Budget Build

[RickyTick]

First day of a new year, and it seemed like a good time to update the recommended builds.


Budget Build PLUS+

Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024) Antec Sonata III with 500W Earthwatts PSU.

Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345) Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115132) Intel Core 2 Duo E7300

Ram (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098) 2gb (1x1gb) G.Skill DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 5-5-5-15

GPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130397) EVGA GeForce 9800GT 512mb Dual Slot Video Card

Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218) Western Digital Caviar SE16 640gb SATA

Optical Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173) Samsung SH-S223Q 22X DVD R/W burner with LightScribe

Operating System (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488) Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Alternatives

Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128341) Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H AM2+/AM2 780G

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103300) AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Black Edition

GPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102803) Sapphire Radeon HD 4830 512mb video card


The build totals about $660 USD. The Alternatives are listed simply to provide different options within the same price range. Substituting with the alternatives doesn't change the price much except with the processor. These are not necessarily the cheapest components within each category because I didn't want to sacrifice performance. You could easily shave off more than $100 dollars and still have a very productive and upgradable computer. Futhermore, if you're not a gamer, you could eliminate the video card and knock off $100, or go with a much cheaper video card.

I also decided to include the 64 bit version of Windows Vista. The price is the same as the 32 bit version and the potential is much greater. With the release of Vista SP1, and the overall maturity of drivers, it only makes sense to go with Vista 64-bit on a new build. For a more technical perspective, take a look at this article (http://gizmodo.com/5076473/giz-explains-whats-so-awesome-about-64+bit) from Gizmodo, or watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1FikX8XWvs) from Rodney Reynolds explaining 32 vs 64 bit, and 2gb ram vs 4gb.

The only things missing are mouse, keyboard, and monitor, which can all be picked up for less than $200.

Fire away with any comments or questions, and we'll fine tune this thing and then make it a new Sticky for a Budget Build. :)

[The Wise Monkey]

$660 is quite a lot for a budget build, but you could always substitute in an E2200 to save a quick $60.

Good job. :)

[chunkylover53]

Looks great. The one thing I'd like you to add back to alternatives is the Antec NSK4480 Case. I like the idea of having a budget build that I can recommend for under $500 (w/o vid card) consistently. The Sonata III is on sale for $99 a lot, but it is also at it's regular retail a lot at $150. At the same time, if the group is feeling that 380W is becoming too light for a PSU option, then the NSK would have to come out at some point anyway. Your call.


I also like the way you show a low side / high side cost in the current recommendations sticky, so when you post the final budget build I'd like to see that at the bottom.


Finally, I know you eluded to it below, it might be nice to spell out very clearly for the newer folks that with the Intel option you NEED some type of video card becasue there is no onboard, but with the AMD option you don't need one at all if you don't play games.

[RickyTick]

$660 is quite a lot for a budget build, but you could always substitute in an E2200 to save a quick $60.

Good job. :)

I originally wanted to keep it under $500, but I didn't want to just throw the cheapest thing I could find in there. I'll list out more alternatives that people can choose from to help reduce the price. Also remember, the 660 included the OS. Thanks.

I renamed it to the Budget Build PLUS+

[RickyTick]

Budget Build

Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024) Antec Sonata III with 500W Earthwatts PSU.

Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128341) Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H AM2+/AM2 780G

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103300) AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Black Edition

Ram (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231087) 2gb (1x1gb) G.Skill DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 5-5-5-15

GPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102792) Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 512mb video card

Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074) Western Digital Caviar SE16 320gb SATA

Optical Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173) Samsung SH-S223Q 22X DVD R/W burner with LightScribe

Operating System (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488) Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Total $563 including Operating System.

[chunkylover53]

Looks good. As long as the Sonata III is $99 when they buy, non gamers can skip the card and it's under $500. I like it. :)

[RickyTick]

When I checked, the NSK4480 was the same price as the Sonata III. I guess you just never know when something goes on sale. There will probably always be some exceptions to all these builds depending on current pricing.

[The Wise Monkey]

OK, I'll update the list. Thanks guys. :)

[chunkylover53]

WM or RT, could you update the price to $502 as of 1/6/2009, and change the note to "...you could shave off a lot of money by skipping the video card altogether or going with a with a much cheaper video card, like a 8600GT or similar."

THX :D

[The Wise Monkey]

Done.

That is an excellent build. :D

[RickyTick]

WM or RT, could you update the price to $502 as of 1/6/2009, and change the note to "...you could shave off a lot of money by skipping the video card altogether or going with a with a much cheaper video card, like a 8600GT or similar."

THX :D

That's on my original post on top. :rolleyes:

[chunkylover53]

Yeah, good point. You had some great stuff in there. Why not paste most or all of that in the reco?

[The Wise Monkey]

OK, I'll add the original stuff in as an alternative, if you want to spend slightly more than the budget but less than the normal build.

[chunkylover53]

Nice.

PS. The pricing date in the middle still says 08, not 09. :)

[The Wise Monkey]

Well... :p

[RickyTick]

OK, I'll add the original stuff in as an alternative, if you want to spend slightly more than the budget but less than the normal build.

I like that. Thanks

[buenaventura_d]

i'm looking to build a pc primarily for running pretty resource intensive adobe graphics and video editing programs for around $700. would you recommend this build with those qualifications, rick?

[RickyTick]

i'm looking to build a pc primarily for running pretty resource intensive adobe graphics and video editing programs for around $700. would you recommend this build with those qualifications, rick?


What you might consider doing is take what I called the Budget Build PLUS and change the video card to something much cheaper like a 8600GT, 9500GT, or so. Use the money saved to step up to 4gb of ram and maybe an E8400 processor.

[chunkylover53]

You guys hating me yet? The Budget build should be $580 with the video card included, and around $500 without. :o

[The Wise Monkey]

Ok, done. Any other changes you can think of?

[buenaventura_d]

What you might consider doing is take what I called the Budget Build PLUS and change the video card to something much cheaper like a 8600GT, 9500GT, or so. Use the money saved to step up to 4gb of ram and maybe an E8400 processor.

k. how's about these specs. any reason they wouldn't work / compatibility issues?

- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail
- GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
- G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail
- EVGA 512-P3-N954-TR GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
- Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
- SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q - OEM

total@ newegg: $600.93

v.

p.s. is the fan / cooling included in the case sufficient?

[RickyTick]

Looks good.

The Sonata III is not known as a great "cooling" case, but as long as everything is running at stock (not overclocked), it should be fine.

[buenaventura_d]

as of today, the aforementioned rig is booted and ready for BIOS setup! since the tutorial on the website is for a different setup, should i just use fail-safe defaults?

[buenaventura_d]

also, i can't get the diagnostics i downloaded (Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2 for DOS) errors. it boots, says "starting caldera dr-dos... skipping configuration files... No command interpreter specified..." huh?