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Can build a decent PC for $500... no gaming?

T

TKHDebater

Senior member
I'd like to build a budget system mainly to store my digital photos yet I've been out of the technology loop for a good 3 years since high school. I have no idea what the decent boards/processors are any more etc. If you'd be willing, please drop my some suggestions.

I won't be doing any video editing or gaming, just running photoshop and storing lots of 4mb digital photos. I'd like to run dual monitors. Sorry all this is so vague, I just have no idea what's out there anymore. I was amazed to find AGP seems to have been replaced....

Thanks, I really appreciate the advice


Edit: I will buy OS, monitors, mouse, keyboard, speakers etc seperately, don't worry about them
 
PRICES INCLUDE SHIPPING

Case - Antec case w/350 watt PSU $86

DVD Burner - NEC $48

CPU - Athlon 64 Venice $148

Hard Drive - Seagate 200 gig $105

Motherboard - MSI socket 939 with radeon express onboard video $88.50

RAM - 512 Viking PC-3200 $25 (AR)


Grand Total: $500.50


If you NEED to run dual monitors...

Then a socket 754 would still be in your budget.

Athlon 64 2800 $120

Motherboard - Biostar Nforce 3 $59.50

Video Card w/ Vivo - Radeon 9250 $59

If you use the components above to fill out the rest of the rig...

Grand Total: $502.50


You would sacrifice a little performance this way, but then you would be able to run dual monitors.


I hope this helps! :beer:
 
$500 for a new computer with dual monitors sounds a little optomistic 😉

Let's see...

$65 Antec SLK1650B case with 350W Antec PSU
$60 AMD Sempron 2300+, retail, includes heatsink/fan unit
$60 Shuttle MN31/L if you can find one (has onboard dual-VGA outputs)
$90 WindowsXP Home Edition OEM Full Version
$65 Seagate 80GB ATA/100 hard drive
$30 DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
$100 2 x 512MB Crucial PC2700 memory modules

(plus shipping)

A bit over-budget, but it's expandable (has an AGP slot and three PCI slots, room and power for more drives). You could do a single 1GB memory module if you want to leave a slot free to upgrade later. With this board having limited tweaking capabilities, I would stick with quality-brand PC2700 memory if you go this route.

 
500 buck eh? Hmmmmm, this is what I can piece together on that, it's not much, but it still packs a bit.
Motherboard - MSI RS480M2-IL -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130485 $89
Processor - Athlon 64 3000+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537 $ 148
Memory - OCZ 512MB PC3200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227037 $41
Harddrive - Samsung 120GB 7200RPM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152005 $73
DVD-RW - Benq OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101632 $42
Case - Antec 1650B http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productde...0Computer%20Cases&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r $70
OS - Windows XP - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102151 $83

The total price is about $550 assuming you don't have to get anything else. It's OK, but should do the trick. It also has nice upgrading potential if you feel the need to do so later. Otherwise if you have to spend only $500 maybe Dell or HP might be an option.

[edit] You know that's what I get for taking so long to type this sucker out. Everyone else posts before me!
 
Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
why 2700s? cant he get a 3200 so it would be more useful in the future if he decides upgrades to a mobo with 3200 slots?
Click to expand...
Because some PC3200 needs a little voltage bump to run stable. Not all integrated mobos allow voltage bumps. It might work fine, but I like to play it safe when it's someone else's money.

My mom's video-editing system is quite similar to that except with 512MB of RAM and a second hard drive, by the way. I think the 1GB of RAM is a good idea, especially now while it's priced pretty low.
 
Originally posted by: cscpianoman
500 buck eh? Hmmmmm, this is what I can piece together on that, it's not much, but it still packs a bit.
Motherboard - MSI RS480M2-IL -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130485 $89
Processor - Athlon 64 3000+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537 $ 148
Memory - OCZ 512MB PC3200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227037 $41
Harddrive - Samsung 120GB 7200RPM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152005 $73
DVD-RW - Benq OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101632 $42
Case - Antec 1650B http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productde...0Computer%20Cases&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r $70
OS - Windows XP - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102151 $83

The total price is about $550 assuming you don't have to get anything else. It's OK, but should do the trick. It also has nice upgrading potential if you feel the need to do so later. Otherwise if you have to spend only $500 maybe Dell or HP might be an option.

[edit] You know that's what I get for taking so long to type this sucker out. Everyone else posts before me!
Click to expand...


i would go with this but try to get a ~$50hdd on sale somewhere or you could buy a mb/cpu combo in the fs section, good deals to be had 🙂 good luck.

what version of photoshop? i have ps:cs and with xp pro running in the "windows classic" look -> looks like win2kpro and all the fancy stuff off and running antivir, zonealarm, mbm,outlook express(i know i just haven't switched it over to thunderbird...) and a browser(firefox) open i am sitting at 335MB of ram usage.

i just took a quick 3072x2304/super fine mode jpg pic with my canon s70 which came out to ~2.5MB and photoshop reported it as 20MB in the program and the ram usage went up to 467MB with a max when i did a little sharpening and adj to 479MB, so you may hit the pagefile with a 4MB file and 512MB of ram, maybe try to get 1GB somehow.....
 
wow, thanks for all the replies. Sorry, i should have stated that i will purchase the monitors, keyboard, mouse etc seperately. All i want for under $500 is the box and what goes inside. Thanks, so far it all looks pretty good.
 
Originally posted by: cscpianoman
500 buck eh? Hmmmmm, this is what I can piece together on that, it's not much, but it still packs a bit.
Motherboard - MSI RS480M2-IL -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130485 $89
Processor - Athlon 64 3000+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537 $ 148
Memory - OCZ 512MB PC3200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227037 $41
Harddrive - Samsung 120GB 7200RPM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152005 $73
DVD-RW - Benq OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101632 $42
Case - Antec 1650B http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productde...0Computer%20Cases&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r $70
OS - Windows XP - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102151 $83

The total price is about $550 assuming you don't have to get anything else. It's OK, but should do the trick. It also has nice upgrading potential if you feel the need to do so later. Otherwise if you have to spend only $500 maybe Dell or HP might be an option.

[edit] You know that's what I get for taking so long to type this sucker out. Everyone else posts before me!
Click to expand...


I like this suggestion, except I'd go with the jetway pro board. It has 32 megs onboard for video memory unlike the MSI board and it overclocks with decent memory. (although you probably don't care if it overclocks, nice to have that option though) If you go with the msi board, I'd go with a pair of 256 in dual channel, because it will definitely help with the video as opposed to the single 512 stick. Though, if you really intend on editing with photoshop, you'd probably want to splurge on a gig of ram.

You can always add another cheap ATI card later to use the dual monitors, if you get a dual output card, you can step up to three monitors as long as you stick with ATI.
 
Originally posted by: TKHDebater
I'd like to build a budget system mainly to store my digital photos yet I've been out of the technology loop for a good 3 years since high school. I have no idea what the decent boards/processors are any more etc. If you'd be willing, please drop my some suggestions.

I won't be doing any video editing or gaming, just running photoshop and storing lots of 4mb digital photos. I'd like to run dual monitors. Sorry all this is so vague, I just have no idea what's out there anymore. I was amazed to find AGP seems to have been replaced....

Thanks, I really appreciate the advice

Just my opinion on budget system, I could be wrong, off though.
Edit: I will buy OS, monitors, mouse, keyboard, speakers etc seperately, don't worry about them
Click to expand...



MSI K8TM $45

Sempron 2800+ Socket 754 $77

512MB PC3200 SuperTalent $38 (1GB=$76)

Outpost.com: Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM ATA133 drive as your mass storage, $79+free shipping

Western Digital 800JB $56 As your boot OS/Applications drive. IIRC, with Photoshop, having seperate disk for OS and scratch based work is recommended.

BenQ 1620 Blk $42

Radeon 9250 $38 for dual monitor

Chenming mATX 118 chassis $69 for the small formfactor estate.

Total $482.

I built this system recently, but I used a 9800XT with it. (I didn't use the chassis yet, still in box) System was pretty strong with everything I threw at it. You said you'll find your the OS on your own. I assume you can get a student discount on XP Home edition.

Pick up Acronis TrueImage if you get a chance. Be prepared for restore when needed.

Motherboard has 1394 onboard for your DV corder connection.
 
Originally posted by: ReMeDy{WcS}
Originally posted by: TKHDebater
I'd like to build a budget system mainly to store my digital photos yet I've been out of the technology loop for a good 3 years since high school. I have no idea what the decent boards/processors are any more etc. If you'd be willing, please drop my some suggestions.

I won't be doing any video editing or gaming, just running photoshop and storing lots of 4mb digital photos. I'd like to run dual monitors. Sorry all this is so vague, I just have no idea what's out there anymore. I was amazed to find AGP seems to have been replaced....

Thanks, I really appreciate the advice

Just my opinion on budget system, I could be wrong, off though.
Edit: I will buy OS, monitors, mouse, keyboard, speakers etc seperately, don't worry about them
Click to expand...



MSI K8TM $45

Sempron 2800+ Socket 754 $77

512MB PC3200 SuperTalent $38 (1GB=$76)

Outpost.com: Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM ATA133 drive as your mass storage, $79+free shipping

Western Digital 800JB $56 As your boot OS/Applications drive. IIRC, with Photoshop, having seperate disk for OS and scratch based work is recommended.

BenQ 1620 Blk $42

Radeon 9250 $38 for dual monitor

Chenming mATX 118 chassis $69 for the small formfactor estate.

Total $482.

I built this system recently, but I used a 9800XT with it. (I didn't use the chassis yet, still in box) System was pretty strong with everything I threw at it. You said you'll find your the OS on your own. I assume you can get a student discount on XP Home edition.

Pick up Acronis TrueImage if you get a chance. Be prepared for restore when needed.

Motherboard has 1394 onboard for your DV corder connection.
Click to expand...

this is good...$482 and good performance. i like that little case, but the site doesn't give external dimensions, about how big is it? also, does it have any fans? lastly, does it use a regular ATX ps or are the mATX boards just different in size and not ps?
 
Originally posted by: bob4432
Click to expand...

this is good...$482 and good performance. i like that little case, but the site doesn't give external dimensions, about how big is it? also, does it have any fans? lastly, does it use a regular ATX ps or are the mATX boards just different in size and not ps?[/quote]


Bob, the official thread of the Chenming/Aspire case is here. It answers all your questions, PSU, Measurements, heatsinks, fans, etc...
 
i have a system designed for $213 shipped, designed for internet and office uses
sempron 2600+ skt. A
ASRock K7S41GX mobo
512MB Wintec RAM
Ever Case E4252-91 case

note: im reusing several components from an older system, so the total shouldnt pass $350 for that stuff
 
Originally posted by: ReMeDy{WcS}
Originally posted by: bob4432
Click to expand...

this is good...$482 and good performance. i like that little case, but the site doesn't give external dimensions, about how big is it? also, does it have any fans? lastly, does it use a regular ATX ps or are the mATX boards just different in size and not ps?
Click to expand...


Bob, the official thread of the Chenming/Aspire case is here. It answers all your questions, PSU, Measurements, heatsinks, fans, etc...
[/quote]

thanks 🙂
 
Originally posted by: mechBgon
Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
why 2700s? cant he get a 3200 so it would be more useful in the future if he decides upgrades to a mobo with 3200 slots?
Click to expand...
Because some PC3200 needs a little voltage bump to run stable. Not all integrated mobos allow voltage bumps. It might work fine, but I like to play it safe when it's someone else's money.

My mom's video-editing system is quite similar to that except with 512MB of RAM and a second hard drive, by the way. I think the 1GB of RAM is a good idea, especially now while it's priced pretty low.
Click to expand...

He's editing 4MB images, so assuming that's JPEG he's got a high-res digicam and needs all the RAM he can get to do PS work 🙂
 
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