Making a new system... cheaply

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:09 pm

Seeing as how my P4 in my sig is getting on in years, I'd like to upgrade a few things, but I don't have a lot of money to do so, while I'm paying off a substantial amount of debt. On some major computer or "hot deal" site, there's a thread recommending the cheapest system you can make, which is updated reguarly, but I can't remember where it is. Anyway, I need it as CHEAP as possible, while still allowing for the possibility of upgrading the CPU in the future.

I just got a 24" Soyo monitor from Black Friday. I don't need a keyboard, mouse, case, or PSU. I also plan to use my current hard drives. What I'm looking for is a motherboard, cpu, ram, and video card that use the new PCI-E slot and is more powerful than my current system. I also need a video card that supports Shader 3, since I intend to play Bioshock at soem point. As Baldur's Gate 2 won't let me use resolutions higher than 800x600 on my curent ATI card, I'd prefer an Nvidia recommendation if possible. I'm fine with my current case and PSU, though I can throw in an Antec 430w Neo PSU if I absolutely have to if the new parts need more power. I'd prefer motherboards and video cards with passive coolers if at all possible.

So... recs?

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:23 pm

hard to say what you should get, but i guess if you're going for cheapness and something you can upgrade:

motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813130127
^its not the greatest thing in the world, but how can you beat that price?

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115031
^core 2 duo. cheap, powerful.

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127297
^fanless, DX10, PCI express x16.

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820146565
^Ballistix...almost a memory performance standard now.

you can reuse that ninja, most of any power supplies would be able to power this. cases..what does it have to do? fit! the motherboard i can see other things for, but i'm not "up-to" on chipsets really. but the rest is a great combo!

sareiodata · Post by **sareiodata** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:58 pm

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125075
a bit more powerful then a 8500GT and more expensive, but Bioshok should play better to

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 3:20 pm

for ultimate cheapness go for a Celeron 420 CPU. w/ right motherboard can upgrade to E6750 or similar when funds are available.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 3:39 pm

well, celerons aren't dual core, so if you're going to start with something that has some kick, at the very least get a dual core. but i wouldn't say Pentium D because they're so hot. while some Pentium D's can outperform lower C2D's, its the newer technology that makes them better [C2D i mean].

angelkiller · Post by **angelkiller** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 4:25 pm

jaganath wrote:for ultimate cheapness go for a Celeron 420 CPU. w/ right motherboard can upgrade to E6750 or similar when funds are available.

I would second this as a good idea.

I like bonestonne's recomendation but I would use a Pentium Dual Core (E2160 instead of E4500) because they're cheaper and when you're on a budget, you won't notice the difference.

In case you wanted to go the AMD route:

AMD X2 4000- $65 (cheap, dual core)
BIOSTAR TForce TF7050-M2- $75 (Cheap, HDMI for future)
2GB Corsair DDR2-800- $68 (cheap, 2GB)
Gigabyte Passive 8600GT- $113 (DX10, silent, decent performance)

Total: $321-$40= $280

and Hello from Greensboro!

protellect · Post by **protellect** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:55 pm

Yeah, if price is what you're focused on, get something from AMD.
You might want to poke around here in the "Hot deals" forum

http://slickdeals.net/

... A couple things from this week included 2GB of ballistix for like, 55$
7900GTX for 60$ earlier today. which is pretty lol.

I think you might get more bang for your buck from ATI in the video card department, too.

But, I'd recommend

3800-4400X2 AMD Chip [socket AM2] [55-60$]
2 GB Crucial Ballistix [50-60$]

An ASUS or Gigabyte Motherboard with onboard graphics [you said you intend to play bioshock at some point, why not make it later if you're tight on cash?]. I think the ATI 690G chipset or any of the Nforce 5XXX series chipsets would be acceptable for you. Just pick a good motherboard maker [ASUS, Gigabyte, 75-100$]

Hopefully under 200$ for you. Make sure you grab a motherboard with two PATA ports if your hard drives are parallel ATA.

Something to consider is you're not going to get close to playing bioshock at your 24" monitors default resolution [1920x1200] on a 8600GT, or even a 8800GT probably, though I hope an 8800GT could.

dream caster · Post by **dream caster** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 7:03 pm

advices for cheap pc:
firingsquad $500 dollars gaming pc update, these are the best advices I found.
If that does not convince you, look at anandtech's latest Budget Buyers' Guide