Cheap system advice wanted

[Biggerhammer]

I'm looking to build a system for gaming and general household stuff. I have gone AMD in the past due to pricing but I'm flexible.

The games I play generally have modest video demands- right now I'm getting by with an old 8500.

I'd like to keep around a gig of RAM, but that shouldn't hurt too much with memory prices where they are today.

I was thinking of using a Sempron 3300 Palermo, a basic MB with PCI-X16, a gig of RAM, and a cheap vid card.

What do you think?

 

[NatePo717]

Change your memory to this stuff here Corsair Value Select

And for a card to play games on go with a 6600. It's more money but you will notice a significant difference. Try any of these 6600's

This mother board Epox socket 939 mobo

and this processor A64 3000+ for $119

this adds up to be about $385 for a much better system.

 

[ElFenix]

is that 6200TC even faster than an 8500?

 

[Biggerhammer]

Originally posted by: NatePo717
Change your memory to this stuff here Corsair Value Select

My more expensive RAM gets me CAS2. Is it worth the extra $22 to go from CAS 2.5 to CAS 2?

I'll look into the rest. I looked at my chosen vidcard again and I agree, it's pretty wimpy.

Thank you!

 

[imported_Kensai]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
is that 6200TC even faster than an 8500?

I think so.

Originally posted by: Biggerhammer

Originally posted by: NatePo717
Change your memory to this stuff here Corsair Value Select

My more expensive RAM gets me CAS2. Is it worth the extra $22 to go from CAS 2.5 to CAS 2?

I'll look into the rest. I looked at my chosen vidcard again and I agree, it's pretty wimpy.

Thank you!

Not really. I'd go for the nice and cheap Value ram.

 

[thesurge]

Originally posted by: Biggerhammer

Originally posted by: NatePo717
Change your memory to this stuff here Corsair Value Select

My more expensive RAM gets me CAS2. Is it worth the extra $22 to go from CAS 2.5 to CAS 2?

I'll look into the rest. I looked at my chosen vidcard again and I agree, it's pretty wimpy.

Thank you!

Well, not really.
And there's always Anandtech's Entry Level guide:

AMD Sempron System
Hardware Component Price
Processor AMD Sempron 2800+ 1.60 GHz 256K socket 754 (Retail) 83
Motherboard Foxconn nForce4 NF4K8AB-RS (754) 78
Memory 2x512MB Corsair Value Select PC3200 2.5-3-3-8 2T 83
Video Card MSI Radeon X300SE 128MB PCIe 53
Hard Drive Hitachi Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 80GB SATA-2 57
Optical Drive Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM Model SOHD-16P9S 22
Case and Power Supply Codegen 4C-4063S-CA Combo 350W PSU 69
Display Samsung 793DF 17" CRT 153
Speakers Codegen Speakers (with case) 0
Keyboard and Mouse Codegen Keyboard and Mouse (with case) 0
Bottom Line 598

But supposing you already have a case, keyboard, mouse, powersupply, speakers, monitor, than those are good choices.

 

[NatePo717]

Most people on this forum will suggest the Corsair Value Select or the OCZ value stuff. It's good cheep ram. And there is something like a 2 - 3% perfomance differance between the CAS 2 and 2.5. Nothing you will really notice.

 

[Biggerhammer]

3% for $22 sounds like burning money. Thank you.

I'll post another system shortly.

 

[bob4432]

get the cheaper ~$80 value ram - OCZ or Corsair and put the extra $$$ toward a better video card. go with what NatePo717 says as it will give you a lot better machine and you can upgrade it later. for the ~$15 in price between the processor you have selected and a 3000venice, it is a no brainer, plus the epox board is much better.

 

[Biggerhammer]

I'm too poor and too cheap for the 6600's even though the look good. Here's my next possibility:
Attempt 2
There's $20 off the memory that does not show here)

(edit: I suck at linking)

 

[NatePo717]

 

[KoolDrew]

Your second link does not work for me. You may want to check out the latest Entry Level Buyers Guide

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Biggerhammer
I'm too poor and too cheap for the 6600's even though the look good. Here's my next possibility:
Attempt 2
There's $20 off the memory that does not show here)

(edit: I suck at linking)

skt754 board w/ sktA cpu? not going to work. save the $20 and get the value ram....and a cheap skt939 setup with a nf4 m/b

 

[Hacp]

Well many people pay that extra 100 dollars for the 4400+ X2 for the same 3% in most apps including games. But, if you want value, get the selects.

 

[Biggerhammer]

Poverty overrides my wants here

I've looked through the cheap system build guide (thank you!) and am thinking about this one: it has onboard X300 graphics which I'm guessing to be better than my current 8500, and when I've saved up a hundred or so I can drop a 6600 in and have what I would consider a powerhouse.

Athlon 64 system

 

[Hacp]

Maybe the OEM 3000+, which is 120 dollars and an inexpensive heatsink/fan which is 10 will save you around 20 dollars. You might want to check out this link.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1608608&enterthread=y

 

[KoolDrew]

I have heard way too many problems with ECS motherboards. Also are you overclocking?

 

[Biggerhammer]

I don't plan to overclock. This is just a home machine that I want to be powerful enough to last 2-3 years.

 

[KoolDrew]

I would get the MSI RS480M2-IL then.

 

[Zebo]

Go to this page
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant...&Product_Code=80151&Category_Code=AMDC
Sempron 2800
evga NF3 250GB
Free napster
free half life
free farcry

total $144

Go to newegg
1 Gig ram $80
6200 video card (no turbo cache) full version $67


=$292

 

[Biggerhammer]

Zebo, I'm thinking about the AMD 64 3000. I'll check out Monarch for a processor and MB that handles that, though.