Budget System Build

[Misery In Death]

This question is for some input on building a new computer, obviously. Here's what I have and what I'm planning to get:
Case: Aspire X-Infinity Black (Have)
Power Supply: Xclio 450BL 450W ($53)
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4-F ($84)
Processor: AMD Athlon64 3200+ Venice ($160) {Will be OC'ed a little bit, not too much though and I have AS5 to use}
Video Card: Sapphire X800GTO2 OEM ($196) {Will be unlocked and OC'ed a little bit}
RAM: Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2 1GB DDR400 XMS3200 ($99)
DVD Burner: Sony DRU-510A (Have)
Hard Drive: Samsung SP1203N 120GB (Have)
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit (Have)
Speakers: Logitech THX Z-5300e (Have)

My REAL question is, would make for a good budget gaming system? I only have roughly $600 to spend so anything that equals to that would be nice. And please, no Intel suggestions. I prefer AMD systems, always have, especially for gaming. TIA.

 

[zOaib]

This question is for some input on building a new computer, obviously. Here's what I have and what I'm planning to get:
Case: Aspire X-Infinity Black (Have)
Power Supply: Xclio 450BL 450W ($53)
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4-F ($84)
Processor: AMD Athlon64 3200+ Venice ($160) {Will be OC'ed a little bit, not too much though and I have AS5 to use}
Video Card: Sapphire X800GTO2 OEM ($196) {Will be unlocked and OC'ed a little bit}
RAM: Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2 1GB DDR400 XMS3200 ($99)
DVD Burner: Sony DRU-510A (Have)
Hard Drive: Samsung SP1203N 120GB (Have)
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit (Have)

My REAL question is, would make for a good budget gaming system? I only have roughly $600 to spend so anything that equals to that would be nice. And please, no Intel suggestions. I prefer AMD systems, always have, especially for gaming. TIA.

if i were u i would get the 3700+ since it has a 1mb l2 cache and is only 222 at newegg.com ........ and it will give u better n longer lasting performance for the money , and with that u r only going over 50 bucks with your 600 budget

 

[bruins004]

Hey Misery,
I know you are on a budget, but I dont want you to waste ur money on a crap PSU. I have never heard of that brand before. If I was you I would go with an Antec or OCZ. They are good PSUs that are reliable and you dont have to worry about frying ur system. Also, you might be able to save some money by buying your motheboard and CPU in a bundle. I was able to get an OEM processor and boxed MSI K8N Platinum motherboad (same exact bundle you are looking at) for about $200 (that was 6 months ago, should be cheaper). Check out www.pricewatch.com, thats where I found it. And good luck. If you need any other help just let me know.

 

[Misery In Death]

Well, the thing is that at the moment, I'm 19 and don't have a job. I'm currently living with my parents (until the end of next month when I go to Navy bootcamp) and $600 is pretty much all I have to spend. If I had the extra $50 or any way of getting it, I would surely go for the 3700+. And btw, thanks for the quick response.

 

[Misery In Death]

Hey Misery,
I know you are on a budget, but I dont want you to waste ur money on a crap PSU. I have never heard of that brand before. If I was you I would go with an Antec or OCZ. They are good PSUs that are reliable and you dont have to worry about frying ur system. Also, you might be able to save some money by buying your motheboard and CPU in a bundle. I was able to get an OEM processor and boxed MSI K8N Platinum motherboad (same exact bundle you are looking at) for about $200 (that was 6 months ago, should be cheaper). Check out www.pricewatch.com, thats where I found it. And good luck. If you need any other help just let me know.

I must suck at finding things on PriceWatch or something. lol I can't find any CPU/mobo combos on there like the one you said you got. Can you find a link or something for me? I'll be checking PriceWatch for a little while longer just because I don't like giving up on things. And as far as the power supply, I've read some good reviews about it. It has dual 12V rails (15A and 17A) so I don't think it's too bad.

 

[bruins004]

Just be careful with the PSU though. Ultra is another company that makes similar PSUs for $50 and have gotten good reviews. However, the volts tend to fluctuate more than quality PSUs. Also, many PSUs dont have overvolt or undervolt protection which, for me at least, is a necessity so I dont fry my computer. I found the Athlon 64 3200+ for $160 (same as you). But I found ur mobo for $64 here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130493&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=13-130-493). I guess I got lucky. But that still drops the price of ur mobo $20. I would put that money towards a PSU like an Antec TruePower 550W. It is $75 at (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103931). You might want to ask around for a good one as well.

 

[Misery In Death]

Good find. Only problem is that it's a Socket 754 and not 939. lol As for the power supply concerns, I wholeheartedly agree. I'm one of the people that likes to try things once and like I said, I've read some pretty good reviews about this power supply so I figured I'd give it a shot. I mean, if it burns up or something in the month or so I use it, there's something seriously wrong and I'll send it back and get something else. And I think if I were to pay $75 for a power supply, I would go with the Ultra X-Connect series.

 

[wazzledoozle]

The Xclio is an excellent PSU. Its been EOCF's PSU of the month for a few months now The new models are 24 pin and have sata connectors, so its all there.

Though instead of a 3200 Venice, get an opteron 144 socket 939-
http://www.tankguys.biz/opteron-cab2e-0546-fpmpw-p-1419.html

They are higher quality chips, and have 1 MB L2 cache. They are kinda hard to find though, so shop around. The CAB2E hit 2.8-3 GHz on air cooling
Froogle listing

The rest of your setup looks good

 

[Misery In Death]

Okay, my question is this now. If I can find an Opteron 144/146 within budget and is available, would I need to use registered and/or unbuffered RAM or could I use the RAM I've listed that I want?

 

[wazzledoozle]

Okay, my question is this now. If I can find an Opteron 144/146 within budget and is available, would I need to use registered and/or unbuffered RAM or could I use the RAM I've listed that I want?

They work with all the parts you already have. Look around that froogle listing for some place that has them in stock. I already filtered 4 star rated and above so all should be good

Although the Opteron and A64 are the same chips, some motherboard wont recognize them. You should probably check around and make sure that MSI K8N can recognize it. Otherwise I know this motherboard can-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157081

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

I agree with wazzle- Give your CPU a bump to keep up with the rest of your system.. other than that, as long as that psu holds up, looks good to go.

 

[Misery In Death]

Well, I got some good news. The bank apparently put my $546 deposit in twice so now I have almost $1100 to spend. I've been told that might be taken back within a few days so I'm going to spend it ASAP. lol New gaming rig, here I come.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Well, I got some good news. The bank apparently put my $546 deposit in twice so now I have almost $1100 to spend. I've been told that might be taken back within a few days so I'm going to spend it ASAP. lol New gaming rig, here I come.

wow this will either end great, or not so great... aka -$546 in the bank... lol

 

[Misery In Death]

Well, after much debating, I decided to change very few things. For starters, I got the CG stepping of the 3200+. I ordered a new power supply (Rosewill 500W modular power supply, has over/undervoltage and all that good stuff), I got me an actual copy of XP Pro (the person that built the computer I'm using now apparently used a bad copy or something 'cause the Update site doesn't work with it), and I changed to OCZ Gold Series RAM (2x512; 2-3-3-6). I think that should be good for now, and doesn't break the bank. If anyone wants actual links to the new/updated products, let me know and I'll get 'em.

 

[wazzledoozle]

The Xclio would have been better than the Rosewill. Rosewill=Generic

 

[Misery In Death]

Two reasons I ordered the Rosewill: #1. I had the money to do so and it was a cheap, decent modular power supply. #2. It's modular. I'm patient, but not patient enough to spend more than an hour or so cleaning my case so it's not cluttered. In any case, I'll post back once I get my system built and post a few benchmarks (probably 3DMark01/03/05 and a game or two) to let everyone know how it turned out, along with my final settings. And either way it turns out, I'll have a power supply for a back up, just in case.

Edit: wazzle, how's that 160GB WD? I ordered the 250GB version for $100 (forgot to mention it in my other post) and just wondering how good it is.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Two reasons I ordered the Rosewill: #1. I had the money to do so and it was a cheap,decent modular power supply. #2. It's modular. I'm patient, but not patient enough to spend more than an hour or so cleaning my case so it's not cluttered. In any case, I'll post back once I get my system built and post a few benchmarks (probably 3DMark01/03/05 and a game or two) to let everyone know how it turned out, along with my final settings. And either way it turns out, I'll have a power supply for a back up, just in case.

Edit: wazzle, how's that 160GB WD? I ordered the 250GB version for $100 (forgot to mention it in my other post) and just wondering how good it is.

Maybe im quick, but only takes me like 5 to 10 minutes to clean the wires up in my case

 

[Misery In Death]

Update: Last night I had $163 in my bank account, so I bought NFS:MW and CoD2 which should've brought my total down to about $60 or so. Well, checked it this morning just to make sure, and somehow, I had $385 in my account. Well, this prompted me to look at new cases. After a little looking around, I finally decided on the Antec P180.

To Dippy: Yeah, I'm kinda slow and I sit there and plan my routing before I actually do it. I'm not very intellectual (at least I don't think I am) but I do like to put a bit of time and planning into things. By no means am I saying you don't, I'm just saying that it takes me a while to do so.

Also worth mentioning, my original power supply, the Xclio, has apparently been "delivered" in a city 1.5 hours from me. The status on the tracking page says "Delivered" and so does the one on Newegg. I hate UPS. My ZipZoomFly order (mobo, OS, and processor) is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I love FedEx. Will post back as I recieve information or if anyone has any questions/comments on anything.

One final thing, thanks to everyone who has responded. I know I didn't follow some/all the advice, but I appreciate it nonetheless. And also a big thanks to techPowerUp! for the article on unlocked the GTO2. Greatly helped my decision on a video card.

 

[wazzledoozle]

Yeah, never use UPS unless you wanna play with fire. They steal stuff all the time, or they break it.