Here's an informal challenge for those of you who build your PCs...

What would you recommend I put in a new PC to get the most power for the price? Lets say an upper limit of $600.


Here's the items to spec

Motherboard
CPU (and fan if the CPU doesn't include it)
Drive
RAM
Graphics card (must be able to drive one digital display and one analog)
OS

Other stuff like monitors, case, power supply... I will recycle from my current PC

Of course it has to be good for running A:M, but gaming is not a priority.

I've built my PCs for the last 12 years so that task isn't a problem.


thanks in advance!

How about $650?
cpu: AMD Athlon II X4 620 w/ stock cooler ($99)
mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 ($57)
Memory: Patriot 4GB DDR2/800 ($85)
Video: Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 ($166)
Hard Drive: Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.12 ($55)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S223c ($26)
Case: Rosewill R220 ($19)
Power Supply: Cooler Master RS-460 ($35)
OS: Win 7 Home Premium OEM ($105)

You might consider getting a toolless case though, they are much nicer to build in.
This config will likely be about half the speed of a decent current-gen $1,500 DIY computer.


[Edit] Oops, didn't see that you don't need Case and Power Supply ...

B and h photo can beat that. This is a better machine for less money and you dont have to put it together and you dont have to pay for tax or shipping. Honestly, I have built Pc's for 9 years and its not viable for most situations. You want bang for your buck get this.

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I picked up two of these solely for rendering. Your bench test results were proximately 10:11 rendering 4 instances of your test at once on one machine. . Occasionally I do some modeling on these machines and they work great. Considering the machine above that I recommended has a better graphics card and higher clock speed than the ones I purchased for less money. You should get even better results.

Click to view attachment

Don't expect to recycle case and power supply for newer/more powerful systems.....

Cheers

http://www.portatech.com/1240/Catalog/Moth..._CPU_Combos.htm

I got mine from here, and I think they made it easy to piece it together.

I knew I was going to do a lot of video processing with after effect, so I look for at least 4 slot to add lots of memory. I went with the XP64os, but I would go with the window 7 Pro, if you have any program that will only run on a 64 bit.

The thing about building your own pc is you tend to go for quality parts. So, while it might not be that much cheaper (if at all), you know the parts inside are top of the line. And it's really satisfying when you flip the power switch.
I would personally stay away from seagate. I used samsung spinpoints and they're great. No clicking. Western Digital would be my next stop. Of course, on my next build, I'll be using an SSD for my boot drive.

HP has a tendency to degrade quickly in my experience. They're great for the first 8 months, but after that they rapidly slow down and have hardware issues and some software and registry issues.

Thanks for all the good suggestions!

I miss the days when the CPU model name gave you a fair indicator of how fast it was. Now the numbers on them seem quite arbitrary.

When I started researching what I wanted in the pc, I started to see just how out of date my machines are.
So after deciding between amd or intel, I decided on intel for this machine. But the major decision was based on the future cpu upgrade ability and I went with an x58 chipset which will allow me an upgrade path for the upcoming i9 processors.
which in turn made the motherboard one of the more expensive components.

Upgrading just the cpu sounds like a real pain.

What's different about the x58 that allows you to upgrade it?

I personally avoid anything from HP or Compaq (which is basically HP). My first Laptop was Compaq - it had a basic design flaw - no thermal plate so within 2 weeks the CPU burnt out. Now how any company could produce a product like this without ANY form of thermal protection just begs the question - do they actually know what they are doing......

I had 2 HP Deskjet printers. Tossed them within weeks as the heads clogged up and they never printed cleanly again.

Just a disatisfied customers opinion.

Cheers

Upgrading the CPU, once you get it in your hands, is so ez to do. And can really keep your system up to speed. X58 basically promises greater bandwidth from your graphic card(s) to the processor.
But from what I'm to understand is that moboards with x55 chipset will not be compatible with intel's i9's do out next year.

So do you just toss the old CPU? I don't think I could do that. And it feels wrong to put a new CPU into anything but a new motherboard. The X58 will be compatible with the i9, but you can be sure the x68 will have something else the i9 can take advantage of. But as you say, it's a cheap way to speed up your system. Well, that and an SSD....in a couple of years.

My experience with HP and Compaq has been exactly the opposite. My last laptop was an HP...I used it for four years, sold it to a friend and they are still using it without any problems (I work my laptop pretty hard too). My current laptop (and my wife's as well) is a Compaq...I've only had it for a year, but I haven't had any problems at all. I've also had an HP printer that never gave me problems...I got rid of it because higher quality printers eventually came out, but it never stopped working.

Your mileage may vary.

Oh now way man! I have a closet full of old computer stuff including a bunch of old processors. I feel like you either have to sell them, keep them or give them away. But I couldnt throw one in the garbage!

I dont know about the exact future of my mobo decision, it will most likely somehow at some tech development be phased out too!
rather later than sooner!

If you have a decent computer stuff to get rid of, there are some org that help the needy, and you can donate it to them, and get a receipt for the value of the stuff your giving away and write it off as donation on your tax.

Those that are lesser off than you could really use a computers. Nowadays to be inform of your city and govt requires a computer, as both Newspaper and cable news have rewrote their status as entertainment instead of news so that they can have commentary instead of certified journalist.

I'm a bit late , I know :-)

- OS 64 bit strongly advised , if You don't want to resupply very old components
- memory 8 GB for a 64 bit OS, 4 GB for 32 bit OS
- cpu dualcore is enough for most cases (there are not much programs out , they can efficient use more cores )
- gpu AMD/ATI 5xxxx series