MicroATX Build - Please C&C

[SPARTAN VI]

Will soon be building a mATX system for my girlfriend. She will be using it for:

• Internet
• Word processing
• DVD player, DVD ripper/burner
• Very light gaming

She'll have this hooked up to her 32" Samsung LCD HDTV (720P) over DVI-HDMI cable, sound will be routed to dedicated speakers (not the TV).

Been trying to scout for combo deals, but generally coming up cold. Her official budget is about $400, but I'm aiming for $300.

CPU AMD Athlon II X3 425 Rana 2.7GHz AM3 - $70

Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-M68M-S2P - $43

RAM G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 - $62

DVD/CD Burner/Player Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - $22

Case Rosewill Ebony RA-HG-M-01 Black Steel Ultra High Gloss Finished MicroATX - $50

Total: $286 (shipped)

Her PSU, HDD, and videocard will be coming from her old PC. Since the PC will be in her bedroom, I'm looking at Nexus fans to keep it as quiet as possible.

Open to recommendations for substitutes.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mfenn]

Dump the nForce and DDR2.

Get a 785G-based board like the Biostar A785G3 @ $60
Here's some cheap DDR3 memory: 1x 2GB Kingston ValueRAM @ $55

There are 2 main advantages of doing it this way:

1. The 785G has a much better integrated GPU than the nForce 7025
2. Getting 1 x 2GB sacrifices some near-term performance because you won't be able to use the dual-channel operation mode. However, your upgrade path to 4GB is as simple as buying another 2GB DIMM in the future. DDR3 will go down in price whereas DDR2 will go up.

EDIT: It's kind of a personal preference, but I would avoid a super glossy case. The finish will look good for approximately 5 seconds before it gets covered in fingerprints. I would probably get something like this. It's cheaper, doesn't come with a useless PSU, and has 120mm fan mounts. Take the $30 you save (difference in case price + shipping) and get an Athlon II X4 630.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Dump the nForce and DDR2.

Get a 785G-based board like the Biostar A785G3 @ $60
Here's some cheap DDR3 memory: 1x 2GB Kingston ValueRAM @ $55

There are 2 main advantages of doing it this way:

1. The 785G has a much better integrated GPU than the nForce 7025
2. Getting 1 x 2GB sacrifices some near-term performance because you won't be able to use the dual-channel operation mode. However, your upgrade path to 4GB is as simple as buying another 2GB DIMM in the future. DDR3 will go down in price whereas DDR2 will go up.

EDIT: It's kind of a personal preference, but I would avoid a super glossy case. The finish will look good for approximately 5 seconds before it gets covered in fingerprints. I would probably get something like this. It's cheaper, doesn't come with a useless PSU, and has 120mm fan mounts. Take the $30 you save (difference in case price + shipping) and get an Athlon II X4 630.

Thanks for RAM/mobo recommendation. She only really plays CS:S about once every 3 months, which I'd imagine plays fine on 1GB anyway.

As for the case, I originally was looking for a case with the PSU but then remembered I can just salvage the old one. So yes, I don't really need to spend any more coin on a case that comes with a crapola PSU. Chose something glossy because girls like shiny things, don't think she'll be touching it a whole lot though.

Either way, she'll need to choose the case. I can probably make any case pretty much dead silent with the right fans.

 

[Zap]

Do you live anywhere near a Fry's or Micro Center? They often (as in almost every day) have mobo/CPU specials. Fry's recently had some AMD combo for around $60 and Micro Center had an AMD quad core with mobo for around $100.

Micro Center also has cheap cases. I just picke up an extra Cooler Master Elite 341 mATX case for $30 plus tax (much cheaper than Newegg). They also have house-brand mATX cases regularly priced at $25 (I've seen them on-sale for $20) which are reasonable except for only using a single 80/92mm exhaust so you wouldn't want monster builds in there.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for RAM/mobo recommendation. She only really plays CS:S about once every 3 months, which I'd imagine plays fine on 1GB anyway.

As for the case, I originally was looking for a case with the PSU but then remembered I can just salvage the old one. So yes, I don't really need to spend any more coin on a case that comes with a crapola PSU. Chose something glossy because girls like shiny things, don't think she'll be touching it a whole lot though.

Either way, she'll need to choose the case. I can probably make any case pretty much dead silent with the right fans.

It's a single 2GB stick (same total memory as your initial build), NOT a 1GB stick.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

It's a single 2GB stick (same total memory as your initial build), NOT a 1GB stick.

Oh oh oh, thought it was 1gb. kk

And I live nearby a Fry's, but traffic around there is horrific. Only go there for emergencies really.

 

[Fayd]

Oh oh oh, thought it was 1gb. kk

And I live nearby a Fry's, but traffic around there is horrific. Only go there for emergencies really.

the potential to save a lot of money isn't an emergency?

the deals this week arent that good, so you may want to wait till the cycle time (friday?) before buying.

but anyways, yeah, 785G >>>>>> nforce anything.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

the potential to save a lot of money isn't an emergency?

the deals this week arent that good, so you may want to wait till the cycle time (friday?) before buying.

but anyways, yeah, 785G >>>>>> nforce anything.

The nearest Frys is about 10 miles out, but there's a line to get into the parking lot from the freeway off-ramp. Really don't like to negotiate the traffic inside or outside of the store. Savings would have to be at least $75 for me to consider stopping by... and I don't want their CPU+ECS mobo bundle I always see in their flyers.

 

[Fayd]

The nearest Frys is about 10 miles out, but there's a line to get into the parking lot from the freeway off-ramp. Really don't like to negotiate the traffic inside or outside of the store. Savings would have to be at least $75 for me to consider stopping by... and I don't want their CPU+ECS mobo bundle I always see in their flyers.

last bundle i picked up was CPU + gigabyte mobo.

last bundle i saw was gigabyte 890GX with phenom II x4 965 BE for 169.

that's a pretty significant savings.


tbh, if you'd rather spend 75 dollars than deal with a few minutes of headache from traffic, then why dont you just buy a prebuilt?

 

[SPARTAN VI]

last bundle i picked up was CPU + gigabyte mobo.

last bundle i saw was gigabyte 890GX with phenom II x4 965 BE for 169.

that's a pretty significant savings.


tbh, if you'd rather spend 75 dollars than deal with a few minutes of headache from traffic, then why dont you just buy a prebuilt?

Hmm, that's pretty nice. There's a Frys in my girlfriend's town that's not nearly as bad as the one near me. Maybe we'll make a trip out of it.

As far as building, I actually enjoy it. It's part of the hobby; hand selecting parts, shipped to by doorstep, then putting it all together. Kinda like LEGOs for grown-ups... I just don't like the part about waiting in lines at Frys.

 

[Fayd]

Hmm, that's pretty nice. There's a Frys in my girlfriend's town that's not nearly as bad as the one near me. Maybe we'll make a trip out of it.

As far as building, I actually enjoy it. It's part of the hobby; hand selecting parts, shipped to by doorstep, then putting it all together. Kinda like LEGOs for grown-ups... I just don't like the part about waiting in lines at Frys.

then go at midday or something. the only time i've waited for a significant time in a frys line is when their computers were down, and they were checking people out by hand.

 

[JackMDS]

I have very similar configuration.

The difference is only the Mobo, $20 more but worth it.

I use this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813128394&
Tpk=GA-MA785GM-US2H

By just raising a little the core frequency it work as is on 3GHz.

Stable and fast (for the purposes as mentioned above).

DDR3 is a waste for this class of computers.

 

[Zap]

The nearest Frys is about 10 miles out, but there's a line to get into the parking lot from the freeway off-ramp. Really don't like to negotiate the traffic inside or outside of the store. Savings would have to be at least $75 for me to consider stopping by... and I don't want their CPU+ECS mobo bundle I always see in their flyers.

Is that the one off the 60 near Industry? I've been there a couple times and it is the worst one I've seen outside of grand openings and Black Friday sales.

Oh yeah, and Fry's hasn't done ECS bundles since the whole embezzlement thing over a year ago. Now they usually use MSI and Gigabyte.

 

[iluvdeal]

Fry's is definitely worth the trouble if you can get one of their really good CPU motherboard combo deals. A couple weeks ago I got in on the Core i3-530 + Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H mobo for $104 + tax - $15 rebate. A nice database of previous Fry's combo deals is maintained here: http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=94028&t=1800959

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Is that the one off the 60 near Industry? I've been there a couple times and it is the worst one I've seen outside of grand openings and Black Friday sales.

Oh yeah, and Fry's hasn't done ECS bundles since the whole embezzlement thing over a year ago. Now they usually use MSI and Gigabyte.

Yep, that's the one! Exit is Crossroads, IIRC. Thinking we'll stop by the Frys in Manhattan Beach on Rosecrans. Was looking at this deal: http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com...ocessor-E7500-Asus-P5G41-M-LX2-GB-Motherboard

But it's already dead.