Building a next gen pc? On the cheap.

[Chicky]

So i've been shopping round for the best parts to keep to my budget and i think i've landed on a nice system that'll be running the new releases for a good couple of years.


Take a look:

Processor

Pentium D 805 Dual Core 64 bit LGA 775 2 x 2.66 GHz

Ã,  £86.07

Cheap motherboard, with full support for components

Asus P5VD1-X SKT775 PT880 1066FSB AGP and PCI-E VGA slots

Ã,  £37.46

RAM

2x512 ddr400 pc3200 (this'll do for the mean time, the motherboard has support for two more sticks)

£60.08

Harddrive

Maxtor 6V200E0 200GB SATA300 7200rpm

£49.94

Optical Device

LG GSA-H10ABAL 16xDVDRW/RAM Internal Black (cheap, and better than my 32x cdrw)

£25.84

So that's £264.89 overall, and then i've got the choice of getting myself a pimp little case to go with it aswell. I apreciate there's no graphics card there, i'll be running my agp card untill the next pay cheque comes through and i can get myself a PCI express card.

I apreciate there's a few other bits i may need, such as a usb card (stupid cheap mobo doesnt have any usb ports) but these can be picked up in town.

What do you think, is it a reasonable system? Or for the same amount of money should i get myself a 360?

[TheYak]

If this were more mid-budget, I'd argue for Opteron or and X2 AMD CPU, but at that price (for the Pent D), it seems like a good bet.  Personally, I'd go for getting the PC over a 360, but I'm not huge on consoles. 

The onboard sound isn't thrilling, but I imagine you've got at least an SB Live or something from your current setup.  All-in-all, doesn't look bad, but without overclocking, I'm not sure of its current game contending status (mainly the sub-3ghz Pentium Dual Core, the newer dual Intel's introducing is a large improvement).   

At least, you'll be pleased to note, it's got USB ports - 4 of 'em with support for 4 more via motherboard connectors.

[juncmodule]

I have looked into upgrading my PC a few times over that past year and it is just not worth it. You are already over $250 with no OS, power supply, processor fan, or case. You have onboard sound and video. By the time you are done you may very well have enough to buy a 360.

Basically, my advice is just to buy a crappity HP/Compaq or some locally built budget PC. Buying the parts alone just doesn't really pay off anymore, not if you are going the budget route anyway. Then again HP/Compaq is complete crap, but if you are concerned about money it is a better investment. Just make sure it has the slots you need for upgrading in the future.

good luck,
-junc

[Anarcho]

You can go half-way and get a half-built computer on tigerdirect.com.  I recently got a new computer (i'm not a techie so i won't go on about the specs cause i don't know what they mean) but it was pretty affordable and all I had to do was put it all together.

[LGM]

Never ever use tigerdirect.

May I ask why you are going with the Pentium? For the same price, you can get an AMD that is most likely more powerful. Especially if you want to do some gaming. Don't skimp on the Motherboard, either. Pay a bit more for one with at least USB ports. That's rather shady if you ask me.

[lo_res_man]

Seriously, if you want a next generation system on the cheap, buy a bunch of old processers, and other chips, and link them together somehow.(does any one know how to do that?) Use Unix or lynix as your operating system. then if you want windows, run an emulated version. ( I SO want to do that someday)

[Kweepa]

That motherboard has 4 USB ports according to the image on newegg.com.
However, it does get some extremely bad reviews.
I know it's difficult to get a motherboard that supports AGP and PCI-E, but if you're not looking to upgrade the graphics card just yet it might be better to get a decent AGP motherboard and then buy a new motherboard at the same time as the new graphics card...

junc:
- a 360 is not a PC replacement.
- it might be cost effective to upgrade if you don't need OS, case, power supply, fan, etc.

lo_res_man:
- "seriously"?

[lo_res_man]

quote]

erm. yes I mean...Ahh, what I mean is, "this is a great way to make a supercomputer,  and sorry if I type like that.

[IM NOT TEH SPAM]

Never ever use tigerdirect.

Any particular reason?

For the same price, you can get an AMD that is most likely more powerful.

That's more of a preference thing... if you ask me intels and amds are about the same speed/power.

[LGM]

Well, AMDs have been proven over and over again to run faster, at least for gaming, than Intels. And from my personal experience... Intels can be pretty slow.

Anyway.. Tigerdirect has a bad wrap about rebate frauds, shipping issues, and generally other crappy business practices. Most people suggest not ordering from them unless you want to lose some money. I suggest Newegg.. For the states. I don't know what is good for Europe, but it can't be tigerdirect.

[TheYak]

It really depends upon whether the emphasis is on gaming or multimedia.  The equivalent Intel chip's going to be faster with multimedia encoding/decoding and the majority of processor-intensive photoshop or rendering operations.  It's not until you go high-end (FX) or dual-core that AMD's equivalent is close.  For gaming, though, hands-down AMD price/performance is the best bet. 

[Chicky]

I bought a 360.



Sorry, my 2.0 AMD will have to do.

[Kweepa]

Sorry, my 2.0 AMD will have to do.

?! I just upgraded to a 2GHz AMD. It runs everything fine, including Oblivion.

[TheYak]

I must be a picky bastard.  I've got my 2 Ghz AMD (3200+) 64 running at 2424Mhz with a 7800GTX (500/1310) and 2G RAM at 5-3-3-2 and Oblivion's got me wishing for an upgrade (The second game since FEAR to do so).