Cheapest, most powerful build possible

monkier2

Junior Member
Jul 15, 2007
5
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First, let me say that this is my first build ever, and that I came in with basically no knowledge whatsoever on how to build a system. Because of this, there are quite a few things that might be common sense to all of you but that I am entirely ignorant of.

Like I said in the title, I'm trying to do this on the cheap as a powerful system that will last me through my college years. Anyway, confirmation of this build as well as answering of my questions would help me immensely.

CPU
$75 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (purchased on sale, combo w/ hard drive)

Hard Drive
$75 Western Digital Caviar 320GB SATA (purchased)

PSU
$48 RAIDMAX Hybrid 2 RX-530SS (530W) (purchased)

Case
$40 Xion Solaris XON-409

RAM
$90 Patriot 2GB DDR2 800 CAS:4

MOBO
$77 BIOSTAR TForce TF570SLI (much more on this one later)

Disk Drive
$36 Asus DVD Burner DRW-1814BLT SATA

OS
$25 Vista Ultimate 32 Bit Upgrade (cheap through college)
With the OS, will the 32 bit be a problem? It's possible the college will offer 64 bit eventually. Also, I've read there are ways to circumvent the upgrade requirement, so hopefully that is true.

Video Card
$106 EVGA GeForce 8600 GT
$111 EVGA GeForce 7900 GS
$122 Foxconn GeForce 7900 GS
$126 XFX GeForce 7900 GS
Anyway, so yeah, the video card. I'm thinking to probably go with the EVGA 7900 GS, as it provides better performance over the 8600 GT unless someone can make a convincing argument to go 8600 GT. Also, I included the other 7900 GS 'flavors' because I have no idea how to differentiate between them, and thus don't know which one is better.

END

Also, a big issue I've been having is whether to keep the option of going SLI open (of course, no way I'm going SLI now). The reasoning is like this: it might be nice to get another 7900 GS down the line when they become super cheap. However, it might just be easier to upgrade to a whole new Video card at that point. What do you guys think, should I keep the SLI option open?

The second big issue is the MOBO. The MOBO I have selected appears to be an okay one (cept for the 4GB limit on RAM, but it seems like you don't need more than that anyway; it just becomes disk cache). Really, however, I have very little idea of what to look for in a MOBO other than basic compatibility with the other parts. Any recommendations in this area?

With all that written, I can only say THANK YOU to all who take the effort to respond. You have my gratitude.
 

MarcVenice

Moderator Emeritus <br>
Apr 2, 2007
5,664
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You could skimp a bit on the memory, it's ddr800, cl4, pretty fast. I know it's cheap, but 2gb ddr667 will come cheaper, and offer the same performance.

32 bit Vista won't be a problem, no need for x64 unless you're running 4gb ram or more.

Don't keep SLI open as an option, I, and others, agree that it is only really usefull for having 2 high-end cards, not 2 low-midend. Like you said, later on you'll be better of getting a complete new card.

This card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102067 is a lot faster though, and will last you a fair bit longer then a 7900gs, I really recommend it, if you are on a budget, yet want something decent.

I think the mobo is a pretty good choice, wait for some am2 owners though.

If you are deadset on the 7900gs, go with the EVGA 7900gs, it's core clock @ 500 is actually faster then the more expensive XFX running @ 480, the ram is running at 1380mhz vs 1400 on the XFX, but that difference is negligible.
 

Noobtastic

Banned
Jul 9, 2005
3,721
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The 7900GS does not require additional GPU cooling (unlike the x1950XT.)


In reality, you'll be spending at least $190 for the xt and the cooling, opposed to the $120 7900GS (which pushes out nearly identical frames in current games.)


 

zach0624

Senior member
Jul 13, 2007
535
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Go with the EVGA 7900 GS I have the same card and is $105. It overclocks great (see sig) and with my rig I run HL2: LC at 100+ fps at 1680x1050 and max settings.