$500 computer

[Dergrin]

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?

 

[Smartazz]

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.

 

[Smartazz]

You might also want to consider waiting until conroe comes out and get a pentium 4, because they will be so cheap.

 

[JEDIYoda]

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.

assuming they do lower prices significantly....

 

[j511180]

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....

 

[Dergrin]

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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

Sound like a good idea, isn't the sempron really slow?

 

[Howard]

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.

Sound like a good idea, isn't the sempron really slow?

Not really. When compared to an A64 at the same speed, it suffers from only a small performance disadvantage. Overclocking is a wonderful thing.

 

[Powermoloch]

I love my 3100+ sempron

 

[unclebud]

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)

 

[Dergrin]

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

 

[unclebud]

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

 

[Dergrin]

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.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

could it be the pci x16 slot on the mb?? tried a diff pci x16 card?

 

[Dergrin]

Unfortunately I dont have another PCI x16 card. The card works, just freezes within the first 3 min randomly.

 

[jlbenedict]

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...

 

[Dergrin]

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.

 

[Remedy]

I might've missed it. But, which BIOS build are you using with the board?

 

[GeeFizzleDizzle]

Why do you have two video cards on the list?

 

[alimoalem]

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.

 

[xanis]

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.