Need some advice Im building a friend a computer for 500 bucks

[OverclockMe]

This is what I got so far feel free to give some advice and some better deals or something. The budget is 500 bucks and I have gone over right now!

Enlight case-------------- 39.00
52x cdrom----------------- 32.00
floppy-------------------- 5.00
128mb ram----------------- 57.00
Sloket 370---------------- 12.00
CL Geforce2 gts 32mb DDR-- 140.00
Abit BE6-II--------------- 110.00
IBM 75GXP 45g HDD--------- 155.00
ATA66 cable--------------- 10.00
MX300--------------------- 20.00

Also remember that he can not afford a P3 so I want to get him a Celeron and overclock to 900 at least or close to a gig, which i have done before. And I am contemplating getting him the CL geforce2 GTS or whether or not to get him a geforce MX, I want this stuff to last and be very good for a while! Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[nickburns]

looks good, but i am just wondering if you will be able to build a computer that lasts long and is high quality for a $500 budget...hope thats $US.
also, dont forget about the monitor, that will kill the budget right there.

 

[optoman]

If you are really trying to stick to $500 then you are going to have to sacrifice somethings. You should get a smaller hard drive. You don't really need 45 Gb unless you are downloading a ton of stuff. I have 27 GB and only 13 Gb are used and that is between win98 and win2k. If you are going to overclock, don't forget that you will probably have to get a better cooler for the chip. It's going to be tuff to keep the budget, but what is the computer actually going to be used for? Also, don't forget about shipping charges. They can really add up in the end.

 

[rootaxs]

hmm.. seeing that ur already spending around $120 for the mobo why not just get an AMD based system? For $10 less u can get the Pro2 mobo from MSI and a really good performing Duron chip.

 

[Insomnium]

The slotket and the be6-2 are going to come out to $122 - you can get an Asus CUSL2-C for that amount. Or even better like rootaxs said, get a K7T Pro2-A with a Duron.

 

[Taz4158]

Duron would seem to make sense here.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

go duron it will be alot faster

 

[jaydee]

What will it be used for? You should probably go with a Celeron because of the integrated video/sound. With that budget you don't much choice.

 

[vi edit]

MSI KT7 Pro2-a - $115
Duron 600 - $60
Geforce MX - $100
128 RAM - $55
Enlight case - $45
20 gig 7200 RMP - $90
Floppy - $10
SB Live Value - $40
CDROM - $30
-----------------------
$545

You can skimp $50 by getting a V3-3000, and another $20 buying a used 10 gig HD in the FS/T forums. Those right there will drop you below $500.

It's just that performance is hard to get out of $500 if you are building totally from scratch. It would be different if you didn't have to buy things like a case, floppy, and HD, that were left over from another system.

 

[Bignate603]

You forget that he's going to need a cooler for that duron. They don't get ashotas t'birds but they still do cook. That's $15 bucks shipped at least.

 

[divinemartyr]

All the following prices will include shipping and are just personal recommendations based on what you're looking for. Sounds like you do not need a monitor, I will figure based on that. Also a few of the things you have listed you won't need, like an ATA66 cable, these come with most motherboards.

AMD Duron 700 ----- $60
MSI K7T Pro 2A ----- $120 (Will come with ATA100 integrated)
Asus V7100 GeForce2 MX ----- $100
Floppy ----- $15
Asus 50x CD-ROM ----- $45
20.5 gb Quantum 7200 rpm HDD ----- $90 ($120 on buy.com use a $30 coupon)Enlight case ----- $50
Aopen AW744 Pro ----- $30
128mb Crucial cas2 ram ----- $70

I assume you don't need keyboard, mouse, or monitor since you did not list them.

This prices out to roughly $580, but you weren't figuring shipping in your costs below it appears. This would be a great setup for this price, and you can't go wrong. Tell your friend to spend a little extra money, this will get him by for over a year no problem.

divinemartyr

 

[divinemartyr]

vi_edit:

scary how close our posts were, I had this open for a long time cause I got a phone call in the middle of it, no doubt we were writing this about the same time. :Q

divinemartyr

 

[Evilmage]

If your buddy wants to play games, then he'll have a harder time since gaming rigs costs a lot more. I'd go with a Duron also. If he's only running office apps or surfing the net, you can probably cut the price to 300 dollars without a monitor.

A good rig for office apps, surfing the net, and light gaming. By light gaming, I mean playing quake 3 at 640x480 16bits with all the settings on low. It'll work with most games, just not a busted up settings. This computer will actually run better then some of the $400 dollar ones you see at the store.

Duron 600-700 overclocked if you want 60-70
MSI k7t pro - 110
use the intergrated sound on the mobo - free OR
Muse Sound - 25
64megs of ram - 40
15 gig ibm 75gxp - 70

If he wants to play games, the rig you got going is good(Better with a Duron, it beats the Celeron in performance and price), except I'd think 45 gigz is too much.

Also, as for the cdrom, most games don't read from the cdrom anymore, so getting a 24x is pretty much the same as a 52x. The only time you will notice a difference is during the install, which you can wait the 2 minutes anyway.

Also, don't forget about your monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers(if you decide to get a sound blaster), and modem or nic.

BTW, where did you find a floppy for $5 dollars? I need a new floppy for my system and the cheapest I've found is $15 bucks at Onvia with free shipping. Everywhere else is 20+ plus shipping or tax at a local store.

 

[backWERD]

i say go with duron more performance for the price exspecially if your think about a geforce2

 

[goldboyd]

also dont forget at least $100 for the o/s.

 

[OverclockMe]

Thanks for the reply guys, also fyi 500 is for comp only no monitor and etc.

I will seriuosly consider the duron and msi mobo. Also some of you asked what this comp is gonna be used for. Well he likes to use Photoshop, office things, and programming, but at the same time, he also likes to play games like Counterstrike, so I think i will cut the GTS and get him the MX. Also you guys listed some great prices, but if you don't mind could you please list the websites so I could check them out? thanks again

 

[diehlr]

goldboyd, that was a joke right? ;-)

 

[OverclockMe]

goldbyd i hope your joking... but thanks for the concern hehe

 

[jaydee]

The only way goldboyd is not joking, is if you planning to use illegal distributions of windows. Unless, you use Linux, but you must ditch gaming for it.

 

[nickburns]

but isnt that morally wrong?

 

[jaydee]

Yes

 

[Cerb]

But if the $500 does not include a monitor and all, just the innards, wouldn't the guy already have at least Win95B in an old comp (Win95B is liveable, Win98SE preferable)?

 

[BurnItDwn]

You can usually pick up floppy drives for like 5 to 8 bucks at computer shows .... I havent gone to one in ages ... But sometimes they will try and sell you the old DSDD rather then DSHD drives ... (i guess at $2.50 a piece they were not too big a loss though) ... and i've bought new Floppy drives for under 10 bucks before at comp shows ...

if you live in chicago
www.giantcomputershow.com
www.computercentralshows.com

I know computercentral goes to St louis as well ....

if you live in another region ... disreguard my post