Any way to make this computer cheaper without sacrificing too much performance?

[Shalmanese]

<< *UPDATED DOWN THREAD*


These are in Australian $ so halve the prices to convert into US $ if you want.


CPU: AMD Duron 1000MHz $155
Heat Sink/Fan: GlobalWIN FOP32 $35
Motherboard: MSI K7T266 Pro2 KT266A $269
RAM: 256MB DDR SDRAM $109
Video Card: 64MB Geforce2 MX 400 with video out $139
Monitor: 17" ADI M700 $289
Hard Disk Drive: Quantum AS 30GB, 7200rpm $219
Case: Aopen KF45B midi tower (PSU: FSP 300-60BT) $100
CDRW: Ricoh 7163 16x10x32 2MB JustLink/Nero $199
DVD-ROM: Samsung 16x $129
Sound Card: Onboard $-
Speakers: Generic $40
Keyboard: MS Internet keyboard $35
Mouse: MS IntelliMouse $35
Floppy Disk Drive: Sony $30
Modem: Netcomm PCI internal 56k modem $45

Operating System: MS Windows XP Home Edition $225
Basic Applications: MS Office XP SBE(Word, Excel, Outlook, Publisher) $399
Norton Antivirus $77

Total: $2,529


These are basically the best prices available. I'm trying to make sure it is quite easily upgradable in the future but with intial outlay at a minimum.

Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thanks. >>



Where are you getting your prices from? secretnet has the Epox board for $233 but I never seen a GF2 MX400 for less than $150, some of the MX200's go for $130. Would it be cheaper to go for Office 2k/97? Does he really need XP? also, some motherboards come bundled with NAV free so that saves you a little. and are the software prices you listed OEM or Retail?

 

[TripleJ]

<<Where are you getting your prices from? secretnet has the Epox board for $233 but I never seen a GF2 MX400 for less than $150, some of the MX200's go for $130. Would it be cheaper to go for Office 2k/97? Does he really need XP? also, some motherboards come bundled with NAV free so that saves you a little. and are the software prices you listed OEM or Retail?>>


Austin Computers. Here's the components price list.

Yeah, Office 2k/97 might be cheaper. I've already purchased Office XP SBE. But where would I find Office 2k/97 anyway? I'm not really up to scratch on the latest Office stuff(I use 97) so I thought I'd get the latest and greatest. It's the only one available anyway I believe.

Do you know if NAV comes with many MSI boards?

The software is OEM.


Thanks for the tips.

 

[TripleJ]

DSTA, I've finally finished d/l'ing SO 6.0. I haven't fiddled around with it for too long, but it's pretty similar to MS Office I must say. It seems a bit more basic though. I'll try it out for myself while I have Office 97, but I'll keep my brother safe with Office XP for now. Thanks anyway.

 

[pay]

Your paying for software? :Q

And I think you should change that duron to atleast an Athlon 1000

 

[KeithP]

You might consider looking around for a used system. It doesn't sound like you need a super fast rig for what this system is going to be used for.

If you do go new, would a DVD/CD-R/W combo drive be cheaper than two separates?

-KeithP

 

[CTho9305]

hwat exactly are you people saying is wrong with the ECS? two machines here use them, and they run great. every box here that runs XP or 2k or *nix is 100% stable, and I can't tell the difference between the two ECS (SiS) systems and the one using the AMD 760. and the onboard sound is great (roommate uses it on his klip's). onboard networking is also fine.

 

[SocrPlyr]

just as another idea to save a lot of $ see if you can find Corel Office Suite... the oem version is like $20 here in the states. it has just about all the functionality of MS but just laid out a lil different... just a thought to consider

also i wouldn't bother w/ antivirus software unless he likes to download a lot of files that he doesn't knwo where they came from...

Josh

 

[Bovinicus]

Try the ECS motherboard. A lot of people have problems with it yes, but a lot more don't. Also, try a Radeon VE instead of the MX if games aren't really going to be played on it. It has better image quality than that card in 2D at a lower price. Star Office or Corel Office seem like good choices to save some serious cash too. Good luck.

 

[S0me1X]

You are paying way too much for the hard drive, burner, anti virus software

CDRW: Ricoh 7163 16x10x32 2MB JustLink/Nero $199 (~$100 USD? LiteOn 24x10x32x costs $73 on pricewatch, Ricoh 20x10x40x costs $67 on pricewatch)

Norton Antivirus $77 (you can find this oem for like $9)

Quantum 30GB hard drive $209 (~$105? You find Maxtor/Seagate/Samsung 40gb hard drives for around $72, again pricewatch)

I suppose if you are going local, then the prices wouldn't be bad.

 

[TripleJ]

Thanks guys, interesting stuff.

Yeah, I'm going local. It's the best prices I can find.

I'm still having trouble weighing up the pro's and con's between the nForce mobo and the KT266A mobo + video card. I keep switching between one and the other.