# Build for a Buddy, 300$ !?!? Help



## Gjohnst4 (Aug 2, 2010)

So, my friend who knows nothing about computers wants to play starcraft II.
He has asked me to build him something, and gave me the very low budget of 300$ with a little wiggle room.

Side notes:
I am giving him a nice AM2+ Heatsink (A Triton)
I am also giving him, for now at least, two 2600xt 512mb ddr3 sapphire vid cards.

The build obviously needs to support crossfire and I want to make it the most future proof as possible for him so upgrades will be easy once he has the money. 

The Build:

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X ...

APEX Vortex 3620 SGCC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Gaming C...

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 R...

JetWay JHA07-ULTRA-LF AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX ...

LOGISYS Computer PS575XBK 575W ATX12V SLI Ready   ...

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600...

AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache...

Its basically a AM3 790GX, Athlon II x2 240 with 2GB DDR3 1600 and a 500gb 7200rpm HD. 
Then all the peripherals (case, cd/dvd burner, psu..)

The total came to 334.15$

If you think you could build it better for the price then by all means send me the list!! or if you have any parts that would work that you will sell for less let me know.

Also, I have NO IDEA what monitor he is going to use, still working on that.


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## Dent1 (Aug 2, 2010)

Forget about the 2600 XT in crossfire, it will not play games at a reasonable level, trying to play a new game like starcraft, forget it. Maybe sell it on ebay?

Remove the motherboard, its a AM2+ board only based on the old 790 chipset. Get a new AM3 785G chipset.

That PSU is junk, it should still work though but do not count on reliability.

Do not get 2X1GBs of ram because it will stop you from upgrading all the way upto 8 GBs in the distant future. 1x2GB seems more ideal.


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Aug 2, 2010)

For PSU get something like this.  A little more cash, but it will never fail.  

FSP Group SAGA+ 500R 500W ATX2.2 Power Supply comp...

For ram get a 2gb stick.  He can get 2 more gb later on.  

The video cards you are giving him are meh, but he cannot complain about handouts.  If he wants to get a new gfx card later on, he can upgrade.  IMO don't start a new computer person off with 2 video cards.  He will be very confused, very fast.


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## HossHuge (Aug 2, 2010)

The mobo supports DDR2 and the sticks you want to buy are DDR3.

How about open box?  

Computer Hardware,Motherboards,AMD Motherboards,$5...

Cause then you could try to fit in a tri-core.


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## BarbaricSoul (Aug 2, 2010)

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X ...

GIGABYTE gz-ph2a3 Black SGCC ATX Mid Tower Compute...

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3320418AS 320GB 7200 R...

Open Box: ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD M...

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333...

AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cach...

Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2...

$338 before shipping and it's a tri-core system with a hell of alot more reliable power supply. Dont go too cheap on the power supply. Cheap power supplies kill computers, literally.


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## Dent1 (Aug 2, 2010)

Ok, here you go...








LG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-...
GIGABYTE gz-ph2a3 Black SGCC ATX Mid Tower Compute...
Western Digital AV-GP WD5000AVDS 500GB 32MB Cache ...
BIOSTAR A770E3 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
PowerColor AX5670 512MD5-H Radeon HD 5670 (Redwood...
COOLER MASTER Elite 460 RS-460-PSAR-J3 460W ATX12V...
Crucial 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 1060...
AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache...

Total: $362.92 .....buf if you are willing to go upto $400 you can get a  X3 and a GTS 250 1GB!


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## BarbaricSoul (Aug 2, 2010)

Honestly, you need to talk to him about upping his budget alittle more. $450 to 500 is what he should expect to spend for a half-way decent gaming system.


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## ebolamonkey3 (Aug 2, 2010)

Yea, $300 is a bit too low for a gaming system. Very doable for just a basic box, but not after you add in a decent video card that will be worth SLIing or Crossfiring later on and the PSU to support both.


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## HossHuge (Aug 2, 2010)

Dent1 said:


> Ok, here you go...
> 
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/100802/build664.gif
> ...



I like it Dent1.  He could save $20 and go with a HD4670 and it would still be way faster the the 2600's in X-fire.

Gjohnst4 what res will he be gaming at?


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## ebolamonkey3 (Aug 2, 2010)

Get this video card, for $50 is definitely your best bet. It's rebate though 

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=417911&t=2156980


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## Gjohnst4 (Aug 2, 2010)

Thanks for the builds guys! I am well aware that the 2600xt are junk. Im trying to invest in the rest of the system and let him invest in gpu's in time as I teach him. The 2600's are just to hold him over. He doesnt have a monitor yet- I might let him borrow a 19


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## HossHuge (Aug 2, 2010)

Just a reminder if you plan on going with the build you presented to us eariler.  The ram and the mobo don't mesh.


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## Soylent Joe (Aug 2, 2010)

For DDR3, I'd get this stick instead of that kit. It'll free up a slot to give him more growing room. $10 less too for the same size and speed.

A-DATA Gaming Series 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1...


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## Gjohnst4 (Aug 2, 2010)

That open box mobo has replaced my silly choice


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## HossHuge (Aug 2, 2010)

Gjohnst4 said:


> That open box mobo has replaced my silly choice



I have the same one it's soild but it didn't unlock both my X2 PII or my tri-core...

Any thoughts on going tri-core?


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## Gjohnst4 (Aug 2, 2010)

Athlon II x3 rana 3.0 is now in and recommended cooler master psu


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## HossHuge (Aug 2, 2010)

Soylent Joe said:


> For DDR3, I'd get this stick instead of that kit. It'll free up a slot to give him more growing room. $10 less too for the same size and speed.
> 
> A-DATA Gaming Series 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1...



I bought 4gb of that ram a year ago.  Solid find...


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## Gjohnst4 (Aug 2, 2010)

Switched to suggested 2 gb single stick. Thanks!


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## Gjohnst4 (Aug 2, 2010)

Question, I also have an 8800 gt lying around. Its only 256mb....assuming he ends up using a 19" lcd, will the crossfire 2600xt 512 ddr3 run starcraft 2 better? Might be a question for fraps and trial


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## Soylent Joe (Aug 2, 2010)

HossHuge said:


> I bought 4gb of that ram a year ago.  Solid find...



Yeah and I love how compatible it is. Like right now I have that 2GB stick running with a different brand, different speed 1GB stick and it works fine. My motherboard automatically OC's the slower stick and downclocks the ADATA so that the frequencies match.


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## overclocker (Aug 2, 2010)

Gjohnst4 said:


> Question, I also have an 8800 gt lying around. Its only 256mb....assuming he ends up using a 19" lcd, will the crossfire 2600xt 512 ddr3 run starcraft 2 better? Might be a question for fraps and trial



If he only wants to spend $300.00 I say 2x2600xts are great for him, everyone needs to remember the $300.00 price line. I think people forget what the 2600xts could do, I own one and it is great for all my needs.


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## Dent1 (Aug 2, 2010)

Gjohnst4 said:


> Question, I also have an 8800 gt lying around. Its only 256mb....assuming he ends up using a 19" lcd, will the crossfire 2600xt 512 ddr3 run starcraft 2 better? Might be a question for fraps and trial



The 8800 GT would be much faster than the CF 2600 XT it wouldnt even be funny. a single 8600 GT about on par with a 2600 XT, 8600 GT in SLI are significantly slower than a 8800 GT. Unfortunately these cards are so old that most of the good links are dead but I have a good memory and did all this research back in 2006


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## HossHuge (Aug 2, 2010)

Here's a review.


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## overclocker (Aug 2, 2010)

I got a score of 8k with a single 2600xt OC in 06, 2 2600xt are quit fast and the 2600xts have 512mb,
the 8800gt only has 256mb that will make a big differents at this speed .


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## Dent1 (Aug 2, 2010)

HossHuge said:


> Here's a review.



Thanks, wow, these graphs look ancient.

But yeah as you can see the 2600 XT CF gets owned by the 8800 GTS 320 MB. Bear in mind the 8800 GTS 320MB (G80) is slower than the 8800 GT (G92) 256MB.


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## HossHuge (Aug 2, 2010)

overclocker said:


> I got a score of 8k a single 2600xt OC in 06, 2 2600xt are quit fast and the 2600xts have 512mb,
> the 8800gt only has 256mb that will make a big differents at this speed .



Here's playing on a 19' monitor.  256mb will be plenty and maybe in the future he could use the 8800gt as a physx card.   I'd go with the 8800gt and save some money on the mobo.


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## overclocker (Aug 2, 2010)

HossHuge said:


> Here's playing on a 19' monitor.  256mb will be plenty and maybe in the future he could use the 8800gt as a physx card.   I'd go with the 8800gt and save some money on the mobo.



Hmm + 1 on savong money on a non crossfire board


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## overclocking101 (Aug 2, 2010)

be careful ordering open box m8, I have ordered 3 open box items and all three came dead, 2 came with physical defects on the parts, when I asked newegg how they can sell an item with a defec like that ( i mean brun marks on the mosfets missing caps etc) they straight up stated they DO NOT check or test open box items they simply restock and relist them. whats the point in ordering a whole system and taking a chance with a board that may or may not work, thus having to wait even longer if it doesnt.


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## CJCerny (Aug 2, 2010)

If you live anywhere near a Microcenter, they are now offering a free 785G motherboard with the purchase of X2 250 and X4 630, priced at $65 and $90, respectively. You really can't even come close to beating that, even open box deals.


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## Deleted member 67555 (Aug 2, 2010)

How about this 
AMD AII x2 250
MSI 785gm p-35
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500gb
Nvidia 9800 
BFG tech 450w
dvd burner
4gb ddr3 1333

For $335

Microcenter 
has really good deals going on right now
You can get a AII 250 and an 785 AM3 board for $63 (mobo is free) an F3 spinpoint for $45
a 9800 for $67 4gb OCZ 1333 for $89
BFG PSU for $40 DVD burner for $20 
and there is a microcenter near you
http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/0727_AMDbundle.html

and you would also get $30 in MIR


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## HossHuge (Aug 2, 2010)

Dent1 said:


> Thanks, wow, these graphs look ancient.




In those charts it shows F.E.A.R. as a benchmark.  I am playing that now.  I've been wanting to play it forever, but living in Taiwan makes it hard to get English games sometimes.  What a great game.  Any game that gives me goosebumps I love!

Gjohnst4, your buddies system is turning out to be not so bad...


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## Deleted member 67555 (Aug 2, 2010)

CJCerny said:


> If you live anywhere near a Microcenter, they are now offering a free 785G motherboard with the purchase of X2 250 and X4 630, priced at $65 and $90, respectively. You really can't even come close to beating that, even open box deals.



I'm running a AII x4 635 and a MSI 785 I got from Microcenter yesterday...Can't beat it for $120


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## mdsx1950 (Aug 2, 2010)

For $300 you can build a PC but it will be a low-end PC so better sell the 2600XTs and save a little more and go for a $400 buck rig like this  :-






Total cost : $410

You can always go for 2nd hand used parts or open box parts because your friend won't be satisfied with his build after spending $300 and not being able to play StarCraft II


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## Gjohnst4 (Aug 2, 2010)

Great review,thanks for  the link. The 256mb scares me but I guess it matters what screen size and resolution he ends up at. I will probably  end up testing both with fraps and see where it goes, but for now the 8800gt seems the clear choice. Im sure drivers will also make a difference


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## Gjohnst4 (Aug 2, 2010)

The micro center build isnt bad!


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## Dent1 (Aug 2, 2010)

Gjohnst4 said:


> Great review,thanks for  the link. The 256mb scares me but I guess it matters what screen size and resolution he ends up at. I will probably  end up testing both with fraps and see where it goes, but for now the 8800gt seems the clear choice. Im sure drivers will also make a difference



The memory shouldnt scare you, remember a computer has an infinite amount of memory (almost), when the video memory is depleted it will borrow from the main memory (RAM) and once the ram is running low it can borrow virtual memory from the hard disk drive.

However with the X1600XT the GPU is just too slow, sure it has 512MBs but what good is the memory is the GPU is not strong enough to render the scenes to begin with.


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## overclocker (Aug 3, 2010)

Beleave me 2x2600xt can use 512mb no problem, I remember looking at reviews before i bot the 2600xt, the 512mb version did much better then the 256mb version. I also had a 3850 256mb and the x2600xt 512 was on par with the HD 3850 256mb in crysis.


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## Soylent Joe (Aug 3, 2010)

You could probably get a lot more bang for the buck if you put up a WTB thread for all of the parts that you need.


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## crazyeyesreaper (Aug 3, 2010)

get a sempron 140 single core and unlock it to a dualcore to hold him over there around $30 if u can snag oem versions with a 770 or 785g board and 4 gigs generic DDR3 1066 is more then enough 

AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket ...

BIOSTAR TA785G3 AM3 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherb...

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333...

sempron 140 + 785g above + 4 gigs g skill = $180

CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2  80 PLUS Cert...

add in a corsair 450w psu =  230 after rebate

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Com...

rosewill challenger case for $40 = $270

add the rest yourself  hope that helps he can always add a better CPU used from off of tpu later on  same with gpu


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Aug 3, 2010)

Part quality isn't bad on this, nice psu. $330 after shipping, rebate, and this code EMCYVNV26. Bump that cpu to 3.2 pretty easily and you'll do a lot better in games than with amd.


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## Fatal (Aug 3, 2010)

$300 is asking too much I mean it can be done but the computer wont be good. Maybe for surfing the net but gaming thats tough. This is what I came up with.


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## Deleted member 67555 (Aug 3, 2010)

^
DDR3 and a DDR2 Board...


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## TIGR (Aug 3, 2010)

Frankly, if someone comes at me with a $300 budget, I tell them to either go buy something used or save up until they can afford to be serious about buying a computer.

Scraping away at the bottom of the barrel gets you ... well, bottom-of-the-barrel stuff.

My experience has been that investing in a better system than you can get for $300 provides greater bang for the buck in the long run. I frequently hear from customers that they regret purchasing cheap computers in the past and that's why they've come to me.


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Aug 3, 2010)

Back before ram prices went to shit this used to be my specialty. You'd be surprised at how decent the cheap parts can be. I could get a 3+ GHz intel plus 9600 GSO rig for $300-$330 easy in a nice looking case. Price varied day to day from combos, codes, and rebates. I worked that shit good. Can't do it now not just cause of the prices but because everyone insists on more than 2 GBs of ram even though they don't need it. People got spoiled by these 4 GB ram laptops from when ram was dirt cheap. Now it has to be 4 GB for everyone so it's 4x the price.


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## Deleted member 67555 (Aug 3, 2010)

I still think I got the nicest build for the price on this page...
But then again I am perfect LuLzzz.


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## Zen_ (Aug 3, 2010)

Lots of comments already on the topic already, but buying a mobo and PSU that can actually handle CF is a waste of money just to be _future proof_. There's really no such thing as future proof, take the best deal you can at the time of purchase. I'd just use a single 2600, the 8800 you mentioned or get a used 4770 off eBay. I sold my 4770 for around $50 a few months ago and that would be a great card for a casual gamer, more than capable of running SC2 with decent quality with the Athlon II X3.


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## Fatal (Aug 3, 2010)

jmcslob said:


> ^
> DDR3 and a DDR2 Board...



The reason behind that was it has Onboard Video Chipset: ATI Radeon HD 4200  Not the best but would do pretty good in most games and can be overclocked.


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## zithe (Aug 3, 2010)

I'd look at this PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certi...

Nice big ol' 30a rail


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## Dent1 (Aug 3, 2010)

LAN_deRf_HA said:


> everyone insists on more than 2 GBs of ram even though they don't need it. People got spoiled by these 4 GB ram laptops from when ram was dirt cheap. Now it has to be 4 GB for everyone so it's 4x the price.



I think up to 4GB is needed these days, maybe not the entire 4 GB but atleast 3 GBs of ram. In Vista or Windows 7 launch a new or intensive game at high detaill and resolution like Battlefield BC2, GTA IV etc and monitor the memory usage over a 30min period and you'd see more than 2 GBs of ram is being utilised.




Fatal said:


> The reason behind that was it has Onboard Video Chipset: ATI Radeon HD 4200  Not the best but would do pretty good in most games and can be overclocked.



Not a good move, the HD 4200 is piss poor and it will struggle to play games even at low resolution and detail. Unless Valve games are being played I wouldnt go this route, Starcraft 2 is out of the question with it.


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## Fatal (Aug 3, 2010)

For under $300 he wont be able to run the better games I could have made one under 300 but it would be crap. I don't think he is expecting too much for 300 bucks not sure though. 

StarCraft 2
PC Minimum System Requirements*:

Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Updated with the latest Service Packs) with DirectX® 9.0c
2.6 GHz Pentium® IV or equivalent AMD Athlon® processor
128 MB PCIe NVIDIA® GeForce® 6600 GT or ATI Radeon® 9800 PRO video card or better
12 GB available HD space
1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users)
DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection
1024X720 minimum display resolution

PC Recommended Specifications:

Windows Vista®/Windows® 7
Dual Core 2.4Ghz Processor
2 GB RAM
512 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX or ATI Radeon® HD 3870 or better
*Note: Due to potential programming changes, the Minimum System Requirements for this game may change over time.


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## mdsx1950 (Aug 3, 2010)

Go with my build if your buddy wants to play SC2 in an enjoyable manner


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Aug 3, 2010)

Dent1 said:


> I think up to 4GB is needed these days, maybe not the entire 4 GB but atleast 3 GBs of ram. In Vista or Windows 7 launch a new or intensive game at high detaill and resolution like Battlefield BC2, GTA IV etc and monitor the memory usage over a 30min period and you'd see more than 2 GBs of ram is being utilised.



Yeah sure it may help slightly for the worst offenders like GTA, but on a $300 dollar rig you're going to run into other limits with that game before you start missing the 4% advantage you'd get going to 4 GBs. It's no use trying to explain it to clients though, they'd see ram usage at 50% on the desktop and just couldn't accept the explanation of caching and that used ram is unwasted ram, and how when you load up an intensive game it's instantly cleared.... didn't stop them from going out and buying ram that didn't even fit the socket. Damn people are idiots. They got used to an advertising point they didn't even understand.

@mdsx1950
Your total is blocked by the watermark.


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## Dent1 (Aug 3, 2010)

LAN_deRf_HA said:


> didn't stop them from going out and buying ram that didn't even fit the socket. Damn people are idiots. They got used to an advertising point they didn't even understand.



Wow your client did that. Why didnt they consult you to make sure the memory would fit the motherboard before purchasing?


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