Tom's Hardware > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > General Homebuilt > Building a system with $600 - $700 without monitor
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lorthus   03-12-2006 at 03:40:03 PM

I've build a lot of systems before but I haven't done one in a long time so I'm pretty outdated.
The computer won't be used for games and Im pretty sure that a hard drive from 120gb to 200gb will be more than enough..
I can even consider onboard video...
It has to have keyboard and mouse though which can be a cheap logitech wireless.


Should I use AMD Athlon or Intel Pentium??

thanks

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a_Jhawk   03-12-2006 at 07:19:21 PM
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it all depends on what you want to bo with it. AMD is top of the market right now (im not a fan boy), and will provide an upgrade option for windows vista. and AMD is cheaper in most cases.

you could also go with a cheap intel celeron. that would work.

Reply to a_Jhawk
bront   03-12-2006 at 10:07:44 PM
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Let's see what I can price out for you just briefly from Newegg.

Athlon 3200+ for $160

Epox 9NPA3 Ultra for $85

2 x 512 PC3200 CL2.5 Paired Memory for $70

WD 160 GB SATA II HD for $75

Radeon X800 GTO for $102

So, 160+85+70+75+102= $492 plus shipping.

So, a good case and PSU for $100-200 shouldn't be too hard.

Antec Sonata II with 450W Smartpower 2.0 PSU for $100 is a good option.

So that, and addd $30 or so for shipping, and you're right in budget with a very good computer that has some upgradability and longevity.

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lorthus   03-13-2006 at 10:44:05 AM
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I really don't think I need a $100 video card, maybe a $30, so that would bring me down to $422+shipping.
What about burning devices? should I use only one drive(DVD RW) or should I also include a second drive?

Thanks

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Shad   03-13-2006 at 05:24:35 PM
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If you aren't gaming, find a mobo that has an onboard shitty vid card and save the $102. Definatley go with the Venice 3200+, 1g of RAM(2x512 DC), the HD bront listed would do fine and just pick up a case with a decent PSU. Probably about 475 with shipping.

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quantumsheep   03-13-2006 at 06:00:28 PM
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i think he should get a graphics, maybe one of the new x1300pros, VERY good DVD playback etc.They are also rather cheap.

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mdd1963   03-13-2006 at 06:13:37 PM
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There are socket 754 Semprons in the 3000+/3100+ range that are well below $100, and socket 754/PCI-e mainboards by Nvidia with everything you need...

Look for a hard drive on sale at CompUSA...occasionally you can find 250GB/7200rpm/16m units for as little as $59....!

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lorthus   03-13-2006 at 08:38:29 PM
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Do they have sales on SATA hard drives??? most of the times I see a sale it's on a IDE Hard drive.
Does anyone have a suggestion for speakers and DVDRW drive??
If I was to spend about $40 on a video card, what card should I get???
Is it even worth to get a second drive such as DVDROM ou CDRW ?

thanks for all the help

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quantumsheep   03-13-2006 at 09:09:58 PM
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Quote :

Do they have sales on SATA hard drives??? most of the times I see a sale it's on a IDE Hard drive.
Does anyone have a suggestion for speakers and DVDRW drive??
If I was to spend about $40 on a video card, what card should I get???
Is it even worth to get a second drive such as DVDROM ou CDRW ?

thanks for all the help



generally i find that SATA drives are more prolific than IDE drives in todays market........lol. For speakers creative labs budget 2.1 systems are good, dvd drives go for a dual layer rewriter. No point getting a second drive in my opinion.

Reply to quantumsheep
SciPunk   03-13-2006 at 10:46:25 PM
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Case ASPIRE X-QPACK Black MicroATX X-QPACK-NW-BK/420 N82E16811144162 $79.99
MoBo MSI Socket 939 ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 Micro ATX RS482M4-ILD N82E16813130520 $68.99
CPU AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice Socket 939 ADA3200BPBOX N82E16819103535 $159.00
Memory CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-PinDDR 400 (PC 3200) VS1GBKIT400 N82E16820145440 $69.99
GPU eVGA Geforce 6600 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 256-P2-N369-T6 N82E16814130260 $99.00
Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar SE 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive WD2500JS N82E16822144417 $91
Optical Drive LG Black 2M Cache E-IDE / ATAPI DVD Burner - OEM GSA-4167B BK OEM N82E16827136071 $40.99
Keyboard Scythe 2-Tone 107 PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard SCKB03-SV N82E16823105205 $6.99
Mouse DCT Factory Lite Up Black PS/2 Optical Mouse O-028 N82E16826147005 $5.49

And of course...
OS Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2 - OEM N09-01528 N82E16837102059 $93.95


Numbers that look like this => N82E16837102059 are the NewEgg part numbers. Loose the GPU (i.e. video card) until/unless you need it, and upgrade the CPU as soon as you get a chance. You could also cheese out the memory and only get 512, but I don't recomend it.

Reply to SciPunk
mdd1963   03-13-2006 at 10:52:22 PM
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"Do they have sales on SATA hard drives??? most of the times I see a sale it's on a IDE Hard drive."

Agreed, the IDE drives are usually receiving the lion's share of sale prices, but ATA133 drives are hardly slow (sustained throughput-wise)compared to typical 7200 rpm SATA drives either ...


If/when on a budget, it's $59 well spent!

Reply to mdd1963
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