Building a budget PC

[MotoMan]

Ok so I see that many of us here have posted about video cards, hard drives and such wanting to know what's decent and what's real expensive. Most of us don't want to go out an blow a ton of money to build a pc that fits our needs.

I'm currently looking to build a budget pc that I can do some gaming on but doesn't have to be the best of the best when it comes to components. I just don't want to have to replace parts here in 2-3 years cause they are way out dated. My current system has lasted much longer then I thought it would (going on 6 years now).

Just thought it would be cool to have a place where you can post your thoughts or things to keep in mind when building a budget or a pc for that fact. Also if you have any sites to recommend for getting parts and prices that would be cool too. Also sites that give you the more technical side would be great too.

Maybe we can even get a sticky on this.

Here's what I'm wanting, trying to keep under $500 if possible

Processor: something that's a 2-3gig dual core or equivilent

Mobo: don't know enough about them to know what i'd need.

Video card: at least a 256mb or a 512mb if it's affordable (prefer nvidia)

Hard drive: Prolly a 200-300gig is plent enough for me

Sound card: No clue on this (i'm way behind the loop)

Power supply: (prolly something like a 400-500watt, needs to be enough to run everything)

I also want to make sure it to have a case and fans to keep things plenty cool
Also want several extra USB ports as well as a CD-R / DVD-R drive

If you know what components could fit this that would work together cool, let me know. Suggestions are always welcome.

My budget is to keep it under $500 if I can.

[flybye70ss]

I picked up my whole new comp during the black friday sales:

E6750 core 2 duo & abit Ip35-e mobo combo, $198
Evega 8600GT 512mb vid card, $99
2gb corsiar 800mhz 6400 ram, $29.99 after rebate
320gb maxtor SATA HDD, $50
450w power supply, $9.99 after rebate
New cooler master black case, Free after rebate

Granted, these deals are no longer valid, but frys has similar sales all the time. It just may take longer than 1 morning to get all the parts you need.

The mobo has 7.1 surround onboard with HD audio so i did not bother with a sound card.

I can run all source games on max averaging 80 fps in DOD:s and 150 fps in CS:S
No complaints at all and i started to overclock 2.8Ghz and at ide it is 24 degrees C.

my next upgrade is an 8800 series card, but i will probably just wait until the new cards come out next year since what i have is ok for now.

[ram57ta]

Any mid-level motherboard could probably do what you want.
If you are truly concerned about sound quality, get a motherboard with 7.1 sound built in (optical or coax digital out), and then get some used digital speakers on Ebay or watch craigslist..I like Altec Lansing's THX speakers but there are many out there that sound retarded good for a PC. I decided a long time ago that high dollar add on soundcards really arent necessary. You can watch the sale flyers for Fry's, MicroCenter, or ebay and pick up a pretty good PCI-E video card for under 50 bucks unless you want a 512mb monster video card. I think most any modern 256mb or better PCI-E video card can do insane graphics. Tigerdirect.com has some pretty good combo deals on mobo/processor/memory/case. I just bought a complete system to use in my garage for streaming music, watching tv, surfing the net for 180 which included a case+450 watt pwr supply, motherboard, 3.3ghz celeron D processor, 1gb memory, fan, and a samsung DL +- dvd burner. Micro Center sells a cheapo keyboard for 3 bucks, an optical mouse for 3 bucks, and Frys advertises 19, 20, 21,22, and 24" widescreen screens all the time for 199-300 bucks. Hard-drives are getting cheap as hell so just pick what size you want and go get one on sale. If you have ANY of the components already, you will save money. If you look in the right places, shop around, and try to find a few used parts I would say you could build a MONSTER computer for under 500 bucks..prolly for under 400. Software is so easy to get for free or almost free I dont even consider it into the equation.

[MotoMan]

Ok so i'm browsing tigerdirect.com and I see SLI ready barebones kits for sale. What's the difference between an Intel kit to an SLI ready kit?

[ram57ta]

I think an SLI motherboard is one that is designed to use 2 PCI-E Video cards so you can operate multiple displays for like a panoramic widescreen experience. I might be wrong. Look it up. An Intel kit basically means you are getting a motherboard that either is designed for or comes with an Intel Pentium 4, Pentium 4 D (dual core), Celeron, Celeron D, or Core 2 Duo. An AMD kit would be a board that is compatible with or designed for an AMD Sempron, Athlon, Athlon 64, dual core etc. Intel combos usually cost slightly more than AMD's but I think most people using them would say the AMD's prolly get you more bang for the buck.

[jewrrick]

ok I put this together real quick and you will have a little over $60 worth of mail in rebates:

COOLER MASTER Centurion
Item #: N82E16811119106 $49.99 mail in rebate

GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard $74.99
Item #: N82E16813128034

MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC GeForce 8600GTS 256MB $144.99 mail in rebate
Item #: N82E16814127284

Rosewill RV450-2 ATX 2.01 450W Power Supply $29.99
Item #: N82E16817182015

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 Processor $87.50
Item #: N82E16819103751

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $87.00 mail in rebate
Item #: N82E16820145034

Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s $66.99
Item #: N82E16822148261

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black PATA $27.99
Item #: N82E16827151151

[MotoMan]

[QUOTE=jewrrick]ok I put this together real quick and you will have a little over $60 worth of mail in rebates:

COOLER MASTER Centurion
Item #: N82E16811119106 $49.99 mail in rebate

GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard $74.99
Item #: N82E16813128034

MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC GeForce 8600GTS 256MB $144.99 mail in rebate
Item #: N82E16814127284

Rosewill RV450-2 ATX 2.01 450W Power Supply $29.99
Item #: N82E16817182015

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 Processor $87.50
Item #: N82E16819103751

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $87.00 mail in rebate
Item #: N82E16820145034

Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s $66.99
Item #: N82E16822148261

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black PATA $27.99
Item #: N82E16827151151[/QUOTE]


What site did you use to put that together from?

[Stang2be]

[QUOTE=MotoMan]What site did you use to put that together from?[/QUOTE]


Where all pc geeks go... newegg.com

Good prices, good shipping times and some items might have free shipping or rebates.

[jewrrick]

[QUOTE=Stang2be]Where all pc geeks go... newegg.com

Good prices, good shipping times and some items might have free shipping or rebates.[/QUOTE]
ditto... tiger has good specials on occasion but newegg.com is the best place for consistantly good prices. your other option would be to buy my setup for 500 and save yourself shipping and time puting it together, and it is probably faster.

[MotoMan]

[QUOTE=jewrrick]ditto... tiger has good specials on occasion but newegg.com is the best place for consistantly good prices. your other option would be to buy my setup for 500 and save yourself shipping and time puting it together, and it is probably faster.[/QUOTE]


What's your setup?

[jewrrick]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+
I don't remember the exact mobo but it will hold 4 sticks of ram and is SLI ready
BFG 7800GTX
75 gig WD Raptor 10,000 RPM hard drive
250 gig storage drive
2 gigs of ram
600w SLI certified Powersupply
DVD-RW/RAM with lightscribe

maybe a few other things but thats all I can think of at this point