The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition

Well I really don't think $225 is cheap in any way or means so again I would disagree fully!

GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3

 

Why are you deliberately skewing things? I'm just curious. You know you can buy Z68 boards for $100...

 

Not really sure you can get a board for $90 even but there are only a few boards around $100 and they go up very fast especially if you want any features at all. Most of the board are $150 to $250 or higher unlike AMD solutions that can start at $50 and the very high-end boards may be $200-$250, maybe! But a really good board is around $100 instead of a cheap board.

So no, I don't think so sorry! Intel is ALWAYS exorbitantly priced.

 

Except in the overwhelming number of cases when they aren't? A $100 Intel board is similarly featured to a $100 AMD board. To get the high-end features you find on $150 boards, you'd better spend ooh I dunno, $150?

 

Don't agree!

 

Opinion, not fact

 

Yours!

 

Sam,

So by your formula, all I need is the combo package which is $209.99 with free shipping and the $10 MIR. I don't do $50 Biostar motherboards. In fact I don't do any Biostar motherboards at all. Too many failures, 3 Biostars so far have gone South on me. I could use a $50 motherboard if I wanted to and that would make the difference now $34 plus your shipping costs! Remember too these are cheap customer builds, so there's no overclocking. Oh, and yes, the Athlon IIx3 450 is a better all around CPU than the G620 Dual Core, and it is faster at more things than not. The x3 450 is a very fast chip that benefits a lot from an AM3 motherboard, about a 15% increase in performance at a stock 3.2GHz. It was 12% faster with my 1090T at a stock 3.2GHz going from the 790X and DDR2, to the 990X and DDR3. The 450 and 455 Rana's both are well liked for their speed. The 450 has also added C3 stepping, since it was first introduced, just like the Athlon IIx4s got.

Truthfully, this package is far from ideal, but it was handy. The idea for me was to build a good quality computer Console for a decent price, around those components. I'm sure if I took the time and researched things thoroughly, I could probably come out at under $200. If I did build one for a customer, it would be priced with a better quality PSU. I would use a Cooler master 460w, instead of that 250w fire waiting to happen that comes with the case, depending on price, of course! It would upon what's on sale. I liked the Antec 380, but it get's a bit loud. It's still a better PSU than the CM 460, but I know the CM 460 isn't going to burn down their house.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Me either I won't touch a Biostar they are a quality nightmare and have been for a decade or so. I would buy an SIS board before Biostar of course you don't see those now or at least I haven't.

 

Let's be honest though, using a 250W PSU in a $30 case is the bigger issue here. I wouldn't want to go near that thing.

 

Biostar are hit and miss. Their good boards are very good and their bad boards fail hard. I would also have to agree that more budget needs to be thrown at the PSU. I consider the Antec EA380 to be a given when speccing out a lower end build. CoolerMaster PSUs I have less experience with but they do have all the essential protections so that goes a long way in my opinion of them. Have personally used about 10 or so Antec EA380s in various builds and replacements and not a one of them has faltered. Both the original and the newer "Green" version.

 

Sam,

I particularly take offense to their claim that it's peak power is 450w, because that implies to the average person that it's actually a 450w psu, when it isn't. I do have to admit that when (not if) they do blow, they make such beautiful purple arcs and bright flashes.

We have to add $5 to that $34 price difference on those cheapo builds. You looked at the wrong case to get the price. The keyboard, mouse and Speakers come with the case, and it is $39.99, and it was part of the original parts That makes the price difference almost $40. Little differences do add up quickly in that kind of price range.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811322009

Best Regards,
Russ

 

I only didn't add that because I couldn't find it in the search query. Where did the other $14 go? It was 220 vs. 240 last I looked.

 

Estuansis,

My first Biostar motherboard should have given me a clue that the quality just wasn't there, and it wasn't one of their cheapo ones either. It was a T-Force LGA 775 with an Intel chipset. I went to their website and downloaded the latest bios flash, and installed it, and it died at the post beep. The fans would come on, and the lights too, but no post. It turned out that the bios had not been the proper one for this motherboard, and had been mislabeled. The bios chip smoked! I made the mistake of giving them another chance since they replaced it directly to me, the same day. I only live about 45 miles from them, so I drove over there. They discussed it with me for about 10 minutes, and then they gave me a new one. I was impressed! I bought 3 T-Force motherboards for customer builds, but not one of them lasted the 1 year warranty. I've only used GigaByte motherboards since, unless a customer wanted something else. I've occasionally used the inexpensive DDR2 motherboards from Foxconn to replace a number of eMachine motherboards that had died, as all the connectors match up perfectly.

Ironically, the only GigaByte motherboard that I've had persisting problems with, was my own MA790X-UD4H. The board was replaced 3 times by GigaByte, only to have the same problem with the sound pop up again. Keep in mind that this had been going on over a period of 2 years. GigaByte wouldn't give me another motherboard, and they didn't find anything wrong with the ones I did send in. I backed Newegg against the wall and demanded that they replace the motherboard because it was Newegg's fault that I had to buy the 790X in the first place. I had originally bought one of the best 785G chipset motherboards, and it failed electronically in about an hour. I sent it back to Newegg, who sent me an email that they were giving me a full credit because it, been discontinued. I called them and ordered the 790X. 3 days after I received the replacement, the 785G board I originally bought was back in stock at Newegg! I tried to get then to take the 790X board back and credit me the difference between the two boards, but they said no. Finally, after 2 1/2 years of being driven crazy by this, I bought the990XA-UD3. The sound alone is worth the price! I have wonderful hearing, but now I hear all my music and videos differently. The sound that comes with the 990XA motherboard has a 108dB Signal to Noise Ratio for full rate lossless audio to make your BlueRay media have awesome sound quality. The bonus is, that it works just as well with any quality 5.1 sound track. It's absolutely amazing that now I'm hearing everything, exactly as it was recorded. It's the closest thing to live you can get. The dimensional quality of the sound with Dolby 5.1 PL-II surround is like I just bought a new high quality sound system. I was listening to "Lovers", by Jackie Evancho, from "The House of Flying Daggers" from her live PBS Special, when I heard a violin string break! I'd never heard it before in all the times I had played it. It wasn't just that I heard it, but the sound appeals to your visual acuity and you look right at where the sound comes from. Not just Right or Left, but in between as well. Later in the show, I saw the Violinist changing the string, right where I had looked. Simply amazing! This recording is not some crappy cam phone or video camera, but a huge Professionally shot Blu-Ray video, exactly as it will be on the Blu-Ray Disc that will be out in November. You would have to be there in person to have a more live experience!

As far as the Antec EA380 goes, I do like it except for the annoyingly loud fan when you apply a big load like encoding to it. About what I would expect from an 80mm fan. The Cooler Master 460w and 500w aren't Bronze PSUs, but I've been using them for years now without a single failure. The voltages are nice and stable, and they are very quiet. I will use a higher quality PSU if one is on sale at a good price though.

For myself, I use this OCZ 550w Modular.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

Mine must have been built on a Wednesday, because it's the first PSU I've ever owned that Exceeds it's claimed wattage. It was able to run with a 567w load, but shut down the minute I tried to go higher. A number of people complained about the 24 pin Power cable and the 4 and 8 prong motherboard power connectors not being modular. They don't realize that if you make everything modular, you are increasing the resistance in those cable connections, and making more heat, which is not good for removable connections. That's why the best way is semi-modular because the heavier loads on the PSU are wired directly and cause less heat at their single plug connection. So far it's been a great PSU that runs cool and quiet. Can't ask for better than that!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Every PSU I've bought for any of my PCs in the last 4 years bar the crappy BeQuiet has been proven to do this in benchmarks. The majority of PSUs will run between 5% and 10% over their rated load, some higher if they are re-labelled higher-end units. To be honest, I wouldn't buy a unit that couldn't do this, as it would mean that once it aged, it would no longer be able to produce the wattage on the label.

 

Sam,

When I took your approach and just used the combo, the price came down to $210, and free shipping. I also went to a $50 motherboard for comparison, which made the difference $34, and $5 off for the Speakers, Keyboard and Mouse, makes $39. I'm working on a real cheap one right now. Not too sure how it will turn out, but I suspect it will be around $180. We'll see!

Russ

 

Sam,

Perhaps you forgot, but until I started overclocking in 2004, I never gave PSUs a second thought. Most, unless they are really fuggly, will run fine for years. now I know better! LOL!! Since I never had any personal issues with PSUs, I must have done all right with my choices before I learned of the importance of a good PSU. I believe that You and Sophocles might have had something to do with that!

Russ

 

Ironic you guys are talking about PSU's. A buddy just asked me to take parts from his old computer(Hard drives), and put them in his new-ish computer(2004). His new-ish computer had a 250W bestec PSU in it. His old had an FSP 200W PSU. I had to put the 200W in the New-ish computer, because yet another Bestec has failed me. Apparently it was working prior to being in my hands too. Figures LOL! I imagine the 200W won't last too long running 2 hard drives, one optical dvd drive(unplugged the other), the board, and Athlon XP 3000. My killawatt tester shows it's pulling 150W at peak during startup. But I wonder if that's an actual figure of what the devices themselves are pulling. I suppose it's close. The processor alone is over half of that
I guess time will tell. Stay away from Bestec! Nothing but trouble. But you already know...

 

Yup, preaching to the converted I'm afraid...

 

LOL Bestec PSUs are a joke.