Best bang for the buck build with a 400$ budget?

[coil]

CPU
Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 Dual Core Processor LGA775 2.5GHZ 800FSB 2MB Retail Box - DirectCanada
($101.78)

I'd hope to attain a 3.33Ghz overclock with it

Motherboard
Gigabyte EP43-DS3L ATX LGA775 P43 FSB 1600 OC 1PCI-E 2PCI DDR2 SATA2 HD Sound GBLAN Motherboard - DirectCanada
($101.63)

Memory
G.SKILL F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ PC2-8000 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1000 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit - DirectCanada
($63.02)

Video Card
Asus Geforce 8800GS 550MHZ 384MB 1.6GHZ DDR3 Dual DVI-I Hdtv Out DIRECTX10 PCI-E Video Card - DirectCanada
($89.25)

Power Supply
Sparkle Power SPI ATX-400PN 400W ATX12V 20/24PIN Power Supply W/ 120MM Fan P4 AMD Ready OEM - DirectCanada
($42.99)

Total = $398.67 before shipping + taxes

Anything i should change and also should i purchase a better cpu cooler to run the E5200 @ E8600 speed (3.33 Ghz)?

[JD]

Definitely look into getting a better CPU heatsink. Preferably something with HDT (heatpipe direct touch). Xigmatek and OCZ are the main ones to look at.

You'd probably be fine with DDR2-800 if it's any cheaper. That would give you 1600FSB (double stock) so that should be plenty and most DDR2-800 can get up near 900 (1800FSB).

If you can push your budget, I'd go with a Corsair VX450W PSU instead. If you look on DirectCanada at one of the reviews on the Sparkle:

After one week, I started experiencing random shutdowns. I replaced this with a Corsair 450VX 450w PSU, I have not had any shutdowns since.

Not very reassuring IMO.

[sheepdogexpress]

Buy used stuff. Especially after monday.

[geokilla]

Answer sticky please.

And rough estimate:

Intel E7200
Gigabyte EP43-DS3L or EP35-DS3L
G.Skill, OCZ, Patriot, etc. (good, well known companies) DDR 800 4GB RAM kit. Should be under $50AR.
ASUS 8800GSAR @ NCIX is like $45
Corsair VX450 or HX520

Also look at some OCZ PSUs. I have a GameXStream 600W and it's been pretty good for me. The StealthXStream on my sis' comp has been good so far.

Where's your case?

[Hermes¡¢]

LOW-END/MEDIA (AMD based) - Around $300

MOTHERBOARD - Asus M3A78-EM

• 780G chipset has the HD3200 integrated graphics good for watching movies or even for little older/ light gaming
• Has PCI-E expansion slot

PROCESSOR - AMD Athlon X2 4850e

• Runs much cooler than previous AMD dual cores
• Comes with cooler, which is good on the tight budget

MEMORY - G.Skill 2GB PC6400 (DDR2-800)

• 2 GB of dependable ram, lifetime limited warranty

HARD DRIVE - Western Digital 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache

• Western Digital quality
• Cheap (same price as 250GB drive, so might as well go for the larger one)

CASE/POWER SUPPLY - SIGMA SHARK-WSBP W/400W PSU

• Buying the case and psu in combo saves a good chunk of money
• Biggest downside to the combo is that the psus are generally pretty crappy, however this 400w looks to be pretty decent (single +12v rail with 22A). It shouldn’t have problems supporting this system and even run lower-consumption cards like the 9500gt or 4670.
• $10 more gets you an all silver one with window

OPTICAL DRIVE - NEC 20X DVDRW

• This one drive will both read and write to CDs and DVDs
• Basically just look for the cheapest SATA DVDRW w/free shipping – prices seem to change daily.

MONITOR - www.craigslist.com

• Look through your local www.craigslist.com or newspapers for people who want to get rid of their old CRT monitors. Click on your US city/state, and then select "free" if you want to see if any free monitors are available from people in surrounding towns. You'll get either free monitors, or if you can't find any free ones, type "monitor" into the search bar to find dirt cheap monitor. It's the best you'll be able to get with a $300 budget.

Total Price: $309.94

An extra $50-$100 gets you one of the following:

• Upgrade case and psu to Antec Three Hundred and Silverstone 400w +$42.86
• ASUS 4670 512mb OR EVGA 9500GT 512mb +$78.24/$49.99
• Increase hard drive to 640GB 16mb cache +$20
• Swap CPU for AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.1GHz +$27.01

LOW-END/MEDIA (Intel based) - Around $300

MOTHERBOARD - GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L

• x3100 is the strongest IGP on an Intel mobo in this price range
• Has PCI-E expansion slot

PROCESSOR - Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz

• From the newest line of Intel's Core 2 Duo processors, 45nm tech
• Comes with cooler, which is good on the tight budget

MEMORY - G.Skill 2GB PC6400 (DDR2-800)

• 2 GB of dependable ram, lifetime limited warranty

HARD DRIVE - Western Digital 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache

• Western Digital quality
• Cheap (same price as 250GB drive, so might as well go for the larger one)

CASE/POWER SUPPLY - SIGMA SHARK-WSBP W/400W PSU

• Buying the case and psu in combo saves a good chunk of money
• Biggest downside to the combo is that the psus are generally pretty crappy, however this 400w looks to be pretty decent (single +12v rail with 22A). It shouldn’t have problems supporting this system and even run lower-consumption cards like the 9500gt or 4670.
• $10 more gets you an all silver one with window

OPTICAL DRIVE - NEC 20X DVDRW

• This one drive will both read and write to CDs and DVDs
• Basically just look for the cheapest SATA DVDRW w/free shipping – prices seem to change daily.

MONITOR - www.craigslist.com

• Look through your local www.craigslist.com or newspapers for people who want to get rid of their old CRT monitors. Click on your US city/state, and then select "free" if you want to see if any free monitors are available from people in surrounding towns. You'll get either free monitors, or if you can't find any free ones, type "monitor" into the search bar to find dirt cheap monitor. It's the best you'll be able to get with a $300 budget.

Total Price: $316.41

An extra $50-$100 gets you one of the following:

• Upgrade case and psu to Antec Three Hundred and Silverstone 400w +$38.44
• ASUS 4670 512mb OR EVGA 9500GT 512mb +$73.04/$49.99
• Increase hard drive to 640GB 16mb cache +$20
• Swap CPU for Intel C2D E7200 +$36

- Credits to Notebookreview.com and angelicvoices for the information.

[1Tanker]

I've used that 400w Sparkle(Fortron) PSU in several builds... and never any problems. I would have no problems using it in one of my own systems.... if i didn't have an obsession with overclocking everything to the brink. As for that 1 review... that can and does happen occasionally with even the best PSUs. But, yes... the VX450 is a great PSU as well....but it's double the price.

[JD]

Originally Posted by Hermes¡¢

...

Most users on here are Canadian and thus we deal with CAD. Those are all in USD so you should give a heads up in your post.

[Kayen]

@ Hermesic Those are with newegg.com , as you may have realized.
The cost at Newegg.ca or any other Canadian retailer will be significantly higher cause of our crappy dollar. The suggestions are pretty good though in terms of bang for the buck. I recall a ~$400 build a few days ago, which should be on the first page of this subforum, that can be used as reference too..

[Hermes¡¢]

Oops! Sorry for that. I forgot that it was all USD. Sorry. :P