Building a PC - Budget increased

NissanSkylineN1

NissanSkylineN1

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NissanSkylineN1
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Xbox??? Who is this Xbox??
Hey guys,
I am tired of my 6 year old Compaq Celeron D PC so I am wanting to build a new PC. My budget is $425 CAD. Anyone know any good setups? I've looked at Tiger Direct but they're expensive in Canada. For example, a triple core Athlon II PC is $359.99 in the states but $439 in Canada. But since I was worried about compatibility issues, I only looked at combo deals. Do you guys know any good setups that I can buy within my budget?
 
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what about graphics card? is this pc going to be used for gaming? you should be able to grab a cheap ati 4850/ nvidia 9800gt from a reputable pc forum or online elswhere for a very good price.
 
Thanks! Wow, quite impressive deal.. just one thing. Is it possible to find the RAM at a cheaper price? I know its 4GB but maybe I could do with a Kingston or something less pricey.....and then with the saved money I could use another upgrade!
Yeah.. a graphics card would be nice something that can play decent games.. I play CS 1.6 but maybe something supporting COD4 or sth like that.
Also, don;t forget cables and fans and thermal paste!
 
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Combo deals never guarantee compatibility. Look for combos with the greatest price discount.
 
NissanSkylineN1
Thanks! Wow, quite impressive deal.. just one thing. Is it possible to find the RAM at a cheaper price? I know its 4GB but maybe I could do with a Kingston or something less pricey.....and then with the saved money I could use another upgrade!
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Well you could possibly get 2GB now and then get another 2GB later.

NissanSkylineN1
Yeah.. a graphics card would be nice something that can play decent games.. I play CS 1.6 but maybe something supporting COD4 or sth like that.
Also, don;t forget cables and fans and thermal paste!
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You won't need thermal paste if you stick with the stock cooling. However you will need an operating system.
 
The motherboard has an intergrated ATI Radeon 4200 graphics so you should be fine untill you can afford better graphics. I have found some cheaper ram here. Then grab these fans, here(rear fan) and here(front fan), though I'm not sure if the front will accept a 80mm fan. You should not worry about thermal paste since it comes with the cpu and should work fine. All the cables you would need to get is just two SATA cables for the hard drive and for a DVD drive.
 
nick09
The motherboard has an intergrated ATI Radeon 4200 graphics so you should be fine untill you can afford better graphics. I have found some cheaper ram here. Then grab these fans, here(rear fan) and here(front fan), though I'm not sure if the front will accept a 80mm fan. You should not worry about thermal paste since it comes with the cpu and should work fine. All the cables you would need to get is just two SATA cables for the hard drive and for a DVD drive.
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Why on earth would he need case fans?

And why on earth would he use the OEM paste when it is pretty damn clear that better pastes make a difference. More so than some silly case fans that would just be noisy.

With this setup cooling won't be an issue period. Though I would suggest a PSU with some room to expand, instead of that silly 380Watt one. Or if we just want to stay to running less powerful cards, but figure we want to save some money...

Rosewill case and PSU - I've used this very same case and PSU several times for several years with no issues. And the case is fairly good looking and easy to work in.

Also, the RAM I am using at the moment.
 
The case has no fans included and the power supply is plenty for what he needs. Sorry that I just only spent ten minutes on making a list of parts and I had cheapness in mind too.
 
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Umm.. bad news. $100 over.... $50 over what I have in by bank account
EDIT: I replace the HDD with a Samsung 500GB drive... seems to have great reviews
 
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nick09
Well I do know how to build computers and I know what to get so it's not very hard for me. So are you set to buy the parts yet?
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You use the search by lowest price option too much.

Much too much.
 
K, with what you both reccomended, I am at $438 ... umm do fans with an old IDE Mobo from a Celeron computer work??
EDIT: I found some Bike handlebars with stem, grips and lever worth $80+ ... maybe i can sell them for 50...
Oh and I forgot. I MIGHT (slight chance) that I'll overclock it.. ooh! You can unlock the fourth core.... :p
 
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My Almost Final Order List:
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive $56.99

Rosewill TU-155 Black 0.8mm SGCC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 400W(20+4 pin) Power Supply $59.99

ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $69.99

GeIL Black Dragon 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model GB24GB6400C5DC $89.99

AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX440WFGIBOX $76.99

GRAND TOTAL: $438.13
Any recommendations or thoughts?
 
Yeah that seems fine. The processor can be overclocked a little. The most I would try is just 3.2GHz or if you are brave you could go for a higher overclock. Though it's not recommended to overclock with the stock heatsink.
 
Nah, the processor is already at 3ghz. Also, the stock heatsink and fan are apparently crappy.
And now I shall break the news to my dad before he sees a massive box at the door.
 
Personally I think you should get this case and this power supply. If you can spend a bit more then I would suggest this power supply.

EDIT: Newegg Canada is still selling that case but it went back to it's normal price.
 
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ROAD_DOGG33J
Having at least one case fan is a pretty good idea. These aren't the days where the power supply fan is enough.

Quality over quantity
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Case I suggested had a fan and a quality PSU. For less money. Do keep that in mind. And I'm not at all aware of the SeaSonic brand, so not sure what your quality to quantity bit was about. Sounds like you seem to think I've no clue what I am talking about.

This is another case I use, fairly good price and free shipping it says.
 
Azuremen
Case I suggested had a fan and a quality PSU. For less money. Do keep that in mind.
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I wasn't commenting about your case suggestion.

Azuremen
And I'm not at all aware of the SeaSonic brand, so not sure what your quality to quantity bit was about. Sounds like you seem to think I've no clue what I am talking about.
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Rosewill and quality power supplies do no equate unless you go way up in the price range. Without that power supply the case is 20 Canadian dollars cheaper. That doesn't seem like quality to me, even if the PSU was 30 or so.


Your criticism in those two areas was mostly incorrect.
 
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ROAD_DOGG33J
I wasn't commenting about your case suggestion.

Rosewill and quality power supplies do no equate unless you go way up in the price range. Without that power supply the case is 20 Canadian dollars cheaper. That doesn't seem like quality to me, even if the PSU was 30 or so.

Your criticism in those two areas was mostly incorrect.
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Right, a OEM provider makes complete junk. Also, the 200 computers in the language department using Rosewill PSUs here for the past 4 years are also complete junk.

And a case fan is not needed from a CPU only setup. And more than a single case fan isn't pointless unless you are running higher spec GFX setups.
 
Azuremen
Right, a OEM provider makes complete junk. Also, the 200 computers in the language department using Rosewill PSUs here for the past 4 years are also complete junk.
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I doubt those computers stress the power supply much especially without a discrete video card. They probably pull around 150W max.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
I doubt those computers stress the power supply much especially without a discrete video card. They probably pull around 150W max.
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And what are we building here? Nothing is going to stress this setup. And I did run a 7600GT for years on these PSUs as well, no issues. Newer, comparable level cards draw less power. Hell, my 5770 "requires" 450W. Based on the games mentioned, and the cards suggested, a 400W PSU will be fine.

Now, yes, he if was going to need a 500W plus, I'd suggest an Antec, Corsair, or OCZ option. But we've been looking at super cheap sub 400W supplies.
 
The 7600GT, consuming 36W max, actually makes todays graphics cards seem efficient. The higher-end cards now max out at over 200W.

The problem with cheaper, less-quality power supplies is that they very often don't provide the wattage that they are rated for.
 
That hard drive is a steal for the price. I would get it. I have also found this case and this case. They both seem excellent but their designs are different.

From my experience the 330 elite case has some thin metal. Though I don't think it would be something that I would keep for myself. The 360 elite has a bottom-front mounted power supply so that could be something that you would not want.
 

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