What can you do for $800?

[XunknownX]

Alright, I have to do a system build for a good friend of mine. She gave me $800 to build a tower for her. I want to go A64. Need an average video card w/TV out and roughly a gig of RAM. What can you put together for that budget?

 

[OCS911]

You can get a gig of RAM under $100 and ATI All In Wonder Video Card and A64 Combo from Fry's will do it

 

[Sshadow]

A64 3000+ $147.99
X600XT $106.00 (Abit)
DFI nf4 non sli $99.00
Mushkin Value $79.99
CM Wavemaster $119.00
Tagan PSU $80.99
HDD $113.00 (Seagate 200GB Sata)
= $745,99 newegg excluding shipping

//Christian

 

[attack]

I like most of Sshadows stuff but I'd not get a wavemaster case, or that good of a PSU. It's not needed if you don't OC and arguable that you really do need it if you do OC. With the saved cash you can either goto 2gb of RAM or upgrade the video card.

 

[winterhavok]

CASE - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144123 ($45)

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535 ($190)

MOBO - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131541 ($97)

RAM - 2x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141424 ($78)

VideoCard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102345 ($137)

DVD/CD-RW - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827151061 ($35)

DVD-RW - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827151066 ($48)

HDD - 2x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144173 ($112)

SoundCard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102176 ($40)

Total: $782

You can mix and match these parts with the ones that you want or other people suggested, but I feel like this is a good budget rig for the $800 price that you have been given. edit: Whoops, I copy and pasted the wrong mobo.

 

[attack]

winterhavok, your sockets are mismateched, you got a 754 mobo with a 939 CPU!

Oh and you guys are giving him AIW cards....he said TV out, not TV in, so AIW would probably be a waste

 

[Sshadow]

Winterhavok... Mind editing your moboseletion.. S754

//Christian

 

[Sshadow]

winterhavok, your sockets are mismateched, you got a 754 mobo with a 939 CPU!

Oh and you guys are giving him AIW cards....he said TV out, not TV in, so AIW would probably be a waste

The Abit X600XT doesn't have a vivo, or did i miss that.. *resets brain*

//Christian

 

[UPCguy23]

Man, don't skimp too much on the PSU's. I am telling you, because I used to buy cheap cases and PSU's. Within the last 2-3 months, I've replaced like 3 cheaper PSU's that went dead, in other people's systems where we had built them. In fact, my mom's computer killed another cheap PSU, and so I've got yet another on the way that I'm going to put in it. I am learning, do not skimp on the PSU. I am learning that it's better to pay more for one now than to have to go through hassles of replacing one later, plus if what you build your friend works the first time, and keeps on working, maybe she will respect your abilities more, vs if you have to keep going back and fixing the pc b/c you buy cheap parts.

 

[Flip-Mode]

What is the exact use of this comp?
For and avrage and above one I would go:
DFI Nf4 LanPrty 122$
AMD A64 Venice 3200 boxed 190$ (You can go with the 3000 and save around 50-60$)
OCZ DDR400 EL DualChannel kit 125$ (You get 15$ rebate so it comes to 110$) - This is some excellent mem, you can get a Value kit with decent timings for around 90$
Fortron BlueStorm 500W 91$ - As you might know its one of the best PSU's out there
NEC 3520A DualLayer DVDRW 48$
WD 120gb SATA HD 88$
Sapphire X600Pro VIVO 91$ - If she wants hard gaming then you will need something better
Total: 755$ before shipping
This is without a case as you can see.
If you tell us whats the rig for we can better constumize it for the needs.

EDIT: everyone posted while I was browsing NewEgg...

 

[hainer36]

Mobo(put the SLI because they may want it down the road)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131524
Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811119076
DVD-RW- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827129161
HDD- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822145082
RAM(may not want the 1 gig stick but a friend has it, and its awesome)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820221001
PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817103928
CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103537
Video Card- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814121199

$757 plus shipping, and the only thing you may want to change is the ram, if you want dual channel instead of 1 stick of 1GB, and maybe a better psu if she wants some sli

EDIT: oops, forgot that sli boards use pci-e not agp, fixed the vid card

 

[winterhavok]

The AIW cards have CATV, Composite and S-Video conenctors, so it should handle any TV-Out that they are wanting.

 

[XunknownX]

SHe wants to do video editing mainly. I've just been informed that she wants a P4. So feel free to shwo me what you can do $800 for that. Thank you very much for the Athlon64 pricing and parts. Good to know I can always count on this forum and teh great people who make it up.

 

[Sshadow]

Abit AA8XE $146.00 Link
Intel 630 $226.99 Link
GeiL 1GB Model #: GX21GB4300DC $101.43 Link
Tagan PSU $80.99
HDD $113.00 (Seagate 200GB Sata)
X600XT $106.00 (Abit)
= $774.41 Newegg excluded shipping and a cd

//Christian

 

[nealric]

Intel 630 $226.99 Link

No- Get a pentium D- not much more ($270 at the egg) and you get 2 procs- will help a lot for vid editing.

 

[Captain Slug]

My list: http://secure.newegg.com/Oldversion...w.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=1552344

Intel LGA 775 Pentium 4 520 2.8 GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache
Rosewill Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR PC-3200
ABIT "AG8" i915P
Sapphire ATI RADEON X300 SE
Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM SATA
NEC Black 16X DVD+/-R DVD Burner
Thermaltake VA4000 Series SViking case w/ adjustable 120mm cooling
Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu LED
CoolMax 400W 120mm Silent PSU

Total = $745

It will not only be fast and have more than enough storage capacity for video editing, but it also has wiggle room if there's a need to add new peripherals, a legitimate OS, or even a new TV capture card if required. Or you could just upgrade one or two things.

 

[XunknownX]

My list: http://secure.newegg.com/Oldversion...w.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=1552344

Intel LGA 775 Pentium 4 520 2.8 GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache
Rosewill Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR PC-3200
ABIT "AG8" i915P
Sapphire ATI RADEON X300 SE
Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM SATA
NEC Black 16X DVD+/-R DVD Burner
Thermaltake VA4000 Series SViking case w/ adjustable 120mm cooling
Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu LED
CoolMax 400W 120mm Silent PSU

Total = $745

It will not only be fast and have more than enough storage capacity for video editing, but it also has wiggle room if there's a need to add new peripherals, a legitimate OS, or even a new TV capture card if required. Or you could just upgrade one or two things.

I was hoping you would see this thread. You have a rep for this kind of stuff. Thank you everyone.