Low cost PC upgrade, ideas on parts?

Tim

It looks like I'll have some cash soon, so I may be building a new computer for myself. It's main jobs will be to do general internet usage, playing video on the internet and video I have on my hard drives, video editing in Windows Movie Maker, and playing World of Warcraft.

Things I already have:

2 Seagate Barracuda hard drives, 80 and 250 GB. IDE drives.

I'll need a cheap case with decent airflow, motherboard, cpu, a good cpu cooler, 4 GB of ram, and pci express video card. And a power supply. I have 350 watt and 400 watt Antecs that work great, but from what I read here, it seems like a 400 won't be enough. I'll be using 32 bit Windows XP.

From what I've read, it sounds like Intel has good cpus now, but since I've had an Athlon XP 2500+ running great for me for 5+ years now, I'd like to have a couple MB / CPU choices in AMD also please.

It doesn't have to be the baddest PC ever, just something that would be considered "pretty good" by today's standards. Let's keep it under $500 if possible.

Thanks

Leonardo

A 400 watt PSU ought to be just fine if you don't run dual video cards and don't plan on high system overclocks. You would probably also want to stay away from RAID. If the PSU doesn't have an 18 amp 12v rail, then you would need to shop for a new one.

Tim, can you give us an idea of what your budget will be? Will you be shopping trading forums, Craigslist, online retail, or all of those?

edcentric

There is a lot of stuff out there.
http://www.woot.com/ I know that it is a refirb, but it gives you an idea (make sure that you look on the 9th).
for other ideas you might want to look at http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3148
It is a little old, but it is a good step by step guide. If you take their budget Intel game machine, subtract keyboard, mouse, monitor, PSU, HDD, and update the prices and video card you can make your price point.

Tim

My budget is about $500 maximum, and I won't be using RAID either. I was planning for a single PCI video card. I'll overclock it some, but I'm not going to try and squeeze every last Mhz out of it either.

I'd like to buy new parts for this computer, I might lok elsewhere too, but for the important parts I'd like new stuff. Less important things like the case can be used.

Tim

I read the budget PC suggestions article, but I think they are picking low cost motherboards rather than the best, most reliable ones. That's why I'd like to hear a few suggestions from people here, both for AMD and Intel. Something that can overclock a bit, and is a good design. Yes, I know Intel is supposedly better now, but I'm not going to be buying the new hottest highest end CPU in any case.

What's the highest memory bus speed these days? 1066? I think I'd like to find a motherboard capable of using that, so the memory won't be outdated in 2 years.

Also, I think I may buy a new case and power supply also, as when I stop using my ultra-reliable NF-7 setup I'd like to keep it all in one piece in case I need it again some day.

After reading the reviews here, I think I'll spend the $$$ for the new Radeon HD 4850 video card and be set for a long time there.

Tim

I'm looking at specs and checking prices at newegg and tiger direct, and the E7200 Core2Duo CPU seems like a pretty good deal, but it costs right around $130 at both sites, isn't that kind of high?

Tigerdirect has a 4 GB kit (2 X 2048 MB) of Corsair XMS2 Dominator series DDR2 PC8500 ram sticks for $100.

Any ideas for a computer case? I don't want something huge, but it needs to be big enough to handle a full size ATX motherboard with a big copper CPU heat sink, a power supply, a single CD/DVD burner, a PCI Express graphics card (4850 Radeon), and 2 hard drives and a few case fans. Don't want to spend a lot of $$$ on a case.

edcentric

Lots of good P35 mobos out there for about $120. (Asus P5k EPU)
The memory sounds fine, but there are lots of good choices. $100
The CPU depends on power rating (lower is better) and cache size. $130
Call the 4850 $200.
That puts you at $550 without case, PSU, or drives. And it is a great deal.
Don't skimp on the PSU.

Leonardo

A corsair 550VX or OCZ 600W CPU would work just fine for your intended build. Both can be had easily for less than $100 if you look around -- Buy.com, Amazon, Newegg (specials seem to be fewer and farther between, these days).

Mid-size tower - hard to beat an Antec 900. Yeah, it's a little pricey, but it's a case that you'll use for years and years. It's designed that well and it's construction is very good. You won't need to add any fans to the 900. It comes stock with two 120mm intakes, a 120 back exhaust, and a 200mm top fan. All the fans are near silent if you turn them down.

Motherboards. If you aren't looking for THE top of the line, P35 chipset boards will suit you fine. They will still show 90-95% performance of the newer chipset boards.

I haven't kept up with Asus much lately, but most of their P35 boards have a good reputation. Gigabytes DS3 and DS4 series boards are excellent quality and rock solid stable. The DS3s can easily be had for under $100. 1066FSB is still probably the most common specification.

BTW, 1333 is the new high standard for motherboard FSB. But of course, they will play nicely with 1066 and 800 DRAM if that's what you want to use.

Tim

How do these suggested motherboards do with overclocking? I'm not looking to squeeze every possible Mhz out of them, but I'll want to tune it up a little in any case.

GHoosdum

Any of the above options should be a very nice overclocker.