Building a dual core box for less than $500

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
H

hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
9
81
I thought about getting an Intel-powered system since the 805 is so cheap at $97, but there are some problems with that platform which I think removes it from consideration. See, the 805 at stock speed is just too slow, but I can't find an overclocking board with integrated graphics. The cheapest non-integrated overclocker I could find was the ECS C19, and the cheapest video card I could find for it was an eVGA GeForce 6200 LE TC. Together they are $124 shipped (from newegg), which is significantly more than the TForce 6100-939. I figure I can get an X2 3800+ overclocked and 512MB RAM for the same price as an 805 overclocked with 1GB RAM. I'm guessing the former would perform better--I suspect a *lot* better. Plus, with only 512MB RAM and integrated graphics, the AMD route leaves a better upgrade path.

So I set out to configure an X2 system, with a budget of $500. I need a legal copy of Windows XP, DVD burner, 80GB or larger hard disk and front audio & USB ports. I do not need a floppy drive (I already own it), a modem (I already own that, too) or a fancy case (it's just going to sit under the desk, anyway). And of course I don't need any peripherals like mouse, keyboard, display, etc.

Here's what I came up with so far:
$147.00 -- Athlon 64 X2 3800+ retail
$89.99 -- Windows XP Home OEM
$86.12 -- Biostar TForce 6100-939
$50.00 -- 512MB (2x256MB) DDR-400 SDRAM
$46.90 -- Western Digital WD800JD
$37.10 -- FPS Group ATX350-PA
$30.99 -- Lite-on SHM-165H6S
$20.88 -- Coolmax CV-560-Gray
TOTAL: $508.98

As you can see, there are several problems. Firstly it's $8.98 over budget. I'd like to trim that down to an even $500 or less if possible. Second, it only has 512MB RAM. While acceptable, I'd *really* like to make room in the budget for 1GB. So here's where I see the weak points in my configuration...

1) Windows XP costs $90 from zipzoomfly, but at esuperdeal.com (SuperDealOnline) it sells for $75. I see two problems with this, however: 1) It is listed as "Windows XP Home Oem Branded." What the heck does "branded" mean? 2) The vendor does not sell hardware. Can I purchase OEM software by itself?

2) The PSU is $37, which seems a bit excessive. Is there anything cheaper which would be both reliable and powerful enough for this system? Maybe this Sunbeam PSU for $27.82? Or, is there maybe a decent case/PSU combo for less than $58?

3) The TForce board is over $86. I've heard the Biostar GeForce 6100-M9 overclocks just as well for only $67.12, but I've also seen some reviews complaining about it being flaky. Does anyone have some first-hand experience with the M9 who might offer some insight? Also, the EPoX EP-9GF6100-M ($71.12) has been touted as a nice overclocker. I own an EPoX board, myself, and love it. But what about the 9GF6100-M? Can I trust it? And if neither of those will do, there are a bunch of other sub-$80 6100-based boards which may have some great overclocking potential. Which is best? Should I stick with the TForce?

5) I'm a little concerned about getting generic memory sticks, but they're just so darn cheap at $50.00 for 512MB or 1GB for $92.98. Should I be wary of generic DIMMs, or are their only drawbacks slower timings? And if I should avoid generic, what is the cheapest reliable solution out there? I see 512MB Corsair ValueSelect for $56.90 and 1GB OCZ ValueSeries for $97.50 shipped ($89.50 after mail-in rebate). Of course, those are $7 and $5 more expensive, respectively. Is it worth the extra cash? I know it seems like a pittance, but $7 can make quite a difference on this budget.

Any advice would be much appreciated!
 
S

Steve

Lifer
May 2, 2004
15,945
11
81
I believe OEM branded means it's a disc from Dell/HP/etc. and I think it's required to include hardware (a Molex PSU splitter should do it). I could be wrong though, but I'm sure someone will clarify.

Overall, you're being just a bit too cheap. You've got good equipment picked out, but spend the extra money and go for a gig of RAM. I hear G.Skill and Rosewill are good values. Once you get your RAM, make sure you test it first thing. That PSU should be fine (good unit, good price) though I bet a 400W or greater unit might take you a bit farther in terms of your upgrade path. Might as well go for a little bigger hard drive.
 
H

hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
9
81
Well, $500 is all I can work with. I could possibly stretch it to $520 or so, but $500 is definitely the preferred limit. Also, this PC is going to be for my Dad, who has no interest at the present time in working with large media files--which is the only reason I can think of to get a hard disk over 80GB. If he ever does develop a taste for working with lots of large audio or video files, he's got a DVD burner to make room where needed.

As for the memory, I agree that 512MB is pretty scant. The thing is, the only way I see to make room for 1GB is to sacrifice reliability, which is unacceptable, or to opt for the Pentium D 805. And like I said above, it seems like the 805 with 1GB would still be outclassed by an X2 3800+ with only 512MB.

Now, since "branded" means it comes from another vendor, does that mean it won't be a standard installation disc? Is there any meaningful difference between "branded" and plain-jane Microsoft?
 
P

pkrush

Senior member
Dec 5, 2005
468
0
0
Actually, I think the D805 with 1 gig of ram would perform better than the 3800+ with 512, especially because the 6100 onboard video takes 64 megs out (leaving you with only 448). My dad's PC is a Sempron 2800+ with integrated video (gonna give him my old 6600gt someday) and it was VERY noticeably faster after the memory upgrade. You can usually find DDR for cheap on the FS/FT forums (usually about $70 shipped for 2x512 sticks, so you can probably afford to upgrade the X2 system).
 
U

unfalliblekrutch

Golden Member
May 2, 2005
1,418
0
0
ddr is getting more expensive, so i'd go with a ddr2 system (pentium d?)

you can always go without the 6200tc, and get a used pci card locally (or on the fs/t forums)
 
SparkyJJO

SparkyJJO

Lifer
May 16, 2002
13,357
7
81
you can buy brand-new OEM MS windows without hardware because it has never been licensed to any particular hardware yet. Once you activate it on that PC it is tied to that particular PC.

OEM "branded" sounds strange though, almost like it is meant for a particular system (HP, Dell, etc). I checked resellerratings and there was a complaint about buying XP and getting a HP/Compaq CD which would not work on his computer.

*EDIT* I looked for other XP Home OEM on that site and came up with This XP Home OEM for $87 which is not labeled as OEM "branded." I believe that is what you would need, the branded one I think is probably what that guy on resellerratings got and that is why it wouldn't work on his computer. At that point I'd spend the extra couple bucks and buy from a better-known store like ZZF or newegg.
 
H

hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
9
81
Are there any benchmarks where I can compare an X2 with 512MB vs 1GB? I'd like to see just what kind of a difference there is between the two.
 
D

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Newegg reduces the combined shipped for multiple parts, except cases, so the total will be less.

Spend the extra $15 from Newegg or ZZF for a clean OEM copy of XP that's not some shady version that's tied to Dell or other branded machines.

Don't cheap out on the power supply, a bad PSU can fry all of your other parts. FSP is a good budget brand, going cheaper is a mistake.

X2 is as fast at stock as an 805 overclocked 20%, and runs much cooler, so stick with it.

Keep the band-aids handy for working with that cheap case :) . If your budget was a little higher I'd suggest an Antec NSK4400 instead, but that's about $30 over your case+PSU combo.
 
F

ForumMaster

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
7,792
1
0
going so cheap is not a good idea why not save a little and spend just a little bit more? or it might be better for you to just buy him a dell. less work for you and it would leave you with less tech suport later on.
 
F

ForumMaster

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
7,792
1
0
going so cheap is not a good idea why not save a little and spend just a little bit more? or it might be better for you to just buy him a dell. less work for you and it would leave you with less tech suport later on.
 
F

ForumMaster

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
7,792
1
0
going so cheap is not a good idea why not save a little and spend just a little bit more? or it might be better for you to just buy him a dell. less work for you and it would leave you with less tech suport later on.
 
F

ForumMaster

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
7,792
1
0
going so cheap is not a good idea why not save a little and spend just a little bit more? or it might be better for you to just buy him a dell. less work for you and it would leave you with less tech suport later on.
 
H

hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
9
81
Thanks for the input, guys. I'm going to have to pass on the Acer, for three reasons. Firstly, I think my Dad would be uncomfortable with a refurb unit; secondly, it's not in stock, and when the time comes to make the purchase we won't want to wait indefinitely (especially when there's no guarantee it will be back in stock at all); thirdly, and most importantly, although I have purchased from computergeeks.com before, I will not make large purchases from an online vendor that has an "unsatisfactory record" with the BBB. But I do thank you for the suggestion, as that is indeed a really good deal.

I'm definitely not going with a Dell. I don't think you can even get a dual core Dell for less than $500, much less one on par with what I've come up with below.

Also, thanks for reminding me about Neweggs shipping discounts. I had forgotten about that. It turns out I won't even need to use zzf or ms4me. I can get the following for $499 and change just from newegg:

Windows XP Home SP2 OEM
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ retail
Biostar TForce6100-939 retail
512MB (2x256MB) Corsair ValueSelect DDR-400
80 GB Western Digital SATA/300
Lite-on SHM-165H6S
Coolmax CV-560-Gray
FSP Group ATX350-PA

That should meet his needs just fine. It also leaves a nice upgrade path by way of more memory, a second hard disk, maybe in RAID 0 or 1, and possibly a dedicated GPU with a TV-out port.
 
cleverhandle

cleverhandle

Diamond Member
Dec 17, 2001
3,566
3
81
I don't understand why you're so wedded to a dual-core CPU. You're scraping the bottom of the barrel (or below) on all your other parts and then spending 30% of your budget on an X2. What's your Dad doing that's so CPU intensive? Moreover, what CPU intensive tasks is he doing that aren't already going to be hamstrung by all the other cheap parts in the box?

Let's see what we can find at Newegg...

edit: Also, the fact that you'd even consider overclocking your Dad's machine implies that you're new to the "24/7 family tech support" position. Trust me, your Dad will notice the speed difference much less than you'll notice the time you spend driving over and fixing things when they break. KISS.
 
H

hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
9
81
Except for the case, what's cheap about that build?

I think he'd benefit from dual core because it's so freaking fast. He does some audio editing on occasion (he does voice talent work, and occasionally masters demos from home), browses the internet for hours at a time and does regular work with Microsoft Office. My Mom would also use it for photoshop (she's an interior designer and artist) on occasion. Also, I'm guessing if given an 80GB hard disk my Dad would start ripping CD audio and encoding it to FLAC or mp3. He's not tech savvy to the point of assembling hardware, but he's definitely at ease in a Windows-based environment. I'm sure he'd do a great deal of multitasking.

What's more, he's going to want something that lasts. To put it in perspective, he's still running a PII-400 with 128MB PC66 SDRAM and Windows 98FE. If 512MB RAM gets too constrictive, he can upgrade down the line. Same with the hard disk--although I very much doubt that is a danger. He still hasn't filled up his ~10GB hard disk on his current system.

Anyway, I don't think he'd ever get a Dell. He's always bought custom builds from whitebox vendors, since 1990 when he got his first PC (a 386SX-20 with 40MB hard disk...hehe). The only difference this time is that I can build it myself and save him the middleman fees.

Finally, even now he does occasionally call me for tech support, which I am happy to provide. However, he does so fairly rarely, as he can usually troubleshoot problems on his own. And like I said, I very much doubt he'd get anything but whitebox, anyway, which means I'd be his tech support either way.
 
B

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou
I think my Dad would be uncomfortable with a refurb unit;
Click to expand...
But he IS comfortable with you building him a frankenPC from marginal parts? :shocked:

 
cleverhandle

cleverhandle

Diamond Member
Dec 17, 2001
3,566
3
81
Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou
Except for the case, what's cheap about that build?
Click to expand...
Actually, the revised one is much improved - I was looking at the OP. Still, here's what I'd do...

Motherboard: Asus M2PV-VM, $84
Processor: A64 3200, $86
RAM: Corsair Value, 2x512MB, $90
PSU: Fortron ATX350-PA, $30
Case: A less cheap case for $40
Hard Drive: Seagate 7200.9 SATA, $49
DVD-RW: NEC, $31
XP Home: $90

Total: $500 even

That gets you a quality motherboard, a gig of good RAM, a modern hard drive with a 5-year warranty, and an excellent upgrade path (AM2/DDR2). I would try hard to scrape up another $24 and bump the Fortron for a 330W Seasonic - parents (mine at least) notice how loud a PC is before they notice how fast or even how stable it is. Also, don't forget about an anti-virus program if they don't already have one. I really like Kaspersky, but at $50 it's not cheap in this situation.
 
H

hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
9
81
1) What's wrong with the Western Digital Caviar SE?
2) What's wrong with the Lite-on burner?
3) Don't you think an X2 w/ 512MB would out-perform an A64 w/ 1GB?

Also, the configuration you gave only leaves room for a $27 case, which as far as I know would not get me anything better than the $22 Coolmax I had initially picked out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom