Putting together a system for a friend...

[bleeb]

So I'm putting together a fairly cheap system for a friend. They will be using it for internet, chatting, papers, and maybe an occasional game... anyways needed some opinions on motherboards and stuff.

Target price range is 350 bucks (cpu, board, RAM, HD, Video and case)

 

[imported_ninex]

I think its going to be hard to get all of that for $350, but I'll give my input for a good budget system that should run whatever you throw at it.

Athlon XP 2500+ (~$90)
Shuttle AN35N Ultra Motherboard (~$60)
2x256 Mushkin PC2700 Level II Dual Pack 2-2-2 Timings ($~95)
Western Digital 80gb 7200rpm Special Edition (~$65) [can probably find a better deal on this somewhere else]
Antec SLK3700AMB w/ Smart 350W PSU (~$65)

For video cards it really depends on what kind of games he wants to play. If he wants to play like CS and a lot of older games, I would recommend looking for a GF4 Ti4200 (on the FS/FT forums or other places), which can be had for around $50-$60. If he wants to try and play some newer games (like hl2, d3, farcry, etc), I'd try to get your hands on a used 9700 pro, which should be had for around $120 or maybe even a little less.

That brings your max total to around $500. I know its more than he wanted to spend, but getting the ti4200 instead of the 9700pro will drop your total about $70. Also that cpu, mb, and ram are all good for overclocking to get some added performance. I have a similar setup and I like it a lot. Obviously I'd love to have better, but I didn't spend much for mine (the 6800 that I got for $199 was by far the most expensive) and I can do whatever I want on mine (except play games at 16x12 with 129871982389123AA and 1928371923882913AF).

Either way, good luck with the build and hope your friend is happy with whatever you build him!

 

[Coquito]

2400 mobile athlon
speeze whisperrock II
shuttle an35n
512 value ram
ti4200
40-80gb wd/sg hd
nec2510(you need an optical drive)
antec w/350psu at newegg

Half the stuff you can find for pretty cheap in the forums. You can also get better cooling to rev up that chip if you want a little bit of an upgrade in the future. Though it is a very nice hsf for the price.

Stay away from ecs. They're good for test boards & crunching, but not many would recommend them over other boards that barely cost more.

 

[Fern]

That budget is pretty slim. If you guys don't mind refurb parts check Here at Dumpinggoods.com for inexpensice parts. (click on the link to continue to the store front)

Fern

 

[WuGahCha]

lol why dont u just get one form dell or bestbuy when they have a sale??
oh and if ur friend only use for web stuff, get a build-in video card maybe?

other than that I suggest go generic for everything!! save 10 bucks here and there really adds up
if possible try to get a 3100+ sempron or A64 2800+ for socket754 if not, just get a lower end one

something like:
A64 2800+ $140
any K8M800 mobo w/ video card $60
generic 512mb ram $60
80gb HD $50
cheap case/psu $30

those r estimate prices, if u dont like the build-in video part, pitch in another 50 bucks, but this would give u a lot better performace than any socketA system