Hows this for an Ultra low budget machine?

[MTDEW]

Friend has little cash and wants to upgrade his old pc Barton 2500, 2gb ram , 6600gt, 400w FSP psu , Pioneer DL DVD-RW, 250gb WD 7200rpm hdd, 19" Monitor (1280x1024)

Since he has a decent psu and a DL burner and he wants to keep his case and monitor and he also wants to spend $400 or less.

So he needs a larger hard drive, cpu, memory and video card
Here is what ive got picked.

1: Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320

2: POWERCOLOR AX4850 512MD3-PH Radeon HD 4850 512MB $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131162

3: PQI TURBO 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $78.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141366

4: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128357

5: Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 $64.50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116072

With shipping the total here is $372.49

Pc will be used for surfing the web and moderate gaming.

Im not much for building budget systems, im one to upgrade my pc constantly with the latest and greatest, so feel free to pick this setup apart and give some suggestions.

Oh, i forgot, it will be running Windows 7.

 

[lxskllr]

For $20 more you can get 500gb more storage with Samsung. For $10 less you get the same storage.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'd pull the trigger. That seems like a fine budget build. You can even overclock the E5200 a bit.

The only change might be to select a Celeron E3300 instead, if the user wanted to use virtualization, as the newer (but technically slower) dual-core Celerons have VT support. The E5200 doesn't.

 

[Zargon]

For $20 more you can get 500gb more storage with Samsung. For $10 less you get the same storage.

but is it as fast as teh caviar blacks?

the 750 is on sale for the same price right now if he orders fast.

 

[Tsavo]

but is it as fast as teh caviar blacks?

the 750 is on sale for the same price right now if he orders fast.

Blacks are over rated unless you like to run benchmarks...but even then.

I built a box with a Celeron E3200 @ 3 GHz and it plays games better than I thought it would.

 

[Chappie]

hey guys,

don't mean to hijack...but how would the op's budget build do at playing games??

Tsavo, how does that Celeron E3200 perform?? what specs are the rest of the system.

thanks,

Chappie

 

[edro]

SAMSUNG Spinpoint 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb, $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152181

These are rated higher and cheaper than your WD, even with 16mb cache.

 

[JackMDS]

hey guys,

don't mean to hijack...but how would the op's budget build do at playing games??

Tsavo, how does that Celeron E3200 perform?? what specs are the rest of the system.

thanks,

Chappie

I have a build similar to what the OP describe (same Mobo and it was working with E5200.

I needed Virtualization and changed the CPU to E3300.

I mildly OC it and it works on the same level as the E5200.

.

 

[WT]

I love ultra budget builds, and the mobo/CPU choices are spot on. I already have the same CPU and want to pick up the GB G31 board as well for an mATX build for the wife.

Only concern is that the boards aren't in stock when I go to build it in a few months. I see them selling on flEbay for more than what they go for new at the Egg.

 

[jae]

Since I don't believe anything said he prefers Intel (or I skipped over it), I would go with an AM3 setup, so he can stay somewhat current with technology.

 

[MTDEW]

Since I don't believe anything said he prefers Intel (or I skipped over it), I would go with an AM3 setup, so he can stay somewhat current with technology.

You're right, he doesnt care whats inside, i'm just more familiar with Intel setups since i jumped ship to the core 2 duo and stayed with Intel builds the last few yrs.

So I havent really followed or built an AMD setup in awhile.

So if you have suggestions on an AM3 build, i'd be glad to see it, ive got until next week to order his stuff.

 

[jae]

An AthlonII x2 250 or x3 425 cpu, AM3 770 mobo, 4GB DDR3, Spinpoint 500GB, 4850 would be around the same price as the Intel build ~$350-380, BUT he wont be stuck on dead platform. I don't like the idea of someone using dead platform (especially gamers) unless its someone who doesn't plan on upgrading parts, e.g. Grandparents, Facebook/Email/ IM'er, etc.

 

[Dasda]

An AthlonII x2 250 or x3 425 cpu, AM3 770 mobo, 4GB DDR3, Spinpoint 500GB, 4850 would be around the same price as the Intel build ~$350-380, BUT he wont be stuck on dead platform. I don't like the idea of someone using dead platform (especially gamers) unless its someone who doesn't plan on upgrading parts, e.g. Grandparents, Facebook/Email/ IM'er, etc.

I agree with everything you said. AMD is a no brainer at this point. I love intel's performance but when your on a low budget then AMD is best. It provides people to upgrade later on since a new socket won't be introduced every 6 months.

 

[Zargon]

true 775 is already in the ground and getting cold.

having priced some low power lower end stuff I found AMD wins all the way, especially since I have a hard time buying celerons after all the years of how crappy they were

 

[Arsynic]

I'm building a budget Phenom x3 build for just under $300

AMD Phenom X3: $67
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tent-_-text-_-

GIGABYTE GA-M61PME-S2P AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail: $47
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tent-_-text-_-

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3160318AS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive: $38.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tent-_-text-_-

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Desktop Memory Model 991777 - Retail: $53.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tent-_-text-_-

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support - OEM: $26.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tent-_-text-_-

nMEDIAPC ZE-C68 All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader w/ USB Port - Retail: $9.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tent-_-text-_-

Rosewill Ebony Case: $49
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tent-_-text-_-

Total: $292.96

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

CPU and mobo above are bad. Never buy a Phenom I or a HT1.0 mobo.

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-681-_-Product
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138182
ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220468
hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148395
gpu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130539
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102824

Total- $375

MUCH better build

 

[MTDEW]

CPU and mobo above are bad. Never buy a Phenom I or a HT1.0 mobo.

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-681-_-Product
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138182
ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220468
hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148395
gpu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130539
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102824

Total- $375

MUCH better build

Now that looks like a great budget AMD build to me from looking at the specs!

He wants me to order Sunday, so im bumping in case of any more suggestions.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Since you are using a video card, I'd go with this board instead for $5 more. The IGP is weaker but the motherboard is better quality. Notice how there is a choke on the Biostar while the Asus does not have one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131619

 

[jaydee]

CPU and mobo above are bad. Never buy a Phenom I or a HT1.0 mobo.

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-681-_-Product
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138182
ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220468
hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148395
gpu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130539
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102824

Total- $375

MUCH better build

Samsung F3 is a better drive for $5 less. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-181-_-Product

Other than that, this is a great build.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Samsung F3 is a better drive for $5 less. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-181-_-Product

Other than that, this is a great build.

I only buy from Seagate or Western Digital.

 

[jae]

I'd choose Samsung over Seagate.

 

[WildW]

4: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128357

5: Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 $64.50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116072

That's basically the system I'm running here, but with E5400. That motherboard is okay, but has some weird issues with overclocking (mine only likes to sit at "normal" FSB values like 266/333/etc, or it won't POST.) I'll refer you back to my cry-for-help thread from when I was building it - http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=335086 )

Once set up it's been fine, and performance is great. In retrospect though I'd probably have chosen to go with an AMD setup, so that you can go to a decent quad core more cheaply in the future. For gaming it's still all I could ask for.

 

[StinkyPinky]

For cheap I do AMD, for high end I do Intel

Afterall, in the future you can slap in a quad core AMD with (at most) a bios update. Win!

 

[Davidh373]

I feel like i'm not needed here. AMD for sure.

 

[Blain]

$375 doesn't sound like "ultra low budget" to me.
$240 does though.