Tight budget, Need some suggestions

[jcgamo88]

http://www.fileden.com/files/2...8/432843/MWSnap233.png

That's my build, I need any suggestions for better performance but I can't spend more than $5 more than the current subtotal, don't worry about shipping too much however.

I'm making this for a friend who is rushing off to college and needs every penny. I'm always looking for information on hardware so spill that too, but in terms of parts keep it in the same price range please.

I'm just in hurry to get the best build for the cash, and I don't mind discussion.

 

[JustaGeek]

Looks not bad for an "economical" build.

I would ditch the "Biostar" MB and the Video Card and would get this one instead (ASUS w/ Integrated NVidia 6100):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131183

or this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131040

Good luck!

 

[jcgamo88]

I'd drop to a 7600gs if need be, but I want this guy to have some decent graphics ability so he can kill some time if he ever gets done "studying"

 

[jcgamo88]

Can this be moved into General Hardware? Seems more people respond there and I don't want to be deleted for spamming.

 

[jcgamo88]

I'm mostly looking for criticism on the motherboard. I'm weak when it comes to choosing a motherboard.

 

[dclive]

That looks good to me. I wouldn't change the video card - the 7600GT is an excellent card, good for many of today's games and lightning fast for yesterday's. The motherboard is fine; you can find better deals for pretty much all that you've posted if you look at Fry's and if you find deals at bensbargains and techbargains, but absent some comparison shopping, those are good prices.

I would get 2GB of RAM. Find a deal and it's about $15 more.

 

[dclive]

Also bear in mind Dell's latest discounts if you can suffer integrated video; they have deals in the $399 range with included 17" LCD screens...

 

[daveybrat]

Everything looks good on there. Nice parts for a low budget system that will be more than capable of playing most games. The X2 4000+ 2.1GHz Brisbane cpu is $69 retail box. That's only about $7 more than the 3600+, so that might be the only suggested upgrade option if he wants a little more speed.

Other than that, looks good!

 

[jcgamo88]

Also, I found a newsletter from newegg making the 3800+ 65Wtdp cost only .50 more. Would the 3800+ OC better than the 65nm 3600+ with stock cooling?

I'm hunting down whatever deals I can find for these parts or better! So thanks for the site names dclive!

And for some reason I just can't stand seeing a microATX board in any rig!

 

[jcgamo88]

K, I found about $25 in savings from those sites via gfx card, HD, and RAM. Thanks.

Side Note: I have a spare DVD burner so I don't need to buy another for the build!