Hey guys, so i have never really researched budget builds, always stayed near the mid to high end. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good setup for a desktop that would be able to run internet, basics for a friend of mine, she also needs to run molecular modeling programs, so i am unsure what video card type that would require.
All help is appreciated!!
Thanks!

$500 w/19" display = dell.com

I'd go with HP. IMO they have nicer computers.

Built a PC for my sister $350 shipped without monitor and only onboard video if that suffices.

AMD64 X2 4000+
Cheap AM2 AM2+ board for phenom support
2x1gb g.skill memory DDR2 800
250gb SATA2 drive
Lite-On 20x DVD burner
Centurion 5 case
Logisys 480 watt p-supply (not good but not so crappy either)

Leaves you with 150 for a monitor, keyboard and mouse.

The motherboard I used only has a geforce 6100 onboard video but if you don't need heavy 3d graphics you should be ok. there are also boards with the onboard 7050 for a bit more.

all from newegg.

Might be able to build an AMD system with that.

AMD 4000+ roughly $50. Find a decent mobo for roughly $60.
450W Antec PSU for roughly $60
Centurion Case $50
2GB memory w/out rebates roughly $50
160GB HDD for about $50
Radeon 2400pro pci-e for about $40 (Couldnt tell you if it will handle her modelling program, my guess would be not very well though)
Sounds like your friend is in college = Free Windows
19" LCD Monitor for roughly $140 and you got a system for $500.



With more money later on can upgrade the CPU to a 6000+ and a better video card.

That being said I'm thinking off the top of my head that it is very difficult to build for $500, and impossible to build for $500 without Windows. Well its possible but the computer just won't be all that good.

how do college students get free windows? Is that for ANY college? I'm not aware of any such thing... what version of windows?

Also, I'm sure it's possible to build an intel system as well...

E2160: 72.00
GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L: 73.00
RAM: corsair XMS2 ddr2 800: 35.00
HDD: maxtor 160Gb: 52.00
case: XCLIO 188A Black SGCC: 50.00
PSU: Thermaltake W0093RU 500W: 50.00
DVDRW: 30.00
OS: free... I guess according to deuce
lcd monitor: Hanns·G HW-191APB Black 19" 5ms WS: 167.99

This totals to 530.00... Assuming the GMA3100 onboard video is enough for what you need... Also the PSU might be over kill so you can easily save 20 dollars buy buying an antec earthwatts 380w PSU... which will put you damn close to the 500 dollar budget. You can save another 20 or so dollars by substituting the case I chose for a cheaper one, if you don't mind dealing with rebates, and save another 20 or so dollars. I'm sure LCD's can be found for a bit cheaper too (i chose this one because it has free shipping)... Anyway, all things considered this would be a sufficient system for sub 500.00 with a few basic modifications to the product choices I made.


*** Prices I quoted are all approximate (rounded up to the nearest dollar), including shipping and after rebates (though the only rebate u need to worry about is the RAM)...

Well College = Free Windows = Wrong :>
Some Departments in Some Colleges = Free Copy of Windows.

In general a small percentage of colleges and a small percentage of departments in those colleges provide Windows to their Students.

The college actually has to pay MS for the ability to do this based upon the number of students. It's cheaper for the college to do it than the students which is why some colleges do it, but it's not as simple as "College=Free Windows".

^^Agreed

For a $500 budget requiring a monitor and OS, which would eat up half the budget, its probably best to go pre-built.

Take a look at the Dell Outlet store. You can get a core 2 duo (E2x00) system for about $350 which leaves you $150 for a monitor.

While attending the University of Pittsburgh, any currently available version of Microsoft Windows, Office, Adobe Acrobat, and Norton Anti-Virus, among other software suites were available to every single student for free.

Have friends that attending Penn State University where this was the case as well. I know people at other major universities that get this as well. So I definitely wouldnt say a small percentage. My assumption is pretty much and D1 school is big enough to offer this. My sister went to a D2 State School and received this as well, that school had 12,000 students. Of course the state system of higher education had like 8 colleges or so.

I'm betting lowly D3 schools are the ones that will not be offering this software due to lack of students to afford this. I'm also betting that there are much more students in D1 and larger D2 schools in American than D3 schools and lower population D2 schools.

This means there's a pretty good chance that the student in question has this available. Not the small percentage you mentioned.

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlin [...] l=en&s=dfh

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlin [...] =ALL&s=dfh

I know where I went to college, it was not free per say, but for like 21-22 bucks you could get Windows, like XP pro, Vista Business, etc.

Dude, my college doesn't offer any good deals on software at all. And the whole msdn alliance is for networking students only Can anybody with a cool college hook me up? lol

I go to U of I at chicago with like a billion students and they dont have it either... cheap asses... they only offer XP professional, and vista busines... and even that is ONLY for computer science majors.. BULLOCKS!

forgot to mention... the only problem I see with pre-built budget dell systems is the graphics... If this person ends up needing a better graphics card, then the savings goes out the window... with the system I prescribed, the GMA3100 should be enough, and if not... then at least other parts will be able to handle a quality gpu...

Free windows for student? Well, I bet that's a Student edition things ..

This MS has some cooperation agreement in some countries to lease their arsenals (Windows, Office, etc) in a student suite. The university/college still has to pay some money tho, but for less less price. It is a volume licensing, which means they can use it as many as they want (like OEM version). But usually this is only limited to college computers, not to personal.

Just heard about this kind of offer tho .. Nice, can I have one copy? Hehe.

i got xp x64 home edition for $10 for being a student

...but im sure if your search the forums a bit you'll find a torrent of information