Can you build a similar/better system than this, for the same price?

[murphy55d]

My current computer is an Athlon XP 2800+, 1GB DDR, Radeon 1650XT.

I'm looking to upgrade, and obviously with these older platforms, the only thing I'd be able to salvage from my current build is the power supply, which is an Earthwatts 430. My drives are all IDE, memory is DDR1, and AGP graphics.

I'm looking at this one here...

http://www.compusa.com/applica...3876425&sku=M975-W5243

The only upcoming game I care about is Spore(the othergames I play are not intensive...sports sim games, like OOTP, Front office football, etc)... I got an Xbox 360 recently so thats where most of my gaming happens.

I figure I could get that refurb, eventually when Spore comes out throw a mid-range video card in, and add another 1GB of ram, and i'd be set. For now though the integrated 6100 graphics will run windows and Out of the Park baseball just fine. And i don't see why down the road I couldnt drop a faster AM2 in there if i wanted to, also.

What do you think... would that system be ok for $269?

 

[modoheo]

link goes to an empty shopping cart

 

[murphy55d]

ack. sorry.

here:
http://www.compusa.com/applica...3876425&sku=M975-W5243

 

[jgigz]

If i'm not mistake thats a single core 3800+, and with only 1GBRAM, vista wouldn't exactly be the smoothest thing to run on that macine. There is really no way to build a better system than that because of the price of vista alone, but if you're in the market for a new computer your best bet would be to pony up a little more cash and build a decent budget rig. I would not recommend buying that.

 

[murphy55d]

i wouldnt be running Vista anyway. I imagine I would install my copy of WinXP pro. My wife's laptop had Vista and I did not care for it.

whats the "real life" minimum I'd have to spend to buy EVERYTHING but a PSU? I don't really wanna do that since I am not a huge gamer anymore on the PC. DDR2 is so cheap I could add an additional 1GB for dirt cheap anyway.

 

[murphy55d]

Ok well I just threw some stuff together on newegg... where can i shave some dollars off? I really wanted to stay at $300 shipped.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM 57.99
ASUS M2N-SLI AM2 NVIDIA nForce 560 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 89.99 (cheaper board than this??? though it has 2 IDE so i could just keep my optical drives)
XFX PVT84JUDD3 GeForce 8600GT XXX 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail 94.99 - $30 MIR
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Processor Model ADO5000DSWOF - Retail
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail - $81.99 for the COMBO CPU/RAM
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail 24.99

$361.13 shipped

am i forgetting anything? i have case/psu. also it says it is a Retail CPU but says does NOT come with a cooler...which is odd, isnt it? shouldnt a retail CPU come with a retail fan?

 

[ther00kie16]

If you want cheap, get a $400-$500 Dell that comes with a 20" lcd.

 

[murphy55d]

i dont want to spend that much and i dont need the LCD. i already have a 2005FPW widescreen.

 

[jgigz]

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM 57.99

XFX PVT84JUDD3 GeForce 8600GT XXX 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail 94.99 - $30 MIR

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail 56.00 31.00 after 25.00$ MIR

ECS G31T-M(1.0) LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 49.99 39.99 after 10$ MIR

Intel Pentium E2200 Allendale 2.2GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail 79.99

Price: 282.55 After rebates shipped
347.55 Shipped Not including Rebates

 

[murphy55d]

Will a mATX board fit ok into my Antec Super Lanboy case? Ive never used an mATX board before. is that a decent board then?

 

[jgigz]

Check the case, most often times the mounts for the uATX and ATX will overlap, or they will be specified as ATX, uATX or both next to the holes on the backplate. uATX boards are fine, generally run IGP which can be disabled in BIOS if you're running an actual card. As for that paticular board, I'v never used it, and was going off good reviews from newegg. If you wanted to spend a little more cash (like an extra 25$ or so) you could get a solid ATX board, I just didn't know how flexible your budget was.


Edit: GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - 74.99

^^ I would recommend shelling out the extra 25$ for that board as opposed to the uATX board.

 

[murphy55d]

i would also need to change my RAM to 1066 then, right? instead of the ddr800?

 

[jgigz]

You can, but you wouldn't have to, DDR2-800 would run on that board.

 

[murphy55d]

ill stick with the cheaper 800 then. that gets me to around $300 shipped after rebate. cant really beat that i suppose for damn near a full system upgrade.

i appreciate the help

 

[MarcVenice]

I'd spend a few bucks extra for a 9600gt. It will hold up a lot longer then a 8600gt XXX and is a lot faster as well. Or get something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814103051

it's 100$ AR, but a lot faster then a crappy 8600gt.

 

[jgigz]

Agreed, if you can fork out the extra cash, it would be a wise investment, but the 8600gt might suffice (hard to tell not sure what you'll be doing on that computer, it would help us out if we knew)

 

[murphy55d]

like i posted above, i dont really play that many graphic intensive games. i will be getting Spore when it comes out, but other than that the only 3d games even installed on my PC are Civ 4 and NWN2.

 

[jgigz]

I think you'd be fine with an 8600gt, the 9600 would be a bit unnecessary IMO (and sorry i didn't see the use of the computer in the OP, unless you edited it late or somethin, but doesn't matter).

Though I haven't seen anything on Spore and how graphic intensive it is.

 

[murphy55d]

i almost wonder if i should wait til there are some req's released for Spore. id hate to upgrade then not be able to run it very well, as its the only PC game i'm looking forward to. and id like to spend as little as possible, the 8600GT XXX seemed to be at a good price point.

 

[anishannayya]

HAve you ever thought about keeping your current desktop and buying a laptop? For $399 you can have this: http://configure.us.dell.com/d...&l=en&oc=bqcwi1s&s=bsd
I think it should suffice for your needs.

 

[murphy55d]

we already have 2 laptops. dont want another.