$550 Challenge

[Shuten]

Given $500 to $600 dollars and you wanted to build a computer what would pople put in it?
Knowing you didnt have to worry about keyboard, mouse and monitor. But everything else
you had to account for?

Hope this catches on


shuten

 

[Nack]

Athlon XP 1700 + ECS K7S5A deal for $199 shipped at outpost.com
(that includes a retail box chip with sink that is "good enough" if not overclocking)
256MB PC2100 DDR - $45
ATX Case w/400 watt power supply (found in hot deals forum) - $54 shipped
http://www.essencompu.com/nupplysingar.asp?ID=1346
Western Digital 100GB 7200RPM hard drive (at Sam's Club w/rebate) - $130 w/tax
Radeon VE $64 shipped at newegg
Soundblaster Live! 5.1 $35
CD-ROM - $25
Floppy - $10
Logitech Z560 speakers (klipsch 4.1 killers) at Dell - $109 shipped

Total: $671

Ok, so I'm $71 over budget. So what. Go build it. If it really bothers you to spend more than $600, save the $71 on the speakers and buy a set of cheap but decent desktop speakers, and you are back in budget.

You said computer, not computer and software. I just concentrated on the hardware on the presumption that you had some software that you could use by decomissioning the old computer and uninstalling the OS, and re-using the licensed software for this machine.

Nack

 

[anime]

I would ditch ecs mobo for shuttle ak31a instead... $80
for cpu--go for oem and buy Dynatron DY1206BH-625 for svcompucycle.com $145 for xp1700or xp 1600 for $127--the heatsink costs arround $19
memory--256 pc2100 ddr is arround 53 bucks nowdays..
hdd--100gb is overkill IMHO--cd-rw is a better options -- not everybody have samsclub in their area and i hate rebates
just get the 40gb 7200rpm maxtor hdd from newegg $88
floppy 10 bucks
soundcard--sblive5.1 oem $35
cd-rom? or you want dvd? $ liteon dvd 16x $60
cd-rom arround $35
cd-rw-lite-on 24x10x40 $89
atx-case/PS -buy them local if you can with good quality PS-$40-$80
Speakers--I dont use speakers--I use headphones
vidcard--is a tossed-up between radeon or gf2 gts-v for $60 ish
It maybe more than your budget--but it will be a solid system.

 

[Alex]

sounsd nice but for video id go for geforce2mx

 

[DN]

<< I would ditch ecs mobo for shuttle ak31a instead... $80
for cpu--go for oem and buy Dynatron DY1206BH-625 for svcompucycle.com $145 for xp1700or xp 1600 for $127--the heatsink costs arround $19
memory--256 pc2100 ddr is arround 53 bucks nowdays..
hdd--100gb is overkill IMHO--cd-rw is a better options -- not everybody have samsclub in their area and i hate rebates
just get the 40gb 7200rpm maxtor hdd from newegg $88
floppy 10 bucks
soundcard--sblive5.1 oem $35
cd-rom? or you want dvd? $ liteon dvd 16x $60
cd-rom arround $35
cd-rw-lite-on 24x10x40 $89
atx-case/PS -buy them local if you can with good quality PS-$40-$80
Speakers--I dont use speakers--I use headphones
vidcard--is a tossed-up between radeon or gf2 gts-v for $60 ish
It maybe more than your budget--but it will be a solid system. >>



You'd spend 90$ on a 40Gb instead of $130 on a 100Gb? That's logical.. Uhm..

 

[DN]

<< sounsd nice but for video id go for geforce2mx >>



Why would the guy want a sub-par video card..? It should be at LEAST a GF2 GTS..

 

[Migroo]

<<

<< sounsd nice but for video id go for geforce2mx >>



Why would the guy want a sub-par video card..? It should be at LEAST a GF2 GTS.. >>



Assuming he wants to play 3D games. If he wants a general purpose PC, then the cards recommended are fine.

 

[Shuten]

Assuming that I'm going to go straight linux on this system does that effect anyones choices for the above components. Such as if i wanted to shave a few dollars could I get by with just a cdrw to do my initial installation from?

Also try to keep it under $600. This is where the challenge begins because its alot easier to make a $800 system than a $600. Its all the extras that start to kick in that push it over $600.

Lets also assume I want lan and modem as well.

This a is going to be a strictly for programming for the most part. So video probably could be where I could skimp I guess.

 

[cremator]

Cray SV1
Number of Processors: 16 processors
Total Memory: 16 GB
Peak Performance: 19.2 GFlops
Workspace: 484 GB
Operating System: UNICOS 10.0.0.7

 

[Kingofcomputer]

from newegg:

Qty Product Item # Unit Price Qty x Price

EVERCASE E4252W005, Intel P4/AMD, 10-Bay, Truely Screwless ATX MID Tower Case. BEIGE. External: 4 X 5.25 and 2 X 3.50. Hidden: 4 X 3..50 (2 screwless removeable HD Cages). 2 x Front USB ports. 1 x side ball bearing fan with bracket. Special: Buy it with an AMD processor and Save $5 N82E16811127001 $22.00 $22.00
SHUTTLE AK31A AMD K7 VIA APOLLO KT266A SOCKET A ATX MOTHERBOARD - RETAIL New Ver.. VIA VT8366A/VT8233 Chipset. Supports AMD K7 Athlon/Duron FSB 200/266 Processors. Four 184 Pin Up to 4GB DDR SDRAM DIMM. Onboard AC97 Audio 1 4XAGP, 6XPCI, 1XCNR. Supports ATA 33/66/100 MB/s IDE Interface. **COMBO SPECIAL: Add 1 x Norton Anti-Virus 5.0 S/W ($5) for FREE** N82E16813150002 $80.00 $80.00
VISIONTEK Xtasy 5632 GEFORCE2 GTS-V 4X/2X 32MB AGP - OEM
This VGA card offers high performance based on the GeForce2 GTS-V chipset and 32mb 256 bit DDR memory. Visiontek is the only Nvidia board partner to offer this card. Part# 72440.0 N82E16814129007 $65.00 $65.00
Heroichi Electronic corp. Power Supply 350watt HEC-350LD-R UL Approved. World Famous Power Brand, AMD(Athlon)/Intel Approved N82E16817104002 $42.00 $42.00
AMD Althon XP 1600+/266 FSB PROCESSOR CPU - RETAIL 1600+/ 1.40GHz, AX1600BOX. 3-Year Warranty. With heatsink and cooling fan. The Ultimate Digital Media Experience in an x86 Platform.Tailored for Microsoft® Windows® XP. Featuring QuantiSpeed Architecture for Rapid Execution of Applications. Tomorrow?s Technology Today. The Power of a Reliable Partner. N82E16819103304 $144.00 $144.00
KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/256 256MB 32x64 PC2100 DDR RAM - OEM 184-Pin Unbuffered. Requires DDR supported Motherboard - Lifetime Warranty. N82E16820141002 $53.00 $53.00
MITSUMI D359M3 FDD 1.44MB 3.5INCH - OEM N82E16821103104 $9.00 $9.00
MAXTOR 6L040J2 DIAMONDMAX PLUS D740X 40GB HDD - OEM 3.5 inch EIDE ATA133, 7200RPM, 2MB Cache Buffer, OEM - Verson, 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty N82E16822140127 $88.00 $88.00
Zoom 56k V.92 PCI Modem Voice, Data, Fax, Voice Mail, Plug and Play, Internal Model# 1120M N82E16825115106 $22.00 $22.00
PCI, Cirrus Logic CS4624 Sound Fusion Chipset, 8mb Yamaha SYXG50. 4 speaker out; Optical In/out! A3D, EAX, DS3D, Sensaura 3D Engine N82E16829116104 $32.00 $32.00
LINKSKEY LKF-5100 10/100 (Realtek Chipset) PCI ETHERNET CARD - RETAIL N82E16833117108 $10.00 $10.00


Subtotal » $567.00

 

[Jfrag Teh Foul]

MSI K7T Turbo Raid $100
Athlon 1.4 $107
Volcano 5 HSF $20
SBLive 5.1 $28
MSI Geforce2 Pro 64 $114
Basic 100mb Cnet NIC $20
256 mb pc133 $35
CD-Rom 52x $25
Floppy $0 (who doesn't have several of these laying around)
350w Antec Case $75
desktop spkrs $20
Maxtor 20GB HD $62
shipping $55

Total: $661

This system is what I would build... while its not the biggest on the block it does offer a decent, stable platform. I did, however, leave off a massive speaker system and modem (who needs a modem when broadband is there?) to hold costs down, but the potential is there for when somebody wanted to upgrade at a later time.

 

[Alex]

migroo

ya but if this is a budget pc then do ya really wanna sacrifice other stuff for a gf2 gts? id stick with mx400...

 

[Nack]

I would leave the choices pretty much like they are on my suggestion, even if you are running linux. You might not need such a fast machine for running linux as opposed to bloatware, but speed is still nice. Drop the z560 speakers and you have about $30 to play with and still be under $600. $15 for a NIC. 56k modem is free with rebate at Best Buy this week (it can be a winmodem because you won't be using it except in an emergency for backup since you have the LAN or cable modem, whichever you are going to use the NIC for). That leaves about $15 for some cheap but minimally decent speakers. You are at exactly $600, in budget, with a kick a$$ system. I don't think you can get faster/better overall for $600, as most of those components are hot deals selling well below market (such as the Sam's club hard drive, and the case with PS). If you want better speakers, and it absolutely has to be under $600, get a slower proc such as a cheap duron. Duron 1GHz with morgan core is only about $60. Spend the money you saved on better speakers. You can probably get away with the slower proc since you are running linux (but like I said, raw power is still good, even if you are running an OS that doesn't need it). As for the the memory being $54 instead of $45... not everyone always buys at Crucial. I buy there when they are pricing things reasonably, but lately they have gone crazy and doubled the prices. The prices elsewhere have gone up 30-60%, but for the most part, have NOT doubled. You can still get a 256MB stick of decent DDR for around $45 shipped if you shop around.

Nack

 

[TallBill]

get at least a geforce2 gts 32 meg.. i picked one up off of ubid for 60 bucks

 

[marat]

<< Assuming that I'm going to go straight linux on this system does that effect anyones choices for the above components. Such as if i wanted to shave a few dollars could I get by with just a cdrw to do my initial installation from?

Also try to keep it under $600. This is where the challenge begins because its alot easier to make a $800 system than a $600. Its all the extras that start to kick in that push it over $600.

Lets also assume I want lan and modem as well.

This a is going to be a strictly for programming for the most part. So video probably could be where I could skimp I guess. >>



What are you going to use it for? Webserver, mailserver, database server or ... ?

 

[Shuten]

The main use will probably be for programming and just general
useage as well as learning more about linux.

I've been extremely split on how much to spend on the video
card. This is where I could easily bring myself over budget.

If I sometime watch divx movies and dont want them to be
beyond watching what would be the minimum card to buy?

Thanks for everyones help. I've recently converted from the mac
side of things and its quite unusual to have some many hardware
choices

 

[RSMemphis]

Any of the current cards will be fine for 2D, and divx decoding is done in the CPU, an XP 1700 is more than plentiful for that.
If you are really into programming, a dual-head card may actually be nice if you think you can afford a second monitor at some point - having the debugger window on another monitor would have helped me a lot in the past (*sniff, sniff*)

Are you going to game or not? The Radeon VE is nice for dualhead 2d, but sux in 3D.

Edit: D'oh. I don't think dualhead works in Linux. Oh well. Maybe a Radeon LE or a GeForce2 GTS... That way, you can game under Windows quite easily. Dunno. In general, if you don't play games, most current cards will work.

 

[Ne0]

Or just get a Geforce2 GTS-V for $70 shipped from newegg.com and overclock them to normal GTS speeds or beyond.

 

[Shuten]

Does anyone know of anyreally small cases
that will still accommodate the the above atx boards?