

 

Would it be worth it to upgrade from the CPU recommended to the E6750. It is only $20 more. Like I said earlier, as of now, this computer is not intended for gaming, but it might be some time later. For this reason, I ask about the CPU.

Also, sammorris why do you rec. the different case and powersupply from Logik's case+powersupply?

 

I see no reason why you shouldn't go with the E6750, I had no idea it was so similar in price.
As for the case and the power supply, the one that comes with that case isn't bad, but you can do a lot better. The case is also mediocre for cooling, the Coolermaster isn't, but be advised you'll need to get an additional 120mm fan of your own for it at the back.

 

The Q6600 can be had for around 200 dollars if you look hard enough. Try to see if you can get one of those.

 

Given what the PC will be used for, do you reckon that's a better option?

 

Well, in my opinion, dual cores are out-dated. More and more programs will support Quad cores soon. It's more future proof to get a Quad core now.

 

Perhaps, but I don't envisage them being required by the average user for a very long time. Gamers may start to feel the benefits in less than a year, but from this sentence "This computer is not really going to be used for gaming purposes. It is mainly to use the internet, word, excel and such" I don't really think two of those four cores will see much use. That's just my £0.02.

 

I can't seem to find a q6600 for as low as $200, the lowest i've found is about $250, but I am not that interested in a quad core as I highly doubt this computer will be used for games.

Also, the board that sammoris rec'd is deactivated. So is the ASUS board the way to go w/ a E6750.

 

No, you just use this one instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

 

Quad core is better than dual core, don't mind the performance dofference now, later games and apps will utilize all 4 cores

 

So here is the rundown of the products I will get based on all of the suggestions:
Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 532 RC-532-SKN1 Black Aluminum bezel, SECC chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX ATX12V V2.2 450W Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Board: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

1.) For the case, it was mentioned that I need an extra 120 fan, so I think this will do since it is from the same company as the case:
COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-12AK-GP 120mm Case Fan - Retail
2.) Also, do I need a third one for the side of the case, or is the side air duct and vent thing just supposed to be a hole for air to come into?

3.) For the board, I see that in the specifications, it says the following: Memory Standard DDR2 1066
The RAM that is listed above is DDR2 800. Is this okay, or will it cause a problem.
4.) Right now I have a Geforce 7300 GS in my other computer. If I was to put it into this computer, will the power supply be okay. I assume so b/c it is not a powerful graphics card, but I still want to make sure.

5.) While I'm at it, I noticed I can put one more fan in the front my other case. Will the extra fan I need for this computer work in my other case also. The other case is a: NZXT Apollo Black

 

You, sir, are good to go! I will recommend something though. Get this stuff if you can afford it in your budget.

CPU Cooler:
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=FA...4841aece8bacf18ed585af1e9705d8e1dbe0cc138abf3

Chipset Fan:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185039

As for the Case fan, Sam should give you a good recommendation.

 

I take it that the CPU Cooler goes in place of the fan that comes with the processor. But what is the other fan for? where does it go? does it replace something or come in as an addition?

 

It will go on top of the Northbridge Heatsink so you can reach that extreme 4Ghz overclock