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Thread ID: 116026 2011-02-14 04:05:00 Upgrade Time Cato (6936) Press F1
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1178074 2011-02-14 22:05:00 for a budget of < $500 I'd start with something like

Intel
www.pp.co.nz $198
www.pp.co.nz $159
www.pp.co.nz $87
$444

Amd
www.pp.co.nz $235
www.pp.co.nz $153
www.pp.co.nz $87
$475

For a change I'd reccomend the AMD at that price point.

I like paradigm pc's myself but there are cheaper suppliers so you can probably shave a bit off the price by shopping around
dugimodo (138)
1178075 2011-02-15 01:30:00 Thanks for the responses guys. It'll be a Phenom II X4.

Havn't decided on the motherboard, I'd rather get one without integrated graphics seems quite redundant (might as well buy a case too and have another PC leaving this one to die a slow death).
Cato (6936)
1178076 2011-02-15 01:51:00 The cheaper motherboards almost universally have integrated graphics and in fact feature/price wise they are much better than the more expensive ones.

On a tight budget I wouldn't worry about it, the performance gains available from a motherboard are very small and it's better to choosse based on features. For example I didn't link the cheapest model above as it only has 2 RAM slots which is a bit limiting.

The main advantage of a full ATX board without integrated graphics is the greater number of expansion slots. If you don't need them then the advantage mostly vanishes.

Bear in mind this comes from a guy who bought a $600+ motherboard when the i7 platform first came out... yes it's nice but my $100 intel board with a core 2 quad does most things just as well.
dugimodo (138)
1178077 2011-02-15 02:02:00 True, like this mobo. It was $160 I think it was.

If I were to buy a GB mobo (MATX - $132), it would have firewire (this doesnt have it, its PCI), DVI/HDMI/VGA (this has a PCI-E card), and uses DDR3 ram (this uses DDR2). I think most GB mobos have more features / things on them (than ASUS). And they're cheaper.

And I've got a spare MATX case at the mo.

Only diff is the amount of ram. This can take 16GB, whereas the GB mobo can only take 8 GB. Probably wouldnt matter what matter mobo I buy, just as long as it works after I build it (and since I dont play games on this one). I dont care what the videocard is (whether its onboard or a PCI-E card)
Speedy Gonzales (78)
1178078 2011-02-15 02:14:00 What do ya'll think?www.eoneonline.co.nz

How much for the case speedy?
Cato (6936)
1178079 2011-02-15 02:18:00 :drool Don't toy me with me like that!

2x over my price range :(

Give you premature perspiration :)
Gobe1 (6290)
1178080 2011-02-15 02:30:00 What do ya'll think?www.eoneonline.co.nz

How much for the case speedy?

This looks better to me @ $498+
www.eoneonline.co.nz
SolMiester (139)
1178081 2011-02-15 02:41:00 What do ya'll think? . eoneonline . co . nz/shop/CP/Bundle+CPUMotherboardRam/CPU++Motherboard++Memory/03919 . html" target="_blank">www . eoneonline . co . nz

How much for the case speedy?

Umm $55 when I brought it . It had an air duct thing, on the side, but I removed it . Probably put a fan there instead .

Its only got audio and front USB x2 tho . If I decided to get a mobo with onboard firewire, I would probably get a case with front firewire as well
Speedy Gonzales (78)
1178082 2011-02-15 06:45:00 Just remember to leave out about $100 for a PSU. Phenom X4 and a new graphics card consumes a lot of power! LynX (14542)
1178083 2011-02-15 07:24:00 What do ya'll think?www.eoneonline.co.nz

How much for the case speedy?

Personally I'd drop back to the 955 BE, and the M4A87TD EVO. It'll probably save you $100 - $120 for no real loss in, well, anything. The main difference between the 870 and 890 series chipsets is support for dual @16 PCI-e lanes - other than that, both the M4A87TD EVO and the M4A89GTD have SATA3, USB3, etc.
inphinity (7274)
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