Need pre-assembled cheap desktop without HDD

Well, actually what I would prefer to do is get a cheap PC that's nothing but a board with a CPU, RAM and Graphics, upgrade the PSU myself (I've seen 500W Antecs for as low as $70), then build in the rest with the external components I salvaged from the Compaq. I just don't want to risk plugging something in the wrong way while assembling stuff on the board, since even if you know what you're doing it only takes one stupid mistake to fry your board.

You see, the Compaq's problem is that its power supply was so inadequate that it couldn't even handle the components that were already in there stock. I would be okay with something cheap or borderline as long as its not inadequate to power a single hard drive and a DVD burner as well as the board.

Thank you, that's basically what I wanted. A quality power supply is absolutely essential though. If your RAM or GPU dies, you can just replace it, but if the power supply kills your board and everything directly attached to it, you're screwed. And I was just seriously lucky that it gave me *some* warning it was dying and my hard drive was salvageable. Most power supply deaths I've seen occur spontaneously and kill everything around them.

In the end, though, longevity is just dumb luck. You can buy two eMachines/Gateway T-series desktops, exactly the same, use them exactly the same, and one will die in 2 years while the other one will be handed down to your children. Quality helps, but in the end its pretty much random. You have no way of knowing which cheap power supply will blow a circuit first unless you disassemble it.

Thanks, I ordered the stuff and its in the mail. I did make a few changes though, mainly I decided I should go with 8GB memory since I would be upgrading in a few years if I went with 4GB (I know it seems like a lot now, but remember that in 2005 2GB seemed like a lot, and was still pretty adequate until early 2013 or so).

I also added a sound card (because I'll be sorry I didn't when/if, inevitably, google play music gives a 96khz option).

I removed the graphics card because 1GB of Intel integrated can do A LOT. I have a laptop with a Pentium and about 1.5GB integrated memory, and I can manage about 2 hours of video, edited every 2-5 minutes, in photoshop before I have to save or get an out of memory error. I can even play Cities XL 2011 at full settings no problem. And I figure that with 8GB RAM, I won't have to worry too much about sharing memory with other programs. If I do need a graphics card later I can always buy one and add it.

I downgraded the power supply to 500W because I figure that as a pretty average home PC, this build would only suck up between 300W and 400W tops, especially without that graphics card hogging up almost 50 watts. Its still name brand, so its not like I'm buying a generic that says 500W on the box but would only deliver 300W. The Compaq's problem was that its PSU wasn't even adequate for basic home use, but I can probably meet that with a bit of wiggle room for hard drives without doubling the price. Besides, looking at the Newegg price curve on that PSU you posted, it will be down to $50 or $60 by the middle of next year if current trends continue. I might just upgrade when that happens.

I also added a case cooling fan, because why not? I went super cheap because its loud enough that if it fails, I'll know, and the CPU cooling fan (went a bit pricier because I'm now paranoid about things frying for obvious reasons) would keep the computer from immediately overheating before I could do a shutdown when the case fan does die.

Also, I managed to drop the price down to about $300. You see, after dinner I mowed the lawn, and as I was putting the mower back in the shed, my neighbor came out and said he'd bricked his PC and the dude at Staples told him the RAM was dead. The PC is a Dell Dimension 4500, and as you may or may not know, this was an incredibly cheap PC when it was made and the power supply was at the limit. It was 250W, but it was a 10 year old, cheap 250W that was in reality delivering less than 200W. Staples didn't want to risk it since they didn't know what the real peak wattage was. Knowing nothing about RAM other than that it exists and more=better, he went to a local hole-in-the-wall family run parts shop and bought 8GB of DDR3. The Dell is DDR. No return policy. So, I put in 2x1 (2GB) DDR from an eMachines T3124 in my closet (it came with 512MB, I put that back in. No reason not to, its on Android x86 4.4 RC1, so 512MB is plenty). This is the highest DDR can go. There are 2x2 (4GB) DDR setups available, but some old boards won't recognize more than 2GB. So I got 8GB corsair RAM for free

BTW, here's my build: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/seankurth/saved/8ssV3C

I didn't buy directly off the site though because I wanted to google for the best prices. There are hundreds of lesser-known parts sites, and sometimes Google can find a $50 part on sale at randomchinesesite.com (that isn't an actual site). If it turns out to be a cheap knockoff I can just dispute the charge as a scam with my bank.

What's really ridiculous, though, is how much extra stuff Dell says you need. Their "Help me choose" links say that a 4GB RAM machine with an Intel i3 is a slow web browsing machine, an 8GB machine with a graphics card can do "simple games and document editing," and finally, the most ridiculous of all, you apparently need 16GB RAM for "web browser games" and 32GB to have a shot at "desktop games." I guess Dell expects most of their users to have 100 web browser windows open at once, increasing exponentially with more RAM. This is one of the main things that convinced me to take your advice and go custom. Even for relatively hardcore gaming, most user won't need more than 4GB, 8GB tops, and it will likely stay that way for a few years unless you play BF# or Crysis.

Yeah, guess you're right about the power supply. I can just order the one you suggested and keep the one that's already coming as a backup for when I eventually (could be 2 years, could be 20, as I said its pretty much dumb luck) start getting random reboots. And as far as the sound card, sorry, I'm a bit 90s on that, I remember and should probably stop living in the days when every decent game required a sound card, and motherboards had almost no if any integrated sound. I'll probably buy a 192khz, since sound is something I really can't sacrifice. And as for the graphics card, agreed. Its better to have some dedicated memory, even if its just 1GB, so there's some buffer before the RAM has to start pitching in. For the cooling fan, why not, its not that pricey.

Its not that money is a particular constraint, I just wanted to get something cheap that would last a while, and unfortunately many of the major OEMs have succumbed to planned obsolescence in the past 5 years or so by adding cheap PSUs that are a guaranteed kill switch within 5 years tops with proprietary connectors/wiring so you can't replace them. And as far as upgrading, I wouldn't dare touch one of the new "mini" cases because you have to disassemble the whole thing just to replace a hard drive. The $300-400 was just a good baseline, but I'm still saving hundreds over what Bestbuy charges for similar rigs from Dell and Asus.

I don't really need that much sound quality right now, but with 1TB+ drives getting so cheap and internet being so fast, I wouldn't be surprised if everything goes lossless before 2020.