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~$500 build, need advice

post #1 of 9
8/21/10 at 7:02pm
Thread Starter 
I'm helping a friend build a new system and he's on a fairly tight budget. Starcraft II is pretty much the only game he'll be playing. Other than that it'll be mostly surfing net, etc. I'm looking for some advice on good parts to choose.

BUDGET RANGE: ~$500, rebates are ok
SYSTEM USAGE: Starcraft II + casual usage.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers
OVERCLOCKING: No
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

Some parts I'm considering:

CPU + Mobo: Phenom II X2 550 + Biostar A770E3 $118.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.478084
OR
Athlon II X3 440 Rana + same mobo $105.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.478082

Video card: 4850 512MB DDR5 $89.99 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-901-_-Product
OR
4850 1GB DDR3 $84.99 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-834-_-Product

Case + PSU: CM 335 + CM eXtreme power plus RS-500 $69.98 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.474088

Still need 4GB DDR3 RAM + W7. Haven't looked at many hard drives yet, 500 GB should be fine for him though. Then the optical drives all seem to be in the $20-30 range for what he needs.

Any conflicts/concerns? Looking for some helpful input specifically on that mobo, whether or not the CPU will be good enough for SCII, the slight differences between the 4850's, and the PSU. Feel free to post any other deals that you feel would be better.
Edited by Stash9876 - 8/22/10 at 2:43pm
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Phenom II 720 @ 3.3 GHz Foxconn A79A-S 790FX MSI GTX 460 1GB Patriot Viper 4GB(2x2) DDR2 
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WD 250GB Windows Vista 64 Ultimate Dell 19 inch OCZ StealthxStream 600w 
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Antec 300 
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post #2 of 9
8/21/10 at 7:05pm
try for a student version of win 7 or get a key from here for $10-30
Finally Ivy
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Intel 3570K 4.5 ghz @ 1.32v Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H MSI 7950 Twin Frozr 1130/1510 @ 1.163 G.Skill SNiper Gaming Series 16 gb (2x8gb) 1866mhz 
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LIte-On 20X DVDRW Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Windows 7 Pro x64 HP w237ld 23" 1080P 
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Q6600 SLACR - 3.2 ghz @ 1.375vv Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi ECS 8800 GTS 512 G.Skill PQ 2x2 800 mhz 
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G.Skill PK 2x1 800 mhz WD 1 TB AAKX LITE-ON 20X DVD±R 12X DVDRAM Tuniq Tower 120 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Win7 x64 Professional Vizio 37" HDTV LiteOn SK-9020 Thermaltake TR2 T-500 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Apex ATX Full Tower Logitech M100 generic ADI AD1988B 
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T4200 2ghz Wistron 3612 Intel GMA X4500HD 2+1 gig 800 mhz 
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Finally Ivy
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Old Skool Quad
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HP G60-230US Laptop
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel 3570K 4.5 ghz @ 1.32v Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H MSI 7950 Twin Frozr 1130/1510 @ 1.163 G.Skill SNiper Gaming Series 16 gb (2x8gb) 1866mhz 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
Samsung 840 250 Samsung F3 1TB x 2 WD 640 AAKS western digital 1tb ezex 
Optical DriveCoolingOSMonitor
LIte-On 20X DVDRW Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Windows 7 Pro x64 HP w237ld 23" 1080P 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ ModXStream 600 watt Cooler Master HAF 912 Logitech G400 
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Q6600 SLACR - 3.2 ghz @ 1.375vv Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi ECS 8800 GTS 512 G.Skill PQ 2x2 800 mhz 
RAMHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
G.Skill PK 2x1 800 mhz WD 1 TB AAKX LITE-ON 20X DVD±R 12X DVDRAM Tuniq Tower 120 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Win7 x64 Professional Vizio 37" HDTV LiteOn SK-9020 Thermaltake TR2 T-500 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Apex ATX Full Tower Logitech M100 generic ADI AD1988B 
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
T4200 2ghz Wistron 3612 Intel GMA X4500HD 2+1 gig 800 mhz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
WD 500 gig BEVT 24x DVDRW Litescribe Win 7 x64 professional 16" 
CaseMouse
HP G60-230US Microsoft Wireless 3000 
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post #3 of 9
8/21/10 at 9:04pm
If you're going to get a 4850 get the one with GDDR5, it'll be much faster than GDDR3. Also if you are planning on getting DDR3 Ram make sure it's compatible with the CPU and you'll have to get a mobo that supports it.
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For Sale: Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1
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Intel Xeon E3-1240 V2 Asrock Z77E-ITX MSI 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Corsair Dominators 8GB (2x4GB) 
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Vertex 4 128GB + Samsung 830 128GB (Raid 0) Crucial M225 64GB(Cache) + Samsung Spinpoint F3... Noctua NH-L9i Windows 8 Pro 64-bit 
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LG W2253tQ Samsung SM 910T CM QuickFire (MX Blue) OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w 
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Intel Core i5-3317U Intel HD Graphics 4000 4 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3L SDRAM APPLE SSD TS128E 
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post #4 of 9
8/22/10 at 8:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CravinR1 View Post
try for a student version of win 7 or get a key from here for $10-30
How?
My System
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post #5 of 9
8/22/10 at 8:42am
Don't go with OCZ ram

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-120-_-Product
This is what you need for AMD. 125$ after rebate.

None of your links work? Or it's just me getting this- Thank you for visiting Newegg.com. We apologize for your inconvenience. The page you requested is unavailable.


Yes, all your links are cut. Please fix them?
Edited by DiNet - 8/22/10 at 8:46am
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post #6 of 9
8/22/10 at 9:57am
Buy a windows 7 key for around $2, instead of buying a whole new copy of it.
Edited by Nooooob - 8/22/10 at 10:09am
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post #7 of 9
8/22/10 at 1:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jj775 View Post
How?
If your school participates you can google "Student Windows 7 Upgrade" and get it for $30
http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/...e/windows.aspx

Or you can get legit keys from SavageBunny for:
http://www.overclock.net/member.php?u=46260
Quote:
Originally Posted by SavageBunny
Home: 15
Pro: 20
Ultimate: 25

The N version, the only difference from Retail > N is that N is for EU laws where it doesn't come with Windows Media Player and some added stuff, but you can just install it. No software restrictions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nooooob View Post
Buy a windows 7 key for around $2, instead of buying a whole new copy of it.
All I want to know is:
Quote:
Originally Posted by jj775 View Post
How?
Finally Ivy
(15 items)
 
Old Skool Quad
(16 items)
 
HP G60-230US Laptop
(13 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel 3570K 4.5 ghz @ 1.32v Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H MSI 7950 Twin Frozr 1130/1510 @ 1.163 G.Skill SNiper Gaming Series 16 gb (2x8gb) 1866mhz 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
Samsung 840 250 Samsung F3 1TB x 2 WD 640 AAKS western digital 1tb ezex 
Optical DriveCoolingOSMonitor
LIte-On 20X DVDRW Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Windows 7 Pro x64 HP w237ld 23" 1080P 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ ModXStream 600 watt Cooler Master HAF 912 Logitech G400 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Q6600 SLACR - 3.2 ghz @ 1.375vv Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi ECS 8800 GTS 512 G.Skill PQ 2x2 800 mhz 
RAMHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
G.Skill PK 2x1 800 mhz WD 1 TB AAKX LITE-ON 20X DVD±R 12X DVDRAM Tuniq Tower 120 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Win7 x64 Professional Vizio 37" HDTV LiteOn SK-9020 Thermaltake TR2 T-500 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Apex ATX Full Tower Logitech M100 generic ADI AD1988B 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
T4200 2ghz Wistron 3612 Intel GMA X4500HD 2+1 gig 800 mhz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
WD 500 gig BEVT 24x DVDRW Litescribe Win 7 x64 professional 16" 
CaseMouse
HP G60-230US Microsoft Wireless 3000 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Finally Ivy
(15 items)
 
Old Skool Quad
(16 items)
 
HP G60-230US Laptop
(13 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel 3570K 4.5 ghz @ 1.32v Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H MSI 7950 Twin Frozr 1130/1510 @ 1.163 G.Skill SNiper Gaming Series 16 gb (2x8gb) 1866mhz 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
Samsung 840 250 Samsung F3 1TB x 2 WD 640 AAKS western digital 1tb ezex 
Optical DriveCoolingOSMonitor
LIte-On 20X DVDRW Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Windows 7 Pro x64 HP w237ld 23" 1080P 
PowerCaseMouse
OCZ ModXStream 600 watt Cooler Master HAF 912 Logitech G400 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Q6600 SLACR - 3.2 ghz @ 1.375vv Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi ECS 8800 GTS 512 G.Skill PQ 2x2 800 mhz 
RAMHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
G.Skill PK 2x1 800 mhz WD 1 TB AAKX LITE-ON 20X DVD±R 12X DVDRAM Tuniq Tower 120 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Win7 x64 Professional Vizio 37" HDTV LiteOn SK-9020 Thermaltake TR2 T-500 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Apex ATX Full Tower Logitech M100 generic ADI AD1988B 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
T4200 2ghz Wistron 3612 Intel GMA X4500HD 2+1 gig 800 mhz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
WD 500 gig BEVT 24x DVDRW Litescribe Win 7 x64 professional 16" 
CaseMouse
HP G60-230US Microsoft Wireless 3000 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #8 of 9
8/22/10 at 2:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiNet View Post
Don't go with OCZ ram

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-120-_-Product
This is what you need for AMD. 125$ after rebate.

None of your links work? Or it's just me getting this- Thank you for visiting Newegg.com. We apologize for your inconvenience. The page you requested is unavailable.


Yes, all your links are cut. Please fix them?
Thanks, don't know what happened with the links but they should be fixed now.

Also, I took off the RAM+W7 combo because I've heard from several sources now to stay away from OCZ.
First Build
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II 720 @ 3.3 GHz Foxconn A79A-S 790FX MSI GTX 460 1GB Patriot Viper 4GB(2x2) DDR2 
Hard DriveOSMonitorPower
WD 250GB Windows Vista 64 Ultimate Dell 19 inch OCZ StealthxStream 600w 
Case
Antec 300 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
First Build
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II 720 @ 3.3 GHz Foxconn A79A-S 790FX MSI GTX 460 1GB Patriot Viper 4GB(2x2) DDR2 
Hard DriveOSMonitorPower
WD 250GB Windows Vista 64 Ultimate Dell 19 inch OCZ StealthxStream 600w 
Case
Antec 300 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #9 of 9
8/22/10 at 2:49pm
Wow, SavageBunny must be rich by now at those prices. I've seen a lot of people sell it at this underground hacking forum for $2 a key (Windows 7).
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