# Computer $400 budget, help?



## Jonathan5 (Dec 27, 2008)

I don't know much about computers, so I was wondering if someone could put together a gaming computer for me for $400?  I know it isn't much, but it's all I have and I'm really in need of a new computer.  My rig now can't really even handle WoW that well.  (6 FPS in AV, 30 else where =[ hehe)  I wanted to try Warhammer, and I was looking forward to Darkfall, so if it could handle either of those games, that'd be great.  It doesn't have to include a monitor, mouse, keyboard, or speakers.  If for whatever reason there was money left over, then ok, great.  Thanks in advanced.


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## ShadowFold (Dec 27, 2008)

I will put one together now. You live in the US correct? Also, Warhammer is ok.. If you are pretty set in WoW(lvl 60+, mount, tons of gold) I would just stick with it.


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## BrooksyX (Dec 27, 2008)

Do you plan on reusing your current operating system (windows, etc.) or are you needing a new one. A new OS will greatly cut into your budget so I would recommend reusing it. I am guessing you are on xp so it should be fine.


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## Jonathan5 (Dec 27, 2008)

I knew I forgot to mention something.  I do live in the U.S. and I wont be needing a new O.S..  I'll stick with my Windows XP, maybe later I'll need Vista for DX10 or something, idk...  

Sold my WoW account all ready, so sticking with it isn't an option lol =P.


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## ShadowFold (Dec 27, 2008)

Heres the best I could get for 400$ after shipping.

CD DVD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171
Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075
HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262
Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186151
GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102803
PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371006
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103211


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## BrooksyX (Dec 27, 2008)

ShadowFold said:


> Heres the best I could get for 400$ after shipping.
> 
> CD DVD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171
> Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075
> ...



+1 pretty good rig for $400.

if you had like an extra $200 you could build an awesome rig. Prices are so low right now thanks to the new hardware coming out.


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## Jonathan5 (Dec 27, 2008)

Yeah... well I'm pretty sure I'm losing my job lol.  Dammit.  Anyways thank you for the build, looks pretty good.  Pretty sure I'll end up getting it.


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## beesagtig (Dec 27, 2008)

ShadowFold said:


> Heres the best I could get for 400$ after shipping.
> 
> CD DVD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171
> Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075
> ...



pretty good

4gb of ram extra is needed for games I reckon, only an extra $25


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## BrooksyX (Dec 27, 2008)

beesagtig said:


> pretty good
> 
> 4gb of ram extra is needed for games I reckon, only an extra $25



I wouldn't bother, the system is kinda lower end so its not going to be able to take advantage of 4gb of ram. Plus he is going to be using xp so he will only be able to use roughly 3gb anyways.


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## beesagtig (Dec 27, 2008)

BrooksyX said:


> I wouldn't bother, the system is kinda lower end so its not going to be able to take advantage of 4gb of ram. Plus he is going to be using xp so he will only be able to use roughly 3gb anyways.



Good point


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## BrooksyX (Dec 27, 2008)

beesagtig said:


> Good point



but hey nice thing is that its always an option in the future. Especially with the cheap prices of ddr2.


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## Jonathan5 (Dec 27, 2008)

I had someone recommend that I get a cheaper CD DVD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106228 so I could get this RAM instead http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 .  In that case I would need Vista, maybe if I could get my hands on a copy of Vista I should go this way?  And this goes over the budget by about 5 bucks.  I'm just asking is that 5 bucks extra worth it?  Is it that big of a deal.  Thanks again.


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## JrRacinFan (Dec 27, 2008)

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9682932

I am $6 over budget and all items are free shipping.


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## BUCK NASTY (Dec 27, 2008)

ShadowFold said:


> Heres the best I could get for 400$ after shipping.
> 
> CD DVD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171
> Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075
> ...



Nice solid build Shadowfold. When I saw $400.00 budget, I didn't expect a 4830/80plus PSU in there.


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## Jonathan5 (Dec 27, 2008)

JrRacinFan said:


> https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9682932
> 
> I am $6 over budget and all items are free shipping.



I really like the no shipping.  The other build is about $425 with shipping.  I like'em both, not sure which one I'm gonna go with yet.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Dec 27, 2008)

Shadow put together a pretty nice build, but you could drop some price and pick up some watts and amps.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339001

Is a very nice PSU, my frined has been running this for over a year problem free. I had a 650 HEC powering my old 9850 BE and 2x 3870's and it ran fantastic.

Everything else I would say is about right on, just as long as you remember to crank up that 4830's GPU.

Also you could go the Intel route and grab a e1200 or e2200, but thats only if your into OC'ing, the C2D's are just so good at that. But take that route if your into OC'ing because both those will crack 3ghz.


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## Jonathan5 (Dec 27, 2008)

Don't know how to OC.. never done it.  Maybe I could have a friend help with that or something.


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## BrooksyX (Dec 27, 2008)

Jonathan5 said:


> Don't know how to OC.. never done it.  Maybe I could have a friend help with that or something.



I would worry about getting your computer up and running first. Work out all the bugs. OCing is fun and a great way to get some extra performance but it can also introduce many problems. Better to avoid the headache.

Also I would stick with the Antec powersupply suggested by shadow. The hec may look like a better deal but the Antec is going to be a lot higher quality and your not going to have to worry about it blowing up on you.


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## TheMailMan78 (Dec 27, 2008)

ShadowFold said:


> Heres the best I could get for 400$ after shipping.
> 
> CD DVD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171
> Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147075
> ...



Not bad for 400 bucks. But you could upgrade a few things if he recycled some parts off of his old one. Optical drives and Hard Drive come to mind. Maybe even the case?



Jonathan5 said:


> I don't know much about computers, so I was wondering if someone could put together a gaming computer for me for $400?  I know it isn't much, but it's all I have and I'm really in need of a new computer.  My rig now can't really even handle WoW that well.  (6 FPS in AV, 30 else where =[ hehe)  I wanted to try Warhammer, and I was looking forward to Darkfall, so if it could handle either of those games, that'd be great.  It doesn't have to include a monitor, mouse, keyboard, or speakers.  If for whatever reason there was money left over, then ok, great.  Thanks in advanced.


Current system specs?


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## HossHuge (Dec 27, 2008)

That was really nice of ShadowFold to do that. That's a solid computer.



> But you could upgrade a few things if he recycled some parts off of his old one. Optical drives and Hard Drive come to mind. Maybe even the case?



I agree.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Dec 27, 2008)

BrooksyX said:


> Also I would stick with the Antec powersupply suggested by shadow. The hec may look like a better deal but the Antec is going to be a lot higher quality and your not going to have to worry about it blowing up on you.



Read the reviews, HEC's are solid power supplys you will be hard pressed to find any one of their PSU's under a 4 egg rating and with quiet a bit of reviews. I bought my old 650W HEC for like $99 2 years ago. They are good equipment, to this day that PSU is running strong.


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## Jonathan5 (Dec 27, 2008)

Lol, recycling isn't going to be an option when you see these specs.  The computer is pretty old, I'm not sure on somethings so I'm just going to list what I know. 

CPU - AMD Athlon, ~1.3ghz
RAM - 1024 DDR (256 x2, 512 x1)
GPU -  Nvidia GeForce 6600 128mb (AGP)
HDD -  28g, thats all I know
CD   -  Bad, old, no DvD
Mobo - No idea, KT600 Soyo Dragon?
Case  - Black (Dragon), no side panel (which if I'm correct at some point contained a fan), and       about from the looks of it only 3 bay expansion slots or w/e.


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## Bluefox1115 (Dec 27, 2008)

I'll second on the HDD, and dvd burner. For someone that's not going to OC, I'd look into the AMD 6000+ brisbane (3.1GHz), and 2GB of ram will suffice for now.


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## TheMailMan78 (Dec 27, 2008)

Jonathan5 said:


> Lol, recycling isn't going to be an option when you see these specs.  The computer is pretty old, I'm not sure on somethings so I'm just going to list what I know.
> 
> CPU - AMD Athlon, ~1.3ghz
> RAM - 1024 DDR (256 x2, 512 x1)
> ...



Oh well. Go with Shadowfolds build. Its a nice one for the price.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Dec 27, 2008)

Bluefox1115 said:


> I'll second on the HDD, and dvd burner. For someone that's not going to OC, I'd look into the AMD 6000+ brisbane (3.1GHz), and 2GB of ram will suffice for now.


I would go with the 6000+ Windsor over the Brisbane, only 100mhz less and 1mb more L2. They added 100mhz to try and cover the difference of skimping on the L2, but in my mind that just won't cut it especially for a gamer.


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## Bluefox1115 (Dec 27, 2008)

1Kurgan1 said:


> I would go with the 6000+ Windsor over the Brisbane, only 100mhz less and 1mb more L2. They added 100mhz to try and cover the difference of skimping on the L2, but in my mind that just won't cut it especially for a gamer.



it also runs a lot warmer, especially on stock cooling.


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## silkstone (Dec 27, 2008)

Shadow's advice looks pretty solid, although the $49.99 seems pretty steep for a PSU. Personally i'd go for a generic brand one. But i know the majority of people would disagree with this decision.

You could recycle your case to save a few $$$ if looks aren;t important to you (then you also wouldn't need a PSU) - You'd have to check your connectors on your current PSU first tho and make sure they are correct - if not just buy an adapter.
You'd save $75 and be able to get a E5200 + P35 mobo. You can always upgrade your PSU and Case at a later date.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157121R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072


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## BrooksyX (Dec 27, 2008)

silkstone said:


> Shadow's advice looks pretty solid, although the $49.99 seems pretty steep for a PSU. Personally i'd go for a generic brand one. But i know the majority of people would disagree with this decision.
> 
> You could recycle your case to save a few $$$ if looks aren;t important to you (then you also wouldn't need a PSU) - You'd have to check your connectors on your current PSU first tho and make sure they are correct - if not just buy an adapter.
> You'd save $75 and be able to get a E5200 + P35 mobo. You can always upgrade your PSU and Case at a later date.
> ...



No good. Until he lists his system specs I am going to assume that his pc is not custom built and is probably a dell, hp, etc.  These cases and psus are no good for a custom build. The psu will most likely not have enough watts or amps to properly power his system.

$50 is expensive!?! :shadedshu
No that is very reasonable. The PSU is the most important part in a system. If you get a bad psu it will probably destroy everything. I don't think he wants to learn a $400 lesson and have to start over again.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Dec 27, 2008)

Bluefox1115 said:


> it also runs a lot warmer, especially on stock cooling.



Aftermarket coolers are cheap, but you can't just pickup 1mb of L2 that easily. But really even if temps are a bit high on the stock cooler, thats what it was designed to run with and he doesn't know much about comps. So he probably won't be OC'ing so should work nice for him.


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## Jonathan5 (Dec 27, 2008)

I already posted my current system specs.  Alright, I think I'm going with Shadow's setup, but I was thinking about swapping out the case for this one because its free shipping - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147106  and swapping out the RAM with this ram because this also has free shipping - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227178

Shadow's setup cost me $415 with shipping, if I make the above exchanges I'll be at $417 with shipping, technically without =P .  Let me know what you think of that, will that case work etc.    The case and RAM were suggestions from JrRackinFan, so thanks.


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## BrooksyX (Dec 27, 2008)

Yeah both of those should be fine. 

And don't even bother listening to the windsor suggestion. It requires more than twice the power and puts of twice the amount of heat. The increase in l2 cache is not noticable. Ive had a 2mb l2 cache windsor athlon x2 and 1mb l2 cache brisbane athlon x2. I preferred the brisbane. It ran much cooler, used less power, and overclocked higher.


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## Jonathan5 (Dec 27, 2008)

Hmm... I'm pretty indecisive, but I guess I'm going to go with Shadow's original setup.


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## BUCK NASTY (Dec 27, 2008)

Jonathan5 said:


> Hmm... I'm pretty indecisive, but I guess I'm going to go with Shadow's original setup.



Trust me, it's a solid choice. Don't sink any more money into a platform that will be obsolete in 2 yrs or less. The PSU is worth it and Antec makes some of the best PSU's.


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## Bluefox1115 (Dec 27, 2008)

besides Corsair, yes they do.  lol   Also that Rosewill case you picked out is fine, it's all in what you want.


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## kysg (Dec 27, 2008)

meh, I disagree on the board....there are better options for boards.  and there are better options for hdd instead of the cheapest thing on the totem pole.


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## Bluefox1115 (Dec 27, 2008)

kysg said:


> meh, I disagree on the board....there are better options for boards.  and there are better options for hdd instead of the cheapest thing on the totem pole.



personally I would suggest the Seagate 7200.10 or 7200.11 series. as far as a motherboard, I prefer Asus, or a higher end Foxconn board, and for memory, Corsair..


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## Bluefox1115 (Dec 27, 2008)

I threw together a rather nice system in my opinion, although it does have onboard graphics, you can always upgrade later.  here we are:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103272 -CPU $76 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184 -RAM $54.99 free shipping - $30 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186150 -Board $114.99 + $9.39 shipping - $20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262 -HDD $54.99 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024 -Case and PSU $99.99 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171 -DVD/CD. $24.99 free shipping

Totals out to $435.34 with shipping, but you also have $50 in mail in rebates.. So in the end of it all, you spend $385.34.


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## Bluefox1115 (Dec 27, 2008)

Also.. I recently built someone a gaming system, and used the Foxconn Destroyer board, because she was looking for expandability and an upgradable system, and the onboard GeForce 8200 graphics is what she is using right now with only 2GB of ram, and she's getting about 40 to 60FPS in WoW.. so it's rather livable.


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## kysg (Dec 27, 2008)

Depends on what OP wants if he wants gaming he'd have to option but to go shadows build though I disagree with the board would pic a 780g with hopes to move to phenom as to avoid the drop in HT by adding phenom.

4gb of ram is negated....depends if he chooses to keep xp or move to vista if so add another 100bucks unless he already has it.

vid card...depends if you want to do gaming if so get 4830 or heck even go for a 4670, 9800GT or 9600GT...  if you want to play oldskool and not next get then go onboard.

reasonable route I would think would be 780g w/athlon x2 -> to phenomII w/4830 or 9800GT
but that is for the OP to decide.

I also argue 790GX is unreasonable as I believe OP stated there is no OC.


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## ShadowFold (Dec 27, 2008)

If he is going to be playing Warhammer he needs a 4830 or something higher. They did not optimize it very well at all. My friends 9500GT can't play it for crap.


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## TheMailMan78 (Dec 28, 2008)

Whatever you do please don't go cheap on the PSU. You WILL regret it.


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## Bluefox1115 (Dec 28, 2008)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Whatever you do please don't go cheap on the PSU. You WILL regret it.



I second that. So any comments or idea on the setup I came up with?


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## BUCK NASTY (Dec 28, 2008)

Bluefox1115 said:


> I threw together a rather nice system in my opinion, although it does have onboard graphics, you can always upgrade later.  here we are:
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103272 -CPU $76 free shipping
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184 -RAM $54.99 free shipping - $30 MIR
> ...



Wow, another solid build. Nice choice on the mobo & case/psu. Always liked Foxconn. There is some tough decision making to be done


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## Bluefox1115 (Dec 28, 2008)

Thanks Buck. I acutally have quite a few people asking me to build systems for them locally, and this is pretty much my recommended setup to them, for everyday use, web browsing, and such. They have all asked for a budget between $400 and $500. With a $500 budget, you can add a keyboard and mouse, speakers, and a wireless card if that interests you(someone requested wireless here). These are also systems that will be running a dual core, but have the capability and native support for the Phenom quad's, more RAM, more HDD's, and dedicated graphics.


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