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A kick ass budget computer all in one

V

Vercetti786

Junior Member
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4Ghz

I'm going to be using this for mainly gaming and sometimes a little video encoding.

The reason I chose the E6600 is because of the 4MB Cache, I thought it might come in handy with next gen games/apps.

Since it's a budget computer would I be better off with a E6300/E6400?

Power Supply: 550W Thermaltake Toughpower PSU

I got a choice between a 400W and 500W power supply(around the same price), 550W(a little more expensive and my current choice) and 650W and 750W which are similarly priced but quite a bit more expensive than the 550W.

I was thinking stick with the 550W, I probably won't need 650 or 750 and 400 is a no-no while 500 is nice but not as "safe" as 550.

What do you think?

Motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe Motherboard

Looks good to me!

System Memory: 2Gb Corsair DDR2 667 Dual Channel Memory (2x 1Gb)

I had the choice between 667 and 800 and went for the 667, I thought it was better value for money.

Do I need 2Gb?

I thought it would be future proof and should run the latest games fine and I will be doing multi tasking like surfing the net, running iTunes in the background, burning a DVD and download stuff off the net.

Hard Drive One: 300Gb Serial ATA300 7200RPM
Hard Drive Two: 300Gb Serial ATA300 7200RPM

Thought I'd add this for the power supply question, maybe it would help get a conclusive answer.

CD Device One: DVDRW Drive (16x +/- Dual Layer)
CD Device Two: DVDRW Drive (16x +/- Dual Layer)

Think I'd be able to burn 2 DVD's at the same time with E6600/E6400/E6300?

Wishful thinking?

Video Card: Radeon X1900XT 512Mb DDR +DVI/TV PCI-X

Had a tough choice between this and the 7900GT, they perform similar in games while the 7900GT costs less.

In the end I took the X1900XT, it seemed to perform better in games and I think the design is more future proof if there is anything such as that.

Opinions?

Audio Device: Creative SoundBlaster X-FI Xtreme

Bottom of the range X-Fi Xtreme, at the moment I only have 2.1 speakers on my desktop and I'm not buying a 5.1 or 7.1 set up yet.

It may be half a year before I do, should I just stick with Sound Audigy or make a jump to X-Fi Xtreme? The cards look very impressive to me.
 
I'm stuck with the P5B deluxe but I'm content with it anyway.

You guys suggesting the 650W PSU or should I take the plunge for the 750W?
 
they are suggesting no thermaltake PEW PEW!!, but I'll be a hypocrit because I use one too 🙁

I been lurking for awhile I think most of them support seasonic psus, I still have to experience one of those things lol
 
No, in fact you could use a 450W PSU and be utterly confident. It's just that TT make crap PSUs, well, they don't make any, they just buy crap ones and stick thier logo on them. Get a better quality, lower powered PSU. Check the other threads to find out what's being recomended if you want. See here: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=7 Note, the 6800 C2D system draws at most 172W (From the wall), the GPU won't be stressed at that point so chuck in 50-80W and you're only looking at 200W or so from the PSU.

The 6600 is a great CPU, but the 6400 seems to be overclocking better at the moment.

2GB = :thumbsup: 667 = :thumbsup: good choice, don't know what the price is but cheaper stuff is much better value. Some games like more than 1GB of RAM, 4GB is overkill (hideous overkill).

Burn 2 discs at the same time? I can do that with my XP 2500+ 😉 Burning DVDs is not very CPU intensive.

Sound card? Don't waste your money, if you're not an audiophile then you won't notice the difference, if you're doing it for performance reasons then you're being silly 😉
 
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
2GB = :thumbsup: 667 = :thumbsup: good choice, don't know what the price is but cheaper stuff is much better value. Some games like more than 1GB of RAM, 4GB is overkill (hideous overkill).

Burn 2 discs at the same time? I can do that with my XP 2500+ 😉 Burning DVDs is not very CPU intensive.

Sound card? Don't waste your money, if you're not an audiophile then you won't notice the difference, if you're doing it for performance reasons then you're being silly 😉
Click to expand...

well put, when I built my system last december it was basically top of the line everything, and I didn't even bother buying a sound card, the onboard audio nowadays is almost as good as you get on any standard sound card, perhaps not the X-Fi but pft, why bother.
 
GET A BETTER PSU!!! A 450W Fortron would kill that thermaltake crap.


You don't need 2 dvd burners
You don't need 2 hard drives
You don't need a sound card


Use the money saved from the dvd burner, hard drive, sound card and possibly psu (i'm not sure how much that tt one costs), to upgrade to a x1950xtx. You will be happy.
 
Ok I've dumped the Thermaltake PSU, gone with 500W instead of 550W.

The RAM I'm keeping.

The thing with the RAM and some components is I'm restricted to what I can get from a friend with a computer shop(I'm getting most of the stuff at bargain prices hence the update before the major update)

I'm restricted to Corsair or unbranded RAM.

I thought 2GB of Corsair would be better than 2GB of unbranded RAM.

The unbranded RAM is rated at 533 compared to the 667 the Corsair is doing and for not much more.

Soundcard is gone.

Man you guys are a real help, I gotta give it to you.

I still don't have a clue about CPU and I get the idea I won't leave much confused it seems to be a touchy subject.

I'm not really bothered about overclocking my main concern is games and apps like DVD decoding, multitasking and future proofing.
 
I've got a Zoostorm PSU.

As for the 2 DVD burners.

I was only going to purchase one DVD writer but I've got an insane price on it so I thought I'd get two.

As for the two hard drives, I'm actually worried it won't be enough storage, I hold a lot of things on my PC, I'd be able to swallow up 300GB easy.

Sound card is gone.

The money saved is pretty decent not overwhelming.

I got no option for a X1950XT but I can get hold of a 7950GX2.

I'm gaming at 16x12 max and I do like AA and AF, would the price increase be worth it for the 7950GX2?
 
Zoostorm? Who are they!?

If you want 2 DVDRWs then get two different brands. Some are better at some tasks, some better at others. My favourites are Phillips/BenQ (phillips rebrands BenQ drives and adds 10 to the name, ie BenQ 1650 = Phillips 1660).

At 16x12 you will see the improvement in current games as well as in future ones. Check out the reviews of the X1950, they'll have the framerates of the competitors and the settings. Worth it? Pass.
 
We have similar tastes! My build--which has a goal of being a low-noise media/HDTV/gaming machine currently looks like this:

PROCESSOR-Intel Core?2 Duo Processor E6300 using Intel Retail Heatsink and Fan
MOBO-Asus P5B Deluxe
RAM-Mushkin EM2-6400 Enhanced DDR2 SDRAM, 2GB Dual Pack
CASE-Antec Sonata II w/Antec 450W SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
HD-Western Digital 320GB Caviar SE16 7200rpm SATA II w/ 16MB Cache
OPTICAL-Pioneer DVR-111D 16x16x8 Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive, Black
VIDEO-ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon X1900 256MB GDDR3
GPU COOLING-Zalman VF900-Cu Ultra Quiet GPU Cooler

All delivered, including taxes for $1500 CAD.

(Already have a top-notch external DVD burner)

My biggest questions are case/PSU related, mostly because those two tidbits can add more to the cost of the build than any other single component...
 
I'm not trying to be rude but I think you missed the point others were trying to suggest. It wasn't that the Thermaltake PSU didn't provide enough power, its that they brand label crappy PSU's. The point that many overlook when building on a budget is a quality PSU. Some brands to look at are Fortron, Seasonic, and OCZ just to name a few. You shouldn't need more than 450-500W for that setup. Check this PSU out


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954


Hope this helps a bit.
 
I don't really have a clue who Zoostorm is but I'm limited on what I can pick for the build so my plan is to go with what this guy is offering and then if it sucks switch it out for something like you guys have suggested which I probably will do.

Also thats a good idea on the two DVD-RW drives I'll look into that.

I think I'll be following your example of the GPU cooler BubbaFett33 I heard the X1900XT is loud and pretty hot, made me think twice about buying it.

If the PSU I end up with is crap I'll pick up the ones you guys have suggested and replace it with that.

Right now though no other choice though.
 
yeah it's 'budget' all right if your 'budget' is $2000..

me, when i hear 'budget' I'm looking to see a full computer under $800 but still above average performance..
 
It's a friend.

Basically has some parts in stock and he's telling me he'll do a great deal but only if I buy the whole PC so I'm trying to get the best out of what he gives me ie CPU and then buy a cheap PSU so I can swap it out later.

I'm happy with a lot of the stuff and this PC is a little stop before I get something mean next year when I'll build my own PC.

I'm just trying to get the best for my buck from what he's giving me and on some subjects I'm a little baffled.

Only thing thats concerning me right now is the CPU.

Everything else you guys have sussed out for me, I know what to keep and what to throw out or replace.

CPU is the only thing now, I'm stuck between E6400 and E6600 and I'm trying to find out where the difference would be.

If it's a few minutes in some applications then forget it but if its going to effect my future gaming or future apps then thats a concern for me.
 
LOL ok maybe it's not budget but it's kinda mid range.

When I think Budget I think under 1500 dollars, mid range is 2000-3000 dollars and high end is 4000+ dollars
 
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