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Alright, so I'm on a budget, and I'm trying to make an affordable computer for 500 dollars. Here is what I plan to buy.

Internal


RAM

CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145539

I bought this because corsair is a trusted brand, and has good timings. I could of gotten the other one for 3 dollars cheaper, but this one has heat spreaders, which drew me in because it would help. I figure 1 GB is enough for now, and I'll buy new ones when needed.
Cost - $79.00 + Free Shipping = Subtotal - $79.00

Graphics Card

PNY VCG7300GXPB GeForce 7300GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133172

Since this does happen to be a budget computer, I picked out an entry level graphics card. This graphics card can handle the games that I plan to play, since I don't plan to do any heavy duty gaming. It can handle Guild Wars, WoW, Vista, CS:S, and hopefully Spore. That means I'm all set. SLI Compatible, so I can boost it's performance.
Cost - $76.99 + $5.64 = $82.63 + $79.00 = $161.63

Power Supply

Rosewill RP550V2-S-SL 550W SLI Ready-ATX 12V V2.01 Power Supply 115/230 V CSA,UL,TUV
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182031

This is a good 550watt power supply with a nice LED fan. Reviews say it's a nice quality, and Rosewill is a trusted brand.
Cost - $59.99 + $8.02 = $68.01 + $161.63 = $229.64

Case

APEVIA X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144102

I chose this case for many reasons. It has a fan control, which will be very helpful if I ever want to overclock. It also has a temperature display, also very helpful. LED lights are a nice touch, and it looks good.
Cost - $59.99 + $12.99 = $72.98 + $229.64 = 302.62

Processor

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Orleans 2.0GHz 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103637

Very good processor, would of went for the 3500+ but that would mean downgrading my graphics card for a processor. Don't need anything too large.
Cost - $76.00 + $302.62 = $378.62

Motherboard

GIGABYTE GA-M55SLI-S4 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128321

A nice healthy choice for a motherboard. SLI capabilities, will boost up my graphics card which I need. Two PCI-Express x16 slots, helpful if I want a new graphics card but do not want to get rid of my old one. Dual channel DDR2, which means that I can go up to 16 GB of ram [Not like I would need to]. AM2 Compatible, best motherboard I could get for a budget.
Cost - $89.99 + $6.13 = $92.16 + $378.62 = $470.78

Hard Drive

I'll just keep my old hard drive, I'll upgrade it when I need to. 40 GB is alright for now.

Accessories

x4 MASSCOOL FD08025S1M4 80mm Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835150007

I'm going to buy four of these. Why am I buying four of these you ask? Well, they're cheap and the reviews say that are very good. Also, the case I have has places for two 80mm fans in the front, and they say to replace the side air duct for a 80mm fan. Well, I say I'll probably need this if I want a very cool case.

Thermaltake Thunderblade A1928 120mm Green LED Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999139

An LED fan for the back of the case. The case only comes with an 80mm fan for the back, even though you can slot in a 120mm one. So I decided to just get a 120mm fan to help exhaust.

Rosewill RTK-002 Anti-Static Wrist Strap
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16899261005

Where would I be without a wrist strap? Destroying everything I bought because of some static electricity of course! Essential for building a computer.


Grand Total = $498.92

However, they are having a sale on a dual core amd processor and a motherboard combination.


* AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADO3600IAA5DL - OEM
* BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 550 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

$159.99
Free Shipping.

If I buy that and get rid of the 3200+ AM2 processor and the other motherboard, I could have a dual core for 6 dollars less than the am2 processor. However! The motherboard in the combo deal is what is holding me back. For one thing, it does not have SLI capability, which will essentially slow down my graphics card. It also has one PCI Express card, slowing down my graphics even more. Other than that, it's fine. So i'll ask you guys. Should I get the combo deal with the dual processor, or should I just go with the single processor and the better motherboard?

No SLI wont slow down your GFX card, you dont know what your talking about also a 7300GT is slow to start so good luck with that.

You misread my post, I posted that the combo deal does NOT have SLI capabilities, so it will slow down my graphics card because the other motherboard does. Also, how slow to start is it? If it's like 5 seconds then that is fine, 10 seconds is fine to. Heck, I can wait 30 seconds.

Wtf are you talking about. No it WILL NOT slow it down because it dosnt have SLI capibility.

.. once again you misread my post. The FIRST motherboard that I listed has SLI capabilities. This will make it faster. The SECOND one doesn't, so it will be SLOWER than the FIRST one.

And I have yet to use a antistatic product and I spent way more on my computer, you will be fine unless you plan on wearing wool socks and scootin' along your carpet for a minute. If your that worried just touch a piece of metal or your CRT TV before building.

No it wont be slower. btw

Please do NOT doublepost, and SLI technology makes every nvidia graphics card faster than if it was not connected to one. Also, there's always a chance I could build up some static with my clothes or something.

Well you have 17 posts trying to boss me around and talk about things you have no clue about. It has absolutely IMPACT ON NVIDIA GRAPHICS CARD PERFORMANCE WHETHER OR NOT IT IS CONNECTED TO A SLI MOTHERBOARD

Post edited by Moderator.

Finest, please do some research before you talk to me about these things. What you're basically saying is that two graphics card same brand connected to the same motherboard has no impact on performance. Please do some research and control your anger, just because I have 18 posts doesn't mean I can't be smarter than you about computers.

Ok, what`s going on on here then?

Please keep it nice and calm guys. I don`t want to have to start deleting posts etc.

Regards Howard

Thank you for the help. Also, here is your proof.
http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_learn.html
That says frame rate is increased by 83% for an SLI attachment. That's almost double.

Yeah well that is Dual cards lol are you honestly not literate, on top of that dumb first claim nvidia makes that SLI chipset and the nforce chipsets.

I guess you didnt know they were using 2 cards vs one lol, that can be solved by reading the graph key, so you have yet to prove me wrong.

SLI improves video performance when two identical cards are connected via SLI (which lets them basically operate as one powerful card). SLI does not make a single card any faster. if only using a single video card, there will be no performance difference between an SLI or non-SLI motherboard.

indeed... you should always were a grounding strap or at least touch a grounded metal object before handling any electronic component in your PC.



P.S. Thanks howard

Thanks for your help, I guess I'll go with the combo deal and pick up a CPU cooler along the way.

Post edited by moderator

Anways... OP, the system looks perfect. It looks like you've read up quite a lot on these components. The combo looks good, but I don't know much about that motherboard =(.

Thanks, been researching for like 5 days on this stuff.

Ok guys. I have edited several posts in this thread, in order to try and stop it from continuing in a negative manner. Can we just get back on topic now?

Thanks.

Regards Howard

Needle,

I've got to hand it to you, your original post has got to be the most in-depth and thorough I have ever seen for somebody asking for advice. bravo my friend I see that you finally decided to ditch the old socket-478 upgrade for a more modern system.

I would definitely say that combo deal is the better choice. the future is multi-core, you can't go wrong with that deal. as already mentioned, the lack of SLI support on the biostar mobo will not have any effect on your single video card performance.

I would however suggest that you buy 10 of those masscool fans. reason being the shipping is free when you buy 10 or more (as opposed to $3.47 each otherwise), you will get 10 fans for less than 4 would cost

also, I'm not sying that Rosewill is bad, but they are not generally considered to be a quality name in the PSU market. so just to be on the safe side, for that price range I would recommend a PSU from Antec or Enermax as they have a proven track record behind them for quality low-cost PSU's.

Also, you can't go wrong with a 40$ 400W Fortron Source (FSP Group) (or one of the higher models).

I'm not sure. The reviews say that Rosewill and Newegg are very good about RMAing things, if I get a faulty power supply I could just RMA it, right? Also, if I got that 400 Watt, I would be losing 150 watts from my computer, which is not a good thing. Thanks for the advice, but I think I'll take a risk and try the Rosewill.