Finally got my uncle to upgrade from his slow Pentium D setup!

His wife doesnt allow him to spend a ton of money on computer stuff, so the next upgrade was to a 775 board. He didnt want to spend more than $200 or so because he didn't wanna have to justify it to the wife.

I told him to replace his mobo/cpu and he could keep his memory, hd, case, etc.

This is what I suggested to him in his price range.

The mobo has a ICH7 chipset just incase he wants to matrix raid down the road...

Any better deals for around that price range?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5073746&CatId=1599

He uses the computer for browsing websites etc and playing COD4.

He has a 8800GT vid card.

Stupid question, but is his current RAM DDR2?

Well first of all Matrix raid requires a southbridge that ends in R ICH9R ICH10R

You might find a ICH8R but pretty sure there was no ICH7R

Secondly, that motherboard does not have Raid AT ALL

Thirdly, thats not actually a "deal."

If he is going 775 than you really should pick up a cheaper chip


For instance

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116265

About the same price as the TD deal and it includes Case and RAM


Better yet if he has the case and ram already one of these deals would be super


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1


E7000 series and e5000 series are basically the same performance wise clock for clock I think the 7000 has a little more cache, but nothing to write home about.

He does have DDR2 memory. I decided against a board that requires DDR3 because he wants to reuse his old ram.

I wasn't looking for a "deal" per say. I was looking for something under $200 that was atleast a 7000 series or better proc. Hard to explain to a non computer person that a 5000 is as good as a 7000. They see a better number and they assume. So sometimes its not worth the fight as long as they are happy.

Know what I mean?

Ok, so I get a call today.... My Aunt doesnt want him touching her computer... So now he has to make due with his setup and purchase a whole new computer because he cant return his cpu/mobo combo.

Sad situation, because if I knew he was going to build new I would have just recommended a whole diff setup.

So here is where we sit today.

ThermalTake Soprano Case $87.99
Corsair TX-650W Power supply $90.92
OCZ DDR2 6400 4GB Platinum memory 5-4-4-15 $74.99
Gigabyte G41M-ES2L Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 Processor with Fan bundle $179.99
ATI HD4890 Video Card $209.00
500GB Black Western Digital Hard Drive $64.99
LG DVD/CDRW drive. $35.00

Total - $742.88

This was a shoot from my hip as he wanted to use Amazon.com and bestbuy as shipping is a killer here.

Hopefully this should do considering the late notice. Let me know how I did. The memory was not the best, and I would have changed it, but he didnt want to because his wife would kill him considering how much he is going to spend.

WTF thats crazy.

Why not look on the classifieds. Most High End OCers almost give away perfectly good stuff that has less than a year on it.

I would start by looking there.

Also, if he is going with a new computer, wont he also be needing a new keyboard/mouse/monitor?

I wouldn't doubt it. If I was building one for myself I would defiantly search the forums. He believes new = better. He will be putting his new pc beside his old one. Getting a KVM to switch between the two boxes. So she can use "her" pc and he can use his.

CRAZY.

Thanks for the info though.

Wow is that a mess. Why the 4890 card? What OS is going to be installed? Monitor used?

650tx is way more than that system would ever need.. 550 should be good and prices better.. 4890 is good if he games alot, otherwise go for a 5770 or something.. it runs cooler/less power draw and quieter.. 4890 is loud when in use.

He is a gamer. Only reason he wanted to build a new Computer.

Going with Windows 7 64 bit.

I went with the 650w because we cant get the 550w local and the 650w is only 4 bucks more.

450 or at most 500 would do, too, for about half the price.

380 would be pushing it a bit, but SHOULD work.

Looks pretty good to me. Might have to OC the CPU to keep up with the Video Card though. Is that RAM a dual channel kit? If so, then i'd say you're set. PSU leaves some room for future upgrades too

And i agree, building a computer for someone that's not technically inclined, is hard to do. STILL trying to convince my dad that he doesn't need anything more than an E8400, but he wants a Quad anyway :/

Yeah, I tried to get him to get a newegg deal for $189.99 for a E5200 and some rock solid memory. I tried to explain how the processor could be Oc'd and because of the memory pairing it would work better but he just didn't understand.

I have no doubt he will be happy with his new rig, but man, its a spendy way to go.