advice on extreme budget build?

[chuckie1111]

im wanting to sell my current computer and monitor and build something better for gaming but the one i have nows is pretty old so i think ill only get like $140-$160 out of it.

so far im thinking of this.

dual core p4 from ebay thats like $25
ecs gt-gb mother board from ebay. around $20
2GB DDR2 667 ram $28 from ebay
cpu cooler from newegg thats like $15
cheapest 80gb hd from ebay i can find. should be around $25
cheapest cd drive i can find on ebay $16
400w power supply $16
re use an old case.
nvidia 8600 gt $25 used locally.

i plan to o.c the p4 as high as i can safely get it.
hope to play games like vice city and nfsu2 on max settings and games like cod4 and gta 4 on low settings.

 

[aphelion02]

What is your current computer? Those specs are barely worth an upgrade.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

dood gist go to one of the well known places and get a $50 combo if they still do that and start there with a modern chip. it really makes no sense at all to not have at least a 2.8ghz dual core given how cheap they are. i think things like e5800 are only like $50 and they are over 3 ghz. im typing this on a 6300 and an ecs g31 board i got for $39 after rebate (thats both together as a combo for that price) and its fine for me, although i dont play video games at all.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Whoa, dude, find some more money. For just a little bit more in terms of American earning power, you can get SOOOO much more.

If you have an OS:

Then there's a GTX 260 for sale on FS/FT for $65! The thing's just as fast as a 5770/6770.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2178887


If you DON'T have an OS, the OS is gonna kill your budget anyway. So pick up an Inspiron 560 from Dell Outlet for $279 with a 3.2GHz Pentium Dual-core.
The Dell's PSU isn't going to handle a GTX 260, though, so you'd have to find a 9600GT/4670/5670/GT 240.

The 8600GT you're looking at is a waste of money. You're looking at half the performance of a 320MB 8800 GTS.

 

[gorcorps]

If that's the best you can do budget wise then I suggest you just put it into a PC fund and save up for something. That thing hasn't been viable for gaming for a long time.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

If that's the best you can do budget wise then I suggest you just put it into a PC fund and save up for something. That thing hasn't been viable for gaming for a long time.

exactly, and computers are so cheap you wont even have to save for very long. you could even easily get a freebie from someone. i live in downtown san francisco and i see dumped computer equipment on the streets all the time in the financial district. a few weeks ago an office had left about 10 core 2 optiplexes and monitors on the street with a "free" sign on them. check out the craigs free section or put an ad yourself asking for something, most people, when they get new machines dont sell them, they donate them anyway

 

[Dragonwell]

What Gortcorps and others have said. Do your best to save up at least maybe $500 to $600, even if that takes you a while, and then do the build. You'll be way happier with it if you do.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> hope to play games like vice city and nfsu2 on max settings and games like cod4 and gta 4 on low settings.

Not going to happen with an old P4. Like everyone says, save up for a usable system.

 

[chuckie1111]

well if i spend all of my cash for this month on this build i could spend $240 on it. i could get a phenom x4 9500 for $50
biostar mobo $40
2gb ddr2 1066 ram $26
cant decide between 9600gt or gx260. the 9600 is about $25 less
250gb hdd $28
cheap cd drive $16
550w psu $18
generic heat sink $10
already have copy of xp

will that do what i want it to?

and my computer right now has an athlon 64 3200+/1.5gb ddr 400/raedon x1300

 

[mnewsham]

How can you only have 240 bucks to spend? Save up man.

 

[DominionSeraph]

I suggest you get the GTX 260 and a quality power supply that can handle it (like the Corsair 430W for $35 after rebate I posted earlier) and keep your current rig for now. The 3200+ ain't that bad. That's what my BiL has, and coupled with his 320MB 8800GTS he does surprisingly well with older/less demanding games.
Keep that until you have enough money for a decent processor. Bulldozer is coming out soon, so there may be a good option for you in that series.

So spend the ~$110 now for GPU + PSU, then come back when you have another ~$250 to spend. That would be enough for us to get you into a i3 2100 if nothing else. i3 2100 + GTX 260 would be a pretty solid combo. Really insane performance for only $360 total.

 

[mnewsham]

If you have a microcenter nearby there is a deal right now we you can get an i3-2100 with the MSI H61M-P23 (B3) for only $109.98 (before tax) That is crazy performance, add the GTX 260 for 65 bucks. 175 bucks for a 2nd generation i3 and a GTX 260.

 

[SViscusi]

What about a <$100 zacate setup. Pair it with the best 2GB ddr3 ram deal you can find and an el cheapo case and psu combo. All you'd need past that is an hdd and optical disk.

 

[mfenn]

What about a <$100 zacate setup. Pair it with the best 2GB ddr3 ram deal you can find and an el cheapo case and psu combo. All you'd need past that is an hdd and optical disk.

That isn't going to game very well though.

 

[mfenn]

I suggest you get the GTX 260 and a quality power supply that can handle it (like the Corsair 430W for $35 after rebate I posted earlier) and keep your current rig for now. The 3200+ ain't that bad. That's what my BiL has, and coupled with his 320MB 8800GTS he does surprisingly well with older/less demanding games.
Keep that until you have enough money for a decent processor. Bulldozer is coming out soon, so there may be a good option for you in that series.

So spend the ~$110 now for GPU + PSU, then come back when you have another ~$250 to spend. That would be enough for us to get you into a i3 2100 if nothing else. i3 2100 + GTX 260 would be a pretty solid combo. Really insane performance for only $360 total.

Considering that the OP's CPU is from 2003, it is very possible that he has an AGP board, in which case an incremental upgrade wouldn't really be feasible.

 

[DominionSeraph]

What about a <$100 zacate setup. Pair it with the best 2GB ddr3 ram deal you can find and an el cheapo case and psu combo. All you'd need past that is an hdd and optical disk.

The CPU is no faster than what he has now, and I don't think the GPU is much better than 880G integrated. When he can get a MUCH better GPU for so little money (a 9600GT is... 6 times faster? And can be had for ~$35? GTX 260 is maybe 15x faster for $65?) why cripple himself with that CPU?

Zacate basically dead-ends him, whereas if he gets a GPU now he can upgrade to a budget AMD/Intel processor later and still have the option for drop-in upgrades even later. Or if he gets a budget CPU now and lives with the integrated graphics (which should be on par with Zacate) he can upgrade to a discrete GPU later and have the CPU horsepower to take advantage of it.

Throwing a $35 9600GT into his current rig would give him a faster gaming setup than a $200 E-350 rig.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Considering that the OP's CPU is from 2003, it is very possible that he has an AGP board, in which case an incremental upgrade wouldn't really be feasible.

Yeah, but the X1300 came out in 2005, and the 3200+ was made in flavors all the way up to AM2.

OP, tell us more: What socket are you running (754, 939, or AM2) and do you have a PCI-E x16 slot? (not PCI, that's different)

 

[Spikesoldier]

save up for the cheapest llano

 

[chuckie1111]

Yeah, but the X1300 came out in 2005, and the 3200+ was made in flavors all the way up to AM2.

OP, tell us more: What socket are you running (754, 939, or AM2) and do you have a PCI-E x16 slot? (not PCI, that's different)

its an am2. codename venice.2ghz. the motherboard has 2 pci slots and a pcie x16 slot. im pretty sure my processor came out in 2006. i have an hp motherboard and cant over clock in the bios. is there a way to get around that?

 

[mnewsham]

OP do you have a grocery store nearby?

 

[chuckie1111]

no. its a bout 6 miles away but i already have a job if thats what your getting at. most of my money goes into my car so theres not much left at the end of every month.

 

[mnewsham]

no. its a bout 6 miles away but i already have a job if thats what your getting at. most of my money goes into my car so theres not much left at the end of every month.

Just for a little while for a little more money for a computer, you are giving us almost no money to work with :'(


Or if you use my suggestion of microcenter (if you have one nearby)

 

[DominionSeraph]

Hmmm... Wikipedia doesn't show any Venice as AM2. Only Orleans.

But if it is a AM2 you should be able to drop a new processor right in. Look up a compatibility list for your motherboard (some don't support 125W processors).
You'll almost certainly be able to drop in the Phenom II X2 555 for $80.

So you could get GPU, CPU and PSU now, and upgrade the hard drive, DVD-ROM, and motherboard/RAM later.
(edit: hmmmm OEM motherboard? They might not have updated BIOS for the new AM3 processors.)

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, with an HP mobo, your best bet is to get a CPU that is part of the original spec sheet. I'm sure that you could get one of the higher-end Athlon X2 AM2 CPUs for very cheap used.