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What do you guys think about this sort of build?

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  #1  
Old 04-20-2007
kyleman's Avatar
TechSpot Member
 
Location: Australia
Member since: Aug 2006, 105 posts
What do you guys think about this sort of build?

Hey guys ive been putting together a couple of old computers recently but not having money stops me from getting anything close to decent parts.
I figured that in October or even a bit before ill be able to get a job.
I just got the bike i was saving $1500 for for like $250 so now i can afford to spend some on other stuff..COMPUTERS
I was getting all the parts together on Newegg of what I want and will get but not exactly these parts..these are more of a guide, and i didnt want anything over $1000AUD. I ended up with this.

Qty. Product Description Savings Total Price
1
GIGABYTE GA-M59SLI-S5 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128011
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

-$15.00 Instant
$174.99
$159.99
1
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811119068
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

$49.99
1
SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model SH-S182D/BEBE - OEM
Item #: N82E16827151133
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

$29.99
1
ARCTIC COOLING ALPINE64 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835186010
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

$14.99
1
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
Item #: N82E16835100007
Return Policy: Consumable Items Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

$5.99
1
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145590
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

$30.00 Mail-in Rebate
$152.00
1
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822144417
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

$66.99
1
Rosewill RV480-2-FRB-S ATX 12V Ver.2.01 480W Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817182065
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

-$5.00 Instant
$39.99
$34.99
1
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA3800CUBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103735
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

$82.00
1
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16829102006
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

-$15.00 Instant
$89.99
$74.99
1
EVGA 256-P2-N550 -T2 GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130073
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Add this item to your cart

$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$109.99
Grand Total: $781.91


That adds up to about $930 AUD so im good.
Ive got keyboard,mouse and screen already aswell.
What do you guys think about this sort of build?
I would be getting a shop to do the actuall build because I dont want to go wrecking anything..
I was also thinking of say buying a bit..then waiting for next pay and buying another bit yarda yarda yarda.
Is this a good idea (cus im sick of crappy windows 95's and 98's that dont even start up) :P
  #2  
Old 04-20-2007
TechSpot Evangelist
 
Location: Four Corners, US
Member since: Dec 2006, 10,626 posts
Your power supply does not come close to matching the rest of your selections. That is the weak link in your proposed system.
You will need an operating system, too, such as Windows VISTA Ultimate at $199.
  #3  
Old 04-20-2007
Thrudd's Avatar
TechSpot Member
 
Location: Armpit of 'ssauga
Member since: Sep 2005, 47 posts
System specs
Outside of the CPU and Motherboard you must spend $$ on a GOOD Power Supply. Everything else can be added/upgraded at a letter date.

These are the bare bones you will be building the rest of your system around.
Make sure you spend wisely and well since these parts are not something that you will be changing or upgrading anytime in the near future.

As to VI$TA ... if you know code or someone who does .. go LINUX .. its the best price point and will take just as long to load and configure as that other OS .... mind you it all depends on what you want to run on the system in the first place .... you could always transfer the licence from your old system to the new build before throwing wads of cash at M$ for a new OS.
  #4  
Old 04-20-2007
Mictlantecuhtli's Avatar
TechSpot Special Forces
 
Location: Finland
Member since: Feb 2002, 4,886 posts
System specs
Just because the PSU brand isn't among the most common in these boards it doesn't mean it's bad.

For $89.99 you could get a 400 GB Samsung HDD.

For ~$150 you could get a GeForce 7900GS card, better than a 7600GT.

You could save the difference in cost by getting a nForce 570 SLI board instead, the speed difference between 570 and 590 is barely noticeable. Or is there any particular reason for the 590 chipset?
  #5  
Old 04-20-2007
Rage_3K_Moiz's Avatar
Sith Lord
 
Location: Sharjah, UAE
Member since: Sep 2005, 7,096 posts
System specs
Like Miclantecuhtli said, an nForce 570 SLI board like this one wouldn't have any noticeable performance difference compared to a 590 SLI board.

You don't absolutely need the X-Fi, just get one of the cheap Diamond sound cards from Newegg like this one. It has almost all the features of the X-Fi and is much cheaper too.

For the HDD, this is a much better option, being a 320GB drive and only $10 more than the WD one you initially chose.

Rosewill doesn't make too many bad PSUs, but unfortunately that model does seem to be one of them. this is of better quality and similarly priced to the Rosewill one as well.

This is a cheaper and equally good burner compared to the Samsung one.

With all the above modifications, I think you would be able to get a 7900GS (like Miclantecuhtli suggested) or even an X1950PRO, giving you an excellent, good-quality build.
  #6  
Old 04-20-2007
TechSpot Evangelist
 
Location: Four Corners, US
Member since: Dec 2006, 10,626 posts
The Rosewill is a bad power supply. Take one apart and check the components as we have done on the failed ones. There are a lot of good $40 power supplies. This is not one of them. That video graphics card will prove it.
  #7  
Old 04-21-2007
CMH CMH is offline
TechSpot Chancellor
 
Location: Aus
Member since: Jun 2005, 2,526 posts
The Creative soundcard is a good one, but unless you do something that requires such high quality sound, I really don't think you'd notice much difference between that and the on board sound.

Maybe the on board sound might prove too crappy, but even then, the most basic creative soundcard should fix that problem, and save you a wad of cash.
  #8  
Old 04-22-2007
captaincranky's Avatar
TechSpot Evangelist
 
Member since: Oct 2006, 7,586 posts
Somtimes they can't even read their own writing..!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rage_3K_Moiz



This is a cheaper and equally good burner compared to the Samsung one.
The Samsung burners (TSST corp) have been nothing but trouble to me.

Quite a pity actually, since Toshiba used to make indestructable VHS VCRs.

No plans whatsoever on my part to jump into high def or blue ray with them.

Last edited by captaincranky; 04-22-2007 at 12:17 AM..
  #9  
Old 04-22-2007
LinkedKube's Avatar
TechSpot Project Baby
 
Location: Detroit
Member since: Mar 2007, 3,943 posts
System specs
my samsung burners are doing fine, but I'm not a burn dope fiend either
  #10  
Old 04-22-2007
captaincranky's Avatar
TechSpot Evangelist
 
Member since: Oct 2006, 7,586 posts
Huh...

What exactly is a burn dope fiend? And why is it so special that you're not one?
  #11  
Old 04-22-2007
TechSpot Evangelist
 
Location: Four Corners, US
Member since: Dec 2006, 10,626 posts
We have had very good luck with the Samsung, LG, Plextor, and Pioneer burners. Bad, bad luck with the Sony, HP, and LaCie.
What sort of troubles have you experienced with your Samsung... and over what period of time. No burners lasts more than a year nowadays.
  #12  
Old 04-22-2007
captaincranky's Avatar
TechSpot Evangelist
 
Member since: Oct 2006, 7,586 posts
Um.. It was Slightly Eccentric...

I had problems with DVD-Video compatibility problems with standalone DVD players. Had to use DVD+R blanks (mostly TDK), with DVD-R blanks I would get lockups about 70% of the time. That was after taking a desktop back with the original TSST refusing to burn CDs. Somehow I suppose that this will get blamed on Emachines, but that's the part that gave me all the trouble. I decided to give TSST the benefit of the doubt and bought a SH162 external burner, I don't think It creates discs as well as my Pioneers do. Which by the way I'm 100% on board with. The Pioneers were cheap, and are fast and reliable. Sony is out if only on general principles.

Last edited by captaincranky; 04-22-2007 at 02:45 AM..
  #13  
Old 04-22-2007
kyleman's Avatar
TechSpot Member
 
Location: Australia
Member since: Aug 2006, 105 posts
Thanks for your replies guys...Yer Ive got an XP disk at home with the code and all that so yer..i dont want vista anyway..
As i said before these arent the exact parts but yer..
The power supply can easily be changed though...The guys at the shop will probably reccommend me a good one.
Oh and I will be needing a good quality sound card..(NOT EXACTLY THAT ONE...maybe) because I will be doing some sort of music recording and editing.
But yer..thanks
  #14  
Old 04-22-2007
CMH CMH is offline
TechSpot Chancellor
 
Location: Aus
Member since: Jun 2005, 2,526 posts
If you're doing music recording and editing, then yeh, spending that kind of money on a soundcard is justified (I suppose).

As far as burners are concerned, I've never had any luck with Pioneer, and my current burner is a Samsung, which is going strong at 3 years old...
  #15  
Old 04-22-2007
Rage_3K_Moiz's Avatar
Sith Lord
 
Location: Sharjah, UAE
Member since: Sep 2005, 7,096 posts
System specs
For recording and editing, I'd recommend the Audigy ZS2.
  #16  
Old 04-26-2007
Newcomer, in training
 
Member since: Apr 2007, 4 posts
I'v aways had good luck with Liton
Closed Thread

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