New to building w/Intel...Help me build a machine!

[mgj2345]

Okay, here's the deal. I've built a couple AMD machines previously, and got familiar with their technology, various components, etc. I need to build a machine this time that will NOT be used for gaming, so I think I want to give Intel a shot. Basically it will be used for internet apps, playing/downloading/streaming music, mostly pretty basic stuff. I just want it to be FAST performing those tasks, and be a good multitasker. Basically as strict a budget as possible. I'm hoping maybe $600ish or less if possible.

Here's the processor I'm thinking about:

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819116001

Please help me out with a good mobo recommendation - again, fairly inexpensive, no need for SLI or great OCing ability. Just a solid basic performer with a decent feature set. That's where I'm a little confused on the Intel platform...

[Yawgm0th]

Re: New to building w/Intel...Help me build a machine!

Whether its Intel or AMD depends more on budget than target application.

Do you need mouse, keyboard, and monitor, or just a computer?

[mgj2345]

Re: New to building w/Intel...Help me build a machine!

Thanks for the reply Yawgmoth. I'll need a monitor as well, but I can go $500-$600 just for the comp.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: New to building w/Intel...Help me build a machine!

For starters you'll need a quality 450W PSU or something in that area. This is probably your best bet. It'll handle anything you can throw at it plus overclocking, if you ever feel the need to do that.

Unfortunately, at this price range Intel is simply not an option. Core 2 Duo is great, even ideal, but you simply can't afford it without going for a very low-end motherboard (and even then, you'd be pushing it). Pentium Ds are still terrible, even with recent prive cuts. Unless you are intent on some extreme overclocking, that processor is not a good option. As of the 23rd, the processor you'll want, the Athlon 64 X2 3800, will cost $165. It's about the equivelent of a 3.4GHz Pentium D, and after overclocking there's no comparison. Also, you may have enough headroom on the budget that you could get an X2 4200 instead. I wouldn't recommend it because they overclock identically, but if you want to keep this stock only, it's a decent idea.

This ought to be your best bet for a board.[/url] It doesn't have the greatest OCing capabilities, but the option is there and you should be able to do it without major issues should you feel the need to. It has a good feature set and should be fast enough.

Get whatever hard drive and case you want. And 80GB is probably enough, but get whatever you think you'll need. The budget isn't so tight as to restrict you to IDE or anything, so go with a SATA 3.0 GB/s drive. In fact, to improve the overall speed of this type of machine, a RAID 0 or 01 setup wouldn't be out of the question. Normally, such things take away performance in other areas too much, but I don't think it would be a terrible idea for this sort of system. In general, cheaper cases are good enough, but get what you want.

This should leave you with enough money for dual 1GB sticks of DDR2. You can probably stick with CAS 533MHz or CAS 4 667MHz modules. Faster modules provide almost no benefit on any platform, especially AM2. Get at least 1GB, no matter what. IMO 2GB makes a huge difference these days, but RAID or a faster processor might be a better use of the money if that's what it comes down to.

Oh, just grab a cheap PCI-E video card for your video. An X300SE HyperMemory or 6200 TurboCache should do the trick.

[mgj2345]

Re: New to building w/Intel...Help me build a machine!

Yawg, thanks so much for the detailed reply. That was a HUGE help. I'll get looking around today and come up with a full list of the stuff I come up with based on your recommendations...I'll post it later. Again, thanks for the help, I appreciate your time.

[mgj2345]

Re: New to building w/Intel...Help me build a machine!

K, here's what I've come up with.

Case: Raidmax Elite ATX-208 $22.99
PSU: Forton AX450-PN $51.50
Mobo: MSI K9N Neo-F /AM2 $76.99
Proc: Athlon 64 X2 3800+ $165 (hopefully, a/o 7/24)
Mem: OCZ Gold Series 1GB (2x512) DDR2 533 $89.99
HDD: WD Caviar SE SATA 3.0GB/s 80GB $42.99
Vid: Powercolor Radeon X300SE HyperMemory $47.99

Total: $497.45

I will likely add 2 more sticks of 512 and another HD for storage somewhere down the line. What do you think?

[Yawgm0th]

Re: New to building w/Intel...Help me build a machine!

Looks good. I can't see anything especially wrong with it.