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Best PC I can squeeze out of $700?

Fire&Blood

Fire&Blood

Platinum Member
I was hoping to piggyback on an existing thread but the ones I saw were way above or below the budget I am working with. I haven't built a PC in a very long time so I am out of touch when it comes to knowing which components represent best bang for the buck. I don't feel comfortable building one from scratch again, would rather buy a built desktop or if anyone can point me to the best site with those custom configuration options (and suggest what components to pick)

Guidelines from the sticky thread:

1. PC will be used for browsing and video playback (maybe HDMI out to TV as well)

2. Budget is $700. Would rather spend the entire budget than a $500 setup if the $200 more makes a difference (again, I'm not up to date in determining what's best bang for the buck.

3. USA.

4. No preference on CPU or GPU, just best bang for the buck. I heard Intel is in the lead again (last time I built was in 2005, things were rather different back then)

5. I have a 1920x1080 monitor, a 500GB USB drive, keyboard & mouse and a Win7 64 bit installation disk, nothing else usable. Otherwise, buying parts would make sense if I had a case, PS and hard drives to work with. Considering my low budget and lack of parts to use, I don't think buying parts and building myself would save me a significant money.

6. I read similar threads but the budgets they work with aren't useful to me. I'm just looking for the most $700 can get me.

7. No plan on overclocking, would be insane at my budget.

8. Monitor is 1920x1080. If I do game, I would rather grab a solid 2010 title than try a Skyrim slide show.

9. Building as soon as possible, by April the latest.

10. Fire away! There are many HP and Dell boxes out the but I don't know enough to determine which one represents the best value. If you suggest a Dell, I won't be offended, quite the opposite.

I feel 4GB should be enough and would rather opt for a cheaper GPU that I can upgrade later, unless you know something I don't.

EDIT: Wouldn't mind buying a used computer either.
 
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Not to deter you away from building your own... (I did, it was fun...) but you could check the Dell Outlet, they have some pretty good deals sometimes... if you can catch them.

...I was the opposite... I wanted to buy a Dell and they brow-beat me into building my own.
 
Thanks, I totally failed to check out outlets. Sorry if my post is confusing, I actually would prefer to buy a built computer rather than do it on my own.
 
Rick James Astley said:
Thanks, I totally failed to check out outlets. Sorry if my post is confusing, I actually would prefer to buy a built computer rather than do it on my own.
Click to expand...

Right now the Dell Outlet has an Inspiron 620s with an i5, 8GB of RAM, and 500GB drive that would be perfect for your needs at $500.
 
Thanks, I was just looking at that one: http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...0_1_209350_1_475016_1_454978_1_979009_&Flag=1

You guys give me reason to be optimistic, finding a decent desktop within my budget is a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Brief history: In 2005/2006 I built a fanless rig with 2 Raptors in RAID 0, 4400+ X2, 2x7800GT's in SLI and a Zalman Reserator cooling it all. Then about 2 years ago I had a leak, distilled water leaked out completely while I was away and only the RAM sticks survived.

I was forced onto a emachines back up with a 3100+ Sempron. Luckily the memory sticks were compatible and I added a AGP 4650 and that's what I'm still using.

Anyway, glad I have options, I might use the rest of the budget on a SSD or a GPU if I catch a deal.
 
Rick James Astley said:
Anyway, glad I have options, I might use the rest of the budget on a SSD or a GPU if I catch a deal.
Click to expand...

That was my other option... taking a prebuilt and adding components to it (namely, a GPU for gaming.) I would think, taking a good prebuilt and adding a SSD would be wonderful!
 
I pulled the trigger this morning on the Inspiron 620, should be here on Tuesday.

On my current comp, HQ videos are barely watchable and browsing is only tolerable. I dare not open more than 3 tabs, this is the primary reason for a new computer. As much I as I would like to spend the remaining cash on a discreet GPU and ensure smooth video playback and possibly open up gaming avenues, I am worried that the PS is POS and can't handle it. The PS is a 300W one and I can only assume how low it's efficiency is. Any decent GPU is likely to pull 30% if not 50% of it.

I have plenty of storage via USB so I'm looking at spending the rest of the money on a SSD instead.
 
I can't believe my luck. Inspiron is DOA. No fans spin up, not a peep from the mobo. Tried 2 different power cords. Everything looked ok inside, double checked that all the plugs are seated properly. No dice. Just spent 45 minutes arguing with Fez from that 70's show. Eventually he caved, sending this POS back.
 
I sent back the DOA inspiron, did enough raging so I'll get the money back and I went with a boutique shop instead:

-COMPUCASE 6C28, mid tower (I spend more time glancing over my bowel movements than computer cases)

-ANTEC HCG-520 520W Power Supply (bronze certified, very good reviews, inexpensive and good enough for a high end GPU once Kepler pushes some good cards down into sub $200 range)

-INTEL DH67BL LGA1155, Intel® H67 mobo ( cheap, has only the bells & whistles that make sense for a H67 and found it hard to argue against the logic of matching Intel CPU's with Intel mobos, also has optical S/PDIF which I need, no need to mess with the headers and brackets on my own)

-INTEL, Core i5-2400 (best chip I could fit in the $700 budget)

-KINGSTON value 4GB DDR3 1333MHz (don't see a point in going for more expensive RAM, if I need more or better, can upgrade down the road)

-CRUCIAL, 128GB M4 SSD (some faster and similar priced SSD's are out there but sandforce freaked me out, forums are filled with horror stories, pre and post firmware upgrades)

-SONY AD-7261S Black 24x DVD±R/RW SATA ( meh)

-Bracket, SSD 2.5" TO 3.5" mount (lolol, this bracket broke the budget but I guess I need it)

-Warranty, 3 year limited parts, 3 year labor warranty, included in price (also, system will be assembled & tested for 24 hours straight for stability)

Like I posted at the beginning of this thread, I have lots of HDD for storage and a Windows Ultimate 64 bit disc ready.

Price before shipping and bracket (lol): $662.51

Total cost shipped (no tax): $702.77
 
Looks like a decent set of parts for the money. I would have dropped the PSU to ~350W (system will never draw more than 150W) and gotten 8GB of RAM though.
 
mfenn said:
Looks like a decent set of parts for the money. I would have dropped the PSU to ~350W (system will never draw more than 150W) and gotten 8GB of RAM though.
Click to expand...
Indeed. I hit quote to reply to your post but I'm not coming up with anything. Maybe I'll buy a USB powered leaf blower in the future? 😛
 
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