Recommend me some hardware

[JulesMaximus]

I want to build a budget system that I can play some older games on easily, do some light photo editing, internet, Microsoft Office and email. My wife uses this system for work too, she's a realtor and she works in Publisher a lot.

Anyway, I want to keep the total cost around $300-350. I am going to use my current monitor (Samsung 22" flat panel LCD), I also have a keyboard and mouse, Lian-Li case, 500GB hard drive and I have optical drives already.

Edit-All my hard disks are SATA.

Things I need:

Motherboard
Memory
CPU
Video card

I would also like to keep this system relatively quiet. I'm leaning toward a Core 2 Duo CPU and I'd like to get the most bang for the buck. I won't be overclocking this rig, I want it stable...in fact, this is the most important thing, it must be stable. I want 2GB of RAM in the new rig too.

My current rig is an AMD Athlon 3400, MSI K8N Neo motherboard, with 1GB RAM and ATI9800 AGP video card.

I appreciate any recommendations. :beer:

 

[mpilchfamily]

For that price just go to Staples and pick up the best tower you can find for the money.

 

[wjgollatz]

I just built this system:
GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX $53

pick any decent set of 2x 2Gb PAM - target price of $50 Like G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit

Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor $73 or a slighly faster 5300 $89. Not technically a Core 2 Duo, but supposedly the difference is negligible. Next faster chip is another $50.

For a video card - pick a Radeon 4830 or a 3850. Those will be in the $75-100. You might need less.

You may need a better power supply, you did not list yours. a well recommended power supply is an Antec EA430 for what you are using, about $70.

I think you would want more than 2 Gig of ram. Ram is very cheap now. The motherboard above seems to be generally well loved by all, is supposed to be easy to overclock with. Its max RAM is 4Gb. It can support the quad cores also. Some Vista versions support more than 4Gb of RAM. Windows XP 32bit bit will only see 3Gb of the 4Gb, but extra RAM is always good. The motherboard support 4 SATA drives, but one might be blocked with a video card that takes two slots. But for you light gaming, you might be able to find an inexpensive card that using only one slot. If you need more SATA, you can buy an internal PCI card to expand SATA connections

Such a system should last a good time. You can save some money too and get those slowest Dual Core 2200 or whichever model that is.

So - what I suggest is $275 about including a $100 video card which would also support dual monitors (make sure one does, but dual monitor support is not expensive). This does not include shipping and there is a $10 savings on that particular brand and model of memory right now.

EDIT: This chip with this motherboard can be overclocked with the included software that comes with the motherboard to be as fast at a stock quad-core. So it is a good budget system in my opinion that with some tweaks can extend its lifetime.

Adding some extra cash, youc an get a full ATX motherboard that may have its SATA connectors spread out from the PCI x16 slot used by video cards.

 

[jamesbond007]

I'd honestly just get a cheap Dell Vostro 220. It has a PCI Express graphics slot for a more powerful card later. The stock PSU does not have a PCI Express graphics power lead, so keep that in mind. I think an entire system, including a 22" screen, can be had for around $400. Sell the screen or keep it for dual-LCD love, providing you upgrade to a dual-port videocard. Keep an eye on slickdeals.net and of course our own Hot Deals area.

These systems are quiet, stable, very fast, and will suffice your listed requirements of capability.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
I'd honestly just get a cheap Dell Vostro 220. It has a PCI Express graphics slot for a more powerful card later. The stock PSU does not have a PCI Express graphics power lead, so keep that in mind. I think an entire system, including a 22" screen, can be had for around $400. Sell the screen or keep it for dual-LCD love, providing you upgrade to a dual-port videocard. Keep an eye on slickdeals.net and of course our own Hot Deals area.

These systems are quiet, stable, very fast, and will suffice your listed requirements of capability.

Yeah, I was thinking of doing that...but where's the fun in that?

Oh well, off to the Dell site.

 

[Blain]

PC Power & Cooling sells a Dell compatible 500W upgrade PS

 

[cparker]

I'd just get a 780g motherboard and an inexpensive amd chip. You can get an le-1640 for 40 bucks or so. Total cost for board and cpu will be around 110 or so. You should only need 2 gigs of ram. You already have everything else, so total would be 130 bucks. With a more expensive cpu you could add another 20 dollars to the pool. Not sure it would matter much with your needs. The integrated graphics on these motherboards are very nice, so you won't need a graphics card.

Hope this helps.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Yeah, I was thinking of doing that...but where's the fun in that?

Fun in building a ~$300 computer? That's not fun - that's like playing with yourself until you're hard and then quitting to go bake a cake. Fun was building my quad-core computer with two graphics cards and a pair of Raptors followed by an overclocking session.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Yeah, I was thinking of doing that...but where's the fun in that?

Fun in building a ~$300 computer? That's not fun - that's like playing with yourself until you're hard and then quitting to go bake a cake. Fun was building my quad-core computer with two graphics cards and a pair of Raptors followed by an overclocking session.

Meh, it's not about the hardware...and when you're upgrading from a system as old as mine it's always fun.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus ~~~

Anyway, I want to keep the total cost around $300-350 .....

Things I need:

Motherboard
Memory
CPU
Video card

~~~

Phenom II 720 / Biostar TForce TA790GX 128M 790GX
Combo Deal: $212

GeIL 2 x 1Gb 10066 ($32) or 2 x 2Gb G.Skill 1066 ($53)

The IGP on the 790gx is stout enough for older games - it's a die-shrunk Radeon HD 2400xt that has roughly twice the 'jam' of your 9800 AGP.

If you feel you need to go discreet the Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 is fanless with a HDMI-out. There are less expensive versions that come with a fan - some with a DVI-->HDMI adapter.