Building comp for cheap/poor friend, please examine

[Pabster]

nForce for a friend on a budget?

I'd save $120 and start with an ECS K7S5A. You've got the audio and LAN, if he needs better audio ... get an SB! Live 5.1, they're cheap now and very good for the price.

 

[RSI]

<< nForce for a friend on a budget?

I'd save $120 and start with an ECS K7S5A. You've got the audio and LAN, if he needs better audio ... get an SB! Live 5.1, they're cheap now and very good for the price. >>

Exactly. I have two K7S5A systems both with onboard sound and onboard lan. I have SBLive value in my comp and SBLive 5.1 in my bro's comp (with a 4.1 setup.. which is actually pretty sweet). The mobo is only about $90cdn which is what, $60 US? Excellent for the price if you don't hit a dud/faulty one.

As for the case, don't buy a freaking $90 case on a BUDGET SYSTEM. I love my case, it's perfect for me, and I only paid $70, and the same case is available for $40 (canadian) today.

-RSI

 

[ku]

Do you really need a case like that? Why not go with something cheap like the evercase or enlight 7237? It'll save u quite a few bucks.

You can go with a cheaper motherboard. Itll save u a lot of money. You especially don't need the nForce chipset if you're not planning to use it. Get the ECS K7S5A and go all out of the video and get 1 stick of memory instead of two. I own the K7S5A and the shuttle AK31 and I must say, I've had less trouble with hte K7S5A than with the ak31. This isn't a bad motherboard at all, it is faster than most other chipsets (excludin kt266a).

I also suggest you go and get the larger hard drive. that $13 is more than worth it.

 

[VBboy]

You are getting *rounded* cables for a *cheap/poor* friend? Just get the cheapest ($1-2) regular ATA-100 cables, man. Also, there are much cheaper cases and videocards out there, as well as 40 GB HDs for approximately the same price (Maxtor model # 4D040H2 40.0GB 5400RPM, $74)

Take a look at NewEgg one more time

 

[JonnyDuke]

I agree with Pabster... go here and look around a bit before making final choices.

 

[reicherb]

I haven't looked up any of the prices, but TCWO only charges $7 for shipping and generally has better prices than Newegg.

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< Why get the nforce if you plan on adding a vid card anyways??? You can get a cheaper ecs or shuttle mobo and save some cost....Does he want the integrated 5.1 sound???

Remember the fryes/ www.outpost.com deal!!!

I think almost no cd-rom is a smart choice anymore...I would again get the dvdrom from lite-on which will give him fast cd-rom reading plus the advantage of top line dae ripping or dvd watching...even a cd-rw like an older aopen 1232a or lite-on 12x or 16x may be a far better investment...more versatilty, more use...

Save money get the geforce 2 ti450 should be a great card for todays games, unless he want to dream about 3dmark2k1 scores...spend money on the drive mentioned above... >>

He's not watching DVDs, and I'm ripping a CD-RW from one of my computers. As for the nForce, he's planning on upgrading to a much better CPU shortly (some money coming to him in about two or three months). For the vid card, I did suggest the GF2 Ti450, but he wants a GF3...

 

[jamison]

For a cheap system, I would go with the Enlight 7237 & 300W Power Supply at Newegg.com.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Case: Fong Kai FK320 (black or white, with 300w PSU): $90
Buy a regular ATX case for $50 and save the guy $40 which he can spend on a processor upgrade

Mainboard: MSI K7N420 PRO nForce: $152 and CPU: AMD Duron 950MHz OEM: $46
I've seen some XP 1800+'s with ECS mobo's (combo) for $169. That'd save you another $30

Memory: 2x 128mb Crucial PC2100: $74
A little steep for only 256mb of PC2100 RAM..

option 1: GAINWARD/CARDEXPERT GEFORCE2 Ti450: $97 or option 2: Gainward/Cardexpet GeForce 3 Ti450: $165
Get him a Radeon LE and overclock it to a Radeon.

HDD: Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 20GB 7200RPM: $70
Get the ATA133 40gb Maxtor drive..

CD-ROM: Lite-On 52x: $30
Good choice

The other items I don't have an opinion on, but with my suggestions, you could save your friend $70.
-- mrcodedude

 

[Howard]

WTF

You say he's poor and he can't afford $13 for a better hard drive, yet you have a $9 filter? You get an nForce motherboard but you won't use the onboard video?

You can get 256MB of Crucial PC2100 for $58 shipped, using the 15% discount in the front page.

You could get an Enlight 7237 /w a 300W AMD approved power supply for $47 + shipping.

You're getting an Alpha PAL8045, where a Volcano II could suffice.

Round cables? Waste of money. Make your own and you can even put vinyl loom over it if you don't like the look.

Sigh... I wish modus was here. He'd know what to do with that hardware modem (namely, where you can put it ). Anyhow, a software modem is good enough, providing you get one with a Lucent LT chipset.