Grayson

I've decided to take a shot at building my own computer. I play games such as Team Fortress 2 (which isn't exactly that graphics-intensive), but I'd really like to be able to play Oblivion and Crysis and stuff. So I'm going to build a decent, budget AMD gaming PC. This is sort of a work-in-progress sort of dealio, as I literally have only $20 at the moment and am too young to get a job (13). I figure I want my build to be between $750 and $850. That's going to (if possible) include a monitor, keyboard, mouse, mousepad, and speakers as well as the actual tower (obviously). Here's the build. Feel free to give me any advice on it, such as things to add, remove, or trade out.

Case - $44.99

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case


PSU - $58.99

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7

Motherboard - $99.99

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard


CPU - $174.99

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor


Memory - $47.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL6D-4GBNQ


GPU - $194.99

XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card


HDD - $44.99

Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive


Optical Drive - $19.99

LITE-ON Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDP118-08


OS - $0.00

Windows 7 Release Candidate


Wireless Internet Antenna - $16.99

AZiO AWU254 IEEE 802.11b/g USB 2.0 802.11g 54Mbps Wireless Pen Adapter Up to 54Mbps Data Rates 64/128-Bit WEP


Monitor - $99.99

Hanns·G HW-191DPB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 Built in Speakers


Speakers - $11.99

Logitech S-150 1.2 Watts 2.0 Digital USB Speaker


Keyboard - $32.99

LOGISYS Computer KB208BK Black 104 Normal Keys 15 Function Keys USB or PS/2 Standard Two Color (Blue/Red) Character-Illuminated Keyboard


Mouse - $4.99

Rosewill RM-C2U 3 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Optical 800 dpi Mouse


Mousepad - $0.99

BELKIN F8E081-RED Standard Mouse Pad


TOTAL COST (+ FINAL S&H) = $868.19

CURRENT FUNDS = $20.50 of $500.00, or 4%

So, yeah. I'm probably going to wait and buy it all at once and have it all shipped together for obvious money reasons. I thought I did pretty well considering this includes all the peripherals. Feel free to rate the build, or make any reccomendations. And any and all donations towards the fund (this includes parts) are welcome and appreciated. Stay tuned, because in like 6 months, I'll finally have the money! Woo! Whenever the hell that happens, I'll post pictures. I'm hoping to have the cash by Christmas.

**Update 7/17 @ 12:16 Central**

Okay, so I finally worked in shipping through newegg, and yikes. 50 bucks. But it's better than paying like 7 bucks on each item individually, so I'll roll with it. I also traded out my previously-selected Phenom II x4 920 2.8GHz for a x4 940 Black edition. I then worked some stuff around to make that change more affordable. Also, the case I selected went out of stock, so I chose one that was 3 dollars more expensive. My optical drive also became unavailable so I chose one that was 5 bucks cheaper. Mom&Dad agreed to pay the rest if it saved up 500 of the cost, so the likelyhood that I will have everything ordered by December is more likely.

-Feel free to make any further reccomendations.

**Update 7/18 @ 9:21 Central**

Okay. This was just a small thing that I switched out, but I upgraded my 160gb hard drive to a 250gb hard drive for 50 cents. Haven't gotten my hands on any more money yet, but I'm still on vacation until Sunday, so money will start to come in shortly after that with allowance and chores and crap like that.

-Peace

**Update 7/20 @ 1:36 Central**

I added a better case and switched out my 4870 for a 1 gig 4890 with a 3.9 GHz memory clock (holy crap is that fast).

**Update 7/20 @ 2:00 Central**

Apparently my build qualifies as a "Dragon Platform", so I changed the name respectively.

r2tbone

Always pick a PSU from a reputable brand; ie: don't use a PSU that comes with a case.
I prefer Corsair, PC Power and Cooling, and Enermax.

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Team Fortress 2 Club TEAM OCN-

Grayson

I'd partially agree, but the reviews for the case said that the power supply was decent enough. +Rep for the advice though. Thanks.

mr soft

This is the other thing you have to check, if there are enough connections for your set up/future upgrade.

Also I'd look for another HD, I've only heard of those drives described as deathstars.
Good luck with your build.

__________________
Boys never grow up, their toys just get dearer

Grayson

I don't quite understand what you mean by the connections thing, but isn't 1 PCI Express x16 slot all that a 4870 needs? Is there something there that isn't compatible?

tensionz

Your case is suited for microATX boards, your mobo is a standard ATX.

I'd also pick this Gigabyte board instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128387
...cheaper and supports AM3 (more future proof).

MijnWraak

The motherboard he picked also supports am3, as am3 chips are backwards compatible with am2+.


@grayson, guessing you couldnt get the money, eh?

godsgift2dagame

Ok, bud, some of the selections don't make sense, and you can do better with them. Regarding your financial situation, do what I did for free (neighbors were elderly couple). Mow people's lawns, trim bushes, help build something (in my case, backyard patio), clean around the house, throw the trash out, and do anything else you can think of. For $850, you could have a rig better than mine, as my total (with recent cooler and newly bought HD) is $850-ish...

--------------------------------------------
Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P + Phenom II 940

Radeon 4850 + OCZ Reaper 4GB

Again, good luck man!!!

Grayson

Thanks for that link, +rep for that. And about the case, are you saying that the case I selected isn't compatible with the motherboard? O_O

EDIT:

@MijnWraak: I'm not sure whether or not I'm going to get the money by Monday. This is just my back up.

@godsgift2dagame: Thanks for the suggestions on the money, but care to elaborate on the choices I made? It'd be a little more helpful if you specified what would make the build better.

MijnWraak

always good to have a backup plan

Apevia powersupplies are prone to blowing up, though.
The case won't fit that motherboard because it's ATX, which has 7 expansion slots (pci, pci-e) The case can only hold 4.