Student/Non-Gamer Need Help w/ Build

[poiboi23]

I'm a student and am not a gamer nor plan on doing any gaming in the future. So with that said I'm looking to build my first computer and needed some help with the configuration of it all. My budget is $900 and I already have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers. My PC would be mainly used for word processing, watching movies/TV, and sometimes having multiple windows open for checking stock reports/graphs. I would be new to overclocking it but I wouldn't be scared to go ahead and learn how to do it if that helps any. Thanks all!

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Start here:
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/

 

[Denithor]

MSI P35 Neo2-FR $100 at Mwave (after $20MIR)
e6750 (2.66GHz, 4MB cache) $190 at Newegg
mushkin 2x2GB DDR2-800 $100 at Newegg (after $25MIR)
WD Caviar SE16 500GB $105 at Newegg
Samsung Lightscribe DVD burner $28 at Newegg
Antec Earthwatts 430W power supply $30 at Newegg (after $30MIR)
MSI 3850 256MB OC $175 at Newegg
InWin Black Case $70 at Newegg (my favorite case, 120mm rear fan, 350W PS to keep as backup)

Hardware total: $800 (after $75MIR)

I recommend Vista Home Premium 64-bit ($112) as your OS. It's nice and stable and you won't have any driver issues with this new gear. Will also allow you to take full advantage of the 4GB RAM listed above.

This will give you an extremely fast system suitable for gaming use if desired.

Several substitutions can be made to reduce this price.
1) e2180 (2.0GHz, 1MB cache) $83 at Mwave (OC to 3GHz for same performance)
2) Kingston N5 2x1GB DDR2-667 $43 at Newegg
3) XFX 8500GT 256MB OC $65 at Newegg (after $15MIR) -- Only if you seriously aren't a gamer!

New hardware total: $525 (after $65MIR)

With this setup go with Windows XP Home SP2 for $90 at Newegg. The reduced RAM will affect your performance in Vista so either go with 4GB/Vista64 or 2GB/XP.

 

[tigersty1e]

Just buy a computer from Dell.

Cheaper and you get a warranty.

You won't be able to overclock, but you won't see any benefits anyway with the tasks you'll be doing.

If you build your own, you have to factor in the OS price if you don't have one.

 

[Mermaidman]

^what Tiger said. You might also want to check out Dell Outlet. $900 is more than what you need to spend for a non-gaming setup. You need to look at Anandtech's budget buying guide
HERE.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: Denithor
stuff

Seriously? E6750 and Vista x64 incase he has more than 4GB of RAM, for someone who doesn't game? If he's doing word processing and basic office stuff there's no need for most of that. I'd even say he could get something with integrated graphics. I've been beaten to it but the Dell Outlet http://outlet.dell.com would probably do him best.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Also, regarding the Dell, you might consider going with an Athlon X2 based system rather than an Intel. Other members here may decry this as heresy, but it doesn't sound like you're a power user, so even though the AMD cpus are a bit slower, I don't think it will make a big difference.

My g/f's mom recently got an X2 4000+ Inspiron, and it was $100 cheaper than the 2160 Pentium Dual Core model. That would be a good way to save some cash, since you're a student.

 

[Nurn]

No fun in buying from Dell.

I think Denithor's recommendations are on the mark for a high quality budget build with upgrade potential for the future.

 

[poiboi23]

Yeah I'd rather piece together a system instead of simply buying one. Can I overclock easily with what Denithor's has listed for the $800 build? Is there a step-by-step guide anyone can recommend? I know I won't be gaming and I shouldn't be worried about overclocking it, but I have the time and think it would be fun to learn. Thanks again!

 

[Muzzy]

If you're building on your own, you can get Vista Ultimate for as little as $89. This works for sure for any students in University of Wisconsin system. Other states may have to same program. I just typed in "WI+Softwares+students" in search. Below is the samples from WI.

http://wiscsoftware.wisc.edu/wisc/

 

[Denithor]

You can certainly overclock either setup I recommended easily and to a good degree. 3GHz should be easy on either setup with stock cooling, you can probably go higher but should consider investing in a better cooling system to keep your chip happy (Tuniq Tower from Newegg at $45 is one of the best air coolers available). Note that for general use you really won't need to overclock at all, but it can be fun to see what you can get out of your system.

If you really aren't a gamer, save the bucks and get the 8500gt video card, that will give you HD video acceleration (and still acceptable if you want to try some basic gaming, just don't expect $200-300 video card performance out of it).

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: poiboi23
Yeah I'd rather piece together a system instead of simply buying one. Can I overclock easily with what Denithor's has listed for the $800 build? Is there a step-by-step guide anyone can recommend? I know I won't be gaming and I shouldn't be worried about overclocking it, but I have the time and think it would be fun to learn. Thanks again!

It's a good choice to build your own instead of buying name-brand. Not only will you save money right now, but when you decide to upgrade later, you'll find the DIY stuff much easier to work with.

To overclock you basically need two things: a motherboard capable of overclocking, and RAM fast enough to handle the increased bus speed (DDR2-800 is ideal).

Now, I don't want to get bogged down in details, but suffice it to say that Intel is the right choice for you, given your budget. So, that means we're going to be looking at Core 2 architecture on LGA775, with DDR2 memory and PCIe x16 (or integrated) video. With that in mind, let's take a look at the components...

Case

The case is one of two often-overlooked components. On one hand, you want something inexpensive, because no matter how much money you pour into it, the system is going to perform exactly the same; on the other hand, there are a myriad of problems associated with cheap cases. Firstly, a lot of sub-$100 cases, and pretty much all sub-$30 cases, have extremely sharp bare metal edges inside. Do not underestimate the hell of slicing your hand open (sometimes more than once) while installing the components. Deep lacerations can even send you to the hospital, and that will destroy your budget in a heartbeat, to be sure! Also, you're going to want something that's sturdy and well-built. Cheaper cases are often prone to denting, breaking and mis-alignment. For example, I had to use pliers to bend the case for my bedroom PC before it would accept my video card, and even then it would often come unseated when plugging/unplugging my monitor (requiring me to open it up periodically to reseat it). Such problems are silly and thus frustrating. So, whatever case you choose, make sure you know it's well-built, and has no sharp edges inside. You can do this by inspecting it, or, if you order it online, reading reviews.

The Inwin case Denithor recommended is very nice, and you'll definitely be pleased if you get it. However, the quality on this Foxconn case ($71.46 shipped from Newegg, with $10.00 MIR) looks a little better to me.

Now both of those are pretty big cases (mid-towers), though required to accommodate a full-size ATX motherboard. However, if you choose to get a micro-ATX board (which I would suggest), you can get something significantly smaller, and therefore more convenient. This Inwin case looks very nice, and takes up significantly less space than the above two cases. I'd recommend it unless you plan on getting a full-size ATX board.

power supply

For your purposes, you won't need any super-powerful PSU, but you *will* need something reliable. Like Denithor, I would recommend the Antec Earthwatts 430W ($59.99 shipped - $30.00 MIR).

motherboard

I don't agree with Denithor's choice, here. MSI is a decent enough manufacturer, but their boards are nothing special, which means the hefty price tag is unjustified. Moreover, it only has two PCI slots, when the only reason I can see for you to get a full-ATX board is that you'd need one if you wanted three slots (for a greater upgrade path).

Instead, I'd suggest the ASRock ConRoe1333-D667 R1.0 ($56.32 shipped). It's inexpensive, reliable, and can overclock a fair bit. Also you may consider the Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2C ($59.32 shipped), which can overclock a little better than the ASRock, but whose PCI-express slot only runs at 8x, not 16x.

Now, two features which I think deserve mention are RAID 1 and PCI slots. Although each board above includes at least four expansion slots, only two of them are PCI, which is the type of slot you need for most internal add-ons (such as sound cards, wireless LAN, firewire, etc.) Because of this, you may want to try for a full-size ATX board. Specifically, I'd go for the full-ATX Gigabyte GA-P31-S3G ($79.32 shipped). RAID 1, on the other hand, is a great feature for protecting your data. It requires twin hard disks, and a significant price premium on the motherboard, but if you have extremely important data it might be worthwhile The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R ($136.60 shipped) is probably the best choice for RAID 1. However, I doubt you need either feature, so I'd stick with the ASRock micro-ATX board above.

processor

Again I'm going to have to disagree with Denithor, here. The E6750 is definitely a speedy processor, but not quite fast enough, I don't think, to justify the $190 price tag. Instead, I'd look at these two options: For a lower budget, the Pentium Dual-core E2200 ($99.99 shipped). Its stock speed, 2.2 GHz, is a little less than the E6750 (2.66 GHz), but it has a higher multiplier (11 instead of 10), which means it will be easier to overclock to speeds well above 2.66 GHz. The only real drawback to it is its 1MB L2 cache (as opposed to the E6750's 4MB), but that may be outweighed by its higher potential overclock. However, if you can afford more, a dual-core CPU might be just the ticket. The Core 2 Quad Q6600 ($279.99 shipped) should significantly boost performance over any dual-core CPU. Keep in mind, though, that if you do choose to get the Q6600, you'll need to make sure the motherboard supports it (the micro-ATX boards I recommended do not). Personally, though, I'd just stick with the E2200, as quad core is still pretty expensive right now.


Well, it's taken a long time to type all that out, so I think I'm going to forgo doling out suggestions for the remaining components. Good luck with the build!

 

[Denithor]

Instead, I'd suggest the ASRock ConRoe1333-D667 R1.0 ($56.32 shipped). It's inexpensive, reliable, and can overclock a fair bit. Also you may consider the Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2C ($59.32 shipped), which can overclock a little better than the ASRock, but whose PCI-express slot only runs at 8x, not 16x.

I wouldn't recommend either of those boards: I have the ASRock board personally and haven't been able to OC a bit with it (using same e6400/RAM/etc that runs 3GHz on my IP35-E). And the Gigabyte board...nothing at all against Gigabyte, but why would you suggest a 945-chipset board these days? Low cost is not always the most important factor.

Now, if you want a microATX motherboard to fit into a smaller case, I would suggest either the Gigabyte GA-G31MX-S2 ($86) or if you also want raid the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R ($136) will do the job nicely (raid is not a big deal unless you keep critical information on your system--note it requires two identical hard drives and you only get to access one directly for storage as the second is just a backup drive).

Again I'm going to have to disagree with Denithor, here. The E6750 is definitely a speedy processor, but not quite fast enough, I don't think, to justify the $190 price tag.

Which is why, in my first response to the OP, I also recommended the e2180 as a much better value if he was willing to OC (at 3GHz it will be equivalent to the stock e6750 for less than half the price).

And by the way, the Q6600 is total overkill for the kind of duties mentioned in the OP. You complain how expensive the e6750 is and then in the next paragraph recommend something $80 higher?

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Muzzy
If you're building on your own, you can get Vista Ultimate for as little as $89. This works for sure for any students in University of Wisconsin system. Other states may have to same program.

Hey, which UW do you go to? I go to Parkside. For those of you in certain majors, check with your department. I know that at Parkside any CS, MIS and CIS majors get access to MSDN, meaning you get Vista Ultimate for free. You get a login to MSDN, and "order" your software. They give you a legit key and then you go to the CS department office to "check out" a disc. Windows XP Pro was available this way for free, or around $16 to ship you a disc. They also have a lot of other software, but mostly business/enterprise related. Stuff like SQL server, Visual Studio, Visio, etc.

Back to the OP... welcome to the forums, poiboi23. You have quite a budget for such minimal requirements. Seriously, the tasks you listed are very... shall we say... NON-taxing to a computer. I'm not suprised however to see a $175 gaming video card recommended even though you said "not a gamer nor plan on doing any gaming in the future." Seems to be the norm around here for people to recommend parts based on what they need and not what you need. :roll: Anyways, here's my try at recommending you some stuff, with my comments on why I'd recommend those items, plus rough shipped cost estimates.

Antec NSK3480 case with power supply $90 shipped
The case is small, so doesn't take up much room. It also can be the basis for a really quiet system, which you'll come to appreciate over time. The hard drive mount uses really soft grommets (softest I've found on the market), the case has great ventilation and the included power supply (Earthwatts EA380) is one of the better budget units on the market with good output, low noise and high efficiency.

ASUS P5E-VM HDMI motherboard $140 shipped
Now, I normally won't just go out and recommend such an expensive board, but you did mention you'd like to try out overclocking and this board is really promising. It also has digital audio output and Firewire, for lots of options. Alternately if you weren't really keen on overclocking then I'd go with just a really cheap G31 chipset board (around $70 - half the price) or even an AMD board (with AMD processor of course).

Core 2 Duo E6750 $190 shipped
Best bang/buck on the higher end for Intel. If going AMD, then an x2 5200+ or 5600+ would be good. Use the included heatsink or alternately you can spend $30-60 on a nice "tower heatpipe" style heatsink for better overclocked performance (or lower noise).

MSI Geforce 8600GT $90 shipped after rebate
I seriously think you can get by with integrated video, but I think most people around here would have their panties tied into knots if you did that. This particular card would be a nice choice for a few reasons. It supports Nvidia PureVideo for "better" video playback and is at least gaming capable, so those around here (disclaimer: just a generality sincet there are so many - not intended to single out anyone in particular) who's minds can't grasp the fact that not everyone needs a super expensive gaming video card won't have their brains spontaneously explode. Of course the main reason why I choose this card out of the bunch is that it is passively cooled. There are many other passively cooled cards on the market, so feel free to shop around. Just before you buy one take a peek at the user reviews. If too many people have glitchy cards, then stay away from them. One such example would be the Gigabyte Radeon 2600 Pro. A few people said that theirs overheats. I own one and can say that, yes, the passive heatsink it has is insufficient to cool it unless case airflow is exceptional.

4GB DDR2-800 RAM $90 shipped
I choose this one because it meets JEDEC standards of CAS 5 at 1.8v. Don't worry that it doesn't have heatspreaders. The cool kids on the forums won't let you hang out with them anymore, but you'll know that you saved some money. Since RAM is so cheap, may as well get 4GB and call it a day.

250GB Seagate 7200.11 hard drive $70 shipped
Okay, this isn't really a 7200.11, but it is close enough. If 250GB isn't enough capacity, get a 500GB version of the "real" 7200.11 drive for $125. These are a really good performance value.

SATA DVD burner with DVDRAM and Lightscribe support $35 shipped
You probably won't ever use DVDRAM or Lightscribe, but for a couple bucks more, why not...

Total around $705 shipped, leaving you some bucks for an operating system. Remember to check with your department at school to see what options they have for their students to get cheap/free Microsoft software.

ALTERNATELY, you can get a $400 computer and just pocket the extra $300. Here's a rough layout for such a system (no links):

AMD dual core CPU $80
690G chipset motherboard $80 (make sure you find one with DVI or HDMI output)
2GB RAM $40
Antec NSK3480 case/power $90
250GB hard drive $70
DVDRW drive $35
Total $395 shipped

Based on your specified usage patterns, there is nothing that this $400 system can't do that a $700+ system can. For those tasks, very likely nobody would notice a performance difference.

 

[Q]

http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/s...figurator.aspx?mid=182

Great PC for under $530 (make sure to choose OS), plus it has 3 year warranty