Help me build a cheap AMD computer for my kid and my sisters kid....

[Duvie]

I want the same system for both....

No monitor as I will take care of that later....

requirements:

1) integrated mobo with decent vid performance but there is no intense 3d gaming....
2) good quality onboard sound
3) minimum amd xp processor...no tbird or durons please....
4) minimum 256mb ddr since I will be running winxp on them
5) decent cd-rw
6) 20-40gb harddrive...basically the sweet spot for price per gb...
7) no floppy needed
8)case with usb front ports
9) mouse and keyboard taken care of
10) decent quality PSU (no ocing will be done)


anything I am missing????

350-400....you get an A
401-450....you get a B
451-500....you get a C

 

[Lord Evermore]

A particular reason you want an AMD system? 440 bucks gets a complete Dell system with a P4 2.4GHz (no monitor).

THere are plenty of posts every day here asking about good boards. Look through and find the ones referencing low-cost boards, look at prices at newegg, googlegear, mwave.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Just a quick buildout; total price 363 or less, depending on what level of video you want as well as how much upgradeability you want:

95 shuttle mn31n
82 xp2200 retail
54 corsair 512 2700
43 liteon
64 WD 40GB
25 foxconn pc-115

or
64 FIC AM37
or
56 Biostar M7VIQ

 

[Chobits]

Get your HDD from the Retail since they usually have much better deals than online...bestbuy/CC usually have some kind of nice deal.

My uncle got a 60gig maxtor for 40 AR a while back so try to look for that or someting similar

 

[Lord Evermore]

80 bucks for a 40GB drive, 90 for a 60GB doesn't sound like a deal (that's the lowest Best Buy has right now). If you catch them when there's a rebate you might get something okay, but only because the retail drives have a warranty from the manufacturer and come with drive rails and cable (not that the cable matters since motherboards come with them).

Actually, their circular for this week does show a 60GB WD for 60 bucks after rebate. So that definitely would be a better deal.

 

[krackato]

MB: Asus A7N266-VM $72 (video, lan, digital sound)
CPU: Athlon XP 1700+ - $44
Cooling: - $20
HD: 40gb 7200rpm - $64
Ram: 256mb DDR 2100 - $29
CASE: Enlight EN-72500AZ with 300w PSU - $58
CDRW - 52x Lite-On $43

Total: $330 - At Newegg.com

 

[Viper96720]

Find an nforce or nforce 2 with integrated graphics. I made a higher price ranged shuttle SN41G2 came out to around mid $500. Would be less if you got a case w/ps
motherboard and heatsink(xpc includes heatsink so went with oem cpu). Instead of the shuttle xpc.

 

[zephyrprime]

6) 20-40gb harddrive...basically the sweet spot for price per gb...

Where'd you get that idea? Can't even buy a 20GB drive anymore. The sweetspot is around 120GB-160GB. The kids will need it to since they'll be downloading all those MP3's.

I recommend an Asus nforce2 board. Video, lan, sound all onboard. Best onboard video of any board around. Or get an Epox or gigabyte if you're cost conscious.

Then get one of these great 1700+ XPs. They overclock super good. And I know you said you won't overclock but how can you resist when it's so easy with the newer 1700+ steppings?
512MB ram is the min. Stay away from 256MB.

 

[TheCorm]

Remember that some people in here may base suggestions on suitable components for a system that they would use rather than a cheap...but still good system.

I would say that a PC Chips M810LMR + Athlon XP 1700+ + 256 OR 512MB PC133 + 40/60GB Hard drive should be fine.

You get on board graphics that can be set anywhere between 8 and 64mb shared memory and the on board sound is reasonable and can be set to 4 Channel. Plus you have an AGP slot on this board, which others do not always offer so you can shove in a faster card if you wish.

You might also like to consider the ECS K7S5A but you would of course have to get a dedicated AGP card with that....but it offers a DDR memory upgrade path. I have supplied cases that cost like £20 over here in the UK with 300W PSU's and never had a problem....but it's true you run more risk than if you bought something like an Enlight or Antec.

Cooling?...should cost much....a mid range Coolermaster plus a cheap 80mm fan...shouldn't set you back more than say $5 or so.

Jamie

 

[compudog]

Originally posted by: krackato
MB: Asus A7N266-VM $72 (video, lan, digital sound) CPU: Athlon XP 1700+ - $44 Cooling: - $20 HD: 40gb 7200rpm - $64 Ram: 256mb DDR 2100 - $29 CASE: Enlight EN-72500AZ with 300w PSU - $58 CDRW - 52x Lite-On $43 Total: $330 - At Newegg.com

This looks like an A+ to me... but I'd go with the 1800+ RETAIL for $2.00 less and get the three year warranty. (also @ newegg).

 

[foofoo]

Originally posted by: krackato

MB: Asus A7N266-VM $72 (video, lan, digital sound) CPU: Athlon XP 1700+ - $44 Cooling: - $20 HD: 40gb 7200rpm - $64 Ram: 256mb DDR 2100 - $29 CASE: Enlight EN-72500AZ with 300w PSU - $58 CDRW - 52x Lite-On $43 Total: $330 - At Newegg.com

this is the ticket with one substitution. i'd get the
Shuttle Motherboard for AMD processors Micro ATX, Model MN31N - Retail
for it's nforce 2 igp chipset. firewire, usb2, geforce4mx graphics. worth the $23 price difference imho.
good luck

 

[Mer]

pcinfinity.net has some good deals on barebones systems and full systems.

You might find your budget system there and they offer a 1 year warranty on all systems.

From all the prices I've seen mentioned on this post... seems like you're best off trying them.

Not to mention that it saves you the time needed to actually asseble the system if you bought the parts separately.

I have bought over 5 systems from them and am happy with their work.

Good Luck,
Mer.

 

[Novgrod]

from newegg:

xp1700 ($42) (more for retail, i'm sure).

IN-WIN case with 300 watt power supply (circa $50) This is the ugliest case you can find, but it's built well, construction with it is easy, and my version has been subject to repeated bashings courtesy of the Chicago and Houston area UPS dudes. It's bent, it's nearly broken, but it works.

ASUS nforce-1 microatx mobo ($62)

CDRW of choice.

256 mb crucial pc2100 ddr (arrgh i don't know what the price is)

any sort of harddrive in the world will work. ($pi^e(^!))

having put together a couple super-budget systems for friends & family, i can tell you that you won't get a much better deal than this. or if you can, then you can call me stupid. which is okay, because i probably am.

TT&L we're talking a couple hundred for something reasonable.

 

[Bonesdad]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
80 bucks for a 40GB drive, 90 for a 60GB doesn't sound like a deal (that's the lowest Best Buy has right now). If you catch them when there's a rebate you might get something okay, but only because the retail drives have a warranty from the manufacturer and come with drive rails and cable (not that the cable matters since motherboards come with them).

Actually, their circular for this week does show a 60GB WD for 60 bucks after rebate. So that definitely would be a better deal.

I THINK, Office Max is running a 40 GB WD (2MB cache) this coming week for $30 AR. I think.

 

[MikeMike]

check out my thread on a cheap but good system, i am missing a few components in it (kb and mouse, monitor, and spks but it is cheap

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=1046489

with shipping to ohio its $324

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: compudog

Originally posted by: krackato
MB: Asus A7N266-VM $72 (video, lan, digital sound) CPU: Athlon XP 1700+ - $44 Cooling: - $20 HD: 40gb 7200rpm - $64 Ram: 256mb DDR 2100 - $29 CASE: Enlight EN-72500AZ with 300w PSU - $58 CDRW - 52x Lite-On $43 Total: $330 - At Newegg.com

This looks like an A+ to me... but I'd go with the 1800+ RETAIL for $2.00 less and get the three year warranty. (also @ newegg).

This looks the winner right now....I may go with a less cd-rw and see if the 2000+ is in range....

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
A particular reason you want an AMD system? 440 bucks gets a complete Dell system with a P4 2.4GHz (no monitor).

THere are plenty of posts every day here asking about good boards. Look through and find the ones referencing low-cost boards, look at prices at newegg, googlegear, mwave.

I will check it out....I like the 330 number though....I am keeping them low so we can splurge on the flat thin monitors....

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1
check out my thread on a cheap but good system, i am missing a few components in it (kb and mouse, monitor, and spks but it is cheap

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=1046489

with shipping to ohio its $324

Not bad!!! I like the idea of the nforce2 mobos....Should I get 2 sticks of 128mb to run in DC mode???

 

[Viper96720]

I would get a stick of 512. Newegg has corsair value select PC2700 for 51 bucks. ram pic
Plus I don't think dual channel will make a difference to them.

 

[mechBgon]

Yeah, for WinXP, 256Mb doesn't sound that good, especially if you're giving 32Mb-64Mb of it to onboard video. I'd go 512Mb and/or stick with Win2000 Pro.