Low Budget Challenge

[dmanharris]

Rather then make it a boring question about my personal difficulties, I decided to put a spin on it...

Who can make the best bare bones set-up for under $500? The Rules are:

1. The essential parts that need to be included are: Case, PSU, Motherboard, CPU, Fan (can be supplied in retail), Ram, Sound (can be on-board), video (can be on board), LAN (can be on board). All other parts, optical drives, HD's, ect, are not required.

2. Prices must be brought with link from NewEgg or other vender with at least a 8.0, six month resellerratings.com rating, with at least 15 reviews.

3. AMD or Intel based PC's only, with slight preferance for Intel based PC"s for the better multi-tasking and overpriced handicap.

4. This is to be a stock machine. Any OCing that you may want to mention will be gratiously read, but it's got to run well off the shelf.

And let the race for bragging rights begin!

M. Dan

 

[n0cmonkey]

Is there a prize?

 

[oupei]

what are you gonna use it for?

 

[jdogg707]

I'll play, here is the Intel:

1. Aspire X Dreamer II Mid Tower Case w/350W PSU - $55.00

2. Intel Pentium 4 2.8C Retail Box Processor - $180.00

3. Abit IS7-E2 865PE Motherboard - $81.00

4. 2 x 256MB Mushkin Basic Green PC3200 DDR RAM - $88.00

5. Sapphire Atlantis ATi Radeon 9600 128MB Video Card - $94.00

Total Shipped: $498.00

Motherboard has onboard sound and ethernet. A fan is included in the retail box processor. This system would be good for overall office use and light gaming. If no gaming will be done, drop the video card, grab an Intel board with integrated video for a few bucks more and sink the extra cash into a faster processor.

 

[Mik3y]

here ya go:

Antec Solution Series Quiet Black Mid Tower Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "SLK2650-BQE"

Intel Pentium 4/ 3.0C GHz 800MHz FSB, 512KB L2 Cache, Hyper Threading Technology

Intel "D865GBFLK" i865G Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU

Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200

Total Shipped: $485

when compiling this, i mainly though about how long it'll last and upgradability. for $500, you cant expect to get a strong and long lasting system wtih a video card that's good, so added in a motherboard that's good with intel extreme graphics 2. it also has a gigabit ethernet lan. as for the case, its super quiet and the psu is plenty to handle the system. the case also looks really good in person. as for the ram, you wont be upgrading and for a system that's $500, you wont really need something with killer timings. the csu is plenty for it is 3ghz. since you prefer intel on this, knowing that you wont be hardcore gaming, i thought that 3ghz is very strong for something that'll last you a long time. i hope you like it.

 

[dmanharris]

Ok, to answer targeted use. (I'm a grad student doing lot's of theoretical politics stuff... data analysis big time.)

Primarily a work machine: Full Office, Internet, ect. But also a numbers cruncher. Lot's of statistical information processing, and I mean lots. (we're talking about millions of samples...)

The fun end: Big music buff, both MP3's (ripping and playing) and also amature recording (I'd like to be able to make my demos on the machine with the aid of my studio software - Cool Edit Pro II) Occational Gaming. (I'd love to do it, but don't have time for it, and can get to that latter.)

The underlying goal is to switch my existing HD's ect into the new box for now, and work on upgrading the rest over time when budget will allow.

The prize, as stated before is bragging rights. (Sorry, if I had cash, the budget on the machine wouldn't be as low as it is.)

 

[n0cmonkey]

Chaintech SK8T800 bundle, w/cooling fan, w/athlon 64 2800+, w/kingston 512MB DDR400 =337
Antec Sonata w/extra fan =97.50
[AOpen Geforce4 MX440 =35.50]http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=AA19340&Bag=yy[/L]

=470.50

You're in grad school?

 

[Tostada]

Are there any other good i865PE boards besides the Asus ones that do the whole "PAT enabling" thingy and run as fast as i875 boards?

I would say just get a board with integrated graphics, but those boards are all slow. Can't you just use your old video card for awhile? If you had to get a video card, I suppose I'd just get a Radeon 9200SE, because I'd rather get a cheap video card you can upgrade later instead of getting a slower CPU/motherboard or a cheap case.

Anyway, I'd get the Asus P4P800 and a P4 2.8C. That's really where it's at as far as performance. I'd also get a really nice case since you'll be juggling a lot of parts around.

$180 P4 2.8C Northwood 800 FSB Retail
$95 Asus P4P800 SE i865PE + ICH5R
$88 2 x 256MB Mushkin PC3200 CL2.5
$79 + $15 Antec SLK2700-BQE

That's $457 if you can find a video card, otherwise it's $502 with a R9200SE with DVI-out.

 

[0roo0roo]

eh at such a low price its better to get prebuilt. u get windows and everything ...

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
eh at such a low price its better to get prebuilt. u get windows and everything ...

That doesn't even make sense. He already has hard drives, optical drives, and other parts to stick in the machine. What makes you think he needs a Dell with "windows and everything"??? Come on and show us a pre-built system for $500 with an 800 MHz FSB Northwood and a good motherboard.

I don't suppose you could have 19,000 posts if you actually read before you replied, though, could you?

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: dmanharris
Ok, to answer targeted use. (I'm a grad student doing lot's of theoretical politics stuff... data analysis big time.)

Primarily a work machine: Full Office, Internet, ect. But also a numbers cruncher. Lot's of statistical information processing, and I mean lots. (we're talking about millions of samples...)

What are you processing with? A commercial package like MATLAB or MAPLE, or custom-built analysis stuff? Any idea how it'd run on an Athlon64?

 

[Mik3y]

heh, the only reason y i'm recommending intel for u is cuz i cant find a good socket 754 mobo wtih integrated video in it.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Tostada

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
eh at such a low price its better to get prebuilt. u get windows and everything ...

That doesn't even make sense. He already has hard drives, optical drives, and other parts to stick in the machine. What makes you think he needs a Dell with "windows and everything"??? Come on and show us a pre-built system for $500 with an 800 MHz FSB Northwood and a good motherboard.

I don't suppose you could have 19,000 posts if you actually read before you replied, though, could you?

hey, he said it was a race

no plug and pray

 

[Zebo]

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy:evil:

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://images10.newegg.com/uploadFilesForNewegg/farcry.htm"> Far cry game/CPU/Mobo bundle at newegg...
CHAINTECH "SK8T800" K8T800
AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit
FarCry - PC Game
$223
</a>

A-DATA 184 Pin 256M DDR PC-3200 2 pieces $82

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -$195

= exacly $500 and will destroy all above.

 

[M16Grenadier]

$30:
Rosewill Silver/SilverBlue ATX Mid Tower Case with 400W Power Supply, Model "SL313-2812WU+P27" -RETAIL

$160:
Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 (2) - OEM

$56:
ABIT "SG-72" SiS661FX Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU -RETAIL *Prescott Ready*

$180:
Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8C GHz 800MHz FSB, 512K Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - Retail

$53.50:
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9200 Video Card, 64MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -OEM

SUBTOTAL: 479.50

TOTAL+SHIPPING: 494.50


Should be good for a workstation, multimedia, and casual gaming.