Budget PC

overst33r · Oct 4, 2005

Friend asked me to build him a computer for basic computing, but he is sick of HP and all them...so he asked me to build him one...his budget is like $700, $800 max
Monitor, Speakers...etc not required.

These are parts:

EPoX EP-9NDA3+ NF4 Motherboard $100

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor $146

Corsair 1GB PC3200 DDR DIMM Memory $90

PowerColor Radeon X300 SE Video Card $60

Samsung SpinPoint P80 SP1604N 160GB Hard Drive $74

NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - OEM $40

Antec SONATA II Black ATX Mid Tower $100

Windows Home SP2 $90

Total~ $700

Suggestions appreciated.

Ausm · Oct 4, 2005

That is a really nice case for a budget PC. Personally you could save him 40 bucks by getting the following parts

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811156011

Cheap Case but does the job

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153006

Great P.S. for the money. i was impressed by the quality.

Ausm

overst33r · Oct 4, 2005

Originally posted by: Ausm
That is a really nice case for a budget PC. Personally you could save him 40 bucks by getting the following parts

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811156011

Cheap Case but does the job

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153006

Great P.S. for the money. i was impressed by the quality.

Ausm

The reason i am getting the sonata is because of the high-quality PSU...and the case looks MUCH better...i think peace of mind and looks are worth $40, thank you for the suggestion though

Also, I am unsure of the performance that the sempron provides...

overst33r · Oct 4, 2005

GuitarDaddy · Oct 4, 2005

I wouldn't go S754, you can easily hit that budget with a s939 system

Epox NF4 ultra mobo $95 - newegg
A64 3000+ $143 - ewiz
PQI optima 1GB PC 3200 $67 after MIR - newegg
X300 SE $30 - ebay (I passed on one last night for $15 shipped, NIB)

Add the rest of the components you listed and it totals to $639

jack1201 · Oct 4, 2005

I think it is ok for this budget.

overst33r · Oct 4, 2005

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
I wouldn't go S754, you can easily hit that budget with a s939 system

Epox NF4 ultra mobo $95 - newegg
A64 3000+ $143 - ewiz
PQI optima 1GB PC 3200 $67 after MIR - newegg
X300 SE $30 - ebay (I passed on one last night for $15 shipped, NIB)

Add the rest of the components you listed and it totals to $639

I'll take you up on that...i might go to ebay and give it a shot.

bcoupland · Oct 4, 2005

Is he going to be doing any gaming? If not, the X300SE is adequate, but if yes, you could easily fit in a 6600 or 6600GT.

love2skate824 · Oct 4, 2005

get a fortron 450 watt for $50, some like $30 case, and a x800gt

Bona Fide · Oct 4, 2005

You could always go Dell if you want.

birdpup · Oct 4, 2005

I like what you have and agree with previous poster's recommendations, including the necessity of a higher powered video card for gaming.

These are the two big deals happening now.
3200 venice OEM - $139 @ ewiz
16 Pipe X800GTO from Sapphire $199 + $5 shipping
the X800GTO at $190

Remedy · Oct 4, 2005

Here's mine. I do this daily for work.

Biostar Tforce socket 754 $58

Sempron 3000+ $81

1GB PC3200 (512MBx2) $89

BenQ DW1640 $39

Hitachi 80GB 7200RPM $29 (AFR)

Chenming MATX-118 $70

3.5 flash media reader/writer $9.99

XP Home $78

McAfee Viruscan 2006 $12

Estimate of $470. I wouldn't bother with Socket 939 as he obviously doesn't plan to upgrade to Dual core or any extreme measure of pushing the envelope of performance. And you can still throw a 17inch DVI LCD or 19inch analog LCD in there to reach the $750 budget.

love2skate824 · Oct 4, 2005

dude he doesnt need a monitor. so heres a lowdown...
3000 venice w/ fan-$150
msi neo4-f-$90
160gb hdd-$80
fortron 450 watt psu-$50
1gb corsair value select-$100
benq 1640-$40
x800gto2-$170 on newegg now
xp home sp2-90
ehh thats 770 plus a case.. so thats pushing it i guess. you could get a dvd rom, 80gb harddrive, and search for an even cheaper mobo. but thats what id get

SilentZero · Oct 4, 2005

screw windows and save $90 and go with linux.

natto fire · Oct 4, 2005

Originally posted by: SilentZero
screw windows and save $90 and go with linux.

My suggestion as well, get a better video card. If you do this, you'll want to get an NVidia, as ATI's OpenGL/Linux support is abyssmal. Of course if he goes Linux he won't be doing much gaming so a better vid card is probably not needed.

Remedy · Oct 4, 2005

Originally posted by: love2skate824
dude he doesnt need a monitor. so heres a lowdown...
3000 venice w/ fan-$150
msi neo4-f-$90
160gb hdd-$80
fortron 450 watt psu-$50
1gb corsair value select-$100
benq 1640-$40
x800gto2-$170 on newegg now
xp home sp2-90
ehh thats 770 plus a case.. so thats pushing it i guess. you could get a dvd rom, 80gb harddrive, and search for an even cheaper mobo. but thats what id get

All that power for a "Budget computer"?

love2skate824 · Oct 4, 2005

why not use the money effectively...

johnnqq · Oct 4, 2005

Dell dell is good too!

love2skate824 · Oct 4, 2005

f dell man, for like a $500 system ya dell but with $800 you can build something much better, since you dont need a monitor.

xrax · Oct 4, 2005

yeah s939 is the better option. if you want to spend the time to figure out linux, but Windows XP @ $90 is a bargain.
check the Entry Level Guide out (July prices):
Processor AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 512K 1.80 GHz socket 939 (Retail - Venice) 146
Motherboard MSI nForce4 (939) K8N Neo4-F 85
Memory 2x512MB OCZ Gold Series 2-2-2-5 1T 2.8V 143
Video Card Gigabyte GV-RX70P128D Radeon X700PRO 128MB 112
Hard Drive Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 HDT722516DLA380 160GBSATA-2 87
Optical Drive NEC 3540A Silver 16X DVDR 48
Case and Power Supply MGE CAG-M1-BK Black/Silver ATX with 400W PSU 67

GamerExpress · Oct 4, 2005

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
I wouldn't go S754, you can easily hit that budget with a s939 system

Epox NF4 ultra mobo $95 - newegg
A64 3000+ $143 - ewiz
PQI optima 1GB PC 3200 $67 after MIR - newegg
X300 SE $30 - ebay (I passed on one last night for $15 shipped, NIB)

Add the rest of the components you listed and it totals to $639

I 100% agree. Don't go with 754 even on a budget machine. These are some nice parts listed here.

overst33r · Oct 4, 2005

For the people that suggested Dell, i already recommended it...but he insists on going custom this time...

herm0016 · Oct 4, 2005

def go with at least an x800gt or better. get a cheaper case, i have a skyhawk, i think its the best alum. case for the price( check our neweggs clearence section. i built a system with x800gt, venice 3000+, epox 9npa ultra skt 939, wd 120 gig ata, coolermaster aerogate 1 fan controler, 4-panaflo L1A, old sony cd-r,panasonic slot load dvd , no floppy. for about 650$ including some other little trinkets.

SGtheArtist · Oct 4, 2005

I think the s939 is a good idea and I personally would go with an X700 or X700Pro for about $40 more than the X300 you are looking at. The X700 Pro is about the same performance as the 9800Pro/XT. I really dont think you need a highend gfx card or anything over $150 since it doesnt appear that this will be for heavy gaming.

overst33r · Oct 4, 2005

yea i mite up the GFX a little...i will ask him again if he is sure that he wont use it for gaming...
Im pretty sure he will say to get a better one

Budget PC

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