Looking to build a budget computer $500-700

Hey guys im looking to build a budget computer thats between $500-700, im in college and my budget is tight. O and i dont need anything other than the computer, no monitor or anything im good there. I just have been out of computer hardware discussion for awhile some im not sure what the best i can get for the money. Thank you in advance!projectchaos

Just one question. What processor do you prefer? intel or amd?

well considering the last one used a radeon 9800.. we can assume at best its on par with the chrome engine.. so anything better than a 7800gt/x1800 should do it..

im thinking an hd 5670/4770, phenom II x2, 4gb setup.. ne 1 concur?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2227022&csid=_21&recordsPerPage=10&body=REVIEWS#tabs

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6047796&CatId=3669

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5587167&Sku=I69-2208

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4959972&Sku=I69-0860

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5082127&CatId=3361

I didn't include a case or drives because I am not very knowledgeable about them but all this here will cost you around 600 dollars so far. If that is too much for you alreddy and if you want the price to go down a bit i would choose this processor insted

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4588101&sku=A79-0955

I assume you have some parts all ready (disk drive, hard drive) but if not they're there for you.

i feel that the 5770 is taking it a bit overboard.. i say hd 5750 or bust

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150448&cm_re=hd_5750-_-14-150-448-_-Product

besides mine has a better warranty anyway..

here is another card id consider aswell..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161268&cm_re=hd_4870-_-14-161-268-_-Product

keep in mind ppl he chasing after an online rpg that is well optimized and who's prequel was super easy to max out hes not exactly trying to get crysis going here..

Here's my suggestion at $580:

http://austin.ebayclassifieds.com/computers-tech/leander/phenom-ii-x3-4850-crossfirex-4gb-ddr3-ram-500gb-hard-drive/?ad=3157627

(they wouldn't let me link it)

Yes, it is my ad! It's already built and ready, so it does take away the fun of building it yourself.. but I challenge you to build a better gaming rig for the price w/OS included.

Ty for all the responses, its very helpful. I was just wondering has ATI taken a lead over Nvidia cause it seems like a lot of th gamespot community has shifted that way. And i have no problem with that i was just wondering. Also do u guys think amd or intel is better for a budget computer?projectchaos

Nvidia still has a fair amount more market share than ATI, but with the release of the ATI HD4000 and 5000 series cards, ATI has really closed the gap. AMD offers superior bang-for-the buck for building a budget computer. Intel Core i5 and i7 chips are faster clock-for-clock than the Phenom II's, but it's a difference that you have to be using very specific applications to notice. Another plus for AMD customers is that they are releasing all of their consumer CPUs for just one motherboard socket type- Socket AM3 (which is backwards compatible with AM2+). Intel has processors on the market for the older LGA 775, plus Socket 1156 and 1366. They are harder to keep track of.

I assume you have some parts all ready (disk drive, hard drive) but if not they're there for you.

scoots9

id say ma processor in ma sig is a better one to get

Could u suggest a mobo with crossfire or SLiprojectchaos

Are we still looking at less than $700?

This is what I would probably do for less than $700 using new parts, OS and peripherals not included of course. You probably wouldn't feel the need to upgrade it for quite awhile, but if you wanted to the PSU and the Mobo would allow you to add another 5770 for Crossfire down the road. The second full-length PCI-Express slot on this board is an x4 slot, as opposed to an x16 or an x8, but it doesn't have that much of an effect on performance. I have this board so I speak from experience. I've run my 5870 in both the full x16 and the x4 slot.. 8% performance loss in the x4 slot. The effect will be even less noticeable with a less powerful card like a 5770 because it isn't as bandwidth-hungry. In short, this motherboard will work fine for Crossfire.

DVD drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119161

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131330

Power Supply- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193

CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

but i was just wondering if anyone had an intel setup by chance?projectchaos

Below are an Intel-based motherboard and CPU that will give equal features and performance to the AMD parts from the other build. If you keep all of the other parts the same, it costs about $68 more to go this route ($765).

motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128420

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215

Can i use an ATI or Nvidia setup with this mobo?projectchaos

That one appears to be ATI Crossfire only. Check out this website for info on Intel socket 1156 motherboards that support both SLI and Crossfire (ones that will allow you to use the Core i5 750 CPU that I suggested if you go the Intel route):

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/p55-motherboards-crossfire-sli-performance-problem/

You could of course get a socket 1366 board with the x58 chipset and a more expensive LGA 1366 Core i7 CPU. Those boards all support both SLI and Crossfire if I'm not mistaken. You would also be looking at buying a triple-channel DDR3 memory kit for that type of system too. Overall it will be far above the budget that you wanted to stay within. That's why I suggested going the AMD/ATI route. Absolutely superior bang for the buck when you factor in all costs.

This is what I would probably do for less than $700 using new parts, OS and peripherals not included of course. You probably wouldn't feel the need to upgrade it for quite awhile, but if you wanted to the PSU and the Mobo would allow you to add another 5770 for Crossfire down the road. The second full-length PCI-Express slot on this board is an x4 slot, as opposed to an x16 or an x8, but it doesn't have that much of an effect on performance. I have this board so I speak from experience. I've run my 5870 in both the full x16 and the x4 slot.. 8% performance loss in the x4 slot. The effect will be even less noticeable with a less powerful card like a 5770 because it isn't as bandwidth-hungry. In short, this motherboard will work fine for Crossfire.

DVD drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119161

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131330

Power Supply- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193

CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

hartsickdiscipl

As far as the Asrock Amd mobo, are u sure that that is a good brand, cause i heard that certain brands of mobos are told to stay away from?projectchaos

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

This is what I would probably do for less than $700 using new parts, OS and peripherals not included of course. You probably wouldn't feel the need to upgrade it for quite awhile, but if you wanted to the PSU and the Mobo would allow you to add another 5770 for Crossfire down the road. The second full-length PCI-Express slot on this board is an x4 slot, as opposed to an x16 or an x8, but it doesn't have that much of an effect on performance. I have this board so I speak from experience. I've run my 5870 in both the full x16 and the x4 slot.. 8% performance loss in the x4 slot. The effect will be even less noticeable with a less powerful card like a 5770 because it isn't as bandwidth-hungry. In short, this motherboard will work fine for Crossfire.

DVD drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119161

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131330

Power Supply- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193

CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Wildedge93

I guess you didn't understand the point of this build. UNDER $700. Not to mention the fact that a hexacore CPU based off the Phenom II architecture is virtually useless for gaming. We're talking about a CPU architecture that performs clock for clock almost identically to the later Core 2 Duo/Quads. Do you really think that we are going to have many games out on the market that will show any benefit in having a Phenom II hexacore over the quad-core version before the whole architecture is obsolete?

As far as the Asrock Amd mobo, are u sure that that is a good brand, cause i heard that certain brands of mobos are told to stay away from?projectchaos

I've used everything from Asus to Gigabyte, to ECS, to Foxconn, to AsRock.. yes, it's good. I wouldn't suggest it unless it was a good board. What the other poster said is true- AsRock is a subsidiary of Asus, and they actually share many parts. I have the very motherboard that I recommended to you in my own rig right now as I type this.

just got my build from newegg for 510$ canadian plus 20$ MIR

CPU--> AMD Athlon II X3 435 rana @ 2.9 Ghz = 78$

mobo --> Gigabyte Crossfire capable microatx = 90$

ram --> 2 GB DDR2 800 patriot = 50 $

case--> rosewill microatx = 30 $ (free shipping)

PSU -->coolmax 450 watt = 30$

Video Card --> ATI 4850 = 100$ (15$ MIR)

Hard Drive --> 500GB SATA = 55$

Total = 433$ before tax

That is my build it runs amazingly fast, better than the closest priced core 2 duo and I have no problems running games. If you want more of a cpu then go for the X4 620 for $100 or the 630 for $110. This mobo supports crossfire as well so down the road you can add another 4850 if you like for an extra 100$. But if you decide to go that route I would reccomend a higher watt psu. Intel has the best processors for sure but to build one from intel that would match the above would run you more than $700. Not to mention that intel is planning to discontinue socket 1156 sometime in 2011.

Oh yah I chose a more expensive mobo, you could bring the total down another 25$ by going with a normal one.