Wanting to build a PII system..Need advice, and good dealer recomendations..

[BeatleBoy]

Hey guys I am wanting to build a budget system for my kids and have decided on a PII 233-400 base. I like the value of the slot 1 cpu/mobo (found a pII 233/512 L2 for $12.00 and Gainward Mobo for $19 or with onboard sound for $35) and I already have a 128 mb stick of sdRAM to use for it. I have been checking Ebay and pricewatch and have found some good deals but it just seems there has to be a few dealers out there who specialize in out of date hardware that is still in retail boxes or factory new at dirt cheap prices. Any recomendations?? Also I think I will use an STB 128 velocity 4mb agp video card or similar 8mb card and a SB awe32 or 64 sound card. I have never dealt with a slot one cpu before so is there anything I need to know before installing?? Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks in advance.

 

[Gunbuster]

Any kid over 10 is not gona love you much when they load up a game on a PII with Riva 128 video

 

[Colt45]

as far as the cpu goes, its no big deal, same as socket based platforms, except you put the heatsink on before you plug it into the motherboard (if its not already installed that is)

 

[spanner]

there are a tonne of dealers listed at pricewatch. think you are better off going with a current system, maybe a cyrix or a duron. it won't cost much more

 

[BeatleBoy]

Thanks Guys for the info. Gunbuster I don't have much cash to work with right now thats why I was looking at the PII. I first planned on just a good old 233mmx or k6-2 but when the PII is the same cost(or less!!) and the mobo will allow me to eventually upgrade to a faster cpu I figured it was the way to go. I know it won't be a kick-a$$ system but it will do everything I need it to right now. I figured $10-15 on a video card, $10 sound card, $20 on cpu+fan, 20-40 on mobo and $15-20 on hard drive. Thats about the most I wanted to spend and when you get into durons/celerons, etc., you get into more expensive mobo's. video cards, etc. I just wanted to put together a functional system as cheaply as possible with the ability to upgrade it later. You guys know of any hardware dealers that sell outdated equipment as their specialty?? I have found a couple but it doesn't seem like they have very good prices.

 

[BigFatCow]

here

theres a few pII's down towards the bottom..

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Welcome to Anandtech BeatleBoy.

I have to agree with the others though. A system as old as the PII won't be very fast. While I agree with you that it could probably serve your needs, for about $50 more you could get a much better system. The ECS K7S5A is only $52 and a Duron 900Mhz is $40. With that system, you could use your SDR RAM for now and DDR when you want to upgrade It will most likely support Thoroughbreds once they come out. It has integrated sound and NIC as well. Just food for thought. Good luck however you choose to go...

 

[Athlon4all]

I agree with ST4R, a PII 300 isn't any cheaper than a Duron 600-850, and I doubt you'll get a mobo cheaper than K7S5A.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Sacramento Fry's: ECS K7S5A+1.2GHz Duron for $99 thru 3/26

That is an awesome deal and will give you much better upgrade options down the road. You can even use your SDRAM.