Help me spend $350 on parts

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
P

p00rguy

Junior Member
Aug 9, 2012
9
0
0
Hi everybody. I am a poor guy and want to build a computer. Will you please help me? I have already all parts to the computer except motherboard, cpu, & ram. These are my input for why I need the computer.

1- Use the computer for school only and for learn Photoshop & Illustrator. I use only cheap camera for Photoshop pictures so I do NOT need super, super computer.

2- My budget is $350 for all 3 parts of motherboard, cpu & ram. I have everything else except 3 parts.

3- I am in USA. I buy everything from Newegg.com.

4- All my old computers are Intel. I like them so I prefer Intel parts.

5- I am not overclocking. I do not have money for super computer.

6- My resolution on new monitor is 1440 x 900. AWESOME !!!!! :)

7- I want to buy parts before Sunday (Aug 12) so I can build computer next week.

Please help me, guys and girls. I know little about computers and my friend who works at computer repair shop will help me put the parts together.

My old computer was build 1998 with 2 CPU motherboar and Matrox G400 video card. It is old so this new computer is going to be so awesome!!! Thank you for help me and I will return to read this later. Thanks.
 
H

Harvey

Administrator<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
35,057
67
91
My favorite places to shop for good prices are Fry's Electronics (B&M and online) and Newegg.

The ad cycle for Fry's weekly specials starts on Friday (tomorrow). Go to their site, or check their weekly 8 page ad spread in the San Jose Mercury News for current deals on CPU's, motherboards, RAM, etc. For example, check this week's page that expires at midnight, tonight.

8GB (2 x 4GB) Corsair XMS3 1600MHz DDR3 RAM for $35 after rebate.

If you live near a Fry's B&M, you can avoid paying for shipping. Fry's also matches both local and online prices so if you find a better deal elsewhere, they will match it.

Sign up for Newegg's daily e-mail. To avoid building up a bunch of their messages in your regular e-mail, I suggest settting up an account specifially for their e-mails because they send two to three per day, and they're worth getting because they often have exceptional deals, some of which they call "Shell Shockers," that are only good for a few hours. Also, search Newegg's site for combo deals.

CPU/Motherboard combos.

Motherboard & CPU Cooling combos.

There are two typical voltages for DDR3 RAM, 1.50 volts and 1.65 volts so check the manufacturer's page for any motherboard that interests you to be sure the RAM you buy is compatible with the motherboard.

When evaluating motherboards and other parts, the customer reviews on Newegg are very helpful because they allow negative comments, as well as positive.

Between the two, I've often been able to put exceptional motherboard, CPU and RAM combos for under $300, but it helps to have a little time because it all depends on whether what you want happens to be what they put on sale at any given time. Your three day deadline means you'll have to be lucky.

Hope that helps. :)
 
Last edited:
Ken g6

Ken g6

Programming Moderator, Elite Member
Moderator
Dec 11, 1999
16,634
4,562
75
M

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
We need to know some specifics about the parts that you've already got so that we can recommend something compatible.
 
P

p00rguy

Junior Member
Aug 9, 2012
9
0
0
Thanks so much for those info, Harvey & Ken. They help a lot for me. I live 1 hour from Fry's Eelectronics so I will visit tomorrow or Saturday to see. Maybe I will buy the RAM that Harvey put link to. Or maybe I will just buy from Newegg with link from Ken. I will read more for reviews on them.

mfenn, I have parts from my friend at computer repair store. These parts I have.

PSU- Antec Neo 620w
Case- CoolerMaster ATX
Hard Drive- 1TB Western Digital STATA
Floppy Drive- Sony 1.44mb (This is not important, can throw away because slow)
CD/DVD Drive
Microsoft keyboard and mouse
LCD monitor with 1440 x 900 resolution (VGA or DVI)

I hope this is good information. Thank you all for helping me pick the perfect parts. I am so greatful for you guys.
 
H

Harvey

Administrator<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
35,057
67
91
p00rguy said:
Thanks so much for those info, Harvey & Ken. They help a lot for me. I live 1 hour from Fry's Eelectronics so I will visit tomorrow or Saturday to see. Maybe I will buy the RAM that Harvey put link to. Or maybe I will just buy from Newegg with link from Ken. I will read more for reviews on them.
Click to expand...

Glad we could help. :cool:

Note that the RAM deal at Fry's is only good through today. Don't sweat it. They'll have another deal for the week starting tomorrow. It may be as good, better or worse, but not by much, and Newegg will also continue to have deals.

Here's Newegg's current selection of 2 X 4 GB of DDR3 arranged by price, lowest to highest. Here's the same list with just those products with free shipping.

Be sure to check which ones have free shipping and/or rebates, and once again, be sure the RAM is compatible with the motherboard you choose. You'll find RAM by good, name brand manufacturers with both 1.50 and 1.65 volts.
 
Last edited:
H

Harvey

Administrator<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
35,057
67
91
Here's another thought for your budget. Starting Sunday, Staples will have this HP G6-2123 laptop on sale for $380 after a $50 easy rebate.

This thing's loaded with 4 GB of RAM, a 640 GB hard drive, webcam and more. You could use it at school and use your keyboard and bigger monitor with it at home.

Be not afraid of a good AMD CPU for your applications. I've recommended variations on this G6 model to a number of friends, and all of them love them. Office Depot and Fry's haven't published their new ads, yet. They may have an even better deal. :cool:
 
P

p00rguy

Junior Member
Aug 9, 2012
9
0
0
B

bononos

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2011
3,928
186
106
p00rguy said:
Hi everybody. I am a poor guy and want to build a computer. Will you please help me? I have already all parts to the computer except motherboard, cpu, & ram. These are my input for why I need the computer.

1- Use the computer for school only and for learn Photoshop & Illustrator. I use only cheap camera for Photoshop pictures so I do NOT need super, super computer.

2- My budget is $350 for all 3 parts of motherboard, cpu & ram. I have everything else except 3 parts.

...............
Click to expand...
You're in good shape because $350 is enough for a ok build for just the 3 components you mentioned.
- $50-55 for 8Gb DDR3 1600 (make sure its 1.5v and not 1.65)
- $100-120 for a Z75/77 mb
- $125 for i3-2120
$300 total approx, combo deals could save you some more or you could spend the extra on a $190 i5-2400 or get a cheap video card either of which would hit your budget on the dot.
 
B

bononos

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2011
3,928
186
106
p00rguy said:
Thanks Harvey! That is something I have to decide on the laptop.

I have my 3 parts in the shopping cart for Newegg. I looked at reviews for all of them. Mostly good reviews. I question if these 3 parts will work together. Would you or anybody here think this is okay?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128540

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115077

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231422

Look good? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Get the Samsung instead for just a few bucks more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147096
 
P

p00rguy

Junior Member
Aug 9, 2012
9
0
0
Hi Bononos. I saw that Samsung RAM from this website called SlickDeals. They give it 5 thumbs up and said it is hot deal. But I look at the 'Detail' section of the RAM and see the voltage is only 1.35v. I was only looking for 1.5v because I thought that is what I need.

So, is 1.35v RAM okay for the motherboard and CPU I put on the links? Thanks for the help.
 
P

p00rguy

Junior Member
Aug 9, 2012
9
0
0
Wow great website, lakedude. I did not know of this site. Now I will use it to see if I should wait longer for sale. Maybe I can get better price so I save money. Thank you.
 
B

bononos

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2011
3,928
186
106
p00rguy said:
Hi Bononos. I saw that Samsung RAM from this website called SlickDeals. They give it 5 thumbs up and said it is hot deal. But I look at the 'Detail' section of the RAM and see the voltage is only 1.35v. I was only looking for 1.5v because I thought that is what I need.

So, is 1.35v RAM okay for the motherboard and CPU I put on the links? Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
I had another look at the Samsung sticks and saw that their latency was only cas 11, so you'd be better off getting a faster pair of memory sticks (cas 9).
 
Ken g6

Ken g6

Programming Moderator, Elite Member
Moderator
Dec 11, 1999
16,634
4,562
75
bononos said:
You're in good shape because $350 is enough for a ok build for just the 3 components you mentioned.
- $50-55 for 8Gb DDR3 1600 (make sure its 1.5v and not 1.65)
- $100-120 for a Z75/77 mb
- $125 for i3-2120
$300 total approx, combo deals could save you some more or you could spend the extra on a $190 i5-2400 or get a cheap video card either of which would hit your budget on the dot.
Click to expand...
Why a Z7x mobo with a Sandy i3? You can't OC it, so what's the benefit over B75?

If you want a quad-core, the i5-3550 is $200 AP and fits fine in either B75 mentioned above. But that SSD I mentioned would really help performance on general tasks, probably more overall than a quad-core.

bononos said:
Get the Samsung instead for just a few bucks more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147096
Click to expand...
Plus, 1600 RAM doesn't provide much benefit to Sandy Bridge. Possibly a little more to Ivy, but not much there either. I have heard these particular Samsung sticks are good overclockers, though why you'd want to OC the RAM for a SB CPU I'm not sure.
 
kalrith

kalrith

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2005
6,628
7
81
If your CD/DVD drive is IDE, then you'll either need to get a motherboard with an IDE connector or get a new DVD drive. SATA DVD burners are about $20, so that's the route I'd recommend.
 
Last edited:
L

lakedude

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2009
2,778
528
126
Good call on the cd/dvd. Hopefully the part p00r was going to use is newer, if not it is best not to reuse the unit from 1998. The cost of a new one is not much.

I'm not sure at this budget level with no overclocking (per sticky answer 5) that the ram voltage matters all that much. I think the 1.5 or 1.35 should be fine, unless someone proves me wrong...If you already have 1.65 that will also work but try to avoid the 1.65...
 
kalrith

kalrith

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2005
6,628
7
81
lakedude said:
I'm not sure at this budget level with no overclocking (per sticky answer 5) that the ram voltage matters all that much. I think the 1.5 or 1.35 should be fine, unless someone proves me wrong...If you already have 1.65 that will also work but try to avoid the 1.65...
Click to expand...

You're right. I'll edit my post. I was thinking of 1.5v instead of 1.65v. Anything 1.5v or lower is fine for Sandy Bridge.

Edit: And if you need a DVD burner, they start at $15 shipped now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244
 
B

bononos

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2011
3,928
186
106
Ken g6 said:
Why a Z7x mobo with a Sandy i3? You can't OC it, so what's the benefit over B75?
........
Plus, 1600 RAM doesn't provide much benefit to Sandy Bridge. Possibly a little more to Ivy, but not much there either. I have heard these particular Samsung sticks are good overclockers, though why you'd want to OC the RAM for a SB CPU I'm not sure.
Click to expand...
I just felt if the price difference was small then he might as well get a budget level z75 and get an extra sataIII port. Same for the 1600 ram, there is little to no difference in prices btwn 1333/1600, why not just get the 1600.
 
Ken g6

Ken g6

Programming Moderator, Elite Member
Moderator
Dec 11, 1999
16,634
4,562
75
You might have a point there, if the price is right. A $120 Z77 would be twice my $60 B75, though. The B75 has one SATA3 port, which is only beneficial for SSDs. And he's only going to be able to afford one at most. I think he should make room in the budget - an SSD can really speed up most normal applications, like for schoolwork.

On the other hand, if the budget allows, this $85 Z75 has a lot of features...if you're aware that its only digital video out is HDMI. It would require using an HDMI to DVI converter, which raises the price just a little more. The 1600 RAM can be good too, if it's in the budget.

But all this is just nickel and diming the p00rguy out of an SSD. (Have I mentioned SSDs are really nice? ;))
 
M

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
p00rguy said:
Hi Bononos. I saw that Samsung RAM from this website called SlickDeals. They give it 5 thumbs up and said it is hot deal. But I look at the 'Detail' section of the RAM and see the voltage is only 1.35v. I was only looking for 1.5v because I thought that is what I need.

So, is 1.35v RAM okay for the motherboard and CPU I put on the links? Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Yes, 1.35V RAM is OK. You want to use RAM that is 1.5V or less, it doesn't have to be 1.5V exactly.

Ken g6 said:
I don't suppose you're near a Micro Center? They have some really good deals on CPUs in particular.

Have you gotten an SSD yet? If not, get this Samsung 830 128GB for only $100!

Otherwise, for a basic, cheap build:
i3-2120: $125
ASRock B75 mobo: $60 + shipping
Mushkin 8GB RAM: $39

Total: $224, or $324 with SSD.

I had it down below $190 with a cheap mobo combo and cheap RAM after promo, but you might lose out on reliability and miss some features.
Click to expand...

Overall though, I think that Ken's idea is the best. The difference between different RAM and motherboards is minor compared to the boost that you'd get out of an SSD. The one that Ken recommended is out of stock, so here's a replacement.
 
P

p00rguy

Junior Member
Aug 9, 2012
9
0
0
Thnank you everybody! I ordered the parts already and also add the SSD. This is my parts:

Motherboards- GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3V LGA 1155
RAM- G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
CPU- Intel Core i3-2100 BX80623I32100 <<< was on sale for $90!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SSD- 830 Series MZ-7PC128B/WW 2.5" 128GB SATA III <<< was on sale for $100 !!!!!

I like to thank everybody here for helping me buy the parts. Now I wait and maybe put the parts together this Sunday. My friend is putting the parts together. I will watch so I can learn what the parts do.
 
H

Harvey

Administrator<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
35,057
67
91
p00rguy said:
Thnank you everybody! I ordered the parts already and also add the SSD. This is my parts:

Motherboards- GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3V LGA 1155
RAM- G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
CPU- Intel Core i3-2100 BX80623I32100 <<< was on sale for $90!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SSD- 830 Series MZ-7PC128B/WW 2.5" 128GB SATA III <<< was on sale for $100 !!!!!

I like to thank everybody here for helping me buy the parts. Now I wait and maybe put the parts together this Sunday. My friend is putting the parts together. I will watch so I can learn what the parts do.
Click to expand...

What you will learn is that the most important thing you need to know is, which end of a phillips screwdriver is the business end. After that, as long as the parts are good and compatible with each other, all the plugs and components are shaped and built so they only go together one way, the right way.

Tweaking your software is another part of the learning curve, but it sounds like you're well on your way to a good build. :thumbsup:

Again, glad we could help. :cool:
 
Ken g6

Ken g6

Programming Moderator, Elite Member
Moderator
Dec 11, 1999
16,634
4,562
75
I disagree. The most important thing you need to know is [thread=2047683]how to install those stupid push pins[/thread] on the CPU cooler. D:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom