I was planning on building a new rig for my friend. He wants it cheap, but good enough for occasional gaming and schoolwork. So far, I have: Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black E-IDE / ATAPI Model 7170A-0B - $29.99 HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 (0A30356) 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $39.99 COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case -$49.99 COOLMAX CA-400 ATX v2.01 400W Power Supply -$19.99 Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model KVR667D2N5/1G - $32.99 ASUS P5VD2-X LGA 775 VIA PT890 ATX Intel Motherboard - $62.99 Intel Dual-Core E2140 Allendale 1.6GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E2140 - $81.00 Grand Total-$348.24 He doesn't need a graphics card because he already has one. I'm not sure about the motherboard, but it was the cheapest one I could find that looked decent. Does it have any overclocking potential at all? Is there anything that I should change? Thanks in advance.
Probably the cheapest build i can find with descent motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138077 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103760 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211064 And the rest is up to you. Those are probably the best cheaper parts you can buy on a budget.
His video card is a 7600GS, but he's not an avid gamer so it should be fine. Also, should I get a Core 2 Duo or AMD. What is a good multitasking processor?
They are both good processors. Right now bang for the buck is amd and there motherboars. DDR2 ram is cheaper then ddr is so no problems there. Since he is not a advert gamer then amd would do more then suffice for him. I have the x2 4800 brisbane and it does everything i want including gaming. So for short either system will do just depends on money.
IF he waits another month for intel to cut prices then maybe intel would be a better choice but right now amd price cuts are where the bang for buck hurts intel.
I see. So that Biostar is a good company? I don't think I've heard of it. I'll go read some reviews or something. So, all the other parts beside the motherboard and processor are in order? I think I'll get the AMD then, since its so cheap. Does it have as much overclocking potential as the Core 2 Duo?
Actually this board is not that bad of a deal. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138026R
