Looking for a good budget build.

[CurseTheSky]

Basically, I'm just looking for suggestions on a budget build. It definately doesn't have to scream, won't be overclocked at all, and will mainly be used for Internet, word processing, etc. The main concerns are responsiveness and multi-tasking (dual core, at least 1GB of memory), and the budget is in the low hundreds, probably $400 at an absolute max (but I'd prefer $200-300 if possible).

I have an older Pentium 4 that I can throw into an LGA775 board to temporarily cut costs if needed. I also have some assorted DDR400 memory and an AGP Geforce 6600... but I can't find anything that's recent and reliable that can use it all (that new VIA-based board that takes DDR / DDR2, AGP / PCI-E has unstable BIOS releases, if I read right). If the motherboard has 2x PATA connectors, I can use an old IDE hard drive. Otherwise, I'll buy a semi-cheap SATA DVD drive, and use the hard drive anyway.

I already have a $30ish case picked out, so unless there's an even better one for less, I should be set on that.

Intel is fine. AMD is fine. Integrated graphics are ok. I prefer power supplies with known reliability. Any memory is fine.

Thanks.

 

[hokiealumnus]

I would recommend what's in my sig (minus the cooler & IDE HDD). Granted, I'm partial, but it works great. My E4400 went up to 2.8GHz on stock voltage (1.325) completely stable and fine with the stock HSF. Total price (after rebates): $390. Got a $40MIR on both the MB & the RAM, and a $15MIR on the card. Ask me in a month whether they come back or not!

Edit - Forgot to mention that I was using a case I had from a previous build of about 5 years ago. Since these chips run so much hotter, I actually modded it a little bit. On advice from a great guy (Master of None) at the abit forums, I did the Taco Bell Cup mod. Cut a 4" hole precisely over the CPU & cut the bottom of a Taco Bell cup (they're sturdy, thick plastic) off so that the cup funnels room temp air about 1/2 to 1cm from the cooler

 

[geepondy]

I sorta asked the same question and you can look at my thread Here

The majority of the posters here are going to recommend overclocking and I know they have a very valid point for getting the most bang for the cheapest price. I chose not to but think I have a pretty zippy system that is also quite power efficient. You can read my choice of components in the last post. The total price was about $480 but I have $65 hopefully coming back in rebates. Note my configuration does not include a OS, monitor, keyboard or mouse.

I'm very happy with the system, mostly the multi-tasking difference is like night and day compared to my older P4 2.26g system. CPU intensive applications that used to max out my CPU time now all take much less then 50 percent of the CPU time and in fact it's hard to get the CPU utilization much above 50 percent with multiple tasks running. If you're coming from a single core processor, the capabilities of a dual core are not overrated, at least in my eyes.

You can save further from my component list if that is your ultimate goal. I chose the AMD Athlon X2 4800. You could save a few bucks and drop to a lower X2 and I don't think you would notice a difference in activities such as web browsing, word processing, etc. Likewise my case selection at nearly a hundred dollars including shipping is much more expensive then if you have a case in the low 30ish. Having said that, it's a nice case and the earthwatt 80 plus certified power supply will hopefully make up the difference in electrical costs over the life of the system. I would definitely recommend getting 2 gigs of memory though. It will allow you to run Vista much better should you go that path now or in the future and will bullet proof you for XP memory requirements even running memory intensive applications.

Part of me kinda wishes I might have tried overclocking but I'm also very happy with this system. It runs quiet and rock solid right from the get go with absolutely no problems with assembly or software loading or compatibility issues.

EDIT: Was looking at Newegg and I see my CPU the Brisbane AMD X2 4800+ has dropped another ten dollars since I purchased it, now for $99.99 and there are some good CPU/MB combo deals. Keep in mind when choosing a mb with onboard video, try to get one with a DVI connector if you have an LCD monitor with a DVI input.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Thanks for the replies.

This computer will NOT be overclocked. I won't be using it, so I won't maintain it. I want it to be 100% stable. Anything of mine, I overclock; this one isn't mine.

Also, it doesn't need to be powerful at all. A very low-end dual core should be plenty, and 1-2GB of memory. I'll probably even stick with the stock HSF unless there's something else REALLY cheap. I would still prefer all "newer" components, just incase it needs to be upgraded in the future (I.E. I'd like to stay away from socket 939, Pentium 4s, Pentium Ds, DDR (1), etc.)

Time to start cruising combo deals...

 

[geepondy]

FYI, I see the Intel E2140 Allendale is $75 at Newegg. The beauty in that is that it's socket 775 and so mb would be able to take Intel E and Q series multi core processors should you need to upgrade in the future. I don't see any combo deals offered with it but I see under their recommended components is a 1 gig stick of ram for $25. You can get an ok mb for maybe $70 (there are recommendations in the thread I posted as well as other's here). That's a good start and then you could look at your deals for HD's, DVD drives and case. FYI again, I had thought about using an older DVD drive and saving a few bucks but for $32, I got a new highly recommended drive that rocks, performs much better then my $100 Plextor of a few years ago.

You say the system is not for yourself? In my case thru the years, I've learned my lesson about building systems for family members because when you do, you become the main support. Everything has gone bad from eventual faulty components to Little Johnny infecting the pc with multiple viruses with his P2P activity and I was the one that got called every time. Now I tell them to just get a Dell and why not? For $500, they can get a decent home non-gaming system complete with an LCD monitor and I get piece of mind.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Originally posted by: geepondy
FYI, I see the Intel E2140 Allendale is $75 at Newegg. The beauty in that is that it's socket 775 and so mb would be able to take Intel E and Q series multi core processors should you need to upgrade in the future. I don't see any combo deals offered with it but I see under their recommended components is a 1 gig stick of ram for $25. You can get an ok mb for maybe $70 (there are recommendations in the thread I posted as well as other's here). That's a good start and then you could look at your deals for HD's, DVD drives and case. FYI again, I had thought about using an older DVD drive and saving a few bucks but for $32, I got a new highly recommended drive that rocks, performs much better then my $100 Plextor of a few years ago.

You say the system is not for yourself? In my case thru the years, I've learned my lesson about building systems for family members because when you do, you become the main support. Everything has gone bad from eventual faulty components to Little Johnny infecting the pc with multiple viruses with his P2P activity and I was the one that got called every time. Now I tell them to just get a Dell and why not? For $500, they can get a decent home non-gaming system complete with an LCD monitor and I get piece of mind.

Very true. At this point though, every computer in the house (5, not including laptops) was built by me, so I've already been through most of the horror. It's a major pain when problems to come about, but I haven't had too much trouble. The low-end Dells are very good deals, but they also won't let me reuse the stuff that I already have, depending on what I build in the end.