Help me build a solid computer for $500 or less

[UCDznutz]

my cousin just shot me a message on AIM asking me to build a computer for him. He's getting tired of sharing with his sibs and wants one for himself. He's on a 500 dollar budget and i was wondering what to do. I was looking in the direction of those AMD Athlon XP 1600+'s at Newegg for about $57.

He's not a hardcore gamer or power user or anything, just doesn't like his siblings messing things up all the time. Help me out here folks!

 

[Migroo]

Shouldnt this be in General Hardware?

 

[CarpeDeo]

Just wait for a deal from Dell. It's hard to beat Dell's systems nowadays . . . especially with their reliability.

 

[kt]

Agree with the guy who recommends getting a Dell. Just wait for a Dell deal, they are usually for around $500 for a full system.

 

[xSauronx]

need a monitor or os? those two will eat up that 500 dollars quick before buying serious hardware

would leave you with about 300 bucks
xp1600+ and pc chips mobo(sound/lan/videoshould be on most of these) (pricewatch...) 93
check the hot deals forum on a hard drive so you dont have to spend 80 bucks on one
modem 15
cheap case - 30-40
offname 256pc2100 - 50 (can usually get name brand around this price in the fs/ft forum)
EIDE 16x10x40 cdrw - 35
floppy - 8
win xp - 90
17" kds monitor on pricewatch - 100 shipped


thats about 500, again , if you hit the fs/ft forum for a hd and decent ram, otherwise a hard drive will run75+ instead of 50 or 60
and a geforce 2 gts can be had for 40 bucks

lowest ive seen for a dell system (dont play close attention.... is 599 after rebate, for a pretty decent system, and you get good support too

 

[0roo0roo]

500 isn't much just get integrated everything and u might be able to get it lower then 500 i suppose. otherwise... u gotta be a hotdeals whore u get a prebuilt low end.

 

[optimistic]

Here you go. It's black too Post in GH next time.

From MWAVE $258
Asus A7N266-VM
- Built-in Nvidia Nforce GeFORCE2 Video
- Built-in AC97and Dolby Digital (AC-3) Encoder Audio
- Built-in Network Interface 10/100 Mbps
AMD Athlon XP 1700+
256MB of Simpletech PC2100
BLACK Liteon 48X/24X/48X CDRW
BLACK Floppy Drive

WD 80GB 7200rpm Hard Drive 8MB cache $54
BLACK INWIN MICRO ATX TOWER CASE $38
BLACK Mouse / KB Combo $10

End Total: $360


Monitor
VIEWSONIC 17" E70B (BLACK) $132

Speakers
Logitech Z-340 $24

 

[dabuddha]

the Z340 speakers are pretty nice.. i picked up a pair because i needed something cheap and they really surprised me

 

[RossMAN]

Your cousin can get a Dell Dimension 4550 which has a nice case, easy to upgrade, is VERY QUIET and fast starting at $409 after $100 MIR ... however you have to pay sales tax in almost every state (except OR & DE AFAIK). Plus it comes with 1 year 24/7 tech support and legit software.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

RossMAN has spoken .. ..this thread can be archived now..OT ..RossMAN what you lookin' for on a HotDeal for Xmas..?

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon
RossMAN has spoken .. ..this thread can be archived now..OT ..RossMAN what you lookin' for on a HotDeal for Xmas..?

In other words I'm not saying.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon
RossMAN has spoken .. ..this thread can be archived now..OT ..RossMAN what you lookin' for on a HotDeal for Xmas..?

In other words I'm not saying.

/me w/ a sidelong glance..does it involve this www .. ?

 

[UCDznutz]

thanks for the repiles folks. and yes, i will post in General Hardware next time. It was 2am when i posted. Must not have been thinkin straight

and oh yeah, no monitor or OS required. he's got a spare and i've got a spare OS for him.

 

[LordSnailz]

and i've got a spare OS for him.

hehe ... mind sending me one of your spare OS as well =)

 

[lukatmyshu]

tell him to buy a dell ... there's a deal that works out to be like ....300 bucks for a 2.4 ghz machine. On top of that you get support (which means you don't have to drive over there when something goes wrong) ...I swear, I'm also irritated at Dell for selling cheap machines 'cuz I love to build them but I just don't have the need anymore.

 

[dmcowen674]

There is a thread in the Distributed Computing area that has a Company that sells a system with everything integrated for $249.

 

[DeafeningSilence]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Your cousin can get a Dell Dimension 4550 which has a nice case, easy to upgrade, is VERY QUIET and fast starting at $409 after $100 MIR ... however you have to pay sales tax in almost every state (except OR & DE AFAIK). Plus it comes with 1 year 24/7 tech support and legit software.

I usually hear people talk about using coupons to buy from Dell (for a certain % off the total). Do you know of any that would be useful for this machine, RossMAN? (The ones I can find are all single-use only.)

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: DeafeningSilence

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Your cousin can get a Dell Dimension 4550 which has a nice case, easy to upgrade, is VERY QUIET and fast starting at $409 after $100 MIR ... however you have to pay sales tax in almost every state (except OR & DE AFAIK). Plus it comes with 1 year 24/7 tech support and legit software.

I usually hear people talk about using coupons to buy from Dell (for a certain % off the total). Do you know of any that would be useful for this machine, RossMAN? (The ones I can find are all single-use only.)

There was a $50 off $599+ Dell Dimension 4550 coupon but it expired about 30 minutes ago ... coupons come and go all the time. Usually XPBargains.com or JumpOnDeals.com post most of the Dell deals in the Hot Deals forum, check their websites at least 3 times a week. Sometimes you can combine a nice 10% off coupon, plus $50 off coupon, plus 5% Amex discount, PLUS free shipping and damn you've got a smokin' deal on a new P4.

 

[her209]

Send it to me and I'll send you back a 233 Mhz Pentium 2. Oh ya! Monitor included.

 

[teqwiz]

Microtel POS. A sponser tu this site BTW.200 dollar syatem for Joo Friend.

 

[Hamburgerpimp]

Screw Dell and their 128MB memory web surfing machines. Build you own.