Best budget mATX build: my AMD against Intel suggestions

Bane · 31 May 2008 at 13:00

Going for a budget micro-ATX replacement base unit. Won't be used for PC games, maybe a bit of MAME emulation at the most.

I was set on the AMD option (build 1) as I like the potential for a cheap running system out of the box. And it seemed a good price for a system that won't be overclocked, but probably performs identical to a non-overclocked Intel equivalent, for general desktop usage.

So after some suggestions for my Intel equivalent that I've sort of listed in build 2.

Main parts
Silverstone TJ-08 micro-ATX case
Corsair VX 450W PSU
Corsair 2GB PC6400C5 or similar
2 IDE optical drives
1 S-ATA HD
Windows XP

Build 1 - AMD
Gigabyte GA-MA78G-S3H or Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2H. Not sure how the two onboard graphics compare against each other. Not sure if nVidia chipsets are up to much.
AMD64 X2 4050e 45W CPU at 2.1GHz with stock heatsink

Build 2 - Intel
Was considering an Intel chipset, e.g. G33. Or using an nVidia 610i/630i motherboard with 7050/7100/7150 onboard graphics that are cheaper than Intel's.
E2180 with stock fan. If I tried overclocking I would consider an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro. Not considered Celeron's as an unknown entity to me.

pingwing · 31 May 2008 at 13:08

Apparently the latest AMD chipset should meet your needs with a really really good inboard graphics chip (much better than intels) so http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard should be a really good option. It will also allow for full use of the phenom processors if your interested

Bane · 31 May 2008 at 13:12

Yep, that's the way I'm leaning to at moment.

thefishdude · 31 May 2008 at 16:42

yep have tpo get the 780g amd chipset, it has do full hd playback onboard using build in hd hardware decoders. soo you dont need much cpu power. the onboard gfx are a ati 3400 or 3450 basically.

Uriel · 31 May 2008 at 17:35

Definitely 780G over the other chipsets.

milkinc13 · 31 May 2008 at 20:17

another vote for 780G, full HD playback with onboard graphics which proves for that it's no slouch. One of best things AMD has released in the past few months

Monkeynut · 1 Jun 2008 at 00:03

It's basically a Radeon 2400 (dx10) compressed into a motherboard chipset reworked a bit to use system ram and have power saving stuff. It smashes the hell out of the GMA stuff and runs cooler than nVidia's offering.

Bane · 2 Jun 2008 at 18:21

The Gigabyte 780G lists a parellel port header on motherboard. Can you get backing plate with cable extention for these, as no mention of it being included in the box.

Out of interest is the 740G a worth while onboard graphics chip, in comparison to nVidia and Intel options?

TIA.