hi, im trying to build a desktop computer but i have no idea where to start. need some advice thanks. 400$ budget cpu : xxx memory : xxx videocard : 8800 gts ( already have the gpu ) motherboard : xxx psu : 550 watt ( already have the psu ) case : xxx
I really dont think you can squeeze all that into a $300 budget. You might want to save up a bit more. You can probably get a Mobo/CPU/RAM for around $275ish, but getting a PSU and CASE as well... well you just have to save up some more. At least $400ish.
hmm okay i have a extra psu thats around 550 watt i think. i guess ill just use that and ill bump up my budget to 400. any advice?
CPU -Pentium E5200 2.5GHz $75.99 CPU -Core2Duo E7300 2.66GHz $119.99 (recommended) RAM -CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 $34.99 PSU -OCZ StealthXStream 600W $62.99 Mobo -EVGA 750i $114.99 Case -COOLER MASTER Elite Mid Tower $34.99 Total (with Pentium CPU) $323.95 (Before tax/MIR) Total (with Core2Duo) $367.95 (Before tax/MIR) If you dont want the PSU, subtract $62.99 from both.
The first thing you should ask yourself is what do you primarily want to DO with your new computer? After this, you then need to ask yourself what your expectations are given your budget. These are two important questions all builders should ask themselves IMO because not only do they influence each other, but they will determine what kind of components you buy more than anything else. For example, if all you want to do is game... I strongly support going with Intel this time. I have been both an AMD and Intel user over the years, and at the current moment, Intel is *the* chip maker for mid-to-high-end gaming rigs. If, however, you don't game that much and are more into multimedia (DVD; HD), photo editing and general computing tasks a AMD 64 X2 AM/AM2+ chip clocked around 2.8, 3.0 GHz would probably be the better value for you because they are slightly below Intel at the moment in both price and performance... But for high performance budget builds you will not see better hardware.
