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$500 computer

D

Dergrin

Member
My younger brother is moving off to college and I was going build him a new computer.
He will not be doing much gaming. Right now I think all he plays is Guild Wars.
The budget is around $700 shipped including LCD monitor. So about a $500 computer.
I am building it compleetly from scratch so I will need all the parts.

This is what I have picked out so far: Budget build

Does it look good or are there any suggestions?
 
Do you need the dvd burner though? You might, I'm just asking, because if you go with a cheap drive you might be able to purchase a slightly bigger hard drive, I was supprised that the costs for hard drives don't go up too much when you increase their size, you might want to look into that.
 
You might also want to consider waiting until conroe comes out and get a pentium 4, because they will be so cheap.
 
Originally posted by: Smartazz
You might also want to consider waiting until conroe comes out and get a pentium 4, because they will be so cheap.
Click to expand...

assuming they do lower prices significantly....
 
AMD just recently dropped prices on some of their cpus, so that may help the cause a bit. (although the prices haven't changed at the 'egg yet ) See this thread

Personally, I would have liked a laptop when I was in school. You could probably configure a Dell e1505 for close to $700 (with an appropriate coupon). Just a suggestion....
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I will probably now get a AMD 64 3500+ for 118 from zipzoomfly.

Smartazz - I had been looking at the 250Gb hard drives for around $80. Still debating if he needs that much room. I am going to stick with the dvd burner though.

More suggestions are welcome.
 
Perhaps an AM2 Sempron 3000+? That way you can spend more on the monitor, which is more important since he doesn't game much.

 
Originally posted by: Howard
Perhaps an AM2 Sempron 3000+? That way you can spend more on the monitor, which is more important since he doesn't game much.
Click to expand...

Sound like a good idea, isn't the sempron really slow?
 
Originally posted by: Smartazz
Originally posted by: Howard
Perhaps an AM2 Sempron 3000+? That way you can spend more on the monitor, which is more important since he doesn't game much.
Click to expand...

Sound like a good idea, isn't the sempron really slow?
Click to expand...
Not really. When compared to an A64 at the same speed, it suffers from only a small performance disadvantage. Overclocking is a wonderful thing. 🙂
 
it depends on other factors like the motherboard, bios, etc also
compaq 1610nx is a bit slower (games) than emachines d6417
they have the same motherboard - ms 7093/7184
that list looks pretty good by the way, can't really add nothing to it (that could be gotten without shopping in hot deals everyday)
 
I will be getting the new monitor and my brother will be getting my monitor. I have a 17in Viewsonice VG700. It is about 3 years old so I am assuming the new LCD monitors today are better. Am I wrong?

What monitor would you all recommend that is arround $200, $250 tops. I play games and do a touch of photoshop here and there. I am also trying to decide if I want to try something like a 19" widescreen or just stick to standard. Suggestions might help sway me one way or another.

Some I have looked at:
Acer AL 1916Ab
BenQ FP91G
Rosewill R912E
Viewsonic VA1912wb
 
i don't think they are better than traditional crt yet as far as picture quality
but they do seem to use less power and create less heat
 
I recently built this computer and there seems to be a compatability issue. The computer randomly freezes with the Powercolor X800 GTO 256 on the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2. The computer doesnt start this until after I have installed the Catalyst drivers. I have tried a different video card (AGP however) and the computer doesnt freeze, so I know that it is a video issue.

I bought the video card as a combo deal on Newegg so dont want to send it back. If I buy a new motherboard, should this problem go away? If so what would be another good inexpensive motherboard.

Any suggestions are welcome.
 
Don't do that build.
I recommend a Dell for this situation.

A Dell Dimension E510, for $699, and it looks like they have free shipping going on right now. Comes with the 17", Ultrasharp 1707FP flat panel, Dual Core Pentium D 820, 1 GB of DDR2, 80GB SATA3G hard drive, dvd burner, Windows XP Media Center edition, etc...

 
I have already built it. The question is, do you think a new motherboard will fix the problem? I have read somewhere else where someone had a compatibility issue with the powercolor x800gto and the asrock dual939.
 
why do you have a 6200 on your list? it's an additional $40...

wait until july 24. if it's for college, he doesn't need it immediately.

i would look into dells, as well. maybe dell laptops, too.
 
I see you were asking about monitor reccomendations, so I'll put in my two cents: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824179018

That's the Hyundai B90A 19'', which is the monitor I'm using right now. The image and text quality is good, and gaming/movies are good due to the 8ms response time. It's design is clean and user-friendly, and it's nice and thin, so it will fit on a cramped desk in a dorm room. All of that, and it comes in at only $196.
 
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