New Build for a Friend

[MrControversial]

Don't need optical drives, reusing them.

 

[imported_Kensai]

You can probably slap together a cheapy S754 or maybe an S939 build for that price.

 

[ribbon13]

Does $500 include OS license? keyboard mouse monitor?

 

[MrControversial]

No. I have the OS, keyboard and mouse. He bought a $2500 HSN computer and it went to hell.

 

[shortylickens]

Simple answer: eMachines.

Long answer: I once designed a computer (from pricewatch) for about 175 bucks.
And it was actually not bad. A duron 1.8 GHz machine is good enough for Office.

 

[wakawaka]

msi rs480 $90
512 corsair value ram $40
Hitachi 80 gig SATA $60
amd athlon 3000 $140
Antec Solution SLK1650 $50

$480

 

[Green Man]

Originally posted by: wakawaka
msi rs480 $90
512 corsair value ram $40
Hitachi 80 gig SATA $60
amd athlon 3000 $140
Antec Solution SLK1650 $50

$480

 

[NokiaDude]

How old is the HSN computer? A good dusting and a fresh install of XP might do the trick. And don't those HSN computers have warranties?

 

[MrControversial]

The mobo is dead. It freezes up in the BIOS. Can't reset it. Can't flash it. Can't do anything.

 

[BigLan]

Originally posted by: wakawaka
msi rs480 $90
512 corsair value ram $40
Hitachi 80 gig SATA $60
amd athlon 3000 $140
Antec Solution SLK1650 $50

$480

I'll recommend this setup as well. I'm running this mobo & cpu in my htpc and love it. You might want to try a 'combo' from monarch to get this board & chip a little cheaper (plus get Half Life 2 and Far Cry for free.)

The onboard graphics really likes dual channel memory for gaming, so you might want to go 2x256 or 2x512 if the budget allows.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: wakawaka
msi rs480 $90
512 corsair value ram $40
Hitachi 80 gig SATA $60
amd athlon 3000 $140
Antec Solution SLK1650 $50

$480

You guys really need to do your research before you recommend that Radeon Xpress board to everyone. It's a bad suggestion.

The Radeon Xpress is a budget chipset that doesn't perform as well as the NF4. The MSI board actually performs as much as 20% slower than the NF4. It's a bad motherboard that requires a $146 CPU, which just just doesn't make sense. If you're going to build a 939 system, build a decent one.

 

[Tostada]

It's pretty funny that so many people repeated what wakawaka said without noticing that his math is off by $100 (maybe you're supposed to pocket that) and you can't get an Antec 1650 for $50.

Here's the only review of that MSI Radeon Xpress board I've found:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1784837,00.asp



Anyway...

If you're going to reuse the optical drives, you might want to reuse an old AGP card, too, then you could use one of the Biostar NF4 board with AGP and PCI-E. Here's what I'd get for $500:


A64 3000+ Retail: $146 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80699-2
Biostar NF4 board: $88.50 http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138248
160G SATA Barracuda: $99 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101559
1GB Corsair kit: $82.50 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80098-21
Antec 1650: $81 http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=11-129-150

$497 delivered


If he really just needs a good office system, though, he could probably get by with something closer to this:

Sempron 2800+ Retail: $87 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80143-1
Biostar K8M800 UniChrome board: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=13-138-242
80GB WD Special Edition: $57 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101206
512MB Corsair: $44 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80098-6
Antec 1650: $81 http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=11-129-150

$335 delivered


The 90nm Semprons are very good performers (although I don't know if I'd get one of the ones with only 128K cache like the 2600 and 3000).

I'd probably end up getting something somewhere in the middle like a Socket 754 system that has a full 1GB of RAM and a nice hard drive, maybe even a 250GB Barracuda 7200.8 if he'd use the space. If you're not pushing the budget too much I'd really consider not reusing the optical drives and getting a $35 combo DVD-ROM/CD-R (Sony or Lite-On) or a $55 NEC DVD burner that will match the case and probably be a lot faster than the old drives he's using.

 

[shoRunner]

Originally posted by: Tostada

Originally posted by: wakawaka
msi rs480 $90
512 corsair value ram $40
Hitachi 80 gig SATA $60
amd athlon 3000 $140
Antec Solution SLK1650 $50

$480

You guys really need to do your research before you recommend that Radeon Xpress board to everyone. It's a bad suggestion.

The Radeon Xpress is a budget chipset that doesn't perform as well as the NF4. The MSI board actually performs as much as 20% slower than the NF4. It's a bad motherboard that requires a $146 CPU, which just just doesn't make sense. If you're going to build a 939 system, build a decent one.

it looks like its more of a msi problem than an ati problem. their reference board did just fine.

 

[Praytus]

why not pick up an 8400 or 4700 dell refurb? A dell 4700 for 300$ isn't that uncommon in their outlet store and much cheaper then purchasing the components yourself.

 

[ai42]

Originally posted by: Praytus
why not pick up an 8400 or 4700 dell refurb? A dell 4700 for 300$ isn't that uncommon in their outlet store and much cheaper then purchasing the components yourself.

Bingo! Heck you could even probbably grab a $250ish 3000 box if this is a non-gammer.

BTW I ran into a SystemMax HSN computer about 6 months ago and I couldn't beleive it the restore CD had a corrupted Windows system files. The CD was still sealed and was not scratched, and and replaced the hard drive for a new one and I know the drive was good, and I did it twice and the friggin Windows install from the restore CD had corrupted system files!

 

[bocamojo]

This is what I bought, which is a little over 500, so you may have to go with a cheaper vid card or something, but otherwise, this is very close to the budget you're shooting for, and is very stable:

Mobo/CPU combo: ECS 755-A2 (built in 10/100 LAN and 6.1 ch audio) w/ Athlon 64 3000+ and retail heatsink/fan: 179 shipped from SMK SuperStore

HD: Western Digital 80GB Serial ATA 7200 RPM (Model WD800JD, OEM): 58 shipped from newegg

Video Card: ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB DDR 8X AGP (OEM/refurbished): 190 shipped from newegg

RAM: Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 (retail): 49 shipped from newegg

CASE w/ PSU: Take your pick from newegg. You can get a decent one for about 50 dollars.

 

[wakawaka]

Originally posted by: Tostada
and you can't get an Antec 1650 for $50.

You can't? Hmm....

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129149

 

[wakawaka]

I stand by my recommendation. For $380, you can have a nice little media center as well with it. I have my athlon 3000 939(1.8) running at 2ghz and loving it. If you don't like the MSI board, check out the ECS.