Computer $400 budget, help?

[Bluefox1115]

I would go with the 6000+ Windsor over the Brisbane, only 100mhz less and 1mb more L2. They added 100mhz to try and cover the difference of skimping on the L2, but in my mind that just won't cut it especially for a gamer.

it also runs a lot warmer, especially on stock cooling.

 

[silkstone]

Shadow's advice looks pretty solid, although the $49.99 seems pretty steep for a PSU. Personally i'd go for a generic brand one. But i know the majority of people would disagree with this decision.

You could recycle your case to save a few $$$ if looks aren;t important to you (then you also wouldn't need a PSU) - You'd have to check your connectors on your current PSU first tho and make sure they are correct - if not just buy an adapter.
You'd save $75 and be able to get a E5200 + P35 mobo. You can always upgrade your PSU and Case at a later date.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157121R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

 

[BrooksyX]

Shadow's advice looks pretty solid, although the $49.99 seems pretty steep for a PSU. Personally i'd go for a generic brand one. But i know the majority of people would disagree with this decision.

You could recycle your case to save a few $$$ if looks aren;t important to you (then you also wouldn't need a PSU) - You'd have to check your connectors on your current PSU first tho and make sure they are correct - if not just buy an adapter.
You'd save $75 and be able to get a E5200 + P35 mobo. You can always upgrade your PSU and Case at a later date.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157121R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

No good. Until he lists his system specs I am going to assume that his pc is not custom built and is probably a dell, hp, etc. These cases and psus are no good for a custom build. The psu will most likely not have enough watts or amps to properly power his system.

$50 is expensive!?! :shadedshu
No that is very reasonable. The PSU is the most important part in a system. If you get a bad psu it will probably destroy everything. I don't think he wants to learn a $400 lesson and have to start over again.

 

[1Kurgan1]

it also runs a lot warmer, especially on stock cooling.

Aftermarket coolers are cheap, but you can't just pickup 1mb of L2 that easily. But really even if temps are a bit high on the stock cooler, thats what it was designed to run with and he doesn't know much about comps. So he probably won't be OC'ing so should work nice for him.

 

[Jonathan5]

I already posted my current system specs. Alright, I think I'm going with Shadow's setup, but I was thinking about swapping out the case for this one because its free shipping - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147106 and swapping out the RAM with this ram because this also has free shipping - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227178

Shadow's setup cost me $415 with shipping, if I make the above exchanges I'll be at $417 with shipping, technically without =P . Let me know what you think of that, will that case work etc. The case and RAM were suggestions from JrRackinFan, so thanks.

 

[BrooksyX]

Yeah both of those should be fine.

And don't even bother listening to the windsor suggestion. It requires more than twice the power and puts of twice the amount of heat. The increase in l2 cache is not noticable. Ive had a 2mb l2 cache windsor athlon x2 and 1mb l2 cache brisbane athlon x2. I preferred the brisbane. It ran much cooler, used less power, and overclocked higher.

 

[Jonathan5]

Hmm... I'm pretty indecisive, but I guess I'm going to go with Shadow's original setup.

 

[BUCK NASTY]

Hmm... I'm pretty indecisive, but I guess I'm going to go with Shadow's original setup.

Trust me, it's a solid choice. Don't sink any more money into a platform that will be obsolete in 2 yrs or less. The PSU is worth it and Antec makes some of the best PSU's.

 

[Bluefox1115]

besides Corsair, yes they do. lol Also that Rosewill case you picked out is fine, it's all in what you want.

 

[kysg]

meh, I disagree on the board....there are better options for boards. and there are better options for hdd instead of the cheapest thing on the totem pole.

 

[Bluefox1115]

meh, I disagree on the board....there are better options for boards. and there are better options for hdd instead of the cheapest thing on the totem pole.

personally I would suggest the Seagate 7200.10 or 7200.11 series. as far as a motherboard, I prefer Asus, or a higher end Foxconn board, and for memory, Corsair..

 

[Bluefox1115]

I threw together a rather nice system in my opinion, although it does have onboard graphics, you can always upgrade later. here we are:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103272 -CPU $76 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184 -RAM $54.99 free shipping - $30 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186150 -Board $114.99 + $9.39 shipping - $20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262 -HDD $54.99 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024 -Case and PSU $99.99 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171 -DVD/CD. $24.99 free shipping

Totals out to $435.34 with shipping, but you also have $50 in mail in rebates.. So in the end of it all, you spend $385.34.

 

[Bluefox1115]

Also.. I recently built someone a gaming system, and used the Foxconn Destroyer board, because she was looking for expandability and an upgradable system, and the onboard GeForce 8200 graphics is what she is using right now with only 2GB of ram, and she's getting about 40 to 60FPS in WoW.. so it's rather livable.

 

[kysg]

Depends on what OP wants if he wants gaming he'd have to option but to go shadows build though I disagree with the board would pic a 780g with hopes to move to phenom as to avoid the drop in HT by adding phenom.

4gb of ram is negated....depends if he chooses to keep xp or move to vista if so add another 100bucks unless he already has it.

vid card...depends if you want to do gaming if so get 4830 or heck even go for a 4670, 9800GT or 9600GT... if you want to play oldskool and not next get then go onboard.

reasonable route I would think would be 780g w/athlon x2 -> to phenomII w/4830 or 9800GT
but that is for the OP to decide.

I also argue 790GX is unreasonable as I believe OP stated there is no OC.

 

[ShadowFold]

If he is going to be playing Warhammer he needs a 4830 or something higher. They did not optimize it very well at all. My friends 9500GT can't play it for crap.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Whatever you do please don't go cheap on the PSU. You WILL regret it.

 

[Bluefox1115]

Whatever you do please don't go cheap on the PSU. You WILL regret it.

I second that. So any comments or idea on the setup I came up with?

 

[BUCK NASTY]

I threw together a rather nice system in my opinion, although it does have onboard graphics, you can always upgrade later. here we are:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103272 -CPU $76 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184 -RAM $54.99 free shipping - $30 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186150 -Board $114.99 + $9.39 shipping - $20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262 -HDD $54.99 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024 -Case and PSU $99.99 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171 -DVD/CD. $24.99 free shipping

Totals out to $435.34 with shipping, but you also have $50 in mail in rebates.. So in the end of it all, you spend $385.34.

Wow, another solid build. Nice choice on the mobo & case/psu. Always liked Foxconn. There is some tough decision making to be done

 

[Bluefox1115]

Thanks Buck. I acutally have quite a few people asking me to build systems for them locally, and this is pretty much my recommended setup to them, for everyday use, web browsing, and such. They have all asked for a budget between $400 and $500. With a $500 budget, you can add a keyboard and mouse, speakers, and a wireless card if that interests you(someone requested wireless here). These are also systems that will be running a dual core, but have the capability and native support for the Phenom quad's, more RAM, more HDD's, and dedicated graphics.