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Help Me Build & Decide

484 Views 13 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Zzyzx, 
marl
Hey, guys and gals.

So my friend wants me to build him a PC. It will specifically be for burning, compressing files and all that. So, no overclocking or gaming. He wants something with good parts and speed in doing all that. The budget will be $900 or a tiny bit more if needed. This will also need a monitor. 20inch WS preferably within the budget. Might be able to drop in a little more I believe. I've configured one but it's a little past $900.

I asked which would he prefer, dual core or quad core, he said "anything that's fast". So, you guys can help me decide for a build like this with no extreme OCing or gaming.

He wants a good size HDD(500GB), Vista Home Prem. 64bit, case with good cooling, 6GB of ram, but I honestly think I'll put 4GB instead, a good DVD burner, cheap but good GPU, and a 500w PSU. Again, the budget is $900 with an extra bit of cash to add in if needed.

So, help me out guys! +rep will be given. Thanks!
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K
I would say a quad core. If he is burning he will probably be ripping and encoding and stuff like that so a quad will help. As for the dvd burner which may get overlooked These guys will be able to tell you what the best burners and blank media will be for his usage needs. And I would say get a 4 gig kit 2X2. That would be a good starting point for your build.
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marl
Alright, cool. So, I'll shoot for a Q6600 then. Unless otherwise? What would you recommend as a whole build?
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I
I'm not very familiar with intel motherboards, but I would assume with a moderate Intel motherboard and a nice Q6600 you would have a great machine. For a machine being used to compress and burn files rather than gaming, I would think $900 is more than do-able. Sorry I couldn't contribute much. Good luck with your build.
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hawaiian_geek
3
intel quad 8300, $ 229.99:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115207

gigabyte ep45-ud3l mobo. $98.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128372

GSkill 4gb (2x2gb) ddr2-800 ram, $39.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231122

cooler master 590 case, $69.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119152

sapphire ati hd 4650 video card, $54.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102805
($10.00 mail in rebate)

pioneer 216 sata dvd burner, $23.99 w/free shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827129032

western digital cavair black sata 640gb hard drive, $79.99 w/free shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319

acer 20 inch widescreen monitor, $149.99 w/free shipping: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009126
(take another $10.00 off using promo code EMCLPMN45)

vista home premium 64bit, $99.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116488

corsair 450 watt power supply, $69.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003
($10.00 mail in rebate)

subtotal = $877.90
3 day UPS shipping = $30.17
total cost = $908.07
total after 2 rebates & additional $10.00 off = $878.07

The Q8300 is 45nm which will run cooler than a Q6600 that's 65nm. Pioneer makes the best dvd burners. I'm da dvd_addict at cdfreaks.com.

Just my
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K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.165047 313 after 50 MIR for MB and CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231184 Ram 60 after 10 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006 power supply 99 after 20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827129032 2X dvd burner = 46
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125256video card 170 after 30 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001268 monitor 260 after 20 MIR

This is 948 for a gaming system that can be overclocked as well. all you would need is aftermarket HSF and a case. If you want to cut down on the price you could save money on the Video card, power supply and monitor but for 200 bucks see if he will go for it, then you can introduce him to OCN to get his new system OC'ed.
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hawaiian_geek
OP said no overclocking or gaming.
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marl
Looks really good geek. Thanks for the input.

I'll definitely show my buddy this and hopefully it goes as planned.

Thanks!
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K
2
Quote:


Originally Posted by hawaiian_geek
View Post

OP said no overclocking or gaming.


Yeah I seen that but his price range is right between what he wants and a gaming system, so I figured I would show him what you can get for some more cash.

BTW I just posted AMD because it seemed like a better bang for your buck and did not realize this was in the Intel section. Still it is up to the OP which way he wants to go though.
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boyasaurus
Lets go AMD Quad Core baby!

Antec 300 w/ Antec Earth500WATT
AMD Phenom II X4 940
Foxconn 790FX AM2+/AM2
Seagate Barrucuda 7,200.11k 1TB, 32MB Cache
OCZ Fatality Edition 2x2GB 1006MHz RAMS
Sapphire RADEON HD 3870 512MB 256Bit
Vista home Premium 64bit
ACER Widescreen 20"
LG 22x DVD+-RW 48x CD+-RW SATA

listed in order...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.176613

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.165050

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148373

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227364

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102719

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116488

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009126

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136152

900.87
This build will fulfill his needs. lol

EDIT: i saw this on latest discussion. now i look into it. intel section. :x but go with this build!!! GO AMD!
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Zero4549
Honestly, I cant see why he needs a large monitor and a good video card and fast ram for ripping encoding burning and what not if he isnt gaming.. and cooling without gaming or overclocking? If I were you I'd ask him if he'd really rather not waste the cash on a computer that is overkill for what he needs when he can fulfill his requirements with less money and end up with a quieter, smaller, better looking computer that wont draw as much power (and therefore save on the electric bill). That said, any core 2 quad is pretty good for that sort of stuff, or even a core 2 duo. 6gb ram is definitely overkill go for 4gb of budget stuff, he wont see any difference outside of gaming or overclocking. Not sure if anyone has mentioned this but you're going to want two drives but only one needs to actually write, the second can be a reader only to save some cash. I suggest xp 32 bit instead of vista 64 though as there really isn't any benefit to vista 64bit outside of some specialized apps and dx10 games, and xp 32 bit will offer better performance with everything else. For video card I'd sugest an old ati x1k or 2k series as that will offer just fine performance on anything but newer games for a low price, and you said no gaming. If there's one part of the system that id say people havnt been going overboard on so far its the hard drive. There will be plenty of reads and writes, both small and large, on a system used this way. Grab some 500gb caviar black's and RAID 0 them. Go for a nice quality blow lower wattage modular psu. you really shouldn't need more than 500watts and anything more would just be expensive for both purchase costs and the electric bill (and would also run hotter and likely be louder). Because you likely wont have a whole ton of components in the system, the modular psu's will be very useful for cable management. Over all you should have plenty of cash to spare. Either save it for something better or go for a sexy case. Silverstone makes some very classy and solid, albeit expensive cases. Could very likely pull off a completely silent system with a nice quiet high flow 120mm fan or 2 without getting too hot with that setup.
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hawaiian_geek
I'd stay away from the seagate 7200.11 series as they've had massive problems of failed drives.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148373

LG drives read speed has riplock on them. In other words they won't rip dvd files/music at fast speeds. Where as the PIONEER drives have no riplock on them.
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Zero4549
Quote:


Originally Posted by hawaiian_geek
View Post

I'd stay away from the seagate 7200.11 series as they've had massive problems of failed drives.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148373

LG drives read speed has riplock on them. In other words they won't rip dvd files/music at fast speeds. Where as the PIONEER drives have no riplock on them.

Can confirm both. +1
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Z
Quote:

Originally Posted by boyasaurus View Post
Lets go AMD Quad Core baby!
Honestly, if you're looking in the Q6600 price range, a Phenom II is probably the better choice.
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