No idea what parts to get...

S

Spoonmaster

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
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I need to make my dad a runnable PC within the $500-700 budget range.

I've never really watched the low end range, and I doubt my dad will be needing a 8800GT like I have...

Any suggestions?
 
what is your dad planning to do with this computer?
does he plan to overclock?
does he game? if so what kind?
what resolution monitor?
add any other information that might help.

heres a quick list of how a budget with 8800gt may look like even though he might not need it. =D
$69.99 COOLER MASTER CM 690 (you can usually find this with a nice rebate bringing price down into the $30-40 area)
$69.99 - $10 MIR CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX (google checkout brings it down even lower)
$82.50 GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L rev. 2.0
$239.99 XFX PVT88PYDF4 GeForce 8800GT 512MB (comes with free Company of Heroes and if you don't it get the $229.99 8800gt then)
$45.99 -$10 MIR A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) (you can find better ram thats $45 after rebate or so but you can't always trust rebates)
$69.99 Seagate Barracuda 250gb
$31.99 LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
$79.99 E2180 2.0ghz (google checkout helps out with price; awesome oc'ing potential with a decent heatsink and fan)
= $690.43 w/o shipping and handling and the rebates
 
Indeed.. Does the $700 budget include monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers and the OS?

You said you dad probably doesn't need an 8800GT then just go for an 8600GT ($100 - $30MIR)

Saves you $140 in the end compared to the 8800GT...

Which you could use to upgrade the CPU to an E8400 or so.
 
i wouldnt even bother get the 8600gt. either the hd3450, 8500gt or hd3850 for the lowest decent gaming card.
 
He doesn't game...and if he does it usually isn't anything demanding so above poster I think has it right for graphics.

Cost does include OS, but not speakers/mouse/keyboard. So, I'll probably opt for the 8500GT, can you suggest me a cheaper power supply then?
 
i would stick with this power supply though because every system needs a good power supply. its the part of the system that runs everything so you want it to be from a good brand.

$69.99 COOLER MASTER CM 690 (you can usually find this with a nice rebate bringing price down into the $30-40 area)
$69.99 - $10 MIR CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX (google checkout brings it down even lower)
$82.50 GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L rev. 2.0
$59.99+ 8500gt
$45.99 -$10 MIR A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) (you can find better ram thats $45 after rebate or so but you can't always trust rebates)
$69.99 Seagate Barracuda 250gb
$31.99 LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
$79.99 E2180 2.0ghz (google checkout helps out with price; awesome oc'ing potential with a decent heatsink and fan (oc to even 3.0GHz)
$100 ish for OS (get the 32bit unless u want 4gb of ram. if so get the 64bit)
that right there cost $610.43 at the very least with shipping and rebates
*if you do plan to oc get this $49.99 - $10 MIR ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm

if you dont plan to overclock then opt for a better processor..
$124.99 E4500 2.2 GHz which makes total $655.43 w/o shipping and rebates
$169.99 E6550 2.33 GHz which makes total $700.43 w/o shipping and rebates
$189.99 E6750 2.66 GHz which makes total $720.43 w/o shipping and rebates
 
If you want a "cheaper" power supply, purchase the Antec NSK4480 case, which comes with an EarthWatts 380 watt power supply. (For your father's needs, and with the parts currently recommended, it will be more than enough.) You can get it from Mwave or ZipZoomFly for under $70 (but with shipping, expect to pay around $85-$90).

You could also purchase the Samsung SH-S203B DVD burner for $30 with free shipping. It's also considered one of the quietest DVD drives around.

As for the operating system, you have Windows XP Pro and the 32-/64-bit versions of Vista Home Premium. If you are planning on upgrading your dad's rig with 4GB of RAM at some point in the future, you might as well go ahead with the 64-bit version of Vista Home Premium (which is better supported, drivers-wise, than XP Pro x64). (In fact, you can ignore the 32-bit version of Home Premium, because there's no other difference between the two.)

You've been given several good choice to pick from, so I'm not going to recommend any more things.
 
Or any other prebuilt PCs like Gateway, HP or Alienware:rolleyes:?

Or in other words, why is there a need for YOU to build this general work PC?
 
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