Need a real budget computer.. under $300

[l Xes l]

my friend' wants me to build him a computer dat will be able to run wc3...
he's pretty broke rite now.. so cheaper it is.. better it is...
he has an old psu from his 5 years old HP... but i wonder if i can use that..
he already got a monitor, mouse, keyboard, hard drive, and speakers...

i know you don't need much to run wc3..
my Ahtlon xp 2400.. runs it like a charm...
so what would be the minimum i could go w/ this build?

Price aim is around $200-250

 

[mzulchvor]

Try this guide. There's an amd setup that only costs $313. If you take off the power supply and ram, it should be under $300.

System Building Guide

 

[l Xes l]

lol.. im not a nub ^^... i've built several computers...
it's just that since money is a real issue here.. i wanted to find out how low... i could go as budget wise to build something that would run wc3...
i know that i can easily build a computer for $300 that'd run wc3 without a problem.. but i want to build that minimum system where it'd cost less than $300... even close to $250... dat still would run wc3..

 

[TWills]

<<<looks quickly at minimum requirements on Warcraft 3 box...

 

[l Xes l]

Requirements
# Computer: 600 MHz processor or better

# Memory: 256 MB of RAM

# Video: 32 MB 3D Video card


but yea.. any suggestions on cpu and gpu?

 

[aplefka]

Dude, you could build a War3 system for less than 200 is my guess, if you're onyl going to go for the minimum requirements.

 

[l Xes l]

Originally posted by: aplefka
Dude, you could build a War3 system for less than 200 is my guess, if you're onyl going to go for the minimum requirements.

yes, i already kno that... but after shipping and all dat.. im tryin to shoot for under $250

 

[TWills]

Originally posted by: krnxpride83
Requirements
# Computer: 600 MHz processor or better

# Memory: 256 MB of RAM

# Video: 32 MB 3D Video card


but yea.. any suggestions on cpu and gpu?

PIII 600mhz CPU $40

Apollo Geforce 4 mx 440 64mb 45$

256 sdram $40

Cheap P/S $10

old mobo stolen from one of the lifers....priceless

Grand Total $135

 

[TWills]

btw just go to pricewatch and do some shoppin

 

[l Xes l]

im leaning toward duron... http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80281-0
wat cha think...

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

You may be able to pick up a cheap Dell for that. Link

Probably need a video card though.

SYSTEM SPECIFICATION
OptiPlex 170L
OptiPlex 170L Small Desktop: Intel Celeron D Processor 320 (2.40GHz, 256KB, 533MHz FSB)
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
System Price $309.00
Promotion Discount ($20.00)
Discounted Price $289.00

Dell recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Memory: 512 MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz (2 DIMMs)
Hard Disk Drive: 80 GB EIDE Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
CD ROM Drive: 48X Max Variable CD ROM Drive
Mouse Pad
USB 2 Button Wheel Mouse
Standard Keyboard

The sub $300 are under Optiplex as well as Dimensions.

 

[TWills]

be sure to get h/s with the duron if u get one. good proc I have an old 1.3 duron layin around somewhere

 

[Shlong]

350 watt case: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811147010 $40 w/ shipping
Nforce2 mobo: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130488 $58 w/ shipping
Video Card: Use the onboard Geforce4 MX on mobo.
Sound Card: Use onboard sound.
Barton 2600 CPU: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103417 $79 w/ shipping
CPU Fan: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835150010 $15 w/ shipping
PQI 512mb Ram: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141164 $40 w/ shipping
80 gig Sata HD: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106 $60 w/ shipping
Sony CDrw/DVD combo drive: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106819 $35 w/ shipping

Total: $327

** You can save $31 by getting Sempron 2400 Processor which comes with heatsink/fan for $63: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104210
** If you want to spend a little more get a refurbished radeon 9800 pro for $110 - $120.

 

[Shlong]

Hmm I see you edited your original message from $300 to $200 - $250. Then you would have to get 40 or 20gb harddrive instead of 80gb, athlon xp or duron processor, maybe just a regular cdrw instead of combo drive, and 256mb ram instead of 512.

 

[l Xes l]

thx shlong.. but i think those specs are a tad bit higher than wat i was looking for...
and i believe that wc3 needs 32mb of dedicated gpu ram... he has tried to play it on his laptop w/ intergrated gpu... it didn't work...

 

[l Xes l]

Originally posted by: Shlong
Hmm I see you edited your original message from $300 to $200 - $250. Then you would have to get 40 or 20gb harddrive instead of 80gb, athlon xp or duron processor, maybe just a regular cdrw instead of combo drive, and 256mb ram instead of 512.

he already has a harddrive and cd-rom

 

[Shlong]

On that mobo you use system ram as video ram, so you can use 128 mb out of the 512 mb ram for the integrated video.

 

[l Xes l]

Originally posted by: Shlong
On that mobo you use system ram as video ram, so you can use 128 mb out of the 512 mb ram for the integrated video.

do you think that's as effective as having a 64mb gpu?

 

[Shlong]

Originally posted by: krnxpride83

Originally posted by: Shlong
On that mobo you use system ram as video ram, so you can use 128 mb out of the 512 mb ram for the integrated video.

do you think that's as effective as having a 64mb gpu?

Yup, my friend has similar system (same motherboard but instead he has a barton2500 overclocked to 2.2 ghz) and he runs wow fine (although details arent all high) he recently got a 6600gt though and no longer needs to use onboard video & now can put all the details on high & runs smooth.

 

[l Xes l]

how much ram was he running before the 6600gt

 

[Shlong]

64mb from the system ram for the integrated video so he had 448mb for system ram. Sometimes he upped it to 128mb but I dont think he noticed much of a difference.

 

[l Xes l]

im not quite familiar with the onboard video setting...
is there setting in bios where he can adjust the portion of memory for video?

oh yea.. it will still support IDE drives rite?

 

[dodgybob]

Yep there will be an option in the bios to change the amount of system ram set aside for video. I stongly advise with this setup you go with 512mb ram, 256mb is barely enough to function in winxp and part of that would have to be allocated to the integrated video.

The board will definitely support parallel ide drives with the standard 2 sockets giving 4 channels overall. Hell, it supports sata drives as well.

 

[aatf510]

If I can only afford a $300 computer, I wouldn't play Wow3 and pay for their month subcription.

 

[l Xes l]

it's not Wow3.. it's Warcraft 3... there's no such thing as wow3.. ^^

btw... will the mobo support ide drives?