Posted: 12/23/2010 6:52:36 PM EDT
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I've been operating off a computer I assembled a year ago, from parts I bought at Fry's electronics I needed a MB & CPU that would run off windows XP since we had software that had to be approved by the AZDRE and the current version doesn't have software available for it to use on Win 7.
I hate shopping Fry's Electronics...their anti-gun (signage) is something I can live without, (look your store is next to the ghetto, have drive through that shit to get to it), not to mention their prices are on par with BestBuy plus its a 1 hour drive one way. My computer which was running on a few dead sectors on the master drive finally pooped out when sector 1 died, I lost the OS (XP home edition), I should have known when it wouldn't defrag, disk clean up or system restore, that I was fucked. 
I finally got the comp to run again today but I lost every driver, and my graphics card accelerator along with everything that was installed on that computer, anything that I didn't get backed up on the external is lost. I tried freezing the drive to see if it would start up, that worked until I got the Sys message no Operating system was found.  Before that the computer would continuosly loop in restart.
I'd like to build a decent system that runs better than the old piece of shit I had: Emachines T2385 
2.30 GHz intel celeron 512mb DDR + add't 512mb chipset (how do you remove the gold plating off the contacts?  )
3D intel Extreme Graphics AGP, w/ an add-on accelerator package in 2001 this entire computer with big box monitor cost $900 -the Win XP full version had to shell another $200 for that. I like to play games such as COD, Brothers in Arms and face book applications, along with the flash games that get posted here. eta: going over the top. 
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i used to build (mostly midrange) systems from Newegg parts. it's just as cheap (or cheaper) now to get a pre-assembled desktop from HP or Dell, especially since you effectively get a licensed copy of Windows for free.
Newegg has a Core 2 Duo E7500 (3GHz) machine on sale right now for $399 and $9.99 shipping. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=83-155-017 DELL Vostro 230 MT(468-5909) Core 2 Duo E7500(2.93GHz) 2GB DDR3 160GB HDD Capacity Intel GMA X4500HD Windows 7 Professional 32-bit
yeah, the HD is small. big deal. make it your boot drive and put a 1TB samsung in next to it for $89. you can always upgrade the video as well. try building a similar system, including a copy of Win7 Pro 32bit, for the same price. it can't be done. ar-jedi ps: you should post a link to this thread in the urban commandos forum, GD moves pretty fast and once it's off the first page... |
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I would get at least a MB/ CPU combo that uses DDR3 ram...it's actually cheaper than DDR2 and you can use it in the future for something like Intel's latest stuff (Sandy Bridge). AMD 955 BE 144.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808 Giga GA-880GM-UD2H 89.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128439 G. Skill 4 Gb DDR3 53.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277 Corsair Builder 430 Watt PSU 24.00 (after rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139017&cm_re=corsair_power_supply-_-17-139-017-_-Product HIS ATI 6850 GPU (overclocks well, can be Xfired for cheap but needs more PSU) 179.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161348&cm_re=6850-_-14-161-348-_-Product I'll leave the case and HD up to you (I have a Silverstone FT02 and have gone to mainly Intel SSDs). This would be a great system that would be able to handle most any game at pretty high settings up to 1080p rez. |
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Bid on this and you'll be good to go.http://cgi.ebay.com/VELOCITY-EDGE-MX115-DESKTOP-CORE-2-QUAD-2-4G-4GB-500GB-/250745728546?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item3a619c2e22
or this http://cgi.ebay.com/Velocity-Micro-ProMagix-QUAD-CORE-GAMING-PC-POWERFUL-/110619435930?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item19c16ea39a not sure what this will go for but a lot more than it is now http://cgi.ebay.com/Core-i7-6GB-DDR3-1GB-DDR5-Radeon-HD5770-Gaming-PC-/290515121002?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item43a40cf36a |
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Quoted:
For that budget buy it in a box. The only reason to build any more is having a system to your specs money savings are gone. Actually, if you are a devoted gamer, you SHOULD build your system to get the best performance. However, as stated earlier in the thread, at your price point a box system from HP or Dell etc. will be your best bang for the buck hands down. The days of building cheaper than buying prebuilt systems is long gone and only the really hardcore users will need to custom build. |
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Quoted:
I would get at least a MB/ CPU combo that uses DDR3 ram...it's actually cheaper than DDR2 and you can use it in the future for something like Intel's latest stuff (Sandy Bridge). AMD 955 BE 144.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808 Giga GA-880GM-UD2H 89.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128439 G. Skill 4 Gb DDR3 53.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277 Corsair Builder 430 Watt PSU 24.00 (after rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139017&cm_re=corsair_power_supply-_-17-139-017-_-Product HIS ATI 6850 GPU (overclocks well, can be Xfired for cheap but needs more PSU) 179.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161348&cm_re=6850-_-14-161-348-_-Product I'll leave the case and HD up to you (I have a Silverstone FT02 and have gone to mainly Intel SSDs). This would be a great system that would be able to handle most any game at pretty high settings up to 1080p rez. I'm gonna go with the power supply, ram you listed, and to save a few bucks go with the 2.8ghz cpu. Havent decided on the mobo yet... At least I can upgrade to a better video card later when $ allows for it. I didn't want to have to buy new Power supply but I can see the old 230W not being quite enough if I upgrade in the future and $24 for a power supply thats cheap. Buy once cry once. Going over budget ohwell, I over spend on AR shit all the time. Only 2 problems I have with already built systems is the last 4 I bought, I've had to buy the full version of windows to complement the OEM builders version of windows plus I don't get to chose the parts that go inside Windows 7 Memory Required 1 GB RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit) so a 2 GB RAM is virtually full before I go to using it for my needs. Have to figure in the cost of the upgrade software to get full use of the program. Had to do that with XP Professional it was an additional $300 on top of the cost of the computer or else some functions couldn't be used. Disclaimer Use of this OEM System Builder Channel software is subject to the terms of the Microsoft OEM System Builder License. This software is intended for pre-installation on a new personal computer for resale. This OEM System Builder Channel software requires the assembler to provide end user support for the Windows software and cannot be transferred to another computer once it is installed. To acquire Windows software with support provided by Microsoft please see our full package "Retail" product offerings.
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Quoted: Quoted: For that budget buy it in a box. The only reason to build any more is having a system to your specs money savings are gone. Actually, if you are a devoted gamer, you SHOULD build your system to get the best performance. However, as stated earlier in the thread, at your price point a box system from HP or Dell etc. will be your best bang for the buck hands down. The days of building cheaper than buying prebuilt systems is long gone and only the really hardcore users will need to custom build. That is exactly what I am saying and that is what I did but if you only have $500 and just want a decent rig, out of the box is the way to go.... |
I can't rememember the last time I used ribbon cables.
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Quoted: Quoted: I would get at least a MB/ CPU combo that uses DDR3 ram...it's actually cheaper than DDR2 and you can use it in the future for something like Intel's latest stuff (Sandy Bridge). AMD 955 BE 144.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808 Giga GA-880GM-UD2H 89.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128439 G. Skill 4 Gb DDR3 53.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277 Corsair Builder 430 Watt PSU 24.00 (after rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139017&cm_re=corsair_power_supply-_-17-139-017-_-Product HIS ATI 6850 GPU (overclocks well, can be Xfired for cheap but needs more PSU) 179.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161348&cm_re=6850-_-14-161-348-_-Product I'll leave the case and HD up to you (I have a Silverstone FT02 and have gone to mainly Intel SSDs). This would be a great system that would be able to handle most any game at pretty high settings up to 1080p rez. I'm gonna go with the power supply, ram you listed, and to save a few bucks go with the 2.8ghz cpu. Havent decided on the mobo yet... At least I can upgrade to a better video card later when $ allows for it. I didn't want to have to buy new Power supply but I can see the old 230W not being quite enough if I upgrade in the future and $24 for a power supply thats cheap. Buy once cry once. Going over budget ohwell, I over spend on AR shit all the time. Only 2 problems I have with already built systems is the last 4 I bought, I've had to buy the full version of windows to complement the OEM builders version of windows plus I don't get to chose the parts that go inside Windows 7 Memory Required 1 GB RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit) so a 2 GB RAM is virtually full before I go to using it for my needs. Have to figure in the cost of the upgrade software to get full use of the program. Had to do that with XP Professional it was an additional $300 on top of the cost of the computer or else some functions couldn't be used. Disclaimer Use of this OEM System Builder Channel software is subject to the terms of the Microsoft OEM System Builder License. This software is intended for pre-installation on a new personal computer for resale. This OEM System Builder Channel software requires the assembler to provide end user support for the Windows software and cannot be transferred to another computer once it is installed. To acquire Windows software with support provided by Microsoft please see our full package "Retail" product offerings. I am currently using Windows 7 Pro 64bit bought for about 60 bucks using my wife's .edu email address. Do you know anybody in college that will shoot off an email for you? I highly recommend the black edition phenoms, even the slower ones. You can get a slight overclock with the stock heatsink and pretty much match the top end AMD chips speed with an after-market sink (Coolermaster Hyper 212 can be found for $15 on occasion). You are locked in at factory speeds when you buy an off-the-rack big box store computer. They don't let you tinker with the motherboard bios (which is a good thing for the unwashed masses). Seriously look at the cheaper gigabyte AM3 socket motherboards. I have built several for co-worker's and they have all been champs. You should be able to spend less than a hundred bucks on one. Have fun, let me know if you have any other questions. I've built at least 6 computers in the last 4 months and am pretty up on all the tech. |