Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P AMD 760G mATX Motherboard, AMD Phenom II X6 1045T CPU, 8GB (2x4GB), 1TB Toshiba HDD, HEC 485W PSU, Diablotek Case & More $222 After $95 Rebate

Quote from ImaPuppy : Sales tax for me, lame. Really wish CompUSA hadn't bought TD. Good deal imo for integrated graphics. Thumbs up!

Yeah, I used to be able to get around paying tax by going through Circuit City, but they did away with that too. Effing lame.

Quote from realdreams : Micro ATX junk...

may have been the case a few years ago but there are many high end micro atx and even mini itx boards available

Would these parts be good for a HTPC build?

Quote from the_d_mann1 : If I don't have access to a microcenter, there's no CPU/board deal that will likely beat this correct? Probably jumping on the TD deal unless there's a good argument to wait for more newegg deals. Anyone with a quick opinion on this? If I buy the kit and put an older 512mb Geforce 9600GT into it, will I get a noticeable improvement over the existing system? I currently have: Core2 Quad Q8200 G31 mobo (SATA 3.0G) Geforce 512mb 9600GT Windows 7 32bit Been having issues getting an SSD to work on the G31 (part of the reason I'm considering scrapping it) Will my windows 7, 32 bit be a bottleneck to the new system? In other words, do I clearly need 64 bit to give it full potential?

Sure you'd notice an improvement, but it really varies on your workload such as video editing or using CAD software. Gaming depends heavily on GPUs, so if you're thinking of a significant difference in gaming, no, you will not see a significant boost in gaming performance. Booting and loading applications will be the most notable thing because your RAM will then run at 1333mhz (with this combo) and your SSD would work properly. If you game, a $200 dollar card and a $50 PSU upgrade on top would let you run Borderlands 2 on practically max settings @ 1080p.

Windows 7 64 bit is for people who use more than 3gb of RAM, as while 4gb is a minimum standard now, and 8 is "just because it's cheap" but I've never had the need to use more than 4GB and so do others.

Quote from jmac12 : Would these parts be good for a HTPC build?

A strong HTPC yes, power efficient, no. This processor + a good GPU would make a very good budget Steam Big Picture box.

Quote from ImaPuppy : Sales tax for me, lame. Really wish CompUSA hadn't bought TD. Good deal imo for integrated graphics. Thumbs up!

I believe this is the opposite. Tiger Direct bought Compusa is my understanding. Anyhow I agree. Damn the big buyouts.

Looks pretty good, thanks OP!

I'd go for it if not for all the rebates required. I hate rebates with the heat of a thousand suns !

Quote from viciousthomas : Sure you'd notice an improvement, but it really varies on your workload such as video editing or using CAD software. Gaming depends heavily on GPUs, so if you're thinking of a significant difference in gaming, no, you will not see a significant boost in gaming performance. Booting and loading applications will be the most notable thing because your RAM will then run at 1333mhz (with this combo) and your SSD would work properly. If you game, a $200 dollar card and a $50 PSU upgrade on top would let you run Borderlands 2 on practically max settings @ 1080p. Windows 7 64 bit is for people who use more than 3gb of RAM, as while 4gb is a minimum standard now, and 8 is "just because it's cheap" but I've never had the need to use more than 4GB and so do others.

Super helpful, thanks!! So thoughts on whether Windows 7 64bit or Win8 at around $100 is a must?

I also tend to agree with the comment about no sata 6 - you're bottlenecking most modern SSDs right?

Quote from Arreo : Eh, with the hard drive they are using it is less of an issue than you might think. But if you wanted to upgrade it to a more performance oriented hard drive (or SSD) you start to feel the pinch. EDIT: Wait, why are they selling you a Sata3 drive with a mobo that only has Sata2? I mean I know it's hard to find Sata2 drives anymore but that is a little silly.

Ya, I noticed that. I thought they would be selling a cheaper 5400rpm drive also. Even at that, adding a SSD to this will still give you a tremendous boost. If I were attempting a more future proof pc I would definately have sata 3 on my list, but if you want value bundles like this you have to compromise somewhere. TBH, just look at vids with pentium 4 similar builds on youtube, all same parts except 1 has an SSD (its insane if you watch boot times)...............Then there's SSDs faster than other SSDs, raid, sata2 vs sata 3, but really your rule of thumb is just hdd vs ssd. I would recommend picking up a 120gb SSD if one hits fp for $60 and add it to this build. Use that for programs, games, etc, and use the 1tb for files, movies, music.

Quote from jmac12 : Would these parts be good for a HTPC build?

No. Loud, high power consumption.

any slick deals on mid-range video cards to go with this system?

Quote from joe uncool : Pretty good deal. People still buy OS?

Tempted to buy this, but not sure what to do about OS. What would you recommend?

Quote from brkak132 : Tempted to buy this, but not sure what to do about OS. What would you recommend?

It's pretty clear that he recommends not buying an OS aka-hacked version

This sounds like a great deal, thanks OP. I'm just new to all this computer building business (have been doing research though!) and would this be a good idea to buy and add a 7850 video card and use it as a budget gaming setup?

Or just go about my own way of obtaining each part individually?

I have to admit that the 5 rebates are a big turn off for me though :/ Didn't even have to do rebates until I started buying computer parts..