Give your opinion!! $600 or less for total system!

[PrinceXizor]

Got an opinion *cough* duh *cough*? Want to share it? *cough* double duh *cough* Than this is the thread for you. I've convinced my brother to be my guinea pig for my first ever system build <insert evil laugh here>. So the question I toss out to you is this...what should go in this $600 or less system. A few general guidelines.

1. Probably an AMD based system for price purposes
2. PC2700 RAM
3. Going to go into this assuming new everything (including monitor), though some scavenging might be possible from a few of my other comps.

It IS going to be used for games, so that should be kept in mind. One thing I'm not certain of is the performance of cheap vidoe cards (i.e. cheaper than Ti4200) vs. integrated video of the nforce2...any review articles would be cool.

Ok...I'm done typing....have at it!!

This part of the post will list the components as I select them. These will all be ordered at the same time. And one more thing, please if you list a price, its pretty much useless without a link to where I can get it for that.

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1700+ Retail $61.00 shipped at Newegg
MB: MSI K7N2G-L $112.50 shipped at Newegg
RAM: Crucial PC2700 256MB $38.50 shipped at Googlegear
*PURCHASED* HD: WD800JB $88.38 (Hot Deal at CC)
Case: Antec SX630II $72.99 - $10 Coupon = $62.99 shipped at Amazon.com ($10 off $75)
PS: Included with Case $0
Video: Integrated nforce2 Graphics
Sound: Integrated Soundstorm w/ AC'97 Codecs
OS: MS Windows XP Home w/ SP1: $99.00 shipped at Newegg
*PURCHASED* CD-RW: BusLink 52X 24X 52X $23.59 (Hot Deal at BB)
KB: $0.00 FAR at OM
Mouse: $0.00 FAR at OM
Floppy: Sony MPF920-Z $13.00 shipped at Newegg
Monitor: NEC/Accusync AS70 $119.00 shipped at Newegg

Grand Total: $617.96

Reaching that magic number...this was a lot more difficult to do than I thought, with ALL new equipment. Waiting to see the details on MS price reductions...may help round this out with a decent monitor...right now...kind of squeezed for cash to get a decent one. Anyone's suggestions are appreciated...remember...price MUST include shipping or tax if applicable. Updated 03/04/03

Additional Edit: Hot Deal on a Burner! Oh yeah!

Edit: 617 bucks!

 

[human2k]

**Revised**

board: Epox 8RDA+ (***mwave has it for $99**)
cpu: TBredB XP1700 $53 (what else?)
HSF: Coolermaster HSF - $4 (Better than Retail, super quiet, extremely afordable!)
RAM: Kingston PC2700 256MB $50 (Get another stick in future to have DUAL DDR)
VIdeo card: Sapphire Radeon 8500LE 64MB $72(best in its class!!!)
Sound: onboard nForce 2 SoundStorm
Case/PSU-Antec Midtower w/300W SmartPower(Beige)-$48 (The silver chassis runs $5 more)
**btw, the 300W smartpower has more power than your avg generic 400W PSU**
HD- Seagate 40GB-$75 from dell.com(with 10% off)
DVD/CDRW-get em from dell also...

total without/DVD/CDRW = $401

 

[PrinceXizor]

Nice...only a couple questions...where are you getting this "antec mid-tower w/300" for $50, I'd like to know that.
Something else I neglected to mention...will be shelling out some cash for a monitor as well, so that kind of limits some of the factors. I'm not current on the big drops in CRT's so I don't know at all what's a good performance/price monitor.

Thanks for the input....oh yeah..one more thing, this won't be an O/C'ing system so that might free up some other items.

 

[SUOrangeman]

I built two of these systems last month, with an ECS K7S5A, instead of the nForce2 mobo. If you went with the K7S5A, you could have $50 off the final price.

-SUO

 

[human2k]

read previous post^^^

 

[PrinceXizor]

Thanks for the update...I'm guessint $200 left for the monitor should be plenty for a quality 17" CRT

I agree Antec SP 300W are great power supplies...but I'd still like to know where you are getting a mid-tower and psu for $48

Also interested in the $4 Heat Sink and Fan!

 

[human2k]

Get the case from here and the heatsink from here also. The heatsink is absolutely awesome if your not overclocking, on my brother's comp it max's out 41c with his XP1700 and idles 32c. For the monitor office depot or office max was running a special on KDS XFLAT 19inch for $180, this a steal. Awesome quality and resolution!

 

[nick1985]

get pc-2100 crucial at newegg for 44 bucks. you will see 0 performance increase with that 2700

 

[PrinceXizor]

Then why are u running ur rig with PC2700 with a 266 FSB Chip?

 

[human2k]

hahahahh!

 

[PrinceXizor]

Thanks for the links! I was factoring in shipping for the case...unfortunately that makes it the same as my case $62.00 By the way, how does a beige CD look in a bronze case...just curious, cause amazon.com has the same case for $58 or something similar with free shipping.

 

[CaptnKirk]

NewEgg sells CODGEN cases, which are decent, and functional along with a 300W P/S for only $ 45. It's not the best, and it's not the worst, about the middle.
When you considrer that the most obvious thing about your computer systems initial impression is APPEARANCE - the thing you see first, maybe $ 14 MORE would be a nice upgrade, as you have hit a level of 'Free Freight' which gives you a boost in buying power.

BIG 3 MotherboardsAbit,Asus, & EPoX. You can get a performance advantage by using a higher end Mobo with a Midlevel CPU than can be had from a less capable board with a higher level CPU = $ 20 on the Motherboard pays off better than $ 20 on the Processor.
There are a lot of nice boards under $ 100, and some stunning stuff under $ 120. The REFERBS don't have a board over $ 70, and there are some really good items there - Feelin Lucky? I've done 2 Abits that way and they run perfect, but it's a gamble & you can send it back.
Make sure you get all the "Tech" Sound, LAN, USB 2.0, Fire, Raid and SATA are available too, but don't fall to O/B Video.

Now lei's get into The REACTOR CORE There's a XP1800+ T'Bred W/ HS&F - 3 Year Warranty for $ 72. You can't buy a Heatsink & Fan combo for $ 7. If you picked the "Right" Motherboard - one with multiplyers over 13.5X, you can run the XP1800+ as an XP2400+ since the bridges aren't defeated - in short "UNLOCKED".

If you can get CRUCIAL - that's Micron's PREMIUM, produced from within the Micron Factory - That's some of the best memory made by anyone, that price? Jump on it.

I've come to really appreciate [WinXP]http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?style=album[/l] and how do you beat $ 97 for it?

 

[acid16]

Hmmm, how about an entire system for $230? (Not including OS/Monitor). The place I buy my stuff as has really good deals on budget computers. They offer a Duron 1.4GHz w/ 256MB ram, 40GB HD, Cd-Rom on K7SEM motherboard. Very fast computer for more purpouses. The downsides are, the CPU is integrated into the motherboard. So is the Audio, Video and Lan. The video actually isn't bad, but not for games obviously. But who cares, its $230 so if you're looking for a budget computer, then check it out!!!!! http://www.cancomputer.com/system.asp?system=2 - Keep in mind, prices say $368, but that is CDN dollars (which is equivelant to $230 US)

 

[arcenite]

I thought the Duron went up to 1.3ghz

Bill

 

[techietam]

Originally posted by: PrinceXizor
Then why are u running ur rig with PC2700 with a 266 FSB Chip?

Man!!! That made me laugh. I think, you should be a detective

 

[PrinceXizor]

Originally posted by: techietam

Originally posted by: PrinceXizor
Then why are u running ur rig with PC2700 with a 266 FSB Chip?

Man!!! That made me laugh. I think, you should be a detective

Hehe....it made me laugh too! Hey, it may be a valid point. My reason, is that my memory will be useful in other rigs that way including any future upgrades to dual channel DDR333 or the like. So no reason not to spend an extra $11.00 for it. Plus, I'm betting the other latencies and setting for that RAM will be much better than a stick of PC2100. As far as the other post, a TOTALLY integrated system is out, cause this will be a constantly updated rig. My bro' wants to see what he can get for $600. We'll see where the big money holdups are and start pruning from there.

 

[PrinceXizor]

*bump* for RAM prices to continue to fall

 

[ZloyChuvak]

i know i am late on this but i suggest checking out pricewatch for best prices... you could get a decent xp 1700 mb combo for under $100 and upgrade what you have... then you just hunt for deals and upgrade components 1 by 1

 

[human2k]

Order a stick of Crucial 512MB PC2100 at crucial.com and use coupon during checkout. Should be $54 total for your ram. If your lucky, you prolly just got a stick of PC2700 underclocked to PC2100.

 

[PrinceXizor]

List is almost finished, and really close to that $600 mark, with a monitor (ouch!) and a mouse left to go....any help or suggestions for lowering cost are appreciated, PLEASE make sure all prices INCLUDE shipping and a link. Thanks!

 

[PrinceXizor]

Bump...for edit update.

 

[PrinceXizor]

Bump for edit update.

 

[bgeh]

i would get the Epox or Abit Nforce 2 Mobo if you plan to oc

 

[RanDum72]

Then why are u running ur rig with PC2700 with a 266 FSB Chip?

Because he probably had plans to OC the CPU with higher FSB clock speeds. Unless you have a 166/333FSB CPUor planning to OC, PC2100 works just fine.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: PrinceXizor

Originally posted by: techietam

Originally posted by: PrinceXizor
Then why are u running ur rig with PC2700 with a 266 FSB Chip?

Man!!! That made me laugh. I think, you should be a detective

Hehe....it made me laugh too! Hey, it may be a valid point. My reason, is that my memory will be useful in other rigs that way including any future upgrades to dual channel DDR333 or the like. So no reason not to spend an extra $11.00 for it. Plus, I'm betting the other latencies and setting for that RAM will be much better than a stick of PC2100. As far as the other post, a TOTALLY integrated system is out, cause this will be a constantly updated rig. My bro' wants to see what he can get for $600. We'll see where the big money holdups are and start pruning from there.

because i bought it for future upgrades, speaking of which, i have an athlon 2700 on its way to my house...