need help building ~$500 quad core

[khatarnaak]

Guys, am pulling my hair over building/ordering a new desktop for home use. I am replacing/upgrading my 5 yr old Dell Optiplex gx270, Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 2.5 GB RAM, radeon 9600 128mb graphics card.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for? heavy home use, not for gaming, need to connect existing dual LCD display, office, web, music editing, photoshop, lightroom, video to TV, dont really burn too many DVDs. Trying to get something that survives the next 3 yrs.

2. What YOUR budget is?$400-$600

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.US

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. none

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts?Reuse the following from old dell desktop: two 19" LCDs, radeon 9600 128mb graphics card (DVI+VGA out), 250 W power supply, DVDR/W, DVD, external HDDs.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.yes, plenty.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.never done it before, but if it straight forward, why not.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it? asap.


I had ordered the HP Pavilion a6614f (AMD Phenom? X4 9500 Quad-Core, 640GB HDD, 6GB ram and 21" LCD) for $599 from bestbuy on black friday, and unfortunately they cancelled the order since they ran out.

I would really appreciate if the gurus out there could point me to some decent parts I could order right away and get done with it. I am not obsessing over subtle benchmark differences. Would rather reduce the decision process than fret over ~$50. Something that works fast enough and could be put together with minimal efforts, since i dont have the luxury of time right now.

 

[Slugbait]

If I recall correctly, the 9600 came exclusively in AGP flavor. You cannot reuse this card, AGP mobos that support Core2 procs are all but non-existent.

I believe Optiplex for that generation were proprietary. This means, where the power supply goes, so goes the mobo, which means you're stuck with a single-core proc as well. But I digress...250W is insufficient for what you desire.

I believe you want to buy this. It's $450+tax shipped, and you don't spend days assembling, installing, etc...you just plug it in. You won't overclock it, tho'.

 

[zerocool84]

q6600 & GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R Combo $274.98AR
This is a great deal for both. The mobo isn't low-end and is able to overclock well and you can overclock the Q6600 high as well. Great pair together.
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2800 $39.99
This is good RAM that's not expensive at all and should be able to take the Q6600 upto 3.0GHz easily if you want to overclock it.

You're not gaming or anything but I would go with a better powersupply. You said you have a 250w psu. If it's a no name company, I would upgrade to something better.
This Antec Basiq 500W powersupply might fit the bill. It's only $40 and it has all the modern connectors you would need and comes from a quality company.

 

[khatarnaak]

Originally posted by: Slugbait
I believe you want to buy this. It's $450+tax shipped, and you don't spend days assembling, installing, etc...you just plug it in. You won't overclock it, tho'.

were you referring to http://www. tech bargains .com /news_displayItem.cfm/146286 ? seems like the forum didnt like the link. I agree this is a very good option. Any reason why i shouldnt go with a prebuilt dell/hp? The power supply and graphics cards are usually weak on these prebuilt models.

 

[khatarnaak]

Would it make more sense to order a refurbished Dell Studio from Dell Outlet. With 15% off, looks like I could get a quad q8200 or q6600, with 4GB, 640 GB, 256mb Radeon HD 3450 w/ HDMI, DVDR/W for $450-$550 range.

 

[dguy6789]

Go ahead and get a Dell. No real reason not to if you're not hardcore into tweaking, configuring, and putting together. Just buy the whole machine and it'll work out of the box.

 

[ku]

I'm also in the same boat as you: looking to buy a rig for light gaming for around and under $500. I'm most likely going to jump on a Dell refurb, but I feel so cheated because I missed those sick studio 540 deals.

EDIT: While I'm at it, what do you guys think about http://www.compusa.com/applica...IZ9kj9rItJFF8SkvKvpWeQ

Seems like a decent price but I'm worried about the quality.

Or does anyone else have any other suggestions?

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: ku
I'm also in the same boat as you: looking to buy a rig for light gaming for around and under $500. I'm most likely going to jump on a Dell refurb, but I feel so cheated because I missed those sick studio 540 deals.

EDIT: While I'm at it, what do you guys think about http://www.compusa.com/applica...IZ9kj9rItJFF8SkvKvpWeQ

Seems like a decent price but I'm worried about the quality.

Or does anyone else have any other suggestions?

Everything looks alright except that the power supply seems kind of sketchy. If you get that, be sure to buy a new power supply too.

 

[Denithor]

Dell refurbs are probably your best option. Just hunt one down with the features you need and pick it up.

One thing to remember: don't get hung up on amount of RAM and specific video card. Those parts are easy to upgrade yourself later and much cheaper to do yourself than buying from them.

EDIT: The only thing you'll miss going Dell versus building from scratch is going to be overclocking capability. Dell locks their motherboard BIOS so you cannot overclock. But building from scratch is going to be extremely tough on your stated budget for the system you want so just go for a Dell. Sell your old system intact and add that cash to your budget.

 

[khatarnaak]

thanks for the input guys.. I am inclined towards ordering the following:
intel quad q6600, 6GB RAM, 640GB HDD, 256 MB Radeon 3450 w/HDMI for $539 - $81 (15% coupon) + $38 (tax) + free ship = $496

wasnt sure if the q8200 and radeon 3650 were that much superior.. or if i would notice the difference.

 

[DSF]

The video card isn't going to make a difference for what you're doing.

 

[Denithor]

The Q8200 will run noticeably cooler than the Q6600 (and your power bill will thank you) otherwise they are basically equivalent.

 

[khatarnaak]

thanks for the great input.. i finally pulled the trigger on Dell Studio refurb
intel quad q6600, 6GB RAM, 640GB HDD, 256 MB Radeon 3450 w/HDMI. Was the best deal I could get, and would work right out of the box.

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: khatarnaak
thanks for the great input.. i finally pulled the trigger on Dell Studio refurb
intel quad q6600, 6GB RAM, 640GB HDD, 256 MB Radeon 3450 w/HDMI. Was the best deal I could get, and would work right out of the box.

Sounds good, at under $500 dell outlet is the way to go.

 

[khatarnaak]

Originally posted by: khatarnaak
thanks for the great input.. i finally pulled the trigger on Dell Studio refurb
intel quad q6600, 6GB RAM, 640GB HDD, 256 MB Radeon 3450 w/HDMI. Was the best deal I could get, and would work right out of the box.

guys.. I am back to square one.. the dell refurb gave me way too many blue screens right out of the box.. returned it while i could..

at this point, here are my options:
1) ~$300 get a prebuilt compaq w/ AMD X2 5000+ 2.6 Ghz
2) ~$300 (Q6600+motherboard) replace the motherboard+processor in my exisiting Dell Optiplex GX270. Might need a new power supply since it was 250W only.
3) ~$675 new HP w/ Q8300 2.5Ghz 3GB 500GB GeForce 9300

If i get a new desktop, i would have the old one gather dust. would be a pain to sell a 5yr old P4 2.6 to someone. I would really like to stop investing more time into this. +/- $100 to save me time is not an issue.

Given that I am using the desktop for music/photoshop/surfing/office/itunes.. i would like something where the antivirus in the background does not interfere with other things.. I am open to windows xp/vista/7.

 

[ther00kie16]

If you really want to go with Intel, there's this ASRock mb that has AGP and PCIe (only x4 bandwidth though).
Otherwise, best option now is Phenom II. It's faster than q6600 and will overclock to a higher speed, even on stock heatsink. For the price range, an AMD mb will also probably have more features.
There's:
This combo for $250. It even has integrated graphics that should outperform your 9600 (I've used 9600 and 690 IGP so I know).
This combo for $275. It has a slightly better NB and igp and has the newer (better) 750 SB as well as 128MB sideport (onboard) memory for the igp.
Other good motherboards not part of any combos are these by ASRock:
$80 780GXE (all the features and SLI/CF)
$105 790GX (Same as 780GXE with 750 SB & more RAID options)
Lastly, you could go for a Dell Vostro. Deals for e7300 PC + LCD are ~$400 all the time and there's currently a q6600 Vostro 410 + 19" lcd for $550 (free shipping for any Dell starts at $499). If those are a little high, maybe wait for a deal with a 22" LCD and sell the 22" for some money.

 

[batuchka]

I agree - for $5xx you can get a Phenom 2 X4 940BE and get a 790GX with sideport memory for your kind of needs I have built several off Biostar 790GX series and the the 790GX 128M would be what would serve your needs!
Part 1
Part 2 with total cost

 

[khatarnaak]

Originally posted by: ther00kie16
Lastly, you could go for a Dell Vostro. Deals for e7300 PC + LCD are ~$400 all the time and there's currently a q6600 Vostro 410 + 19" lcd for $550 (free shipping for any Dell starts at $499). If those are a little high, maybe wait for a deal with a 22" LCD and sell the 22" for some money.

I really think i have my hands full with way too many things to deal with putting together a pc from scratch. I am ordering the Vostro 410 Q6600, 3GB, 320GB, Radeon 3450, 19" LCD for $595 shipped. Will sell my P4 desktop with my old 19" LCD..