So I have a friend (hard to believe right). He wants to build his daughter and her husband a new computer for Christmas. So I asked what do they like to do. He says the husband games, his daughter does some basic photo editing and email, word docs, etc.
So to recap lets remember Joe-joe's rule of thumb. Video editing and photo editing (intense photo editing) requires more Processor cores. Gaming systems tend to be dual core because games don't scale well over two processors. So in order to satiate his building goals I am going to present a couple of different builds. One AMD Quad Core, One AMD Dual Core, One Intel C2D, and One Intel Dual Core... for a grand total of 4 possible configurations all under $500.00. I am also going to state what I like about the feature set of each component. Enjoy.
System Name: AMD Quad Core Galore
Allegiance: Decepticon
Primary Function: Games, Photos, Video, Content Creation.
Overkill for: Word Processing, E-mailing, Those without broadband access.
GIGABYTE GA-MA770-DS3 AM2+ I like this mobo. It was tough to find a decent motherboard for such a low price but I like it. It utilizes AMD's 770 Northbridge and the 600 series South Bridge. The one thing I look for is how the back panel is organized and the layout. I check to see if anything has been tacked on or if anything looks like its unnecessary or potentially legacy. They include a serial/com port which I think is unnecessary but they include a firewire port and 6 USB 2.0 ports. It supports 4 SATA drives and is capable of a couple of basic RAID solutions but nothing exotic and I seriously doubt anyone looking in this price range of mobos would be looking for RAID solutions anyhow. With a flat price of 78.99 you can't go wrong.
AMD Phenom 9600 Quad Core CPU - I like this cpu. AMD is practically giving the damn thing away for free. It features four cores, hyper transport, and the latest SSE and MMX instructions. for $119.00 you really can't go wrong. There are faster processors, but none that are cheaper in the quad core range. It's also the boxed edition so it comes with a CPU fan and heatsink. So no need to buy an after market product. A solid deal.
OCZ Gold Edition DDR2 800 - You know I think you can get RAM out of vending machines its so cheap right now. Especially DDR2 because DDR3 is currently hitting the market with a vengence due to the release of the Core i7 intel chips. So this DDR2 800 memory has gold heat sinks with a giant Z on them. They are rated for 800mhz operation and by god they only cost $22.99 with a $10.00 rebate!!!! They are only $12.99 if you cash in the rebate... lol... $12.99 I might just order some to have laying around.
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4850 - as with any system that your building the more you spend on a video card the better off your game performance is going to be. This is one of the latest generation cards. It supports High Definition Video and will play the latest games (though only at lower resolutions). For $149.99 its a good buy. With a $15.00 rebate its a great buy. It supports Direct X 10.1 and the driver support from ATI is competent.
Now I think this is as far as my friend wanted me to go in terms of the equipment that I reccommend. But if your reading this and want more info on what I suggest for cases, power supplies, and other peripherals scroll down to the end of the page. As it stands this build costs a grand total of $371.96 plus shipping. Combine that with $35.00 in rebates and the grand total comes out to be 336.96. Not bad... not bad t'all.
Name: AMD DUAL CORE KILLA
Allegiance: Decepticon
Primary Function: Games, Web surfing, CD/DVD Burning, multiple doc editing
May be underpowered for: Serious Photo editing (using multiple layers and multiple masks) serious video editing (using a professional program like Adobe Premiere or Illustrator).
I'm going to recommend using the motherboard from the previous build since I looked at Gigabytes website and their model GA-MA770-DS3 AM2+ has very good compatibility with a range of AMD procs giving you a fairly rich upgrade path. It looks as though gigabyte offers fairly competent support for their bios's as well.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 (2.7ghz) I like this processor. It runs fairly fast, comes in a box with a heatsink and fan. and is available for $65.00. No that is really not a typo. The god damn thing only costs $65.99. For real.
Stick with the RAM from previous build
XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+ - I don't trust nVidia Mobo products these days, but their video card products... those I LOVE!!!! This thing is awesome bringing the best of this years early technology to the consumer for 184.99 with a rebate of $30.00 that makes it only $154.99. I love XFX and I run one of their 8800 GT cards at home. My card runs like a scared convict going to jail, and its a generation cycle older than this card. They also warranty the cards for a lifetime.
The new Core i7 is going to be out of reach for most people until the middle of next year when the 1066 Core i7's are released. Until then the Core 2 Duo (or C2D) procs are solid buy on the performance front. On with build!
Name: Intel C2D Delight
Allegiance: Autobot
Primary Function: Warrior, Online Gaming, Photo editing, light video editing, and light content creation
Weaknesses: processor intensive calculations such as major photo editing or recompiling, intense video editing and heavy content creation.
Asus P5QL-E Socket 775 P43 - This mobo is from Asus. As far as I am concerned they build the best, most solid, most compatible, easy to use, boutique motherboards in the business. When I personally build a machine I alway, always, ALWAYS purchase an Asus (pronounced AY-soos) mobo as the solid foundation from which to build a mighty computer. It is running on an Intel P43 chipset which ensures compatibility with the current Wolfdale C2D chips. Throw in onboard sound and LAN and this mobo is solid. This motherboard is one of Asus's value boards featuring lots of extras for a reasonable price of $124.99.
Intel E7300 C2D Wolfdale - This proc has 2 processor cores that run at 2.66ghz. It has 3megs of high speed cache that is shared between the 2 processor cores. This is the penultimate value because its only $119.99, comes with the heat sink and fan, and has all the features of a proc that costs 100 dollars more. Once again I recommend shopping around on this one. I link it to TigerDirect.com but the price on this thing fluctuates between 120 - 150 dollars.
Feel free to to peruse my other blogs for my recommendations on power supplies and cases. My buddy said he was going to pick up a thermaltake case for his build... I personally prefer antec cases and I swear by their power supplies. In the Intel build you could also swap out an Intel Dual Core (which is actually a C2D proc (Identified as the E2xxx series)that has been gimped with only 1 meg of cache. They are very cheap... about 65 - 89 dollars depending on the procs clock speed and whether it comes with a fan. I think for the money though that the E7xxx series is about as low as you should go at this point.
Other really good resources for determining what you should buy are the holiday builders guide at Tomshardware.com. Also the builders guide at Maximumpc.com and finally the reviews at sharkeyextreme.com and anandtech.com. PEACE Y'ALL.
So to recap lets remember Joe-joe's rule of thumb. Video editing and photo editing (intense photo editing) requires more Processor cores. Gaming systems tend to be dual core because games don't scale well over two processors. So in order to satiate his building goals I am going to present a couple of different builds. One AMD Quad Core, One AMD Dual Core, One Intel C2D, and One Intel Dual Core... for a grand total of 4 possible configurations all under $500.00. I am also going to state what I like about the feature set of each component. Enjoy.
System Name: AMD Quad Core Galore
Allegiance: Decepticon
Primary Function: Games, Photos, Video, Content Creation.
Overkill for: Word Processing, E-mailing, Those without broadband access.
GIGABYTE GA-MA770-DS3 AM2+ I like this mobo. It was tough to find a decent motherboard for such a low price but I like it. It utilizes AMD's 770 Northbridge and the 600 series South Bridge. The one thing I look for is how the back panel is organized and the layout. I check to see if anything has been tacked on or if anything looks like its unnecessary or potentially legacy. They include a serial/com port which I think is unnecessary but they include a firewire port and 6 USB 2.0 ports. It supports 4 SATA drives and is capable of a couple of basic RAID solutions but nothing exotic and I seriously doubt anyone looking in this price range of mobos would be looking for RAID solutions anyhow. With a flat price of 78.99 you can't go wrong.
AMD Phenom 9600 Quad Core CPU - I like this cpu. AMD is practically giving the damn thing away for free. It features four cores, hyper transport, and the latest SSE and MMX instructions. for $119.00 you really can't go wrong. There are faster processors, but none that are cheaper in the quad core range. It's also the boxed edition so it comes with a CPU fan and heatsink. So no need to buy an after market product. A solid deal.
OCZ Gold Edition DDR2 800 - You know I think you can get RAM out of vending machines its so cheap right now. Especially DDR2 because DDR3 is currently hitting the market with a vengence due to the release of the Core i7 intel chips. So this DDR2 800 memory has gold heat sinks with a giant Z on them. They are rated for 800mhz operation and by god they only cost $22.99 with a $10.00 rebate!!!! They are only $12.99 if you cash in the rebate... lol... $12.99 I might just order some to have laying around.
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4850 - as with any system that your building the more you spend on a video card the better off your game performance is going to be. This is one of the latest generation cards. It supports High Definition Video and will play the latest games (though only at lower resolutions). For $149.99 its a good buy. With a $15.00 rebate its a great buy. It supports Direct X 10.1 and the driver support from ATI is competent.
Now I think this is as far as my friend wanted me to go in terms of the equipment that I reccommend. But if your reading this and want more info on what I suggest for cases, power supplies, and other peripherals scroll down to the end of the page. As it stands this build costs a grand total of $371.96 plus shipping. Combine that with $35.00 in rebates and the grand total comes out to be 336.96. Not bad... not bad t'all.
Name: AMD DUAL CORE KILLA
Allegiance: Decepticon
Primary Function: Games, Web surfing, CD/DVD Burning, multiple doc editing
May be underpowered for: Serious Photo editing (using multiple layers and multiple masks) serious video editing (using a professional program like Adobe Premiere or Illustrator).
I'm going to recommend using the motherboard from the previous build since I looked at Gigabytes website and their model GA-MA770-DS3 AM2+ has very good compatibility with a range of AMD procs giving you a fairly rich upgrade path. It looks as though gigabyte offers fairly competent support for their bios's as well.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 (2.7ghz) I like this processor. It runs fairly fast, comes in a box with a heatsink and fan. and is available for $65.00. No that is really not a typo. The god damn thing only costs $65.99. For real.
Stick with the RAM from previous build
XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+ - I don't trust nVidia Mobo products these days, but their video card products... those I LOVE!!!! This thing is awesome bringing the best of this years early technology to the consumer for 184.99 with a rebate of $30.00 that makes it only $154.99. I love XFX and I run one of their 8800 GT cards at home. My card runs like a scared convict going to jail, and its a generation cycle older than this card. They also warranty the cards for a lifetime.
The new Core i7 is going to be out of reach for most people until the middle of next year when the 1066 Core i7's are released. Until then the Core 2 Duo (or C2D) procs are solid buy on the performance front. On with build!
Name: Intel C2D Delight
Allegiance: Autobot
Primary Function: Warrior, Online Gaming, Photo editing, light video editing, and light content creation
Weaknesses: processor intensive calculations such as major photo editing or recompiling, intense video editing and heavy content creation.
Asus P5QL-E Socket 775 P43 - This mobo is from Asus. As far as I am concerned they build the best, most solid, most compatible, easy to use, boutique motherboards in the business. When I personally build a machine I alway, always, ALWAYS purchase an Asus (pronounced AY-soos) mobo as the solid foundation from which to build a mighty computer. It is running on an Intel P43 chipset which ensures compatibility with the current Wolfdale C2D chips. Throw in onboard sound and LAN and this mobo is solid. This motherboard is one of Asus's value boards featuring lots of extras for a reasonable price of $124.99.
Intel E7300 C2D Wolfdale - This proc has 2 processor cores that run at 2.66ghz. It has 3megs of high speed cache that is shared between the 2 processor cores. This is the penultimate value because its only $119.99, comes with the heat sink and fan, and has all the features of a proc that costs 100 dollars more. Once again I recommend shopping around on this one. I link it to TigerDirect.com but the price on this thing fluctuates between 120 - 150 dollars.
Feel free to to peruse my other blogs for my recommendations on power supplies and cases. My buddy said he was going to pick up a thermaltake case for his build... I personally prefer antec cases and I swear by their power supplies. In the Intel build you could also swap out an Intel Dual Core (which is actually a C2D proc (Identified as the E2xxx series)that has been gimped with only 1 meg of cache. They are very cheap... about 65 - 89 dollars depending on the procs clock speed and whether it comes with a fan. I think for the money though that the E7xxx series is about as low as you should go at this point.
Other really good resources for determining what you should buy are the holiday builders guide at Tomshardware.com. Also the builders guide at Maximumpc.com and finally the reviews at sharkeyextreme.com and anandtech.com. PEACE Y'ALL.
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