Sub-$550 build.... advice greatly appreciated!!!

[Odyssey96]

What would you recommend I change?

See, I am trading a GTX 260 for the E4600, like $40, and the 8600GTS.

Good deal?

Netburst is my friend though and I want him to be happy too....

Not a good deal. Sell the GTX260 for $$$. You don't want a 8600GTS OR an E4600.

This is what I'd do (all priced through newegg):
Antec 300 (best case sub $100) $60
Samsung 640gb HD $60
Sapphire 4850 (destroys an 8600GTS) $150
Corsair CX400 PSU $50
4GB G.Skill DDR2 800 $45
Asus P5QL PRO P43 MOBO (OPEN BOX, save mucho $$$) $60
Intel E7400 C2D $120
Samsung 22x SATA Disc Drive $20

Total: $565
If you add the GTX260 money, you could afford an after market cpu fan (Xigmatek S1283) a NIB mobo, etc.

[B.E.E.F.]

Not a good deal. Sell the GTX260 for $$$. You don't want a 8600GTS OR an E4600.

This is what I'd do (all priced through newegg):
Antec 300 (best case sub $100) $60
Samsung 640gb HD $60
Sapphire 4850 (destroys an 8600GTS) $150
Corsair CX400 PSU $50
4GB G.Skill DDR2 800 $45
Asus P5QL PRO P43 MOBO (OPEN BOX, save mucho $$$) $60
Intel E7400 C2D $120
Samsung 22x SATA Disc Drive $20

Total: $565
If you add the GTX260 money, you could afford an after market cpu fan (Xigmatek S1283) a NIB mobo, etc.

You must mean Western Digital 640GB HD. Better performer. The P5QL is crap. At least P5Q-E for a system like that.


My build:

1. PhenomII X4 810 $175
2. GTX260 $0
3. WD6400AAKS $70
4. Antec 300 Case $60
5. Seasonic 400W 80plus PSU $54 (you need a bigger one if you OC or crossfire)
6. Jetway 790GX JHA07 $110
7. 4GB DDR2-800 Geil Black Dragon $39
8. DVD Burner $20

Total: $528

I would go PhenomII over Core2Duo. The Duo is a dead platform. Its being replaced now by i7. No more CPUs coming down the pipe! The PhenomII system is also faster than a Intel E7xxx build for most applications.

[vengance_01]

I agree with the above poster. Just get a board that supports CF. 790GX is a great chipset.