Another build - Need to get the price down.

Most of Creative Suite 5 does. Even parts of Premiere.

If you just want a 4x slot, it's still going to be tough to find. The cheapest decent-quality board I can find with an igp and two x16 slots is a $95 Foxconn The rest are 770/870 boards. Ir really think it's going to be cheaper to buy a cheap GPU right now.

If you want to go with an x3, this would be a good build:

CPU + Mobo- $134
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.547176

GPU- Geforce GT 430- $75/$10 MIR (decent main card for now...will make a great PhysX card later)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130579

Case + DVD- $92
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.548322

Monitor- $115 (1/2" smaller, but it's an LED model...better color reproduction and contrast ratio)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236105

PSU- $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021

RAM- $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

HDD- $45
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...3-HD502HJ-500GB-SATA2-7200rpm-16MB-Hard-Drive

Keyboard...up to you. That one's out of stock.

$581 before the $10 rebate or keyboard. I think shipping will be $9 because of the monitor.

Keep in mind that the 4th core may or may not unlock. The chance is north of 50%, but probably not higher than 75%.


If you want a quad, here's a good combo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.553726
 
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Do you think your could get a build for $400-450 or so? I'm still considering going with onboard video rather than a graphics card. If I did get a board without a graphics card, I'd have to buy one of those cheap 8400GS cards ¹, I suppose. I own two hard drives now... a Hitachi Laptop Drive, and a Samsung SP0802N, which is IDE ². Those Antec Truepower new PSUs are good units but They can barely considered "modular" Thats why I prefer the XFX ones. I'm trying not to go over $550-575, and the extra leftover will be spent on peripherals. (A monitor with DVI, a keyboard, maybe a 3 button mouse, and some cheap speakers?)

EDIT: Like I said, Sorry for being impatient but I need to know. Which motherboard?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131647
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131633

I still haven't decided if I'll test my luck on a Athlon Tri, or just go with a quad. As well as a hard drive, PSU, etc.



As you may have noticed I put superscript in to see how I liked using it instead of putting parentheses around random things.

¹ why are there still so many of those damn things?
² Do they make internal IDE To SATA converters? Powered by 4-pin molex?
 
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It's all good...I can understand being impatient when you're putting a new rig together.

The second board is very obviously the better of the two...the question is, are you willing to pay for it?

The TPN units are fine, btw...the only real extra cable is the 4-pin CPU cable, and the PCI-e one if you don't have a GPU. Both are small and easily go behind the motherboard. It's an inconvenience, but not a huge one...added maybe 5 minutes to my build, if that.
 
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Drenlin said:
It's all good...I can understand being impatient when you're putting a new rig together.

The second board is very obviously the better of the two...the question is, are you willing to pay for it?

The TPN units are fine, btw...the only real extra cable is the 4-pin CPU cable, and the PCI-e one if you don't have a GPU. Both are small and easily go behind the motherboard. It's an inconvenience, but not a huge one...added maybe 5 minutes to my build, if that.
Click to expand...

Do you have any pictures of your build? (cable management) I would like that 890GX board, but here is a 880G board, no SATA III though.

I think that if I went with the 870 board, it would get up to the price (and more) of the 890GX board because I'd have to add a GPU to the parts list.
 
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BurningSkyline said:
I would like that 890GX board, but here is a 880G board, no SATA III though.
Click to expand...
That's a pretty good board. Not having Sata3 won't affect you unless you're getting an SSD, and even then you can just get an add-on card.

BurningSkyline said:
Do you have any pictures of your build? (cable management)
Click to expand...
Yep. Just re-did it yesterday, actually. I don't have a great camera or lighting though....

Photo0640.jpg


It'd be a little cleaner if my case had a bit more space behind the mobo tray, but I'm happy with it. The junk below the hard drive has since been moved out of sight.

The extra cables in question are tied up behind the mobo tray, out of the way.


edit: That Lian Li is apparently still on sale for $60. I wonder how long it'll be there?

The HAF 912 would be fine as well, though. My brother's is sitting next to me right now, and it's awesome.
 
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Hey don't worry about the camera or lighting. As long as we can see whats going on, right?

Take a loot at this
Could I get it the price down a little, then put in a monitor and keyboard? (monitor with DVI would be nice...)

EDIT:
I do have a Samsung SP0802N, and a 60GB Note book hard drive.

The Samsung is a 80GB IDE drive. my 60GB drive is in an enclosure...
 
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I wouldn't use an old hard drive like that. Pre-spinpoint Samsungs weren't as awesome as they are now, and an old drive is just going to be slow anyway. I wouldn't trust my data to a drive that old, even if it was a WD.
 
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Drenlin said:
I wouldn't use an old hard drive like that. Pre-spinpoint Samsungs weren't as awesome as they are now, and an old drive is just going to be slow anyway. I wouldn't trust my data to a drive that old, even if it was a WD.
Click to expand...

That is true. I think I might just give it to my dad, so he can bring it to the firing range. Otherwise, what can I do to get the price down? The PSU is $65 after MIR, but I still need it to go down a bit more :\ Processor? Cheaper hard drive?
I have no clue, to be honest.

EDIT: it actually is a spinpoint hard drive, Haha.
 
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I wouldn't go blow it up...just don't store your critical data on it. If nothing else, use it as a secondary and put linux on it or something, you know?

You could do like I did and make multiple backups of your data, and use the old hard drive until you get the chance to buy a better one. I was using a Hitachi Travelstar from my dead laptop and an old 80GB WD for about two months, with a backup of my files on each, plus everything but my music and videos on a flash drive as well.

If you just want a cheaper drive, you can get the same one for cheaper here, once it comes back in stock.


As for the other components, here's some that would trim the price down a bit:


Mobo- Foxconn A9DA- $85 (-$15)
No usb3, and no heat sinks on the VRM's, but otherwise a pretty good board. Crossfire capable, even.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186199

RAM- 4gB G-skill 1333- $48. (- $12) (20% slower, 20% cheaper)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231396

CPU- Athlon II x3 445- $74 (-$26)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103872

Total- -$53
 
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I wouldn't go blow it up...just don't store your critical data on it. If nothing else, use it as a secondary and put linux on it or something, you know?
Click to expand...
There is my 14 year old mind at work...

But I don't think I want to Go with Ram that has no heat spreaders on it...

I know foxconn makes pretty decent stuff, but I don't know. Call me picky but I think the color scheme is terrible... Since the case has a window I want it to look nice and matching inside.

Anyways, would it be worth it to go with a Tri-core? It isn't guaranteed to unlock, so I'm not sure.
 
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Even if the CPU doesn't unlock, you've still got a tri core. Not an i7 or anything, but they're not exactly slow either.

The RAM will be fine with no spreaders. Unless you've got particularly high performance memory, they don't do all that much besides make it look pretty. You can still buy some later if you want, too. :)

The motherboard is the best you're going to get for the price. You've gotta make sacrifices somewhere to get the price down. The mobo's aesthetics should be pretty low on your list of priorities right now, you know? And really, it's not much of a sacrifice...that board has a better chipset than the Asus.
 
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Drenlin said:
Even if the CPU doesn't unlock, you've still got a tri core. Not an i7 or anything, but they're not exactly slow either.

The RAM will be fine with no spreaders. Unless you've got particularly high performance memory, they don't do all that much besides make it look pretty. You can still buy some later if you want, too. :)

The motherboard is the best you're going to get for the price. You've gotta make sacrifices somewhere to get the price down. The mobo's aesthetics should be pretty low on your list of priorities right now, you know? And really, it's not much of a sacrifice...that board has a better chipset than the Asus.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that is true. How hot will the ram get while gaming, and how will it perform in games? I don't need to get the price down too much, just enough So I can get peripherals in there. (I have Win 7 already...)

EDIT: I still think I could do something with the PSU. It is $65 after MIR, but I don't exactly need 650w. I believe I could go with one of the lower end Corsairs, even though they aren't modular at all. I'll be running a GTX 460 or the 5xx equivalent when I get the cash for it.
 
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You could do something with the PSU, but it depends on if you're counting the MIR as part of the price. You won't get much better for $65, but if you're counting it as a $95 part, then the price can definitely come down. (keep in mind, MIR's do take a long time to come back...often months)

This is a great 650W unit for $74 shipped.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015
Looks are definitely not its strong point, but it's the best you're going to get at that price point. Add a cold cathode or two later on and it'll look fine.

Counting the XFX as $95, you're down another $21. Counting it as $65...there's no point.
 
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Hmm.... I'm starting to convince myself I don't need a modular PSU. I think I just wanted it Because I've never actually did all the cable work in a rig.

Heres what I'm thinking:
CX600 Is it 80 plus?
ModXStream Pro 500, and 600. (I've heard these have short cables...)
Fatal1ty 550 - I've been told that it isn't very good... Is that true? I don't like the LED fan either...

Those are just units that were in my history.


I'll be using a 95w CPU, maybe a 140w down the road...
A few hard drives, a 460, and possibly a PhysX card...
I think I could get by with 550-600 watts.
 
I would avoid the Corsair CX-series, honestly.

OCZ's best budget-priced line is the StealthXStream II's. Not modular, but they at least have decent performance.

You'd probably be alright with a 550, yeah.
 
Drenlin said:
I would avoid the Corsair CX-series, honestly.

OCZ's best budget-priced line is the StealthXStream II's. Not modular, but they at least have decent performance.

You'd probably be alright with a 550, yeah.
Click to expand...

How long are the cables, though?
I guess the only reason the CX appeals to me is the simplistic casing and not too many extra cables.

I'll decide in the morning... 3:30 is too late to be up :P
 
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