Attention System Builders

[faster]

Newegg is great for builds, I buy the vast majority of my parts from them (even though they just started charging me sales tax because I am in NY). However, anyone who is trying to do a build on the cheap and still want stop performance, needs to consider ebay as a primary source. Look at the systems I posted below. If I went all retail, they would have been over $3,000. Ebay rocks, especially with CPU's. If a cpu works, it works. I never got one that only ran at 1/2 speed or only on one core . Used chips are every bit as good as new chips if they work at all. As far as buying a processor that had been overclocked, the life of the chip may be reduced, but it more than likely will survive longer than you are going to use it. Besides, most of the used part purchases are sed for 6 months or less on cutting edge parts. I won't pay more than $100 for a E6300 and I won't pay more than $150 for a Q6600. And that happens on ebay. sort by completed listings and check it out. Heck I even got my QX9650 for $800 new in retail box three months ago. They still sell for more than that. Check out these build, they both work great:

SYSTEM 1 - RAID 0 on Win XP Pro 32 bit
Component Detail1 Cost 1 Shipping1 Tax1 Rebate1
Motherboard EVGA 780i SLI $259.99 $8.55
Power Supply COOLMAX 1200W $269.99 $10.00 $40.00
Processor QX9650 Quad core 12M L2 3.0 $800.00 $0.00
Video Card EVGA GX2 $549.00 $0.00 $30.00
Memory OCZ 2GB DDR2 1066mhz $81.99 $4.30 $35.00
DVD Burner 1 20x DVD Burner $29.99 $0.00 $2.47
DVD Burner 2 20x DVD Burner $29.99 $0.00 $2.47
Case Lian Li $219.99 $15.83
Hard Drive 1 WD Raptor 150GB $139.99 $9.99
Hard Drive 2 WD Raptor 150GB $139.99 $9.99
Hard Drive 3 WD Raptor 150GB $139.99 $9.99

Media Reader 52 in 1 $19.99
Operating System Win Xp Pro $139.99
Operating System

Totals $2,820.89 $68.65 $4.94 $105.00

Computer Cost After Rebates $2,789.48


SYSTEM 2 - RAID 5 on Win XP/Vista 64 bit
Component Detail2 Cost2 Shipping2 Tax2 Rebate2
Motherboard GA-X38-DQ6 $211.00 $17.40
Power Supply BFG 800 Watt xfire $119.99 $10.00 $30.00
Processor Q9450 Quad Core 12M L2 2.66 $299.99 $24.67
Video Card HIS 3870 X2 $369.99 $5.11 $40.00
Memory Geil 8GB 4x2GB DDR2 800 $220.00 $5.99 $15.00
DVD Burner 1 20x DVD Burner $28.99 $0.00
DVD Burner 2 20x DVD Burner $27.99 $0.00
Case Asus refurbished $39.99 $3.30
Hard Drive 1 WD Raptor 150GB $169.99 $0.00
Hard Drive 2 WD Raptor 150GB $129.99 $16.50
Hard Drive 3 WD Raptor 150GB $135.00 $7.50
Hard Drive 4 WD Raptor 150GB $139.99 $9.99
RAID Card Highpoint RocketRAID 3510 $309.99 $7.00
Media Reader 52 in 1 $32.99 $7.59 $10.00
Operating System Win XP Pro 64 Bit $139.99
Operating System Win Vista Ultimate 64 $179.99

Totals $2,555.87 $69.68 $45.37 $95.00

Computer Cost After Rebates $2,575.92

 

[faster]

Here is a really great system I built recently for under $500. This system is a great bang for the buck:

Component Detail2 Cost2 Shipping2 Tax2 Rebate2 Source

Motherboard GA-945PL-S3P $32.99 $0.00 $2.72 $0.00 Microcenter Refurbished

Power Supply OCZ500SXS $59.99 $2.49 $3.39 $25.00 Newegg with Rebate

Processor Intel E6700 $145.00 $13.00 $0.00 $0.00 Ebay
Video Card GSE96GT (9600GT) $149.99 $7.59 $12.94 $30.00 Newegg with Rebate

Memory Crucial 2GB PC2-5300 $43.99 $2.49 $3.39 $30.00 Newegg with Rebate

DVD Burner 1 Samsung 22X $27.99 $2.49 $3.39 $0.00 Newegg
Case Used Trash case found on street $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Lucky Score on street

Hard Drive 1 WD 160GB SATAII $29.99 $2.49 $3.39 $0.00 Newegg
Media Reader 52 in 1 $19.99 $0.00 $1.65 $0.00 Microcenter store

Operating System XP Pro Sticker found on junk case $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Lucky Score on street

Totals $509.93 $30.55 $30.87 $85.00

Computer Cost After Rebates $486.35

 

[JackMDS]

The point of this thread is to provide periodic frame of reference.

There is No big value to keep a general sticky that other people can not benefit from because the hardware is obtained from a local store that they do not have in their own local, or there it is not any more for low price on ebay, or it is Not any more on sale or some kind of a special.

So people please stick to general available hardware and to something that end up sound like bragging of you own personal luck.

 

[TripleAAA]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
The point of this thread is to provide periodic frame of reference.

There is No big value to keep a general sticky that other people can not benefit from because the hardware is obtained from a local store that they do not have in their own local, or there it is not any more for low price on ebay, or it is Not any more on sale or some kind of a special.

So people please stick to general available hardware and to something that end up sound like bragging of you own personal luck.

Agreed, there are opinions on everything when it comes to computer parts.

 

[modoheo]

Updated the PSU section a bit, including more info on PSU's for high-end Crossfire/SLI setups.

 

[wongnog]

I must say, great thread modoheo. I'm now torn between deciding on my CPU, and basically my options are the 3 listed in mid-range by you.

E7200 - $135
E8400 - $185
Q6600 - $215 (all prices Canadian)

My main usage is video and audio encoding (DivX and Cinemacraft Encoder) and some gaming. My current GPU is 9600GT on an Opteron 165, I must say I'm pretty satisfied with my current gaming performance but the system is over 2 yrs old and I feel it's time for an update. Now I know the latest DivX supports SSE4 which I believe is only in the 45nm cores (i.e. E7200 and E8400) but I believe it also benefits from multicore processors. I do plan on overclocking and will upgrade my HSF to a $30 air cooling system. I cannot decide if I should save the money and go for the E7200 and upgrade in the future when the quad cores come down in price, or just bite the bullet now and get the Q6600 (relatively speaking it's not THAT much more). Is there a good benchmark review for how these processors perform when overclocked?

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

Nice thread, and a GREAT sticky. Thank you.

 

[Dan121]

You are amazing topic creator.

 

[aplefka]

I'm looking at creating a new build sometime within the next 1-2 months because I'm sick of this one BSODing all the time and being unable to fix it. I'm using solely the hardware mentioned in this thread right now to get a kind of general idea of what I'm going for, and the one Gigabyte board says its memory standard is DDR2 1200. Is it actually worth getting 1200 or not? I swear I read somewhere in this thread about this but upon second peruse I was unable to find it.

 

[modoheo]

Originally posted by: aplefka
I'm looking at creating a new build sometime within the next 1-2 months because I'm sick of this one BSODing all the time and being unable to fix it. I'm using solely the hardware mentioned in this thread right now to get a kind of general idea of what I'm going for, and the one Gigabyte board says its memory standard is DDR2 1200. Is it actually worth getting 1200 or not? I swear I read somewhere in this thread about this but upon second peruse I was unable to find it.

The "memory standard" just refers to the fastest memory the board supports. Anything DDR2 1200 or below will be supported - for most people, DDR2 800 is the best choice for a number of reasons.
Good luck!

 

[Stageman]

This system was just purchased yesterday from Newegg and should be here by Friday to start assembly and testing. The main focus of this system is to build on a low budget and to be able to play contemporary MMO's in a raid setting. Monitor, mouse and keyboard will be supplied by my old system and likely a KVM switch inserted. That will cost $20 to $40.

*1 AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADO5000DOBOX
Retail Item #: N82E16819103211 $66.00
*1 BIOSTAR A770 A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
Retail Item #: N82E16813138106 $69.99
*1 COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-P912-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
Retail Item #: N82E16835103041 $22.99

*1 EVGA 384-P3-N851-AR GeForce 8800 GS 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI
Retail Item #: N82E16814130332 $109.99 ($80 after rebates)
*1 G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK
Retail Item #: N82E16820231148 $84.99
*1 CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 Power Supply
Retail Item #: N82E16817139003 $74.99 ($55 after rebates)

*1 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
OEM Item #: N82E16822148262 $59.99
*1 Sony NEC Optiarc Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s
OEM Item #: N82E16827101131 $17.99

*1 Rosewill R218-P-BK Black 0.5mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Retail Item #: N82E16811147073 $21.99
*1 Thermaltake A2491 140mm Case Fan
Retail Item #: N82E16835106115 $15.99
*1 EVERCOOL SB-F1 PCI Slot Case Cooler
Retail Item #: N82E16835119065 $6.99

*1 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD
OEM $109.99 (Take note that Vista is the single most expensive point of this system.)

$014.99 Extended Warranty Fee on the Biostar mobo
$676.88 Subtotal
$057.92 Tax
$030.12 S&H
$764.92 Grand total

Add in DVDr/CDr for about $22
Add in 3.5 disket drive for about $7.50

 

[Coherence]

Mid-Range: (best price/performance ratio, overclock very well, have everything most people want/need)
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128337
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128347
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128345
ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131295
These last three boards above are excellent examples of the brand new p43/45 Intel chipset boards, that've gotten excellent professional reviews, are crossfire capable and highly overclockable at a great price point. Like any new board/chipset, just be aware there may be some early growing pains as the BIOS matures with new releases over time, so be prepared to possibly update the BIOS at some point. Also be aware that though some p45 boards support Crossfire, they only supports it at X8 per GPU. Thus, if you really want the full gaming benefit of crossfired GPU's (dual X16 speed), you need to upgrade to an X38 or X48 board (see below).

Either those links are bad, or your info is off in terms of them being Crossfire capable. Those boards all have single x16 slots. Got any updated recommendations for midranged mobos with dual x16 slots for running Crossfire/SLI?

 

[modoheo]

Originally posted by: Coherence

Mid-Range: (best price/performance ratio, overclock very well, have everything most people want/need)
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128337
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128347
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128345
ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131295
These last three boards above are excellent examples of the brand new p43/45 Intel chipset boards, that've gotten excellent professional reviews, are crossfire capable and highly overclockable at a great price point. Like any new board/chipset, just be aware there may be some early growing pains as the BIOS matures with new releases over time, so be prepared to possibly update the BIOS at some point. Also be aware that though some p45 boards support Crossfire, they only supports it at X8 per GPU. Thus, if you really want the full gaming benefit of crossfired GPU's (dual X16 speed), you need to upgrade to an X38 or X48 board (see below).

Either those links are bad, or your info is off in terms of them being Crossfire capable. Those boards all have single x16 slots. Got any updated recommendations for midranged mobos with dual x16 slots for running Crossfire/SLI?

Great pickup. Leftover verbiage from when I had the Asus P5Q Pro listed as a mid-range option - I removed it just for that reason, so that people wouldn't select it thinking they were getting a fully crossfire-capable board when they really need an X38 or X48 chipset board for that.

Here's the cheapest option I know of that will give you full-speed crossfire:
DFI LANPARTY DK X38-T2RB LGA 775 Intel X38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813136051

Other options are listed under the 'high-end' mobo section in the original post.

The OP is now fixed and includes the above board as a mid-range option.

thanks

 

[Coherence]

Originally posted by: modoheo

Originally posted by: Coherence

Mid-Range: (best price/performance ratio, overclock very well, have everything most people want/need)
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128337
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128347
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128345
ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131295
These last three boards above are excellent examples of the brand new p43/45 Intel chipset boards, that've gotten excellent professional reviews, are crossfire capable and highly overclockable at a great price point. Like any new board/chipset, just be aware there may be some early growing pains as the BIOS matures with new releases over time, so be prepared to possibly update the BIOS at some point. Also be aware that though some p45 boards support Crossfire, they only supports it at X8 per GPU. Thus, if you really want the full gaming benefit of crossfired GPU's (dual X16 speed), you need to upgrade to an X38 or X48 board (see below).

Either those links are bad, or your info is off in terms of them being Crossfire capable. Those boards all have single x16 slots. Got any updated recommendations for midranged mobos with dual x16 slots for running Crossfire/SLI?

Great pickup. Leftover verbiage from when I had the Asus P5Q Pro listed as a mid-range option - I removed it just for that reason, so that people wouldn't select it thinking they were getting a fully crossfire-capable board when they really need an X38 or X48 chipset board for that.

Here's the cheapest option I know of that will give you full-speed crossfire:
DFI LANPARTY DK X38-T2RB LGA 775 Intel X38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813136051

Other options are listed under the 'high-end' mobo section in the original post.

The OP is now fixed and includes the above board as a mid-range option.

thanks

Just a quick clarification, the issue was not that the boards don't support full 16x Crossfire, but that they can't support even 8x/8x crossfire because they lack a second full-sized PCI-E slot for a second video card at all.

Just wanted to be sure nobody is confused and think they can still run those boards in 8x/8x crossfire mode. These are single-graphics card boards.

For my own purposes, I'll certainly check out the DFI board you recommended!

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: modoheo

Originally posted by: aplefka
I'm looking at creating a new build sometime within the next 1-2 months because I'm sick of this one BSODing all the time and being unable to fix it. I'm using solely the hardware mentioned in this thread right now to get a kind of general idea of what I'm going for, and the one Gigabyte board says its memory standard is DDR2 1200. Is it actually worth getting 1200 or not? I swear I read somewhere in this thread about this but upon second peruse I was unable to find it.

The "memory standard" just refers to the fastest memory the board supports. Anything DDR2 1200 or below will be supported - for most people, DDR2 800 is the best choice for a number of reasons.
Good luck!

So then the answer would be that it's not worth paying more for 1200? I realize they're all backwards compatible but if I'd get a noticeable difference in performance then I'm willing to pay a little more, and that's what I'm curious about.

 

[modoheo]

It's not worth paying more for DDR2 1200 unless you're attempting a massive overclock of your CPU, and probably not even then. DDR2 800 or DDR2 1000 is plenty for most people.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

The Geforce 9600GT really needs to be included under the Video Card section, since it's a low as $100:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814133216

 

[modoheo]

Originally posted by: cusideabelincoln
The Geforce 9600GT really needs to be included under the Video Card section, since it's a low as $100:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814133216

Agreed, good find, there's great value there for gaming. OP updated.

 

[p1tin]

Thanks for this modoheo! I was able to narrow down on what I want as of now after reading this!
A quick question:
you had mentioned:
ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131273
--> will this run HDTV(1080p) , HDrip movies and clips smoothly with the onboard video?
or
should I get a video card to put on this to play movies n stuff at that resolution - i plan on buying a 22" display later next month?

members, i request you input on this!

 

[p1tin]

an update to my previous comment:

* I would mostly use system to watch HDrip, 1080p movies, music installed n working with various OS: linux (redhat ent edition), windows variations.; vmware
* Sometimes I would use CPU hungry dynagen, dynamips ( router simulator softwares).
* I wont be OC ing the system at all.
* some games..mostly racing games ( i m not a gamer)

what difference L2 cache makes in performance?
if above mentioned are my purpose of buying a PC should I put in more money in quadcore or can get satisfactory performance from c2d
or buy the AMD board u had mentioned with onboard video.

 

[dreadman]

This is a great guide for a noob like myself. And it also save me from posting another one of those "Help me with my new gaming rig thread".
Most of us have an idea of what we want to do. The basics.
We just need feedback from the more knowledgeable folks as to the details like compatibility and performance.
Thanks

 

[imported_Demos]

Thanks for this post! I'm looking to build my first and this is a great start. I might deviate a little but it's helping my decision process. I'll post my build later just to get some feedback but most of the parts will probably be from your links.

 

[mazeroth]

Originally posted by: modoheo

CPU:

Value/Low-End: For those on a very, very tight budget only
Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819116052
Intel Pentium E2200 Allendale 2.2GHz 1MB L2 Cache Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819116063
If you're on a very tight budget, then you could consider these CPU's. They overclock well. However, the E7200 below is only currently about $50 more, and will almost double the CPU performance of your system.

The last sentence states "and will almost double the CPU performance of your system." While I think your guide is great this statement is waaay off. I've built E2140 and E2200 systems that both OC to over 3.0 ghz. on the stock cooler with no voltage increase. Granted, the E7200 does have 3x the cache, it would take an E7200 of about 5.5 ghz. to "double" the CPU performance of one of the E2xxx series. For someone on a budget, the E2xxx series can't be beat, period.

 

[modoheo]

Originally posted by: mazeroth

Originally posted by: modoheo

CPU:

Value/Low-End: For those on a very, very tight budget only
Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819116052
Intel Pentium E2200 Allendale 2.2GHz 1MB L2 Cache Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819116063
If you're on a very tight budget, then you could consider these CPU's. They overclock well. However, the E7200 below is only currently about $50 more, and will almost double the CPU performance of your system.

The last sentence states "and will almost double the CPU performance of your system." While I think your guide is great this statement is waaay off. I've built E2140 and E2200 systems that both OC to over 3.0 ghz. on the stock cooler with no voltage increase. Granted, the E7200 does have 3x the cache, it would take an E7200 of about 5.5 ghz. to "double" the CPU performance of one of the E2xxx series. For someone on a budget, the E2xxx series can't be beat, period.

You're probably right that the sentence you referenced may overstate things a bit. But if you look at gaming benchmarks on Tom's CPU charts comparing a chip like the E2160 to something like an E8200 at stock speeds, then there's roughly double the performance in many cases in gaming benchmarks (the E7200 is not listed for some reason, and I know there's a difference there). Things change with aggressive overclocking, but it's hard to figure that directly into the mix, since the E7200/8200 obviously increases performance with overclocking as well, and most will be able to overclock them much higher.

I should probably tone down the wording a bit though, you're right.

 

[NukaCola]

Would getting a Quad-Core really "future-proof" your system? I mean, by the time other new parts come, there will be better quad-cores out there. Am I right?