PC build, any suggestions and/or corrections?

[David Harrison]

OK, so someone I know asked me how they could get the best PC possible for $600. As far as I know, to get the best system for the lowest price, it involves self building, as opposed to getting a Dell or HP or whatever.

So, I put together a parts list for him and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for different componants, or different places to shop, or point out if I've made any mistakes, or even if there are any Dell's or HP's or whatever that are better for the same (or lower) price.

Here is the parts list.

Other information:

• He already has a Seagate 7200.7 80GB ATA-100 HDD that he will be using.
• I know I've got DDR2-800 RAM with a DDR2-667 mobo, but as far as I could see it was the second cheapest 2*1GB DDR2 RAM on the site (the cheapest involved a mail-in-rebate, which he'd prefer to avoid).
• This PC will be used for webdevelopment and photoshopping, also perhaps for games at a later date hence I chose a motherboard with a PCIe 16x slot.
• The price including postage currently stands at $600.08, he'd prefer not to go too far past this magic number.

I'd appreciate any opinions on this and I thank-you all for your time in reading this far.

[Train]

Get the case without a power supply. Those antec power supplies have caused a lot of grief lately.

Excellent makes of PSU are:

Tagan
OCZ
Enermaz
Hiper
Thermaltake
Xion


Other than that, I like it.

[liam858]

Ditto, Antec have lost the plot recently, i've heard too many stories to buy another one....especially after I RMA'd the one in my backup rig recently.

This isn't a bad alternative with a 430W PSU and $25 less: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119112

Liam

[David Harrison]

Yeah, I originally picked out a power supply separately, but when he picked out that case I figured there was no harm in using the PSU it came with since Antec are a good brand. I'll have a look round at PSU's again and ask him to reconsider his choice of case, unfortunately it isn't available without PSU. I'll also see what he thinks about the CM case.

[David Harrison]

OK, very sorry to move the goal posts on you like this, but his price range has bumped up from $600 to $800, so I've changed the list a bit.

It now features a much better motherboard (without onboard graphics), a 7900GS and the CM case that Liam recommended. Also, rebates be damned, there are now two of them on the list, one for the graphics card, and one for slightly better and slightly cheaper RAM.

I would again appreciate any thoughts, opinions and suggestions on the new parts list.

[liam858]

I like it, the 7900GS is the best card for the price, even before the rebate....and a power adapter is included to run 2 x molex plugs to the PCI-E power on the card, just incase the PSU in the CM doesn't have a PCI-E connector.


Liam

[David Harrison]

Indeedy, he'll also be making use of the DVI to VGA adapter too, since at the moment he only has a 1024x768 CRT. A better monitor is probably the next upgrade on the horizon.

[HencyT]

I've read quite alot about power supply's beings of poor qualitly when you buy them with cases, I have never done so, always bought mine seperatly. If this is true then I'd suggest going for a seperate power supply, unfortunatly that means choosing another case!
Happy for someone to prove me wrong though.

[photolady]

Not all power supplies that come with cases are bad. If you buy a Thermaltake case and it comes with a power supply, I'd use it. Thermaltake are good psu's. Most are junk though, but you need not buy a different case if you opt out of using the psu that comes with it. You only need to change it for a better branded psu.

[HencyT]

Yes, I know you can just swap it, but you're saving money and possibly hassel in the long run if you buy a solid psu at the start. thermaltake may be a good case manufacturer but they will stinge on in house psus... plus the case will will be cheaper without a psu anyway. doh!

[photolady]

As Thermaltake chassis doesn't usually come with their power supply, I was speaking of, if one did. But Antec (before they went bad) shipped the Truepower with their chassis's. I know because I built three computers for my company with the Antec Soprano II's.

[HencyT]

Im sure photolady,i just speak of the general rule,that buying cases without psus is advised.

[David Harrison]

Yeah, I generally stay away from the PSU's that come with cases too, but in this scenario it seems a necessary "evil". The budget is pretty tight, yet he wants a beefy system. On reflection, maybe that's the scenario with every PC build.

Perhaps in a farsee when he gets a new monitor, he can pick up a nice Seasonic PSU at the same time.

Train, liam858, HencyT and photolady, I thank-you all for your time, patience, effort and opinions. He now has a list of parts that he's happy with and will be ordering either tomorrow or the day after. I'll come back and let you all know how he's getting on with his new system when it's all up and running.

[Train]

Your Welcome and please let us know!

[liam858]

You're Welcome.


Liam