oops, ty. Ram is also what you can find. Looks 4 GB is going to run you ~$125, ddr2 or 3. With the ram added in, the Intel bit sounds better, and you should still be able to make it under your $1000 limit.

The board is DDR3 only, and afaik shouldn't support am2 processors, but you shouldn't be using am2(+) processors anyway. The 785G is DDR2. The 785GT is DDR3. Honestly both the sites don't inspire any awe, and I'm super glad we have newegg in the US and canada. I haven't gotten either search to work well.

I wouldn't get a P43 if you plan to overclock. =/

That's what I was looking for. I have little experience with motherboards vs performance. p45 is like $10 more I think.

As a rough rule of thumb, lower end and smaller form factor boards have less if any OCing potential than other boards. For stable, solid OCing and options, you want a full size board and a full chipset.

Some of the only smaller form factor boards known to have good OCing options are ones like the DFI LanParty Jr which is expensive anyway. And its still a full chipset.

Ugh had a long post and lost it. Anyway, rockz, have you tried http://www.pricespy.co.nz?
64bit OS is probably what I'm aiming at, although not required. My limit is around 1000NZD, which is around 700USD. The pcpacific place probably combines shipping and I'm local so don't worry about shipping.

Oh wow. I would almost use pricespy just for the website, even though some of their stuff is $10 more than others. I daresay it's nicer than newegg. Scratch what I said about oczone n pcpacific. Their reviews look abysmal.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Nov 13 2009, 4:35 pm by rockz.

At the very least, I/we can use pricespy to find what's avaliable and approximate NZ prices, then look for better deals elsewhere if needed.

Should I get a solid state drive? I believe chrome os requires it, and I want this computer to work with modern OSes for the next few years.

Source saying Chrome won't work with HDDs, and SSDs are not going to be practical for another 6 months. They are simply not worth it.

Also as of last week, AM3 DDR3 systems have outclassed LGA775 on price due to DDR2 and motherboard prices. 775 and DDR2 are dead in the water. i5 is still not worth it, and i7 is still high end.

Http://us.mobile.reuters.com/mobile/m/AnyArticle/p.rdt?URL=http://www.reuters.com/article/sarahPalin/idUS369965808520091121

I stopped reading there.

If you want to build a machine that's born crippled, be my guest. But do know those of us who have normal PCs are going to have to teach ours not to laugh at yours on the playground whilst it flaunts its disabilities.

I'm not planning on running chrome os, I just want to see if it's worth going SSD in case other OSes also move to cloud computing in the next few years. You've made clear it isn't.

OK I've come back to this, here's what I currently have planned.

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB: USD $62.91

DVD RW: Lite-On iHAS324: USD $27.68 (no idea how good/bad it is, just the cheapest DVD RW I could find in 5 mins.)

TFT: Acer V203Hb: USD $129.63 (same as above, 20inch flat screen)

Cooler Master Centurion 590 (Black): USD $85.80 (cheapest I could find in NZ)

CPU could be either: E8400 for USD $178.43 or Q9550 for USD $289.66, unless you have better new suggestions.I found a E8200 but it was 20 bucks more expensive

Mobo:Asus P5KPL/EPU USD $57.69, several other Asus P5s for a bit more. Dunno what's better.
OR Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3LR for USD $104.04

RAM: $100 USD if I get 4GB, $50 if I get 2GB.

GPU: PowerColor Radeon HD4850 GDDR3 HDMI 1GB for USD $134.23 or
PowerColor Radeon HD4870 Dual-DVI 1GB for a couple bucks less.

PSU: $76.30 USD for Silverstone Strider ST50F 500W, $90.05 for Antec EA500.

Need to know what to change, and out of the options listed, what's best. Comes to USD$800.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 24 2010, 2:40 am by Jack. Reason: new prices :D

For the RAM, go with Corsair, G.Skill, or Patriot, make sure its at least DDR2 800, and you'll be fine. I saw they have some 2x1GB XMS2 for like 70$ on that link, so go with that if nothing else.

If you're using 64bit, a 2x2GB kit following the same rules would be nice. Something like this:
http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=383042

Finally on the PSU, get the Antec EA500, 500w is more than enough power for your system. Mine is powered by a 550w and is much more power consuming.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 24 2010, 12:30 am by Excalibur.

$77 NZ RAM: Corsair CL-4 DDR2-800 http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=125078
$108 NZ PSU: Silverstone 500W http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=381624


Going back and forth between USD is killing me. Everything is more expensive outside of US, so transferring it to USD doesn't do much for us.

You sure on that Silverstone? I hear good things about them but they seem like luxury-fringe, like an unknown Lexus sort of brand.

The one problem I've heard anyone has had with a silverstone was that it had poor voltage control or something, and that was on an 800 W modular. Honestly anyone who buys an 800 W is asking to be disappointed, since you'd need 3 graphics cards to utilize it.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/548/10

Seasonic obviously is the best in PSUs, but there's got to be others which aren't so bad, and won't blow up. It is indeed a luxury fringe, but its price is what is so good about it. It's $10 cheaper than the Seasonic/antec you recommended, but it's still a viable option, IMO, if you can find it quite cheap.

For what they're saying about it, I'd just as soon trust an OCZ. However that isn't as much of an insult as it would be to Antec or Corsair. The Silverstone 500 we're talking about is an odd ball, it appears to be a non-luxury budget PSU here, out from their normal trend because most of their products are luxury tier. As such, the budget built OCZ PSUs seem to be about on-par with it. So that's what I'd compare it to rather than Antec or Corsair.

Ex for that new build you gave me, I found this for USD 86: http://www.dragonpc.co.nz/p.aspx?134584
Is that what I'm looking for?

Yes, that is exactly what you're looking for, and it is a very nice board and that is a very nice price.