Assembling the best PC under R10 000

E

Edwe

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I am planning on buying a new PC sometime between now and February next year. I have not seen any pre-built model that satisfies my needs, so I have looked around and am considering the following hardware:

CPU: Intel® Boxed Core2™Duo E6400 Processor - 2.13GHz Dual Core, Socket 775, 2MB, 1066MHz FSB, 65nm, 64-Bit Ready
R2 290

Motherboard: GIGABYTE® "S Series" iP965 & ICH8 Express Chipset - Socket LGA775 @ FSB1066, 4x PCI Express Slots (1 x16 , 3 x1), 3x PCI, 4x DDR2-800 (Dual), 6x SATA2 RAID, 1x ATA100, 10x USB 2.0, SPDIF Port, Marvel Gigabit LAN, 8 Channel High Definition Audio, Features Gigabyte SPEED, SMART & SAFE Technology
R1 250

RAM: 2x Transcend® JetRam™ High-Performance 1GB DDR2-800 240-Pin Module : CL5, 4-Layer PC Board
R2 260

HDD: Seagate® Barracuda™ 7200.10 Series - 250GB Serial ATA II (SATA2) Plus - Serial ATA 300 (3Gbps) With 8MB Cache @ 7200RPM
R796

Graphics Card: Nvidia® GeForce™ 7300LE PCIE 256MB DDR2 HDTV DVI SLI
R658

Monitor: SONY® E96D 19" Black LCD Lifestyle Monitor - 1280x1024@75Hz - 12ms Response Time - 1000:1 Contrast Ratio, Built-In Light Sensor – Digital
R2 250

Optical Drive: LG 16X DVD Super Multi Writer Black Retail Light Scribe
R385

Chassis: Midi Tower with FSP-300W 20/24Pin PSU - Silver & Black
R385

Input: Gigabyte® Stylish Bundle - Multimedia Keyboard, 18 Multimedia Hotkeys, Black & Silver & Stylish Optical Dual Tone Silver & Black Mouse
R119
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I will be using the computer for work, audio and video encoding, 3D CAD and occasional gaming.

I would really appreciate it if anyone could inform me of any better/alternative parts or cheaper prices. My goal is to build the best possible machine for R10 000 or less. Also, if anyone can advise me against any of the parts listed above, please let me know.
 
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I'd avoid the 7300LE like the plague. If you've ever used a FX5200 you'll know exactly what I'm talkin' about :/
 
ShockG said:
I'd avoid the 7300LE like the plague. If you've ever used a FX5200 you'll know exactly what I'm talkin' about :/
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I'm currently using the FX5600 and it works fine (for a graphics card, I should add). What would you recommend instead? I don't want to get into the whole nVidia vs ATI debate right now, but I've always preferred nVidia cards as they seem more stable, albeit sometimes less powerful than their ATI rivals.

Other options in the same price range are :

nVidia® GeForce 7100GS, TurboCache, 512MB (R 621)

ATI® Radeon X550 Graphics Card, PCI Express, 256MB DDR, DVI, TV-Out, CRT (R722)

Any other nVidia® 7300 series card (approx R650)
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nGAGEd55 said:
I'd recommend you spend a bit extra and go for at least a 7600GS
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That's R658 vs R1 245 and I'm already way over my intial R8 000 budget. No can do, unless you can find me a R587 saving on one of my other components ;)
 
You can get a better LCD than Sony's 12ms model for less. Even R1,900 :) for a 8ms BenQ LCD.
I would also drop the ram to 667Mhz Legend stuff which does do 800Mhz at 5-5-5-15 1.9V. That's R500 right there at least, then maybe a Foxconn 965 mobo which would another R100~R150.

Could save upto R900 which would give you a R1,400+ budget where you can get a 7600GT ;)
 
Thanks, ShockG, that's what I like to hear. :) The BenQ sounds great and the RAM downgrade seems bearable. I don't think I'll go for the Foxconn 965, though - judging from the reviews I've seen it seems mediocre at best and I think my original choice seems at least R150 better value. Plus it's not available from the same supplier I want to get my other parts from. Thanks for the suggestion, though. I'll keep a record of all the suggestions and eventually repost the whole improved setup.

EDIT: Has anyone ever seen this monitor? http://www.jump.co.za/Product/Hanns-G-19-Black-White-LCD-HU196D-572623.htm Why is it so cheap? Just the fact that it isn't a slimline design? I can live with this for R1 739, even though it's a bit ugly.
 
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Another suggestion:

That "FSP-300W 20/24Pin PSU" you get with the midi tower may not suffice. Most of the time the PSU bundled with a chassis for that price is not good.

Perhaps you'll be saving enough with a drop to 667MHz DDR2, a Benq LCD to not only up to a 7600GT, but also to at least a 400/450W PSU? At a pinch you may even consider the 6300 Dual Core CPU.
 
As much as I think you cant have enough RAM, why not try save costs on cutting down to 1GB and going for a cheaper make. From what I've experienced, its only in benchmarks and overclocking that low latency RAM really makes any difference.
 
I agree fully with getting the BenQ, since I recently bought an FP93G (700:1, 300cd/m2) and it's great. Also agree with 667MHz DDR2, in order to get a 7600GS. If you buy a good, brandname 350W PSU (like Enermax or Antec but not ThermalTake or Aopen!) then you'll be OK. Even the 400/450W units can be shaky. Try to get an Antec SP2-450, which is fairly affordable.
 
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHZ, 2MB L2 Cache, 1066Mhz Frontside Bus
R2040.00

Intel (Roger City Series) Desktop board based on Intel D965G Chipset R1025.00

Hynix 1024MB, 667Mhz, DDR2, 240-Pin Memory Module R934.00


WESTERN DIGITAL 250GB 7200RPM 16MB CACHE SATAII/300 8.9MS AVGE ACCESS R753.00


There is i have managed to help you save R1844.00 and with that you can almost get yourself a GF7900GS
 
With that GPU you've got on your list you might be able to view the odd DVD or Flash animation. No to LE or SE. For a cheap card then try looking for benchamrks on the 7300XT which is in that price range. But rather go over budget a bit and get something good than waiste money on a "DVD player" and get at least a 7600-series.
 
wmaker said:
Another suggestion:

That "FSP-300W 20/24Pin PSU" you get with the midi tower may not suffice. Most of the time the PSU bundled with a chassis for that price is not good.

Perhaps you'll be saving enough with a drop to 667MHz DDR2, a Benq LCD to not only up to a 7600GT, but also to at least a 400/450W PSU? At a pinch you may even consider the 6300 Dual Core CPU.
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spot on wmaker, I had to buy a 500W psu to drive my dual core...My pc did not boot with 300W
 
IF THIS IS JUST FOR OFFICE AND VIDEO TYPE things

core 2 duo e6400
1 gig jetram 800
shrewsbury intel board
2 x 160 gig hdds set in raid 0
7300gt i dont see why u need a powerful vga card if you not playing games

i would also suggest 2 gig memory if possible
 
7300gt i dont see why u need a powerful vga card if you not playing games
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It' important to read...

I will be using the computer for work, audio and video encoding, 3D CAD and occasional gaming
Click to expand...
 
Will be buying the following from Rectron 2morrow

CPU
Core2™Duo E6300 Processor - 1.86GHz Dual Core

MOBO
Intel® 'Lemont' P965 Intel Pentium 4/D/Core2 FSB1066

RAM
Corsair® TwinX™ XMS2™ Matched Memory Pair - 2x 1GB Modules - DDR2-667

Graphics Card
Gigabyte® nVidia® GeForce 7600GT

PSU:
AOpen® 500Watt 20/24-Pin

Chassis:
Gigabyte™ Poseidon Chassis - Black

PRICE - R8133.90 including VAT
 
"RAM: 2x Transcend® JetRam™ High-Performance 1GB DDR2-800 240-Pin Module : CL5, 4-Layer PC Board
R2 260 "

Dont go for this Fong Kong RAM.Buy Corsair or Kingston RAM.

Corsair® TwinX™ XMS2™ Matched Memory Pair - 2x 512MB Modules - DDR2-667 - 6-Layer, Heat Spreader, CL 4-4-4-12, Retail --- R2210 ---
 
demon angel said:
I love ATI but damn i regret my 1600pro should have forked out for that 7600gs!dropped lekker in price.
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Ja, unfortunately that whole series was a bit of a mess up until the X1650Pro/XT came around. The X19xx series however was much better.

Now it will just be very interesting to see what those 64 pipeline/vertex R600's can do.

SHOCKG: We are counting on you to get them asap! And tell us if they beat out the 8 series Nvidias. It would be greatly appreciated. :)
 
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