Cheapest Build Possible (race to the bottom)

[count_rugen]

Let's assume you had to build out an entire school in a poor country (about 60 PCs) with rigs. Just for the PCs themselves (not network cable, etc.), what is the cheapest build possible that can reliably last a couple years? Main points of failure would be the PSU and HDD I'm guessing.

All components would be bought and acquired in the USA.
Ideally it'd be under $100.

 

[michxymi]

Let's assume you had to build out an entire school in a poor country (about 60 PCs) with rigs. Just for the PCs themselves (not network cable, etc.), what is the cheapest build possible that can reliably last a couple years? Main points of failure would be the PSU and HDD I'm guessing.

All components would be bought and acquired in the USA.
Ideally it'd be under $100.

I would build something around Raspberry PI. For the basic stuff like internet, some light office applications is just fine.. It has HDMI and two USB ports! Throw a Linux OS and you'll be fine!


http://downloads.element14.com/raspberryPi1.html?COM=raspi-group

 

[mikerockett]

Raspberry Pi is a good idea +1

For something like this with a large number of computers i would say it would be a good idea to go to a manufacturer like dell or HP and see what discount you can get on bulk purchasing.

 

[spentshells]

Off lease HP's or Dell's are going for around 90 dollars each they are mostly 1.86ghz and 2.13ghz core 2 duos. 2gigs of ram 80-250 gb drives. Have a look around.

 

[Cheesevillage]

https://www.google.ca/#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_rn=2&gs_ri=hp&tok=vZjcwqJ21fg7mwCPD5tBSA&cp=21&gs_id=z1&xhr=t&q=multiple+workstations+one+computer&es_nrs=true&pf=p&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&oq=multiple+workstations&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42261806,d.b2I&fp=6c5931f54eec81f3&biw=1920&bih=989

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw5lMHOLC1k

May totally be worth looking into. Imagine only having to maintain a handful of (for instance) eight-core AMD machines!

 

[quilciri]

Let's assume you had to build out an entire school in a poor country (about 60 PCs) with rigs. Just for the PCs themselves (not network cable, etc.), what is the cheapest build possible that can reliably last a couple years? Main points of failure would be the PSU and HDD I'm guessing.

All components would be bought and acquired in the USA.
Ideally it'd be under $100.

More detail required.

What does the machine need to be capable of? By extension, what applications wil be run?

In what environmental conditions will the machine be stored? Willl the machine need to be moved frequently?

There's definitely other questions that need asking that i didn't think of off the top of my head, but you get the idea.