I have $600 =)

[Hankysmoo]

My friends letting me build his new comp before he goes to college. I was just looking for opinions on what I could get for $600 w/o the monitor or speakers. Help me build the best I can get budget/performance wise =). The total has to be > or = to $600 including tax and shipping (i'm in CA) Thanks!

 

[VBboy]

Why don't you let Dell, mWave, or any other computer builder do their job? Unless your friend pays you to get some custom components into his machine, what's the point of building it yourself? I personally like to avoid trouble 😉

Will you give him warranty?
Will you provide tech support?
Will you apologize if something breaks and you have to replace it, taking the system out of "circulation" for a while?

Don't bother..

 

[Hankysmoo]

That takes away all the fun! I've already built several computers for friends and family and I want to add one more to the list =P I just haven't been buying computer hardware for awhile (maybe like 6 months) so I don't know what all the best bang for the buck parts are right now.

 

[CrazySaint]

AMD:
Athlon XP 1600+ - ~$53 @ newegg
SVC GC68 HS + Panaflo L1A - ~$15 at svcompucycle
EPoX 8K5A3+ - ~$120 @ newegg
512MB Corsair XMS PC2700C2 - ~$150 @ googlegear
80GB Western Digital "Special Edition" 8MB Cache 7200 RPM - ~$105 @ newegg
Gainward gF4 Ti4200 128MB - ~$150 @ newegg
TOTAL: ~$590 + SH

Pros: Should OC to near 2200+ speed without having to increase voltage. Lower cost. Better graphics.
Cons: Will run hotter than an Intel setup.

Intel:

P4 1.8A - ~$150 @ newegg
EPoX 4G4AI - ~$100 @ newegg
512MB Corsair XMS PC2700C2 - ~$150 @ googlegear
80GB Western Digital "Special Edition" 8MB Cache 7200 RPM - ~$105 @ newegg
ATI RADEON 8500LE 64MB DDR CRT/DVI/TV ,Dual Monitor support DVIS+CRT only - $89
TOTAL: ~$595 + SH

Pros: Should OC to 2.4GHz without having to increase voltage. Will run cooler than an AMD setup.
Cons: Slower graphics.

Which you go with will probably depend largely on how important the graphics card is.

 

[m1ke101]

if you have access to frys, they have the 4g4a/2.0a combo for $249, which is a really good deal.