mattcart

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking about building a new computer, and was wondering for a price range of about $200, what could I get the best bang for the buck in? The $200 is just for a MOBO and CPU..RAM/GPU/PSU/etc are all on a separate budget.

I saw this on tigerdirect.com and was wowed.
For those who don't want to visit the links.. Here's the specs:
Processor: Intel Pentium D 965 Extreme Edition Processor HH80553PH1094M - 3.73 Ghz, Socket 775, 1066MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache, Dual-Core, Presler, OEM ($129.99 separately)
MOBO: XFX nForce 680i LT SLI Motherboard - OEM, NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI, Socket 775, ATX, Audio, PCI Express, SLI Ready, Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0 & Firewire, Serial ATA, RAID ($99.99 separately)

I was wondering if this is a good deal, I just want to be able to run newer-ish games at decent FPS and be able to edit video, transcode video, and burn dvds.
I've got a CDROM/RW, and a dual layer DVD-R/RW, monitor, keyboard/mouse, video card, and 3 hard drives. I'm thinking I'll need 2 gigs of RAM, and around a 550W PSU and a fan with the new MOBO and CPU....Any ideas, suggestions, problems with this build?

Thanks!

Net Jockey

Quality...Motherboards equal Asus and Gigabyte...

mattcart

I'm running a biostar geforce tforce 6100-939 motherboard, and have been running it for the last 6 years without problems, and I've never regarded biostar as a quality motherboard maker.
Is XFX that bad of a motherboard manufacturer? And what's specifically bad about each and every motherboard they've manufactured? This motherboard specifically?

..I'm just saying every company that makes more than 1 model of something, has versions that work, and ones that just wait to cause problems. And to say asus and gigabyte have never had problems is a downright fabrication. Google provided 12,500,000 results for "asus motherboard problems", 39,300,000 for "gigabyte motherboard problems" and only 2,420,000 for "xfx motherboard problems"..... ... ... just sayin'.

Net Jockey

Well...sure glad you know more than us...What was quality 6 years ago is not necessarily quality today...but seems like you know best.

Cheers.

Edit...Show me where I said that asus and gigabyte have never had problems ?

mattcart

Well, you know, when asking for help I generally expect any responses to contain some sort of help, dare I say, any. And, who's this "us" you're speaking of psycho? The collective? I wasn't asking your top 2 picks of motherboard. My 2 favorite fish are bass and salmon. There you go, hold that in your heart.
Well, had you actually said anything relevant to my post I wouldn't have had to make assumptions.

Does anyone HELPFUL have any suggestions? People who can actually read will see that I'd like to keep the cost below $200.

EDIT: I've had 1 gigabyte and 2 asus's stop working within the last 5 years. I don't want to know anyone's favorite special widdle mobo. I don't care what you prefer, I prefer blondes. Does that mean you should stop fapping to asians? No. PLEASE, OH GOD PLEASE, CAN SOMEONE JUST GIVE ME A RESPONSE TO AT LEAST 1 OF MY QUESTIONS?

dai

people who help on here volunteer their time

you will just have wait till they come online

i only use asus boards

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131299

the power supply will depend on what video card you use

for pcie start here as basic

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...air%2b550w

johnwill

If I were buying, I'd hold out for a bit more performance. I went with an EVA MB and the quad-core Q9550 processor, which has three times the cache as that one you're considering. The memory is almost a non-issue, I picked up several deals for 4gig kits of PC8500 DDR2 (two sticks) for $30 after rebate, hard to go wrong at that price.

FWIW, I don't necessarily agree that Asus boards are the end-all of MB's, this one that I'm retiring has always had a PCI latency issue with the bus that causes glitches in the audio, never could sort it out with BIOS and chipset drivers. It was a top quality board a couple of years ago, so they're quite capable of building clinkers.

Edit:

If you read the reviews of this processor over at NewEgg, you'll see a lot of folks were disappointed in the performance, since it's an older mask and not nearly as fast or power efficient as newer processors at slower clock speeds: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116248

Tyree

XFX support leaves a LOT to be desired.
Intel CPU's prefer Intel chispets.
Tiger Direct also leaves much to be desired in the customer support area. They also have a habit of substituting parts if they don't have what you ordered in stock.

That being said, what will be the primary use for the PC?
For multi-tasking/video work a Quad-Core is best.
For Gaming or best Bang for Buck a Dual-Core is great.
In your price range........I sell a lot of these;
ASUS P5Q Pro $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131299

E6300 2.8 $92
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116091

DDR2 RAM is cheap so go with 4GB (2X2) of PC6400.
You didn't post what graphics card you have so it's difficult to comment on the PSU you will need.

mattcart

Dai, Johnwill, Tyree; Thank you for helpful responses.
And, sorry to all those who had to read the other responses of mine. It irks me when someone comes in to only tell my why I'm stupid without offering any other options.

Dual-core will work fine for my purposes. I've been doing the same thing on a single-core for years now so you'll understand that anything is a step up.
I've also been running it all on a 350w psu & I'm skeptical that the new processor/mobo & ram will consume an extra 200w than my current setup.(Let me get home to actually check the gpu)
For the extra $28 is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115206 a great deal better than the E6300 2.8?

Thanks again for the helpful responses.

johnwill

Actually, a 350W generic P/S would be very marginal with newer processors and video cards.

For my new build with a quad-core processor and a Radeon 4850 video card, the actual power consumption is about 400 watts. Given the 80% conversion efficiency of the P/S, that would be right at the limits of a 350W supply. The processor you have selected has a pretty high power consumption, so I suspect you'd have at least that much power. I personally recommend at least a 500W supply to give yourself enough headroom.

I don't believe the E7400 supports virtualization, which may be something you want in the future. http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sSpec=SLB9Y

Tyree

The E7400 has 3MB Cache (1MB larger than the E6800).
If your budget allows that would be a good choice.
A nice PSU in the 500W range; FSP Group 500W $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104034

mattcart

Ok ok ok..I think I'm going with the E7400 and the PSU Dai had suggested..Unless corsair makes bad PSUs.. Also, bout $5 cheaper after rebate, and an extra 50W in case I decide to upgrade my gpu.
So I've got:
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139004
4Gig of RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184
The Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115206

And about what I expected to pay for a psu and ram. A tad bit more than originally anticipated for the mobo and cpu, but, higher quality.
Thanks for the help everyone. Was about 2 seconds to forgetting about TSF and going with my first find because of the canadian.

johnwill

Hmm... The motherboard looks a lot like the memory modules!

mattcart

Lol whoops can't edit so..http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131299
Thanks for your help guys :D

wrench97

That's a good board.