Platinum

UPDATE: THE ORDER HAS BEEN PLACED. A HUGE THANKS AND +REP TO ALL THOSE WHO MADE WONDERFUL SUGGESTIONS.

Hi folks and experts,

It's that time of the year again; however, this time it's not for me, but for my cousin. My cousin's birthday is coming up soon, and my grandpa wants to give him a computer. My goal is to keep this as cheap as possible but have the life expectancy of at least 3 years with just regular usages; in other words, no heavy multitasking but daily uses and mild gaming.

One of the challenges in this task is to get everything from NCIX if possible. Since the shipping from Newegg is going to cost $50 or more, whereas NCIX will only cost $5, NCIX became the primary choice(Easier to RMA as well). On the other hand, they have a unbeatable pricematch system, so my priority would go to that.

So far I've came up with this list and have used the pricematch system. However, the RAM and a GPU is lacking(Too Little Selections in NCIX). What I'm thinking is to get G.SKILL 2X1GB DDR3 RAM, and a HD 4670 graphic's card. Although this will be a gaming PC, would you think that a HD 4200 would be enough? If this is the case, I can just get away with a 785G motherboard and save a bundle. I'm sorry that I can't provide you the lists of games that he plays, simply because this will be a surprise and he'll find out if I act suspiciously. However, I don't think he plays any GPU demanding games.

Thanks in advance for all the suggestions and comments, and yes, I'll be overclocking the hell out of this.

Screenshots of the build without RAM & GPU:

jimibgood

I would get a better PSU at least 450W. Unless I missed something, there is no graphics card. That is a must.

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High overclock 4.28GHz:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=756990

http://i435.photobucket.com/albums/qq77/AAdeath/oc2.png

http://www.overclock.net/gallery/dat...medium/186.jpg
http://www.overclock.net/gallery/dat...medium/267.jpg
Chicago Cubbies... a century of stink and still rolling!

jackeyjoe

That looks good but a reasonable GPU is a must for future proofing, maybe a 4770 or 4870 after the price drop.

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Platinum

I believe a good 420W can run this without a hitch, especially it's from PC Power & Cooling. I had a build a while ago that runs HD 4850 on Corsair 400W, no problem there as well.

On the other hand, please read the post through before replying.

Platinum

Good suggestion, much appreciated. However, I need to have this build ready within one week, so waiting for price drop is pretty much out of the option.

sLowEnd

You could go with an Athlon II X2 240 since he's just doing browsing and light gaming.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...D&promoid=1081
EDIT: Oh, you plan on OC-ing it to the max? Nvm then.

An Antec 200 would be better for the same price
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...c&promoid=1081

Ummm graphics card.... well, there's a BFG 7900GS on sale right now. The 7900GT/GS's are known to artifact after a while because of poor memory though. I wouldn't recommend it. You would almost certainly have to RMA it.

Do you know what resolution he's at? How high are you willing to go with the price?

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graphicsman

your good to go, buy it and post a build log

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We Are Gr33n Machine

Platinum

Great find on the case, that will certain make a difference in the installation of Mugen 2. For the price difference of $10 I think I would go with the Athlon II X2 250, a higher multiplier might just be what I need. I believe he has a 21.5" LCD Monitor, and for the price the highest would be around $100.

Your inputs are much appreciated.

sLowEnd

There's a $90 4850 right now (After MIR)
http://www.directcanada.com/products...cture=GIGABYTE

Or an XFX 4770 for $102 open box
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...X&promoid=1081

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Platinum

MIR FTL. Any suggestions for the RAM? If possible please use either Direct Canada or NCIX since shipping is quite a killer.

Edit: A quick question, how reliable are Open-Box from NCIX?