My new budget build

[KaizerSosa81]

UPDATE: So I took the plunge and finally ordered the new parts and should receive it all on Monday. I went over my original budget due to the fact the M5A97 was out of stock (day before I ordered too). I went with this instead:

ASUS Sabretooth 990 FX
AMD FX-6100 3.3GHz
Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB
G.Skill Sniper Memory 1600MHz (2x4GB) Low Voltage model
Seagate 500GB 7200rpm SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive
Raidmax 630w Semi-Modular Power Supply
Sentley Optimus Extreme Mid-Tower Case
Cooler Master Hyper 101

Monday afternoon/evening, I'll update with the status of my new build (with images, probably video if I'm up for it). Once again, thanks for the input from all the guys here. It was very much apprecitated.

[Daniel]

Why no Intel and NVidia?

[Pedz]

Because they're more expensive Daniel . That looks like a nicce build, although, as I have said to many others, and will continue to do so, if you can wait until Feb this year, the 7xxx series from AMD will be released, meaning either cheaper 6xxx series GPUs, or just better performance for the same cash.

[rushn]

i would go with a phenom II X4 the new zosma uses low power the phenoms produce a little bit better results in games then FX chips

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103995

once software takes full advantage of the new FX chips phenoms will be left in the dust so if you are willing to wait then I would go with the FX but I would chip out a litle more on the processor


also that PSU you have is more then enough

if you go with the 8 core FX chip you will still be using 500 W max (around 490)

if you really could I would get the 6 core or the 8 core bulldozer chip

also you can get a cheaper GPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814161389

this one is cheaper and has free shipping and if you do the paper work you will get the rebate

I only experienced one bad thing with HIS my friend ordered a 4 series card and it came dead of the box

but after making one phone call the company send him a replacment I am sure today the quality service is better

for the mobo if you want to save a few bucks I would get gigabyte
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128521

and for the case I think you save quit a bit on that if you get a cheaper one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811166055

or
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=1842


fir HDD I would get Seagate baracudda it would be cheaper because of free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148767

your optical drive and memory looks good otherwise


if you want to dish out a little more money to get a better cpu

then use this combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDeal ... mbo.795878

[sharpie]

Rushn, for the MOBO you tried to link, you linked the Radeon again by accident :3
Newegg.com - HIS H687FN1GD Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card <---


Here's a whole list of MSI mobos on Newegg
Newegg.com - MSI motherboards

[rushn]

Rushn, for the MOBO you tried to link, you linked the Radeon again by accident :3
Newegg.com - HIS H687FN1GD Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card <---


Here's a whole list of MSI mobos on Newegg
Newegg.com - MSI motherboards

thanks fixed it

was suppose to be a gygabite

[KaizerSosa81]

Yeah, I know in some cases I could have gone a bit cheaper but I trust Sapphire and Asus more than I do HIS and Gigabyte (personal experience thing).

The case I went with comes with more pre-installed fans which I want to have as I won't have a cooler for awhile. Plus, I think it's a pretty decent case for the price.

That Seagate Barracuda was not that price when I went shopping so thanks (rushn) for linking that, it must have changed because that was the only reason I went with a Hitachi - trust me. So I'm swapping that out, it'll be worth the few bucks for a brand I trust.

And yes, I choose the FX for a reason. I'll be willing to wait for that tech curve. For the games I'll be playing it'll perform just fine.

[rushn]

Yeah, I know in some cases I could have gone a bit cheaper but I trust Sapphire and Asus more than I do HIS and Gigabyte (personal experience thing).

The case I went with comes with more pre-installed fans which I want to have as I won't have a cooler for awhile. Plus, I think it's a pretty decent case for the price.

That Seagate Barracuda was not that price when I went shopping so thanks (rushn) for linking that, it must have changed because that was the only reason I went with a Hitachi - trust me. So I'm swapping that out, it'll be worth the few bucks for a brand I trust.

And yes, I choose the FX for a reason. I'll be willing to wait for that tech curve. For the games I'll be playing it'll perform just fine.

well I strongly reccomend getting either a 6 or 8 core fx chip

it will be mor efuture proof if you are willing to dish out a little more

look at the combo on the bottom

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDeal ... mbo.795878

[LITOralis.nMd]

hiya,
You live on the east coast, do You live near a Micro Center location. I highly advise checking them out to compare to NewEgg. If you live near Micro Center, and have a facebook account, go to Micro center's facebook page and in left column click the "exclusive deal" link, you can buy a AMD FX 4100 @ Microcenter B&M $79.99 after Facebook Like [URL="http://www.facebook.com/MicroCenter?sk=app_263996086966257"]http://www.facebook.com/MicroCenter?sk=app_263996086966257
Micro Center - Computers, Electronics, Computer Parts, Networking, Gaming, Software, and more!

Here are some recent posts I made on new builds:

LITOralis.nMd;1718503']Answer these questions and people can better help you,

1. Are you a high school or University student with a .edu email address? If so, you might be able to get your OS for $30.
2. Do you have existing parts to reuse?
3. Liquid or air cooling?
4. Do you live near a Micro Center or Fry's?

Check this out:

My suggestion is based upon finding the best prices, not on specific hardware...

start checking online deals websites daily:
my personal preferred bargain hunting websites:
slickdeals.net
fatwallet.com
bensbargains.net
dell.com outlet deals in conjunction with coupons I find on the web.
amazon.com Gold box deals
email subscription to newegg.com for their daily deals
email subscription to us.ncix.com for their weekly deals

others I check from time to time:
techbargains.com
subscribe to tigerdirect.com email daily deals.
subscribe to buy.com email daily deals.

Sign up for accounts on slickdeals.net and fatwallet.com
You can create keyword searches that are instantly emailed to your email address you sign up with,
set up email deals alerts for "Radeon" "gtx" "psu" "i5-2500k" "ssd"
set up a filter in your email to put all those alert emails to a single folder.
you'll get some desktops and notebooks mixed in the emails, but it's a pretty good otherwise.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Piecemealing the system together by buying online retailers' loss leaders one at a time can save you upwards of 15% on the system as a whole. It takes some time and time is money, so it's up to you.

This week us.ncix.com has good deals on i5-2500k+mobo combo deals.

Check out the Dell outlet for gaming systems, if you hit it just right you can get a scratch and dent system for less than the cost of parts, and the system comes with WIn7Pro x64 which will cost you at a minimum $50 to buy. Finding those dell outlet coupons is tricky though.

As for waiting to buy the your GPU until the new ATI HD 7XXX and Nvidia cards come out, I agree with Pedz, those middle range ATI 78XX cards look like the way to go.

LITOralis.nMd;1589060']I was going to write up a full post, but I'll just post a link to my source:

Free MSDNAA Access for all IEEE/ACM Student Members - 275 Programs /inc Windows 7, Vista, & XP Pro No Classes Get Eight Windows 7 Licenses for $19 if you are a HS / College Student - Slickdeals.net

You can get 6 to 8 copies of Windows Server 2008 r2 for $32 if you are a student.
You can then turn Windows Server 2008 r2 into a workstation equivalent to Windows 7
Convert your Windows Server 2008 R2 to a Workstation! -

IEEE - 2011 IEEE Membershipand Society Membership Dues

https://campus.acm.org/public/qj/QuickJ ... pe=Student



<option value="1395">Windows Server 2008 Datacenter, Enterprise and Standard (x86) - DVD (Spanish)</option>

<option value="1218">Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard - DVD</option>
<option value="1240">Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard - DVD (Francais)</option>
<option value="1220">Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard 64bit - DVD</option>
<option value="1585">Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web (x64) - DVD (Chinese-Taiwan)</option>
<option value="1477">Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web (x64) - DVD (English)</option>


Also, the ACM emagazine is pretty interesting read. I've used quite a bit of the other software available in my Masters program... thought PR players would like to see this if building acustom PC, save US$60 to $100 on the OS, and have plenty of licenses to build virtual machines.

In the USA, it' simple, if you live near Micro Center or Fry's or NCIX, go there and buy from them.

These are curent $550 budget builds, upgrade as you see fit.. i.e. cpu/mobo/gpu

Quote:https://www.microcenter.com/InsiderA...MHxOHmWdIAOuNX

YOUR CART ?
Price Total Quantity
Biostar A780L3G AM3 760G mATX Motherboard (combo deal)
SKU: 140442
$49.99 $0.00
AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Boxed Processor
SKU: 133777
$129.99 $129.99
Corsair XMS 8GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) CL9 Dual Cha...
SKU: 102889
$44.99
$24.99
after Rebate
[Details] $44.99
Thermaltake V4 Black Edition VM30001W2Z ATX Mid To...
SKU: 775288
$39.99
$29.99
after Rebate
[Details] $39.99
LG 22x DVD?RW Burner with Dual Layer Support - OEM
SKU: 822379
$17.99 $17.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit OEM (P...
SKU: 419341
$109.99 $109.99
Diamond 6770PE51GB AMD Radeon HD 6770 1024MB GDDR5...
SKU: 164764
$99.99
$79.99
after Rebate
[Details] $99.99


ORDER SUMMARY ?
Shipping Options

select

select
Subtotal $558.93
Tax $19.56 to $50
Rebates: $58.00
Grand Total ~$520 to ~$550

Or these options...

Quote: AMD PHENOM II X4 840 Boxed Processor HDX840WFGMBOX AMD PHENOM II X4 840 Boxed Processor HDX840WFGMBOX
SKU: 787382 $59.99 $59.99
ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS Socket AM3+ 760G mATX AMD Mo...
SKU: 083790 $59.99 $59.99

Quote: MSI H61M-P23 (B3) LGA 1155 H61 mATX Intel Motherbo...
SKU: 381186 $14.99 $14.99
Intel Core i3 2100 LGA 1155 3.1GHz Boxed Processor
SKU: 369124 $99.99 $99.99

[KaizerSosa81]

rushn;1720240']well I strongly reccomend getting either a 6 or 8 core fx chip

it will be mor efuture proof if you are willing to dish out a little more

look at the combo on the bottom

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

It'll be a hundred bucks more for that combo than the current GPU+CPU combination I have in my potential build. Can't afford it, I'm pushing my limits already and I still have to get a competent keyboard and mouse, Windows 7 64-bit OS, etc.

LITOralis.nMd;1720243']hiya,
You live on the east coast, do You live near a Micro Center location. I highly advise checking them out to compare to NewEgg. If you live near Micro Center, and have a facebook account, go to Micro center's facebook page and in left column click the "exclusive deal" link, you can buy a AMD FX 4100 @ Microcenter B&M $79.99 after Facebook Like

Looks like a good deal but... I can't access their site.

[rushn]

well what you picked out is about as good as you are going to get with that amount of money

[LITOralis.nMd]

Check this out,
7 items from MicroCenter
2 items, RAM AND GPU you chose, from NewEgg
Budget BUild AMD FX 4100 Jan 2012 - Pastebin.com

Sub Total is 599
Rebates of 50

Total Total is 549.92 for your exact same build.
Plus tax
Plus gas and time to drive to MicroCenter
Plus OS.

[rushn]

LITOralis.nMd;1720734']Check this out,
7 items from MicroCenter
2 items, RAM AND GPU you chose, from NewEgg
Budget BUild AMD FX 4100 Jan 2012 - Pastebin.com

Sub Total is 599
Rebates of 50

Total Total is 549.92 for your exact same build.
Plus tax
Plus gas and time to drive to MicroCenter
Plus OS.

if you go with that you can get a better cpu even with all the savings

good hunting

[KaizerSosa81]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, and the PMs (LITOralis.nMd) but I'm sticking with the current list I have up. I'll update in a couple weeks when it's here and done.

[rushn]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, and the PMs (LITOralis.nMd) but I'm sticking with the current list I have up. I'll update in a couple weeks when it's here and done.

well keep us updated on what you decide on

[KaizerSosa81]

Updated my opening post. Changed up the ram and psu, added an after market cooler since I have a bit more for spending. Will be building it the second week of February and update again.

[rushn]

Updated my opening post. Changed up the ram and psu, added an after market cooler since I have a bit more for spending. Will be building it the second week of February and update again.

why do you need an aftermarket cooler?

are you going to be overclocking?

and if you are that cooler is not for overclocking

the cooler that the cpu comes with will be about as good as the one you bought.

I wouldnt waste money on a cooler

also I would get

this PSU
I recommend 80 plus certified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817182200
this one comes with a lot of cables
I also have havent heard alot of good things about raidmax

also that case is a little pricey you sure you want to spend a good chunk of money on that

[KaizerSosa81]

why do you need an aftermarket cooler?

are you going to be overclocking?

and if you are that cooler is not for overclocking

the cooler that the cpu comes with will be about as good as the one you bought.

I wouldnt waste money on a cooler

The 101 is more of a compulsive instinct I suffer from... I don't like AMD stock coolers, and getting one that is slightly better for 13 bucks isn't going to break my wallet. So the purchase is deemed fit in my book.

The case and PSU are just fine, this is where personal tastes take account. But I'm going over some final stuff now on Newegg and seeing how much this will cost me. It isn't so bad and as I had stated I'm receiving more on my tax refund than expected so I might make some last minute changes here.

[rushn]

AMD heatsink for bulldozer CPUs is diffrent then th ephenom and semprons ones

its a lot bigger


you can use the saved money on a better PSU or a better cpu if you get more money after taxes

[KaizerSosa81]

It's bigger than their other stock coolers yes, but people have been complaining left to right about it all over the web, I'd like to have a better solution readily available to me at the cost of a mere 13 bucks.

And unfortunately those 13 USD reverted to anything else in the build besides the 101 will not grant me any room to adjust for anything further. Newegg upped the price on the XFX Double D this morning back to 190 USD so I have to revert and settle with the Sapphire one I had picked out before. Can't really wiggle around as much as I thought I could of when I posted last night (wife is breathing down my neck too lol) so I'm going to have to be contempt with what I have listed so far.

Once again thanks for the help, moving tomorrow and should have the Internet and new PC back up between the 8th-13th. I'll let you know hows it going along by that time.