Little advice please

**Wyldinstinct** · March 2nd, 2009, 07:03 PM

I'm putting together a new budget gaming PC for a friend and he wants to keep the cost under 500 bucks. He has....

..
a decent case
monitor, keyboard, mouse
32 bit OS (either going with xp, vista32, or run the windows 7 beta for a bit)

here's what I put together.

processor
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition Processor - Processors - Desktops
mobo
Newegg.com - ASUS M3N78 PRO AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8300 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
memory
Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
xfix card
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N956-TR GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
HDD
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
PSU
Newegg.com - Antec Basiq BP500U 500W ATX12V Version 2.01 Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

TOTAL = $425

as far as the cpu/mobo goes....I really like that cpu. I picked it up a few weeks ago and it runs like a champ. It works on the phenom architecture and I couldn't be happier with a $65 cpu. I took a cursory look at the Intel's and didn't see any near that price point that would compare. My friend doesn't need a beastly rig, but he's looking to run some of the new MMO's coming out, along with his wife playing around with photo shop. Any advice is much appreciated!

**j.woody** · March 2nd, 2009, 07:19 PM

i would change the harddrive to this: Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives same thing as the one you mentioned except its cheaper and has a higher cache.
change the ram to this: Newegg.com - OCZ Vista Upgrade 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
since there is no need to have a beastly rig then its a waste of money by getting that ram.
Have you also considered in getting an ati graphics card? they are better value for money than nvidia.

**Wyldinstinct** · March 2nd, 2009, 08:35 PM

tbh, i've had some bad experience with seagate, and so have some of those reviewers. That ram is a little slower than I would personally care for too at 5-6-6-18 compared to the 4-4-4-15 speeds for an extra 13 bucks. However, I most definately thank you for the effort.

**KarmaKiller** · March 2nd, 2009, 08:46 PM

Really, IMO everything looks alright.
But that GPU is the weak point for sure. Especially when it comes time for games.
I would suggest you bump that up to a 9600gt. You can find those for under a bill, and they are great performers.

Other then that, looks like a solid build. You could save some money on the PSU I think also..
but I'm just nit picking now.