$500 First PC Build

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mr. nawtynuff
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Joined: Fri May 01, 2009 2:02 am
Location: KC,MO.

$500 First PC Build

Post by mr. nawtynuff » Wed Dec 02, 2009 7:45 pm

I'm in the planning stages of building my first pc and I definitely want it to be as quiet as possible!!. The dinosaur I currently have is so outdated it's not only embarrassing, the high pitched whine it emits isn't just a loud distraction; but painful too. And while I've never actually built a PC from scratch alone - I have transferred my current pc's mobo into a new case, replaced psu, cpu cooler, case fan & video card in hopes of shaking the horrible high pitched whine that oscillates up & down in pitch. Thus feel confident and comfortable building one.

I don't do a lot of gaming, however I do play a coaster sim that can potentially consume a great deal of frame rates. Beyond that it will mostly be a digital audio video workstation (DAVW). Running anything from Photoshop, Adobe AE, Adobe Flash, assorted DVD Authoring & Encoding software, Sony Vegas, Sony Acid, Soundforge, Ableton Live, vinyl emulation software along with various other audio production software and occasionally 3D modeling software too. The most important thing to me is that when working with audio the pc is not heard. Due to compatibility issues with some of the hardware that will be attached to the PC, I will prolly be double booting between XP & Windows 7.

Another important aspect is that apart from from general maintenance, I really don't want to worry about upgrading anything for quite a few years. Originally I was thinking about building around the Intel Q9XXX series, but lately I have been considering the Core i5 750. There is a budget consideration or else I wouldn't even be pondering my options so much. I'd like to keep the build between $400 & $500. Building around the 775 socket type will obviously be cheaper considering the prices of DDR2 RAM vs DDR3 RAM. However building around the 1156 socket type could actually save me more money in the long run whenever upgrading becomes necessary being that the mobo will accommodate faster processors. The latter certainly makes more sense in the upgrade regard, but how much is 500 bucks gonna get me using 1156 socket vs 775?

I don't expect a miracle for $500, but which socket type is gonna provide me the best performance now for the budget mentioned?

Nothing is concrete. And although I've always had intel, I'm not opposed to AMD. I'm very open to opinions & suggestions, in fact that is what I'm asking for.

My biggest objectives for this build would be (all equally important)
quiet
capable
cool running

I'd really appreciate some insight on this. Thanks.

theycallmebruce
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Location: Perth, Western Australia

Post by theycallmebruce » Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:59 pm

It's a tight budget, but I've ordered quite a few machines in this price range here at the office given the tight rein on the IT budget.

Given your budget, I'm assuming you don't include the price of the Windows 7 and XP licenses in the cost? Here in Aus, Windows 7 Pro OEM will set you back US$150, and XP Pro the same again (if you can still get it).

So US$400-$500 for hardware only, IMHO, based on Australian prices:

Best bang for buck will be an AMD build with 780G or 785G chipset. Choose one of their sub $100 CPUs (plenty of options). Be careful about CPU support by the board. Beware, BIOS updates are often required to support new CPUs, giving you a "chicken and egg" problem if your board ships with an old BIOS! Should be able to get a decent mobo+CPU combo for $150 or less. That will leave you $350 for RAM, HDD, case and power supply, DVD drive. I'm assuming you'll stick with (the very capable if you aren't playing games) onboard graphics.

It's doable, but it probably won't be super quiet, because your budget probably won't stretch to include an aftermarket CPU heatsink, quiet fans, and a decent case + PSU, which are the basic requirements for a quiet machine. Assuming you'll be wearing closed headphones, and the PC isn't too close to you, it might do the trick.

If going for non-775 Intel, i5 is definitely the best value, but you're going to seriously struggle to get a complete i5 system under $500. Motherboard, CPU and RAM will get you over $400 straight away.

Good luck and let us know what you choose.

CA_Steve
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Post by CA_Steve » Thu Dec 03, 2009 9:04 am

i5, gigabyte p55m-ud2, 4GB gskill memory is about $400. Antec Solo, Nexus Value 430W PSU, Sapphire Vapor-X 5750, Xigmatek 1284EE + 1156 retention bracket, a 120mm scythe case fan, and a 92mm hdd fan raises it to ~$780 before tax/shipping.

The mobo is micro ATX form factor, so if you want more PCI slots, you'd spend $30 more. The memory is DDR3 1600. DDR3 1333 could save you $30. The Sapphire card is $155. You could always buy a low end passive HD4550 for $40 and see if that works for your needs. That drops the total to ~$670.

You want quad core for your listed apps. I wouldn't go socket 775 for a new build. You'd maybe save $100, but the i5/i7 performance and power savings are huge + future cpu upgradability.

AMD as shown above is definately a cheaper way to go for cpu + mobo. x4 620, gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H (with the 785g integrated gfx chipset), and 4GB of gskill ddr3 1333 = $285. So, that drops the total to $555. That's about as low as you can go w a quad core, unless you start taking short cuts on the case, the memory, or find stuff on sale.

Oops, forgot the hard drive. add $55 for a SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB and $25 for an ODD...so back up to $635 for the AMD system w/o a windows license or $750 for the baseline i5 w/o windows.

For grins, a Dell Studio XPS 8000 configured with the i5 750, 4GB 1066 RAM, an HD4350, 500GB HDD, ODD, and Windows 7 Home PRemium prices out to $740. With Bing 5% cashback it's $700.

ThaArtist
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Location: Wisconsin

Post by ThaArtist » Thu Dec 03, 2009 3:47 pm

Theres ways to get student discounts on Windows 7 (geet it for $30) with student email address before Jan 1st! Do a search. Also, let me just say that as for building your first pc there is going to be some trial and error. Do a lot of reading reviews if you dont want to waste money! I've only built 3 complete systems but with every system there were things i didnt realize that ended up costing me more money and another newegg.com order like adapters etc.

Granted my last build was the best, fastest, and most conveniently put together there are just them "things" that you learn as you go.

This was my thread for my pc build under $500 ($490 with shipping):

viewtopic.php?t=56076

It has some useful information. What I recommend doing is trying to build a system as quiet as possible within your budget but i wouldnt factor in replacement fans or cpu heatsink. This way you can build the most powerful system for your $500. Get it all up and running AND THEN find another $50-$70 to spend on quieting it down. Replacement fans, sound dampening inside the case, removing case grills, fan silicon absorbers, maybe CPU replacement fan/heatsink.

Like I said, this way you will have the most powerful system for your money and with a seperate future order as money permits, you'll quiet it down significantly.


This is the "cheap" case I recommend. Although I haven't used it personally I got a Rosewill for $10 cheaper and i wish I would have gotten this one now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

I think it looks better and has better features, one of which is the removable front air filter which your going to need if you cut the front case grill out which substantially quiets down systems.

The thing i dont really care for is the hard drive mounting sideways like that and the air holes on the sides of the case. On my case I covered them with anti-static plastic (from some of the stuff I ordered from newegg) and put thermaltake sound dampening foam over the sides. So I have no holes really letting air or noise in or out.

I hate when cases overdo sideholes especially if you have 120mm fan in front and back. And good CPU cooling.

EDIT: actually id prolly go with this case for a cheap case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

The only thing thats weird is the rear 120mm fan. If you look how its mounts I bet they have an adapter to make it mount right.

ThaArtist
Posts: 145
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:12 am
Location: Wisconsin

Post by ThaArtist » Thu Dec 03, 2009 3:55 pm

Another thing... I didnt get a chance to read others posts but AMD will save you money and still give you the processing power your looking for.

Intel is just more expensive then AMD its just that simple. yeah for for comparable CPUs Intels almost always better. But thats not say that AMD's still dont preform!

On that budget I would go AMD. I barely was able to piece together a good system for $460 with an openbox Video Card.

But I got a quad core 4 gigs ddr3 system (upgradeable to 16 gigs) so Im happy with it.

If you want to go more then 4 gigs now or in the future make sure you build your system around 64 bits which shouldnt be hard I think all processors now are 64 bits.

Im running Windows 7 x64 with 4 gigs of ram but Im going to be upgrading with another 4 gigs of ram soon. ANd x64 can use all 8 gigs unlike 32 bit systems which are generally limited to less than 4 gigs.

mr. nawtynuff
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Location: KC,MO.

Post by mr. nawtynuff » Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:54 am

Thanks for the replies guys. I've been busy last few days, but I have been going over the info provided. I'm still as undecided as to what I will do, but certainly appreciate the advice. Presently considering saving more bread before the build, AMD, or the Q9550 & buying as much RAM as possible for now and not worrying about the ability to upgrade. I really dunno tho. I'm gonna look at my options over the next week or so and see where that takes me. When this happens I'll be sure to throw the ideas out there to see how they sound.

ThaArtist, thanks for the links to your posts. I'm still going over them, but pretty helpful IMO.

Anyone think I'd get better prices if I wait til after xmas to buy the gear?

Mr. Perfect
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Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2004 2:53 pm
Location: United States

Post by Mr. Perfect » Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:58 pm

You might, first quarter of the year is usually the slowest, so they may have sales then.

Also, do you have anything worth keeping from the old PC? DVD burner? PCIe video card? It could tip the budget in your favor.

Meato
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Location: Tulsa, OK, USA

Post by Meato » Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:18 am

AMD Quad wishlist

I'd put that together and then use your own ears to find what parts are the noise offenders. Possibly a fan swap for the Earthwatts PSU. If Newegg is still selling the mini P180 for $45, that would be a good purchase along with the Nexus Value 430W.

ThaArtist
Posts: 145
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:12 am
Location: Wisconsin

Post by ThaArtist » Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:31 pm

Thats a good build meato! Be careful with the ripjaws ram if your going to use an aftermarket CPU cooler/fan because of possible clearance issues.

I would go with a different case fan 18dBA is still just too loud for me. The 120mm scythe's I got are 8dBA and 10dBA and still push a good amount of air.

Good case! Could downgrade the case to a rosewill cheapo like i suggested, get thermaltake case foam for $10 on newegg and get a bigger HDD, or else quieter fans. and that will put you under $500 so you can still pay for shipping with your $500 maybe? I'm just fine with my rosewill case and its a full atx case instead of micro, which really doesnt even matter because if i upgrade in the future I'll prolly want a better case ... haha. Although my system is almost inaudible right now. Just need to replace my graphics card fan.

Just added that in there cause your on a budget. I would rather get an antec case anyday over rosewill.

JamieG
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by JamieG » Wed Dec 09, 2009 2:02 pm

Good list meato - add a Scythe Mugen 2 for 35 USD for just slightly over budget and you have a pretty quiet budget system.

@ThaArtist, those dBA ratings are Scythe's claimed measurements. Only trust SPCR's independently measured figures. The Slipstream 800rpm is just as quiet as the Nexus fan, and the 1200rpm is definitely noisier.

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