Building a PC for a friend

[exorr]

Building a PC for a friend and in the past I've always gone AMD, but it seems every post I read now is going Intel. Do people recommend Intel over AMD now?

This PC is a gaming PC (Mainly World of Warcraft). I'd like it to be able to support Starcraft 2 whenever that comes out, but who knows what the requirements will be.

With the suggestions and roaming the boards here's what I came up with. What do you all think?

Mobo - ABIT IP35-E

Processor - Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz

Cooler - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7

Graphics - MSI NX8600GT-TD512EZ GeForce 8600GT 512MB

Memory - A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800

Case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5

PSU - Antec Earthwatts EA500 500W

DVD Burner - LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R

Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB 7200RPM

All this comes to about $450 after the $60 of MIR.

Would I see any significant increase in the following Graphics Card or Processor over what's listed above?

Graphics - XFX PVT88SFDD4 GeForce 8800GS

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz

Anyone see any issues with the build?

Thanks!

 

[Roguestar]

There are maybe half a dozen threads asking the same in the first four pages of this forum. Have a look at some similar ones and fill in the sticky at the top of this forum and we'll have a better idea of what to recommend. I'd give you a skeleton build but I've got to go now so I've no time .

 

[chinaman1472]

Fill out the sticky so we a better idea of what you need.

 

[aigomorla]

guys he's looking at 500 for the complete machine.

He is asking for either intel or AMD config.

500 dollars price limit doesnt allow much, so he doesnt need to fully piece out that sticky cuz he doesnt have much choice.

Antec Earthwatt 430W As PSU

Intel E2180

Abit Ip35-E Its on sale for like 59.99 @ newegg

Artic Freezer 7 Pro heat sink, or the CoolerMaster Version.

CM Elite case

2GB RAM Anything you can find thats cheap and on sale. Make sure its at least DDR2 800.

Optical - Anything cheap and match color of your case

Hard drive - Another thing anything thats cheap.

VideoCard - 8600GT 512MEG can be bought for around 79.99



As i said your very budget limited... So this should all be near your price range, and probably the best system you can get expecially if your overclock that CPU moderately.

 

[exorr]

Thanks for the response. Yes, my main question was Intel vs. AMD as I've always built AMD for my previous 5-10 builds for friends and family but it seems Intel is the flavor most prefer now.

I'd like to keep it under $800 including the monitor so I'll take your suggestions and see where I go from there. Once I get pieces together I'll post again with the final parts.

Oh, and they were about to buy a PC from TigerDirect for $500 with crap parts for this, so anything is better than that...

 

[exorr]

aigomorla, the 350W PS in this case you don't feel is sufficient?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119118

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: exorr
aigomorla, the 350W PS in this case you don't feel is sufficient?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119118

It's junk. Coolermaster's bottom dollar PSU's are crap. Their Real Power Pro series is great though.

 

[exorr]

Thanks for the quick reply

 

[exorr]

Ignore...I see the Antec Earthwatt 500W is on sale for the same price as the 430W so going with this.

 

[exorr]

OK, edited the main post with the parts I chose. Let me knw what you think.

 

[exorr]

Bringing this back to the top

 

[exorr]

Anyone

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Hmm... The 8600GT you have is GDDR2... MSI has another one for about $10 more GDDR3 and a sick cooler. Other then that, go build something for your friend. You're lucky... I have to include mouse, keyboard, and OS in my friends $500 build.

 

[exorr]

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
Hmm... The 8600GT you have is GDDR2... MSI has another one for about $10 more GDDR3 and a sick cooler. Other then that, go build something for your friend. You're lucky... I have to include mouse, keyboard, and OS in my friends $500 build.

Yeah, they have the mouse/keyboard/OS already so that helps

Thanks for the info on the graphics card I'll look into that.

Any thoughts on proc difference I mentioned?

 

[exorr]

K, think I'm good with the GDDR3 graphics card and everything else, seems no one has any complaints at least

 

[chinaman1472]

Yo went EXTREMELY light on the HD. Maybe that's all you need, but you can double your space for about another $25 dollars, or triple your space for another $50. 160GB can fill up real fast these days.

 

[exorr]

Yeah, they've got 80GB now and aren't even close to filling it, so didn't see the need. I can always add a secondary later if they start running low on space.

 

[mageslayer]

rebate deal on ip35-e ended so you are better of buying the gigabyte p35-ds3l

 

[exorr]

Originally posted by: mageslayer
rebate deal on ip35-e ended so you are better of buying the gigabyte p35-ds3l

I bought the mobo already on Friday to get in on the rebate

 

[jterrell]

I just wanted to add exxor, that friends never let friends buy tigerdirect pre-built! lol.

Good job there.

The system should work quite well and he can always upgrade the graphics card and memory later on for additional performance.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Buy a Dell or Hp and save your friendship

 

[exorr]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
Buy a Dell or Hp and save your friendship

LOL, I was worried the first time I built one for a friend, but this will be my 7th or 8th and never had problems. Yeah, I could tell them to go to Dell or HP but they'd get crap in comparison and pay just as much if not more.

 

[chinaman1472]

For gaming, Dell/HP isn't the best way... but for low end systems, it's tough to beat a Dell/HP combo, considering you can get a full package for $500ish. The monitor and OS alone will run you $200.

 

[exorr]

Originally posted by: chinaman1472
For gaming, Dell/HP isn't the best way... but for low end systems, it's tough to beat a Dell/HP combo, considering you can get a full package for $500ish. The monitor and OS alone will run you $200.

Agreed 100%.