I have $500 and a question.

[Hermskii]

Money isn't so much the issue here but I want to keep it down if possible to around $500. Here are the givens to this word problem.

I already have a case, power supply, sound card, network card, usb bay, floppy drive, DVD player, CD/RW drive and TV tuner card.

I need a new mobo that supports the fastest SATA drives, runs fast DDR memory, can run PCIE in SLI.

I'll need a processor, hard drive, video card and ram memory as well. I know the most important aspect of this is the mobo so any suggestions? I figure to spend this $500 about like this:

Mobo = $120.00
HDD = $100.00
Processor = $160.00
Ram = $100.00
Vid Card = $180.00

All that equals $560 before tax or so. I already have everything else including the OS. The PC will be used for basic internet and playing UT99. I'll burn media here and there. It will be the main family PC. All help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Denithor]

First off, your math is off...your list totals $660 not $560.

Secondly, you don't specify a couple of key things:
1) Are you willing to OC this system?
2) What power supply do you "already have" to use in this build (maker/model)?
3) What OS are you planning to use (mainly, 32-bit or 64-bit)?

If you plan on no or only very light OC, here is what I would recommend:

Abit IP35 $100 (after $25MIR)
e6750 (2.66GHz, 4MB cache) $190
Kingston 2x1GB DDR2-800 $40 (after $10MIR)
VisionTek Radeon HD 3850 256MB $180
Seagate 500GB (32MB cache) $120
Total: $630 after $35MIR

You need to make sure your power supply is strong enough to run this system. You want about a 400W unit from a good maker (Antec, Corsair, Fortron, etc) with enough amps on the 12V rail to power everything. If you don't meet this already, get the Antec Earthwatts 380W unit for $30 (after $30MIR) or 500W unit for $50 (after $40MIR).

If you are willing to overclock more, save yourself $100 by getting the e2180 and overclock it to ~3GHz (easily done with this setup). This will provide the same level of performance as the e6750 (at stock speed) for the general use and light gaming you mentioned.

Finally, if you are running a 64-bit OS pick up two of those memory kits for 4GB total.

 

[Rike]

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $64.99

XFX PVT88PUDF4 GeForce 8800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
$209.99

WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 3AXT6400C5-2048K - Retail
$45.99

MSI P6N SLI-FI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$104.99 ($20.00 Mail-in Rebate)

Intel Dual-Core E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E2180 - Retail $89.99

Total $515.95 (-$20 rebate + shipping)

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I prefer Kingston N5 over the non-N5 model (in blue container). N5 costs more $ but also overclock very well.

 

[Hermskii]

Great answers so far. Thanks. I'll try to give you feedback to questions you asked and provide more info that I failed to mention period.

My power supply is a Antec 400 watt power supply. I expect to be using Vista (the one right beneath Ultimate).
Sorry my math was off. That is very odd for me to make that kind of mistake.
I don't really want to overclock anymore. But being able to later would be nice.
I'm an AMD guy but have been made aware that the intel CPUs are better than AMD chips now. I'd still prefer AMD but will flip back to using Intel chips if needed and highly recogmended.
I will not use an ATI video card or any ATI equipment ever again because their drivers do and always have totally sucked. Nvidia is good and easy! Not that I'm lazy, I'm just tired of teaking stuff all of the time. I'm looking to put it together stock and leave it that way for a long while. I'll start overclocking and all in about a year or two when my new system starts to struggle with new games.
I only want about a 300gb hard drive. SATA2 is fine and a big cache buffer is good too. It must spin at 7200rpm or better.
I'll have an external drive for back ups and I don't download videos so I don't need to much space. Example: Right now I have 160mb hard drive. It has everything I want on it and I've only used 60gb so far.

So lets confirm some stuff for me...

Intel hands down is better than AMD right now?
Isn't a Quad-Core coming out soon?
SATA 2 is the latest SATA technology out right now? Is something else around the corner?
I want to be SLI ready but I don't expect to use it soon at all. Why? Because I just bought a GeFORCE BFG 7800 gs oc vid-card a month ago for my legacy AGP system that I'm on right now.

I'm listening closely. Go!

 

[Gerbil333]

Paragraphs do not require hard returns following each sentence.

Intel hands down is better than AMD right now?

As far as top performance goes, yes.

Isn't a Quad-Core coming out soon?

Quad-core CPUs have been available for quite a while now.

SATA 2 is the latest SATA technology out right now? Is something else around the corner?

Right. Something is always around the corner. SATA II is plenty for now; no need to wait.

I want to be SLI ready but I don't expect to use it soon at all. Why? Because I just bought a GeFORCE BFG 7800 gs oc vid-card a month ago for my legacy AGP system that I'm on right now.

There is little point in being "SLI ready" unless you utilize the capability now. Think about it this way: Chances are, by the time you are ready to add a second card, it will be more cost effective to replace whatever card you already have. SLI is for maximum performance *now*, not later.

 

[Denithor]

At the top end AMD has no answer for Intel at the moment. The e6750 will stomp all over anything from AMD and the e6850 just takes it another step further.

You don't seriously need to consider quad core processors unless you do a lot of video encoding or photoshop work on the rig. Nothing else out there really needs or even, for the most part, takes advantage of four cores versus two. Just get a fast dual core and you are set.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Hermskii
I want to keep it down if possible to around $500

Mobo
HDD
Processor
Ram
Vid Card

The PC will be used for basic internet and playing UT99. I'll burn media here and there. It will be the main family PC. All help is appreciated. Thanks.

AMD A64 x2 4000+ $62
Biostar Tforce TF520-A2 motherboard $66
2GB DDR2-667 dual channel RAM $44
Geforce 8600GT factory overclocked $91 AR
320GB SATAII HDD $80

Total $343

Am I the only one NOT encouraging Hermskii to go over his self-imposed budget?

That's almost un-American! :shocked:

This $343 upgrade will browse the internet and play UT99 as well as the fastest quadcore running 8800 series SLI... as long as you don't break out the benchmarking tools.

 

[jjj807]

yeah go with what Zap said.

 

[Hermskii]

OK all. To show that I'm taking your opions seriously here is what I think I'm gonna do but first let me say thank you. No one flamed me for my ignorant questions. Everyone gave good info that directed me in a way that makes me feel good about what I'll be trying to do. Everyone tried to keep me in my price range and most gave additional consideration thoughts that added to the quality of your answers. Again, thank you.

I will begin researching these items more closely in order to make the best decision and ensure I get a system that I think will have the greatest scalability. I had a ABIT KT7A mobo that I still have. It started with a Duron 600 then got a Thunderbird 1000, then a XP2100 and lastly a XP-M 3000+. It more than doubled up on it's original max posted available speed and the socket stayed the same the entire time. I hope to come close with this decision. Here it is "I THINK":

Abit IP35 $100 (after $25MIR)
e6750 (2.66GHz, 4MB cache) $190
Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $45
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (I will hunt for a 32 mb cache version) $90
XFX PVT88PUDF4 GeForce 8800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $209.99

I went over my budget but for about $625, I think it looks pretty good. Thanks!

 

[Martimus]

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (I will hunt for a 32 mb cache version) $90

There are no 32MB versions, so don't bother looking.

As for drivers, ATI has the best Vista drivers, and has for over a year now. Although nVidia now has acceptable Vista drivers as well.

I don't think you will go wrong with that setup, so have fun building it!

 

[Hermskii]

I never did get around to buying or building this system and I'm glad to be honest because that same money can be put towards the next system next time. Lots of great stuff has come to the PC world since I first started this thread. I'll wait a little longer still and then repost this questions again and lets see how much of a difference the answers will have with the original answers. Somebody once said processor power doubles every year and a half. I think that is about right too. CYA!