[pure]

Hey guys, this is my first attempt at building a computer, and I really need some guidance as to whether all the parts I choose will work together without conflict (im not too good at these things) I would appreciate some veterans input on my parts and the prices. I am on an extreme budget, the cheaper, the better. Input such as: if there is something that works better than what I chose, for around the same price, or if there is something cheaper that will work just as efficiently, and especially if anything is being bottlenecked, feedback like that is what i'm looking for.

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186151

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184

GFX Card & Processor Combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.160275

PSU & CASE Combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.161149

HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148231

Grand Total: $331.78

As I said, if there is something that won't work with something else (im sure I messed up somewhere) please inform me. Any bottlenecking, compatibility issues, etc. would be much appreciated. If you know any cheaper combinations than please do tell, the more that grand total shrinks, the better. I also have a couple of older DVD drives that will hopefully work with this setup.

Thanks for taking the time to help out a newbie (My 360 broke, yes i'm a console nub :P)

[Wigl4me]

Good job on all the info...You're new? Anyway, you have clearly had some guidance. If not, you're a genius! Everything you mentioned will be beyond FINE outside of an ALIENWARE computer. I would assume you're running windows Vista, not a big fan, but it will work. If you can get an XP disk, I would prefer it just for the fact that Vista is not fond of ASUS products. Other than that, you should be just fine.

Chester Sohoski

Mod edit: removed email address

[pure]

Originally Posted by Wigl4me

Good job on all the info...You're new? Anyway, you have clearly had some guidance. If not, you're a genius! Everything you mentioned will be beyond FINE outside of an ALIENWARE computer. I would assume you're running windows Vista, not a big fan, but it will work. If you can get an XP disk, I would prefer it just for the fact that Vista is not fond of ASUS products. Other than that, you should be just fine. If not, email me at xvfossen@verizon.net I would be happy to help.

Chester Sohoski

Why thank you! Heh, well, I've been a CS gamer for a while, so I know a bit about PCs from all the troubleshooting over the years, back a few years ago I was about to build a PC (back when the 6600GT was THE budget card to get haha) but ran into financial issues, so I just went with my 360. It just got a scaler chip error (2nd Xbox that's crapped out) so I'm done with consoles, tired of the controllers and horrible textures.

But yes I am basically new to the hardware side of computers, I just tried to pick out what I felt was the best quality for the price using my knowledge from back then, glad to know it worked out It's amazing how the pricing drops so fast.

Thanks for the input, I am very excited about this since I have never had the priviledge to run games without putting everything on low. Up until 2007 I had been gaming with my GeForce 2

Oh, and yes I still got my XP disk so no worries there.

[Gulo Luseus]

I have to disagree. Firstly, Vista as far as I am aware has NO problems with Asus, any more that it does with any other supplier. I have 3 rigs running Asus boards, and have yet to see aVista problem. If anything, they run well together.
Second, I think you could do better on the mobo. A micro atx is often more expensive, and as you have a full atx tower, this may not be the best option. You only have 2 meomory slots, as opposed to the 4 you get on a full size board- not a problem with the mem you have chosen, but something to bear in mind. Only 2 PCI slots also imposes limits on what you can nstall, but again this is not a problem if you are happy with it. I dont know newegg or US availability, but suggest you look around for a different board as it would probably be 5-10 dollars less for afull size board.
Memory- sound choice
CPU- ditto. Not the fastest in the world, but for what you want, perfect choice
Graphics card- not a big expert on ATI (even though I just started using them), but might be worth getting something abit better if you want to play newer games. a Nvidia 8800 is pretty cheap now, and will keep you going for a while with the capacity to play games nicely.
Case- dont know them, but loks ok
PSU- We dont have rosewill in the UK ( thank the lord) but from what I have read in other posts over time, seems theat a fair few people think they are not good. Suggest you look for a named brand, and wait for some recommendations from others- you can buy a cheap one, but dont expect it to do the job. A bad PSU can blow a rig and the extra money here is a sound investment.
HD- you might want to think f getting something larger. 80 Gb is pretty small, and you would find room tight fairly quickly. In terms of proce, a 200Gb shouldnt bw much more, and would probably be a good idea.

Pleae dont take the above negatively, just trying to give a measured opinion so that you get the best you can

[pure]

Originally Posted by Gulo Luseus

Pleae dont take the above negatively, just trying to give a measured opinion so that you get the best you can

Thanks for the input, I appreciate your interest in helping me out.

1st, you're probably right about the HDD space. Would this work fine?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148230

I'll also look into the PSU's and their reliability.

And onto the graphics card, could I maybe get some recommendations? The only other cards around that price (a bit higher) are 8600GTs and 9500's and 4650s and cards like that. Do those work considerably better? Excuse my lack of knowledge in this area, I just have no clue about how well these newer cards perform compared to eachother, but I gladly accept input in that area, as I definitely want the best performing GFX card I can get for the price. Oh, and I don't see any 8800's near that price range.

Going off of this list
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...page=1&bop=And
Are there any cards under/around $65 that would work considerably better than the 4550? Is it like the LE of the budget cards? lol

And onto the mobo. I can grab anything on this page
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...25%20-%20%2450
The thing is, most of the cheaper mobos are Micro ATX, although there are a few that arent. I could use some aid since I'm not too sure about compatibility. I am ok with the 2x RAM slots though since I never plan on adding more than 4GB.

Again, thanks alot for the helpful advice.

[Wigl4me]

Gulo Luseus is probably correct, I Myself have had issues with ASUS but if he says they work...then they work! This cat knows his SH%&...just look at the threads. I hope I didnt lead you in the wrong direction but for the price and the application, I thought you did ok. And to to Gulo FU$&*@*$ *&#^*&#^$*& ^^$&&.... just kidding. Perhaps one day you will be on my programming team!

Chester Sohoski

[pure]

Originally Posted by Wigl4me

Gulo Luseus is probably correct, I Myself have had issues with ASUS but if he says they work...then they work! This cat knows his SH%&...just look at the threads. I hope I didnt lead you in the wrong direction but for the price and the application, I thought you did ok. And to to Gulo FU$&*@*$ *&#^*&#^$*& ^^$&&.... just kidding. Perhaps one day you will be on my programming team!

Chester Sohoski

Well I believe you were right too, what I picked out would originally work fine, he just suggested a few tweaks that may help out in the long run.

I need to figure out how these cheaper graphics cards compare to eachother...

[BG-0]

The Foxconn mobo is fine if you really don't want to upgrade. Both hard drives are just as fine, of course 15% more $ for 100% more space is a better deal though.
4650 for 50 $ after MIR would be a good choice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102805 or if you really want all out of your machine, overclocked, superbly cooled Radeon 4670, the king of budget cards: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161252
The PSU is crape, forget it. Corsair has this great budget PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139008 20% off sale ends soon, hurry or if you miss the sales, maybe this one suits you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341010
And then for the case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147114 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156225 (red version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156226 )
CPU: might want to change to a 5000 regular. 4850e is fine, but mostly designed for tin cans without ventilation and very weak PSUs. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103211
RAM: good choice, but with the rebate gone missing again, there are better things for your money. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134730 it's not much, but 10$ is money. Get a couple of apples or something.


BTW another 8 $ would get you again double the space on the HDD, and free shipping for it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136098

[Cookiegal]

Originally Posted by Wigl4me

Gulo Luseus is probably correct, I Myself have had issues with ASUS but if he says they work...then they work! This cat knows his SH%&...just look at the threads. I hope I didnt lead you in the wrong direction but for the price and the application, I thought you did ok. And to to Gulo FU$&*@*$ *&#^*&#^$*& ^^$&&.... just kidding. Perhaps one day you will be on my programming team!

Chester Sohoski

Profanity is not acceptable, even if disguised. And since this is your third infraction today your account is banned permanently.

[pure]

Oh man thanks a ton for the guidance, I am definitely switching to that processor and that very sexy 4670. And thanks for pointing out that RAM, that saves me $10.

The only problem is that I wont be able to order the PSU until after that deal is over, so I won't be picking that up. I really wanted to get that combo I have in my OP, since its a case and a separate PSU for only $60 bucks, but I do understand your concern with it being unreliable. Im not sure what I'm going to do about that atm, im just looking for a cheap but reliable PSU.

[BG-0]

That 45 $ after MIR OCZ SXS 600W is as cheap and reliable as it gets, (actually the Corsair 400W is more of the reliable for cheap, but it's a bit more bucks per power unit, but the OCZ unit offers a bit of upgradability, not too much more than the Corsair, but whatever)

[pure]

Ok, I have a question, since I am grabbing this card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161252

and it's a dual slot, does that mean that I wont get the most out of the card with this mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186151 since it doesnt have PCIe 2.0 x16 slots? Am I correct on this?

[BG-0]

Dual slot means the cooler occupies 2 expansion slots. It is also PCI-E 16x 2.0, but with that mid-range card the 1.0 vs 2.0 does not matter at all.

[pure]

Originally Posted by BG-0

Dual slot means the cooler occupies 2 expansion slots. It is also PCI-E 16x 2.0, but with that mid-range card the 1.0 vs 2.0 does not matter at all.

ah ok, so are you sure my FPS wont take any hits because of it? Thanks for the swift response. I'm really trying to make sure I got everything right before I order.

Im also actually thinking of grabbing an X2 5600, or maybe even a 2.7GHz black edition... might put it up to 3GHz. What difference does having an L3 cache make? Besides the ability to easily oc the black edition, are there any other advantages to it vs a non black edition? This vs This

[BG-0]

The Kuma is way better, being basically a Phenom (II?) with only two cores instead of 3 or 4.