New Budget Computer HELP!!

[HeavyP]

Hey Guys,

I am in the process of building a friend a budget computer and needed some help on which graphics card to choose for him, his budget is max at $300-$400AUS
and this is wat i was thinking so far:

AMD Athlon64 X2 AM2 4400+

Asus M2N - MX SE

1GB DDR2-800

W.D. 80GB (as he has an older 250gb he wants to keep)

now im debating weather to get a
256mb 7600GT

or

512mb 8600GT (and will this card bottleneck with the other hardware???)
which one would give better performance in games?

and what wattage power supply would be needed be to run this ??

Running On XP BTW

this is my first real build

and if u can give any hardware suggestions or suggestions in general it will be greatly appreciated

*plz remember that i do have a budget and MSY is my main supplier

Thankyou,
HeavyP

[Ajmukon]

256 7600GT would probably give a better performance in games UNDER XP

the 8600 SUCK for any gaming.

George Hallam will come by and post some specs for you to see soon.

[George Hallam]

George Hallam will come by and post some specs for you to see soon.

you must be physic :p

wow :eek: im quite surprised at this the 8600GT is better than the 7600GT

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/3159/855716318f9257exc7.png

have a look on there (your two are blue)

so the 8600GT is better all round
-better with HD
-Better support for vista
-Bit better at gaming
-no external power needed (so not a large PSU is needed)

how much are you spending on RAM because 2GB would be nice this 2GB set from kingston is only $41.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134046) (not sure in AUS :confused:) and there will be a nice difference... but i suppose you are only running XP so you may not need need it (depends on what he does)

[HeavyP]

i guess those 2 GPU's are similiarly matched in games, i guess we'll jus have to see what budget he has but i guess prefferably the 8600Gt >.<

and yeh, ill prob end up getting 2Gb of RAM jus coz i can =P

so wat u guys rekk on the Power Supply shud 400w-500w do it?

nemore suggestions will be greatly appreciated

[Ajmukon]

the 8600 gets (sometimes) worse frame rates than the 7900 in DX9 games. If you are using Win XP...
ONLY VISTA SUPPORTS DX10

500W PSU will be enough, but i would feel more comfortable with a 600W

go with a thermaltake: they may be abit more expensive, but it is the lifeblood of your computer, and the Cheap <$100 PSU can take out an entire system if they blow

[saphalline]

*plz remember that i do have a budget and MSY is my main supplierAre you %(&#ing kidding me!? :eek: Have you seen their website (http://www.msy.com.au/)!? :eek: Good God! I hope they have a better print catalog and/or phone service, because that website is yucky!!

Ok, moving on...


The GeForce 7600 GT still gives you better gaming performance per unit of currency spent. It is the ultimate vid card for the poor gamer. The 8600 GT is a mixed bag - when it's good, it's really good! When it's bad, it really sucks. For instance, Oblivion is a shader-intensive game, so it runs much better on the 8600 series. However, a polygon-intensive game, such as COD2, runs much better on the 7600 series. Likewise, a game that is both shader-intensive AND polygon-intensive, such as WiC or Supreme Commander, pretty much sucks on both of them! :p They're only budget vid cards afterall. The real point here is that a gaming computer relies mostly on the vid card for sheer performance. More than any other component, a good vid card helps games, and a bad one ruins them. Even on a budget, consider the vid card to be the primary money spender! If you can at all swing a little extra for the vid card in this build, take a look at the Radeon X1950 Pro. If not, it's a toss-up between the 7600 GT and 8600 GT. Both have their advantages and both are merely cheap vid cards, so there's a bit of compromise built right into them! ;)

A 450W high quality PSU would do the job nicely. You can go higher if budget allows, but don't skimp on quality! And don't dip below 450W.

[HeavyP]

LOL!
ayy MSY's website may be shotty but look at the prices, Quality.

I Will Prob Jus Get a 7600GT as he is not rly a h4RDc0R3 G4M3R =P
and jus plays game on the side =D

and apparently he lives in an area which loses power on a frequent basis,
shud i try to invest in some sort of surge protector of sorts?

thnx a bunch, more suggestions are appreciated =D

[George Hallam]

shud i try to invest in some sort of surge protector of sorts?

YES

get a UPS (un-interruptible power supply) or that the very least yes get a surge protector

[Ajmukon]

I would gt a UPS if power goes out frequently.
it acts like a Battery to a computer, powering it for a little while so that you can turn it off

[saphalline]

and apparently he lives in an area which loses power on a frequent basisThat would annoy the living $%*^ out of me!! :eek:

Yes, he will need a UPS. Depending on the length of the outages, a basic 350VA should do it - just long enough for him to shut everything down or ride out a 5-8 minute long outage. You should also get him to invest in one with AVR, or automatic voltage regulation. If the power subsystem in his area is really that bad, the chances are extremely high that his abode is getting dirty power. Voltage regulation clears that up!

[HeavyP]

hmmmm thanks for all the help guys =D

atm with his budget this is what i got so far and with all u guyz help:


AMD Athlon64 X2 AM2 4400+

Asus M2N - MX SE

2GB DDR2-800

W.D. 80GB (as he has an older 250gb he wants to keep)

Nvidia 256mb 7600gt

w/ Coolermaster Extreme 500w PSU

now all this should come to about $400-$450

though since we are keeping his old case

i was just wondering if the motherboard will come with its own mounting screws and risers? and if not can they be purchased seperately?

Thankyou,
HeavyP

[George Hallam]

i was just wondering if the motherboard will come with its own mounting screws and risers?

hmmm not usually the case usually comes with them but he probably use the ones from his old MOBO but yes you can buy them