The absolute cheapest micro center build possible help a broke college kid !

[Malicemk]

Hey all , just got into masters school wooo i'm 21 and broke as hell, but i can't keep doing research on a laptop i will lose my mind completely.

This is a no gaming , no rendering no nothing all i want it for is some pandora, netflix and most importantly researching with preferably 2 monitors ( which i have already) I have a 450 psu

http://www.mc-team.com/41_apex/107-apex-vortex-3620-microatx.html?sid=9ddde9a2b96d957f15819bd60b75a307 is a spare case i have

and i have an fm2-a55m-e33 motherboard that i was saving for another build for my gf and friends but if it'll be cheaper to use that then i will

Other than that under 300 by a long shot would be nice and i have everything so i will just need the desktop this will be a linux machine.

 

[g-unit1111]

Hate to tell you this (and I've been there believe me) that $300 will be incredibly tricky to do with the rapidly fluctuating hard drive and RAM prices. If you're willing to increase your budget that would be more doable especially if you already have the motherboard. But things like cases and power supplies are required and you don't want to go cheap in these areas or risk having to buy a new system altogether.

 

[Rugnir_Viking]

IF the psu is a decent brand you should use it.
else, i wouldnt use that mobo, it uses a very outdated processor socket
any particular site you want from?

EDIT:

also 300 Dollars? Pounds? I'm in uk so i'll try for under 250 for now. also do you have monitors and stuff?

 

[Rugnir_Viking]

£300 Dollars without case or PSU. sorry had to get new mobo, as i said earlier i just dont like that one. also note no display or keyboard mouse optical drive. if you are ok to usb install or borrow a cd reader to install windows then that system should cater for your needs years into the future. It might not be the best, but this does rely on you having a quality psu and monitor. The case looks really solid, and should fit all those parts and more
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MRSm

If you do need a new psu, consider this one:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu500cxv2

Edit again:
Sorry just saw you said you had the 2 monitors

 

[Malicemk]

How is the motherboard dated? It's the newest one and the one they will use for awhile lol

It's a good PSU and I've had two of that mobo and I love it

Those.look good can you run a computer solely on a flash drive? Or an external??

 

[Rugnir_Viking]

How is the motherboard dated? It's the newest one and the one they will use for awhile lol

It's a good PSU and I've had two of that mobo and I love it

Those.look good can you run a computer solely on a flash drive? Or an external??

no this does have internal memory i mean for the install of the OS

for this you can have windows on a usb (this is illigal)
or use the disk that comes when you buy it (much better)
to read the disk you will need optical drive which is not included which is why i say either go with a usb with linux
or use the windows (price included with the build i sent you) with a borrowed optical drive.
Or just sped $20 overbudget seeing as they arent that expensive and now you will have one for any future builds

 

[Malicemk]

I'm going to use linux on this build seeing as it's just for the internet

and i won't need a gpu i have a spare gt 520 laying around so that's 120 $ freed up there!! that change the build?

 

[Rugnir_Viking]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MSPc
Pfft i'm stumped. i can't really see what else to get above that. you'll see i even put in a processor cooler which isnt strictly neccary but without mch more money ill say thats it i reckon. you seem to pretty much have a pc lying around already, so you got a ssd and a 1tb hard drive which is more than i've even got even close to.

Install the bios onto the ssd by not plugging in the hard drive until you got it up and running with linux. this will help boot times and speed up system response. you may also wish to have program files on there. however put text files/images/data onto the hdd and that should work for ages of great computing

 

[Malicemk]

Can you run a computer solely off a ssd? because i'm only going to be saving a few word documents and linux takes up like a gig of space

 

[Rugnir_Viking]

definatly, its just i like to have the space in a desktop. in fact atm i am on a google chromebook with only 16gb ssd! everything else is on the cloud.

 

[TenPc]

There might be a PC Recylers place near you here they might be selling complete PC's with accesories for about $150, it's worth a look, a fairly decent purchse, and you don't have to build anything.

 

[Malicemk]

How do you like the chromebook? i want to buy my mom one since she's using an ancient laptop infected with viruses

 

[Rugnir_Viking]

i'm using the samsung one atm. its great for speed with turning on and simple to use. not exactly packed with software possibilties but its very fast moving so long as you dont throw games at it and great for word processing, online vidio veiwing and general browsing. the ssd makes it boot really fast and its great 6.5 hour battery life makes it great for me. i use it for my notes in school myself, but depending on what your mom does with her computer it could be great. it can handle youtube 1080p just fine

 

[Malicemk]

All she does is her hw and surf the web so i'm probably going to pick one up for her ! thanks again !

 

[Rugnir_Viking]

No problem