Help an old goat build his custom pc

[Aqollo1]

Hi,

My goal is to make the pc around $600-700 while making sure the components don't bottleneck each other like the gpu and the cpu or vice versa.

I do understand that getting a dual core will bottleneck some of the components, but I really need the dual core and instead some of you may know a better item to get for the value since some of the parts may not even be used to there fullest potential.

Please don't advise me to get a quad core I already have one I need this computer to test some things ^_^

Also if you can please tell me if this pc is compatible or not, I've checked over the internet and it should be fine, but still I'm skeptical.

Also, even though I'm getting the Amd II X2 processor I may get the Amd Athlon 64 x2 6400+(3.2 GHz) as well and I'm wondering if it's compatible with the entire pc?



When making suggestions on my build please provide the name of the item as well as a link that follows it to a site where the item can be purchased.

Budget: ~$600.00 -700

I'm over my budget by like $400-500 can someone please help. This is my first time building a custom computer and hand picking parts from so much variety.

Case: NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146067

$124.99

Processor: AMD Athlon II X2 270 Regor 3.4GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16819103873

$79.99


Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16813128519

$94.99


Power supply: OCZ ZT Series 750W Fully-Modular

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc..._-YT17-341-052

$11

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=6ryyw0dra9tv

$44

Graphics Card: EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P3-1469-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

$234.00

Hard drives: Western Digital Caviar 1.5 TB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136793

$200

CD Drives: LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106289

$22.00 x 2 = $44

CPU Fans/Case Fans/Heat sinks:

XIGMATEK LOKI SD963 92mm HYPRO Bearing CPU (Heat sink & Cpu fan)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233081

$29.00

XIGMATEK LED Fan Crystal series CLF-F2005 200mm

2x200mm purple led fans = $20x2=$40


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233079

1x140mm Yate Loon(blue led) fan = $11.00

1x120mm Yate Loon(blue led) fan = $11.99



OS: Windows XP Service Pack 3

Networking: TRENDnet TEG-PCITXR Gigabit Network Adapter 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI 1 x RJ45

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833156139

$13

By the way the objective of this computer is to play old games and utilize both cores to the best of there potential or for what they are worth at least.

Total so far: ~$1007.00

 

[SteveLord]

The Intel i3 2100 dualcore bests AMD's offerings. And even outshines some of their quadcores.

 

[Aqollo]

I need to stick to AMD for some personal issues, though I will keep that thought in mind thanks. Can you please suggest on how should I go about lowering the price of the system down by $300-400. The system needs to support both the AMD II X2 processer with amd-3 chipset and the Amd Athlon 64 X2 6400 with the amd-2 chipset.

EDIT: THe total price for the system so far is $937.97 ... not 1000 whatever sorry about that

 

[Knufire]

I'd go with something like this:

 

[Aqollo]

I'd go with something like this:
View attachment 102328

Thank you so much for your reply. There is one problem, that is the processor. I really need it to be an Athlon is there any way to squeeze that in, in particular the one that I stated above but the motherboard should support both am2 and am3 chip sets if possible. I don't know if you have heard of this but, some of the older games have an issue with AMD clock speeds in-game which cause the game to run faster then normal, that's one of the main reasons I'm buying this system so I can play old games at high speeds due to clock speed bugs within AMD x2 processors. Now I haven't heard any phenoms having the issue so yeah....

I should've mentioned im only going to be running windows xp on the system so getting more then 4 gb in a x86 environment may not be worth it as I've yet to see a windows xp pro version with sp3 that is 64 bit.

 

[Knufire]

Here, and it's miniITX .

 

[Aqollo]

Thank you so much I feel more confident about this but, I hate ati. Can we try some geforce card that will not bottleneck the cpu or the cpu won't bottleneck the card. Like I don't want to pay for a gtx 560 or radeon 6870 if It can't reach its full potential due to some limitations on other parts.

PS: Are those prices from newegg?

PSS: I really appreciate the support, I would click the thank you button but my account is screwed up and there is no thank you button. D:

Also, does that motherboard support AM2 Chipsets as well as I may be getting a processer that is only supported by am2 if not do you mind changing it again sorry I have little experience in the computer field ><

 

[Knufire]

I'm pretty sure AM2 CPUs fit into AM3?

ATI is AMD now by the way, but just change the card to a 550Ti or 560 and you should be fine.

And yes, I just screenshot Newegg carts.

 

[Aqollo]

I'm pretty sure AM2 CPUs fit into AM3?

ATI is AMD now by the way, but just change the card to a 550Ti or 560 and you should be fine.

And yes, I just screenshot Newegg carts.

To my understanding Amd removed some pin holes from the am3 sockets so am2 chips cannot fit in them. So I need a new mobo and if I use an Amd athlon 64 x2 6400+ with a am3/am2 motherboard will there be any issues using DDR3 ram or should it work fine in conjunction with the processor.

 

[Knufire]

Wait, sorry.

Backwards comaptible. AM3 CPUs will fit in an AM2+ socket, but an AM2+ CPU will not work in an AM3 motherboard, even if you forcibly rip off the extra pin (Tom's Hardware tried).

So if you use the Athlon 64, it's a nogo for DDR3.

 

[Aqollo]

Wait, sorry.

Backwards comaptible. AM3 CPUs will fit in an AM2+ socket, but an AM2+ CPU will not work in an AM3 motherboard, even if you forcibly rip off the extra pin (Tom's Hardware tried).

So if you use the Athlon 64, it's a nogo for DDR3.

Yeah and I don't think the am2 chips have ddr3 memory controllers either so :l

Do you think it's worth getting an am2+ mobo then? or is there some way where I can use both an amd athlon II X2 270 & a amd athlon x2 dual core 6400 on the same mobo, and be able to use ddr3 ram?

 

[Knufire]

Nope, no way. There's really no point buying new if you need such old hardware, better off looking on Ebay or something.

 

[Aqollo]

Final build right here mind going over it. My budget is $600-700

Please critique any areas of improvement. I'm sure the cpu will bottleneck the gpu or some other components due to it being a dual core, but I hope that the items are worth the money.

PS: Can you tell me the BEST dual core in the market atm? and if I do get it can you link me a setup to it with all the components already selected. I know it's asking much but nobody helps me besides you.

 

[Knufire]

You don't need a separate NIC btw, it's built on the motherboard. The motherboard is also miniITX, it has one slot for your GPU. Since you could afford it I figured I'd go small form factor.

Best dual core, no restrictions? Budget?

 

[Aqollo]

Sorry for the small images, and I'll remember to take the separate NIC out. But here are the specs again at a bigger view:








So the pc is fine for what it's worth? No improvements?

As for the other thing. The best dual core pc for amd and intel only restriction is the budget. $max ~750

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Your links on the first post are broken.

 

[Aqollo]

I can't even edit the first post it shows me as offline there under my name... so yeah... sorry about that

 

[Knufire]

1000W PSU and a full tower case? That's a small form factor motherboard, you want a small form factor case to go with it, unless you want to go a normal build. The case is tiny. 11" by 7" by 9". I figured since it's a really low powered build for older games, that you might as well go small form factor since you could fit everything in it. If you want.

Would you prefer the builds be small form factor or normal sized? I can redo both if you wish.

 

[Aqollo]

I would prefer id u would redo both as you can see what procceser i want and the goal im trying to achieve....i really like this case so pease if you can try to incorporate it. Hpwever you do know best but i would prefer normal or what you can do is make one normal and one small factor. But please make aure the processor is the same and with the normal try to keep the phantom case or something like it

 

[frankgwasere]

let me get this right your spending $70 on a CPU and over $600 on the rest including $234 on graphics card? mmmm like buying a Ferrari chassis and throwing in a 125cc scooter engine. Your drive is also killing you 1 Tb used to be £40 currently some asking £100 plus (sorry Im in the UK) so I would screw that and get a small one till they come down in price again after xmas as there taking the xxxxx. 250Gb is plenty for a main root drive add storage (second drive) afterwards when there half the price or find someone selling at old prices, there are a few about Im sure. I think Graphics card is overkill for the rest of the machine and CPU just my opinion and the HDD are way too expensive at the moment cos they will come down in a months time after xmas