First build ever. Novice knowledge / experience. Advice please :)

[Fieldinator89]

So far this is what I am looking at purchasing:

AMD FX-4130 - System Build - PCPartPicker

I am a student with not a ton of money to fork out but definitely want to gain experience of PC building, and to get something that will work better than my current laptop.
(Toshiba Satellite C55Dt-A5231 Laptop)

I have excluded the case from the purchase because I have an HP dx2000 lying around collecting dust and was wondering if I could use this case for this build?

Here are the specs for the HP:
HP Compaq Business Desktop dx2000 microtower (QuickSpecs/c04283094.pdf)

I am mainly into programming, photoshop, illustrator, 3d animation, and things of the rendering nature. Not much of a gamer anymore so I am wondering if this build would suffice because it's pretty damn slow on the laptop. Also, would you recommend purchasing a separate video card? The processor has integrated graphics and is decent from what I looked up. These are the three video cards I have been looking at:

XFX HD-545X-ZQH2 Radeon HD 5450 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card - Newegg.com

ASUS GT630-SL-2GD3-L GeForce GT 630 2GB 64-Bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Low Profile Ready Video Card - Newegg.com

EVGA 02G-P3-2617-KR GeForce GT 610 2GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Newegg.com

Is that necessary? Or should I perhaps purchase something else (monitor, speakers, etc)? I was planning on just running it through my television until I had enough money to purchase a better monitor but would like to snag one now if possible and do not need the video card. Anyway, this will be the second time I have put together a computer and the first I have put together my own so I am definitely a novice and would appreciate honesty and understanding if something I have chosen is not a good deal or something of the nature. I look forward to reading your responses and appreciate any advice you have to offer!
OH! Also, I am under the impression that I also need to purchase a couple fans for cooling? Is this correct also?

Thank you,
Jeremy

 

[Layback Bear]

I would not recommend using the HP dx2000 for a new build.
It's small and has poor air circulation. You also would not be able to install the needed power supply. They won't fit in most HP cases.

The first thing we need to know is how much money are you willing to spend.

You will not be able to build a super cheap compute to do the things you want to do with any reasonable speed in doing them.

From your post #1

I am mainly into programming, photoshop, illustrator, 3d animation, and things of the rendering nature.

 

[DocBrown]

Here is a Raidmax case for $19.99 after $15 rebate with FREE Shipping.

:ar: RAIDMAX Vortex ATX-404WB Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com

I have bought several Raidmax cases at different price ranges & models. I am comfortable with them.

That 430 watt PSU in the bare bones deal is too small in my opinion, need 600w or better.

I like AMD CPU & Gigabyte MBs.

 

[Fieldinator89]

I only have roughly 250-300$ to spend. And I know it won't be blow your ass back, nasty, 1500$ fast but that CPU @ 3.8 Ghz quad core would def. blow away my 1.4Ghz dual in the laptop yeah?

Or which of these would you recommend for a budget setup? Best bang for the buck-

https://pcpartpicker.com/parts/cpu/#sort=a8

I believe whichever I get it will smoke what I currently have. I do all the aforementioned (Photoshop, illustrator, rendering) on this dual core 1.4 Ghz laptop. It has definitely developed my patience because it takes a decent chunk of time, but I make it work haha. So, that AMD processor would be much better yeah?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

As Layback Bear states, your intended purposes for a new PC do not match up with an extremely low budget.

$300 absolute max including tax and shipping is very tough for a new PC build of any type, depending on which of the following components you need to buy:

Case; figure 25 for a cheap one
Motherboard; figure 70 for a cheap one
CPU; figure 100 on up if you want current generation stuff
RAM; figure 40 for 4 GB of DDR3
Power supply; figure 30 for a tolerable one, probably with a rebate; possibly a Corsair CX430

Those 5 parts are likely to crowd $300 and exclude any of the following you might need:

Video card
DVD drive; 15
Operating system (your laptop license is likely not transferable to a new build); maybe 80 for OEM Win 7
Keyboard
Monitor
Mouse
Case fans; maybe $10 each if not provided with your case
CPU cooler; you'd need this if you buy an OEM CPU without cooler

In your situation, I would consider the following:

Don't build; buy pre-assembled; it's very difficult to beat pre-built machines at the 400 and under level, particularly if you need an operating system license

Save more money

Look at the used market; there's a lot of used PCs from $250 to $300 on Craigslist Phoenix and Tucson.

Look at Dell outlet store

Sign up for email promo offers from Newegg and Tiger Direct in hopes you can catch a pre-built machine on sale. You might have to wait months for a decent deal, but I'd think that would be preferable to spending $300 on a self-built machine.

A mid-level 5 or 6 year old Core 2 Duo machine (say an E6600) would like be better than what you have now, but I don't know how much luck you would have trying to build one from scratch using new components---not sure the motherboards are still available? But this would be a good choice if you can find a used one, already built, with Windows 7.

 

[RoasterMen]

Try if this fits on your budget:

1. EVGA 02G-P3-3733-KR GeForce GT 730 2GB 64-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 Low Profile Ready Video Card

EVGA 02G-P3-3733-KR GeForce GT 730 2GB 64-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 Low Profile Ready Video Card - Newegg.com

or

2.EVGA 01G-P4-3743-KR GeForce GT 740 Superclocked 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card

EVGA 01G-P4-3743-KR GeForce GT 740 Superclocked 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card - Newegg.com

Try to remove ATi Radeon HD 5450 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 610 (aka GT 520) in your choices because it might bottleneck your processor.

 

[King Arthur]

I only have roughly 250-300$ to spend.

I highly suggest watching this video if at least so you'll have a basic idea what kind of computer you're going to be able to buy at that price range. Please understand, a computer at $250~300 is about as low as you can get no matter which way you slice the pie, so expect and plan accordingly.

 

[Fieldinator89]

Well.. Wanna see what I got?

 

[DocBrown]

Well.. Wanna see what I got?

Yes, Surprise us

 

[Fieldinator89]

Intel Q6600 core2 quad 2.4 ghz.
6gb corsair ram.
Windows 7.
Cpu cooler.
Nvidia GTX 660.