$ 350 PC

This topic has been moved from the section Opinions and Experiences to section Systems by Buwish

Please put it in this format, it makes it easier for us to help you!

$394AR, no game just stick to the onboard HD 3300 on that 790GX chipset

nice, Batchuka. only $100 over budget  

try this instead

Combo with AMD Athlon II X4 640, 4 GB of DDR3 1333 by G.Skill, a Rosewill case w/ 500W PSU, and an MSI 880G motherboard with a built in 4250. $281.99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?I...
the PSU is not the best, but it shoudl handle what we're giving it here, with no real video card.

Seagate 7200.12 320 GB HDD: $44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
The Samsung one is a bit faster and $2.00 cheaper, but this one is free shipping, while the Samsung has shipping costs

LG 22x DVD burner: $16.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
basic.

total $343.97

$356.86 shipped.

it should be fine for a basic office PC

AMD/ATI isn't a requirement for a "cheap" PC for general usage.

Foxconn R20-G4 Intel G41 Intel GMA X4500 Barebone 250W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$84.99

G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5S-2GBNT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$35.99

Intel Celeron E3300 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor BX80571E3300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N...
$51.99

LG 22X DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH22LS50 LightScribe Support - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$16.99

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$44.99

$234.95 + tax & shipping

Now there's enough room left in your budget for Windows 7 and a keyboard & mouse.

If you're worried about the quality of the Foxconn barebones or you want something a bit beefier you can go with this and still be under budget:

Shuttle SG41J1-VPH Intel Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Dual-Core, Celeron 400 serial support Intel Socket T(LGA775) Intel G41 Intel GMA X4500 Barebone with ICE Genie 3 Heatpipe Cooling System
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$159.99 w/ coupon code EMCZYZR65

Some more!

Antec ISK Series ISK 100 0.8 mm SECC / ABS Plastic Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 80W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$79.99

Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT12864AA800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$39.99

Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD2500BEVT 250GB 5400 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$36.99

Intel BOXD510MO Intel Atom D510 Intel NM10 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$79.99

Subtotal: $236.96

Add these...

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$95.99

Rosewill RNX-N180UBE USB 2.0 External 5dBi Antenna Wireless Adapter
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$29.99

ASUS USB 2.0 Slim External DVD-ROM Model SDR-08B1-U
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$29.99 after rebate

Subtotal: $392.93

You are right

but since both the AMD builds suggested would absolutely spank the dated pile of junk bin parts you are suggesting choosing AMD in this price bracket does prove you are shopping smarter

Junk bin? You're not serious (ok, maybe the Foxconn stuff). There is nothing junk bin about Antec, Crucial, Intel, G-Skill or Shuttle.

Tell me how suggesting Mushkin sticks, Biostar motherboards, Rosewill PSUs and Seagate harddrives isn't junk bin.

What's your build? Have you actually ever BUILT it? The e3300/G41 combination scores a WEI 5.9 for the CPU (a $39.99 CPU @ MicroCenter) and the graphics WEI 4.3. That is plenty for an office PC.

But, yes, it would absolutely spank my builds all the way at the electric meter. Maybe all that extra wattage can help the Folding@Home folks or keep his office warm since to OP won't be making any use of it for actual computing.

Here's an AMD/ATI build since the OP asked for it. Still nothing from the Rosewill PSU/Biostar motherboard/Mushkin RAM real junk bin but somehow it manages to stay under $350. You'll also have to find something else to warm you on those cold winter nights.

It even has parts I have actually used to build systems.

LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$19.99

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$44.99

Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR1066D3K2/2GR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$37.99

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...$84.94

GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128444
AMD Athlon II X2 260 Regor 3.2GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX260OCGMBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...$150.98 after $10 rebate

$338.89 + tax & shipping ($7.82) = $346.71

I'll take Antec, Kingston, Gigabyte and WD over Rosewill, Mushkin, Biostar and Seagate any day. I'll also take low-power, low-cost, high quality builds that do what the customer needs over high-power, overkill and mediocre quality.

I think he was referring to your Atom build that was intended to compete with the Athlon IIx3 3.1 GHz build.

Sure Intel is quality but come on Atom vs Athlon? lol

Onboard video

I was pretty skeptical myself so I bought a Gigabyte GA-D525TUD board and put together a little PC to see if it could handle the day-to-day of surfing the web, using OpenOffice, uploading/watching pictures and home videos, etc. I put a 2GB stick in it and installed Win7 HP on a 400GB WD drive I wasn't using and out in in a mini-ITX case with a 150W PSU. I figured if it didn't work out then I'd just use the board in a home server build when Vail comes out.

I've been really pleased with the performance for those tasks. It even does a good job of playing Flash games on some of the kids websites my kids like. It's obviously not going to play games or run 1080p video but that's not what I need it to do. AFAICT, neither does the OP.

Trust me, I was pretty surprised how well the Atom worked out. To me it shows you don't need a lot of horsepower for those everyday tasks. If that also means saving $100+ over a traditional desktop build, not including the reduction in power draw, that's a good thing too.

The thing is I've actually built these systems and used them so I can say first hand they work for the intended use.

Technology uses 10% of the world's energy supply. We should be thinking what's the least we need to perform the tasks we do. We don't need 600W PSUs and discrete graphics cards with 1GB of RAM to run Word.

I can't wait for AMD Bobcat.