Preface: I'm a computer literate programmer by trade, but I've not done any rig building in almost ten years since my husband used to manage all the boxen in the house. I'm now separated, and building a rig on my own for the first time in a very long time, and would appreciate any advice given. Goal: I need to build a box that's stable and stays under budget. I will not be overclocking my hardware. Budget: $600 CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz -- $125.00 Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard -- $119.99 Memory: Patriot eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory -- $125.99 after $50.00 Mail-In Rebate [Updated] Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100166L Radeon X1650XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card -- $119.99 PSU: ePOWER ZU-550W ATX12V Version 2.0 / EPS12V 550W Power Supply -- $54.99 Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case -- $49.99 Wireless Network Card: D-Link DWL-G510 32-bit PCI High Speed Wireless Adapter -- $29.99 Will this hardware all work together acceptably? The most load I put on a machine is when photoshopping new design comps or playing games (MMO's like WoW, LOTRO, etc. rather than FPS's) Am I missing any upgrades I could toss in there while staying under budget? Am I overspending (given equal or better quality on something else) on any part? I'm not 100% committed to this build and am open to any suggestions made. Once again, I'd really appreciate any advice here
That build should work just fine, but just so you know, AMD is the way to go for a budget build right now. For about the same price as that C2D you can get an AMD 64x2 4600 that's 2.4 GHz instead of the C2D's 1.8 GHz. You could also get the Patriot RAM with the rebate right now, which is timed much better. -Crom
Excellent point on the memory! I'll update that right now. As far as the Intel vs AMD thing goes... I've been going with Intel for several years mostly for quality and longevity. Does Intel still have the edge on both, or is AMD now considered equal/superior on that score? Edit: I should note, I'm not trying to provoke a processor debate - I'm just looking for a summary of current opinion, and whether it sides heavily on one side or the other given concerns about quality/longevity on a machine NOT intended for overclocking. [You'd be surprised at how few articles are written with non OC'ers in mind.]
AMD were superior to intel but with the release of C2D intel are ahead in the CPU race[ot]but what will AMD's responce to the C2D[/ot]but i think AMD are aimed slightly towards the tweakers[ot]@ least they were[/ot]
The C2D line pretty much smokes everything else, but for a non-OC'ed budget build, I'd go with AMD, simply for higher speeds and lower prices. In terms of longevity I think they're about the same. -Crom
Recently Intel has slashed the C2D's and Pentium D's prices by big margin.. I suggest you should have a look at it...
