sub $300 dollar pc!?

[shoRunner]

 

[shoRunner]

monarch sempron 2400 mobo combo $111

512mb RAM

DVD-ROM

cheap 40gb HD

cheap sparkle PSU (refurb...but its $12...)

nice cheap case...used a few

cheapest DVI video card

about $285 before shipping...and it has 512mb of RAM.

 

[Googer]

Wow I cannot believe I did it!

For $309 (if 9 bucks is a deal breaker then may be you should think twice about buying a PC.)
You Get ATI X300 Graphics
Socket 754 AMD 2600+ (everyone else is recomending socket A Blah! )
512MB of RAM
Case with 430 watt PSU
52x CD ROM with blistering fast 75ms access time.
40GB 7,200 RPM ATA133 Hard Drive.
And Linux OS. You can get a lot done on linux: Games(Doom3), Internet, word processing, MP3, TiVo, DVD watching, almost anything you can do in W1nd0wz you can get done using linux (Suse, gentoo, xandros, or debain).

I did fail however to include a mouse and keyboard. Those can be picked up for almost nothing at garage sales, goodwill, and as a last resort- EBAY.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Googer/309_Dollar_ATI_X300_SKT_754_512mbRam.png

EDIT:
I updated my wish list. And I shaved off some of the cost of the parts ($16), while at the same time I improved the performance of the system.
The changes were made to the RAM selection, Instead of 256mbx2 (transcend) for $49 I deleted that in favor of a Single stick of 512mb Kingston value ram for $48 with $15 mail in rebate. This brings the total cost of the system down in the SUB $300 range. $293 to be exact. If I work a little bit harder I could possibly make this system faster and cheaper.

here is the updated photo of my wish list:
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Googer/308_Dollar_ATI_X300_SKT_754_512mbRam.png

Also I did not search http://www.Froogle.google.com . If i had searched that site for all the same parts another estamated $25-45 could have been saved. That much extra cash leaves open a lot of possibilites for upgrades.

 

[shoRunner]

he needs a DVD-ROM...and i don't know how well i'd trust that PSU....doesn't even have a brand on it talk about generic. but socket 754 would be much perfered over socket A...if only the radeon xpress 200 boards would follow the reference design and throw in a DVI out.

 

[jpeyton]

Dell, Dell, Dell. I cannot stress that enough. Check eBay, browse Dell Outlet, or wait for the next coupon/promotion in Hot Deals.

Your best bet is probably a Dimension 4700 with a X300SE video card (that has DVI out).

Before people knock on Dell, please come up with something better for the price. Dell uses good chassis, great PSUs, bulletproof motherboards, and they include a Windows XP license.

 

[shoRunner]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Before people knock on Dell, please come up with something better for the price. Dell uses good chassis, great PSUs, bulletproof motherboards, and they include a Windows XP license.

i wouldn't be quite so gungho about dells reliabilty...its certainly no better than anyother OEM or selfbuilt machine.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: shoRunner

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Before people knock on Dell, please come up with something better for the price. Dell uses good chassis, great PSUs, bulletproof motherboards, and they include a Windows XP license.

i wouldn't be quite so gungho about dells reliabilty...its certainly no better than anyother OEM or selfbuilt machine.

We were talking about a $300 PC, and I think Dell would win easily in reliability for that price range vs. another OEM/homebrew system. This is purely from experience, going through about 5 of their desktops per week.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...ls.asp?EdpNo=1283114&sku=C460-1022%20H

If you don't mind rebates... Well, Tigerdirect is infamous for crappy rebating, so you might not get it. If you do, though, it's a pretty nice system. $119, and you can add a bunch of stuff. If you want to game, then try this cheap $15 video card:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...etails.asp?EdpNo=1043623&sku=C460-8006

This card has 128MB DDR RAM and can play Doom III on medium with all the flashy features turned off! It beats the Geforce 4000 and Radeon 9200, and it's only $15 (after rebate)!

 

[SilentZero]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: Chosonman
Yes the budget system I posted meets your specs.

Not bad, but one problem you forgot to include the Windows operating system, its almost $100 for OEM version, so that'll probably go over the budget.

linux baby

Exactly!

 

[Turkey22]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: shoRunner

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Before people knock on Dell, please come up with something better for the price. Dell uses good chassis, great PSUs, bulletproof motherboards, and they include a Windows XP license.

i wouldn't be quite so gungho about dells reliabilty...its certainly no better than anyother OEM or selfbuilt machine.

We were talking about a $300 PC, and I think Dell would win easily in reliability for that price range vs. another OEM/homebrew system. This is purely from experience, going through about 5 of their desktops per week.

Lmao Dell fanboy. If you want a crappy flatscreen monitor you cannot beat their prices. By crappy I mean the "free" upgrade to a flatscreen that we got here and all of the lcds have a blurry spot down the middle 45+ monitors. Also the lowest after all of Dell's fees that you can get is in the $600 including educational discounts and thats for celerons. I personally built a 2300+sempron system for someone the other day for $400, she then went out and bought a decent lcd for another $130 or so. That machine spanks the crap out of the 2.2 p4 dells we have here now and gives the 2.8 with dualchannel a run for their money. (both of which I'm sure were purchased for $1200 each. Also had another guy I build for getting ready to order another cpu from as the last he bought from dell. He buys more for performance, but on that end anyone can smoke dell's prices out of the water. Btw I don't skimp on anything except occaisionally cases (but not the psu). If you don't know how to build a pc you buy from dell, if you know anyone who can you buy from them if you are looking for quality and price.

Btw we've had plenty of problems with faulty Dell hardware as our district has been Dell only for at least 6 years. Their not bad and their service is usually solid (I've never been rerouted to India) but their pretty much the same as buying your own parts regarding reliability.

 

[nbarb99]

@Turkey22: Err, the OP said he already had a monitor.

 

[CreativeTom]

Originally posted by: Tostada

Originally posted by: doinmybestatlast
Dell more often than not

Originally posted by: Hanpan
One word:

DELL

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Dude, you're getting a Dell!

- M4H

Dell doesn't have $300 systems. Sure, they avertize that they do, but if you get their $300 system they charge you $100 shipping.

Also, I think the cheapest Dell with a DVI output is $862.

That's not true at all....open a small business acount and most of the time they run specials with free shipping. I just purchased a machine there yesterday for a bit over $320 with some extra options on it. I think maybe you need to think before you type Tostada.

 

[raincityboy]

Originally posted by: CreativeTom

Originally posted by: Tostada

Originally posted by: doinmybestatlast
Dell more often than not

Originally posted by: Hanpan
One word:

DELL

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Dude, you're getting a Dell!

- M4H

Dell doesn't have $300 systems. Sure, they avertize that they do, but if you get their $300 system they charge you $100 shipping.

Also, I think the cheapest Dell with a DVI output is $862.

That's not true at all....open a small business acount and most of the time they run specials with free shipping. I just purchased a machine there yesterday for a bit over $320 with some extra options on it. I think maybe you need to think before you type Tostada.

sorry had to do it.

 

[imported_Beavis]

If you want a sub 300 PC

Here you go
AOL $299 PC

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Turkey22

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: shoRunner

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Before people knock on Dell, please come up with something better for the price. Dell uses good chassis, great PSUs, bulletproof motherboards, and they include a Windows XP license.

i wouldn't be quite so gungho about dells reliabilty...its certainly no better than anyother OEM or selfbuilt machine.

We were talking about a $300 PC, and I think Dell would win easily in reliability for that price range vs. another OEM/homebrew system. This is purely from experience, going through about 5 of their desktops per week.

Lmao Dell fanboy. If you want a crappy flatscreen monitor you cannot beat their prices. By crappy I mean the "free" upgrade to a flatscreen that we got here and all of the lcds have a blurry spot down the middle 45+ monitors. Also the lowest after all of Dell's fees that you can get is in the $600 including educational discounts and thats for celerons. I personally built a 2300+sempron system for someone the other day for $400, she then went out and bought a decent lcd for another $130 or so. That machine spanks the crap out of the 2.2 p4 dells we have here now and gives the 2.8 with dualchannel a run for their money. (both of which I'm sure were purchased for $1200 each. Also had another guy I build for getting ready to order another cpu from as the last he bought from dell. He buys more for performance, but on that end anyone can smoke dell's prices out of the water. Btw I don't skimp on anything except occaisionally cases (but not the psu). If you don't know how to build a pc you buy from dell, if you know anyone who can you buy from them if you are looking for quality and price.

Btw we've had plenty of problems with faulty Dell hardware as our district has been Dell only for at least 6 years. Their not bad and their service is usually solid (I've never been rerouted to India) but their pretty much the same as buying your own parts regarding reliability.

You knock Dell, and you don't even list the specs for your so-called $400 wonder-machine...tacky.

Blurry LCDs? Rrrrrright......I've used their E173FP, E193FP, 1901FP, 1905FP, 2001FP, and 2005FPW, and NONE of them ever had blurry spots. But typically you don't expect a blurry spot to appear on a fixed-pixel display.

I would hope that people who browse enthusiast forums like Anandtech would be a little smarter than you about getting a deal on a computer, but apparently not. But let me just say, as a quick example, that $500 last month got you a brand new Dimension 8400 (P4 630, 512MB, 160GB, 16XDVD, Radeon X300SE) and a 19" E193FP. If you're spending $600 on a Celeron system, you deserve to be frustrated.

If I had $1000 to spend on a system...yeah I'd probably build my own. If I had $500, I'd get a Dell.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: Googer
Wow I cannot believe I did it!

Damn, did you read any of the original post except the $300 part?

His first requirement is DVI, and he also needs a DVD-ROM. Your system has neither, and that case doesn't have any fans in it.

It's not even a $300 system. Your subtotal is $308.98 before you consider shipping.

$15.99 case + $5 mobo + $0.99 CPU + $0.99 hard drive + $4 CD-ROM

The total cost is $335.95 (although you might get that $15 mail-in rebate on the RAM in about a year, which would help).

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: CreativeTom
That's not true at all....open a small business acount and most of the time they run specials with free shipping. I just purchased a machine there yesterday for a bit over $320 with some extra options on it. I think maybe you need to think before you type Tostada.

If you actually bother creating a Small Business account, and look at their cheapest system that has no monitor and no OS, yes, you can get a system for $319 and free ground shipping.

That system still has sales tax, so you're paying $345 for a Celeron that has Intel Extreme Graphics, 256MB RAM and a 48X CD-ROM. It has a 90-day warranty and no on-site service.

The guy said he needed DVI, a DVD-ROM and as much RAM as possible for under $300. Dell can give him a system with no DVI, no DVD-ROM and 256MB for $345.

So maybe you're the one who needs to think before you type.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Tostada

Originally posted by: Googer
Wow I cannot believe I did it!

Damn, did you read any of the original post except the $300 part?

His first requirement is DVI, and he also needs a DVD-ROM. Your system has neither, and that case doesn't have any fans in it.

It's not even a $300 system. Your subtotal is $308.98 before you consider shipping.

$15.99 case + $5 mobo + $0.99 CPU + $0.99 hard drive + $4 CD-ROM

The total cost is $335.95 (although you might get that $15 mail-in rebate on the RAM in about a year, which would help).

Yes, with $15 mail in rebate it comes to $293. If i searched froogle.google.com I can get this thing for less. Some simple modifications can change that. The Motherboard might have DVI via expansion header, I will need to look in to that.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: Chosonman
Yes the budget system I posted meets your specs.

Not bad, but one problem you forgot to include the Windows operating system, its almost $100 for OEM version, so that'll probably go over the budget.

linux baby

unless he has a xp disc and 1-2 cpu code already to go

an all in one CD/DVD drive isnt all that expensive either, and you may as well go with it, bit of a daft idea going with just dvd rom only since for a few quid more you can have a drive that does it all

Am i reading this wrong or do you think that since it says 1-2cpu it means that you can install it on more than one pc?

err works for me pal....so i aint complaing,

infact its worked loads of times, college gave away uneeded XP pro disks and said how u get the code is upto you..so i wrote down a few off the new computers they got, and ive installed XP on many a machine with them, all still work flawlessly and ive reinstalled too on a few of them so from that i conclude 1-2cpu = two computers

 

[CreativeTom]

Originally posted by: Tostada

Originally posted by: CreativeTom
That's not true at all....open a small business acount and most of the time they run specials with free shipping. I just purchased a machine there yesterday for a bit over $320 with some extra options on it. I think maybe you need to think before you type Tostada.

If you actually bother creating a Small Business account, and look at their cheapest system that has no monitor and no OS, yes, you can get a system for $319 and free ground shipping.

That system still has sales tax, so you're paying $345 for a Celeron that has Intel Extreme Graphics, 256MB RAM and a 48X CD-ROM. It has a 90-day warranty and no on-site service.

The guy said he needed DVI, a DVD-ROM and as much RAM as possible for under $300. Dell can give him a system with no DVI, no DVD-ROM and 256MB for $345.

So maybe you're the one who needs to think before you type.

Dude you annoy the hell out of me.....I just purchased one like 4 days ago or so and I was able to get an upgraded video card for a little bit more and with sales tax it came to about $385 or something not too bad. You are dumb!!!

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Beavis
If you want a sub 300 PC

Here you go
AOL $299 PC

299+286.80= 585.80 <----Total Cost of the PC. You must pay for 1 year of AOL to get it at this price 23.90*12=286.80

 

[Ahil]

One word: DELL

Dude dell suck!!!!!!:| I had a Dell system with integrated gpraphics. I tried putting Radeon 9000 it didn't work, I tried FX 5200 Ultra it didn't work.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Tostada

Originally posted by: Googer
Wow I cannot believe I did it!

Damn, did you read any of the original post except the $300 part?

His first requirement is DVI, and he also needs a DVD-ROM. Your system has neither, and that case doesn't have any fans in it.

It's not even a $300 system. Your subtotal is $308.98 before you consider shipping.

$15.99 case + $5 mobo + $0.99 CPU + $0.99 hard drive + $4 CD-ROM

The total cost is $335.95 (although you might get that $15 mail-in rebate on the RAM in about a year, which would help).

Here is my Revised PC, it is $271 but take off the $15 rebate and the price comes down to $256 with Plenty of room to spare. With the money saved you could add another 512mb for $30 and have a $300 system with 1 GIGABYTE OF RAM!

Here it is complete with DVD, DVI, and Money to spare!
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Googer/256_Dollar_SKT754_DVD_DVI_512MB_PC.png
L##&!

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: Googer
Yes, with $15 mail in rebate it comes to $293. If i searched froogle.google.com I can get this thing for less. Some simple modifications can change that. The Motherboard might have DVI via expansion header, I will need to look in to that.

LOL!

If someone has $300, he can't get that system. You refuse to include shipping, and you're taking off the rebate that you won't get back for several months. The simple fact is that the system you listed is $335.95, and it doesn't have DVI or a DVD-ROM like he asked for.

OK, so you updated the system to something a lot different, but why do still refuse to include shipping?

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: CreativeTom
Dude you annoy the hell out of me.....I just purchased one like 4 days ago or so and I was able to get an upgraded video card for a little bit more and with sales tax it came to about $385 or something not too bad. You are dumb!!!

Dude! Sorry I annoy you, but I'm still right. It doesn't matter what you purchased 4 days ago. Either you're lying, or the deal isn't available anymore.

If I'm wrong, show me what system you're talking about.

Besides, now you're talking about $385. 385 or something not too bad??? Why bother?

I mean, if the budget was "$385 or something not too bad," anybody could come up with a decent system with DVI.