Good economy computer ? help please

[herbage11]

OK anandtech folks I am thinking about building a computer or 2 for some friends. I have researched the one I want (about $1000 budget) but they have less then that to spend. I need to get some information reguarding lower priced components that are reliable and stable. So what I need to know is what are some quailty yet inexspensive parts?

Case?
Mobo?
Processor?
Video Card?
Speakers?
CD ROM?
CDRW?

I am somewhat new to this and any information will help. I would like to keep these systems around $500 or so if possible. Thanks all for the help .

 

[acejj26]

Cases - PC
MAXTOP 147KG2F-USB BLUE **Cool Case**3 Additional Fans : 1 x on the Top Panel, 1 x on the Side Panel, 1x Power Supply Fan** Intel P4/AMD Ready Two Fans 7-bay Front USB Connector 350W Power Supply Mid Tower PC CASE - RETAIL Fan: Sleeve. Dimensions (DxWxH): 18.5" x 8" x 17". Drive Bay: 5.25" External x 4, 3.5" External x 2, 3.5" Internal x 1. N82E16811150022 $49.00 $49.00
CD ROM
Lite On 52x Cd Rom - Model LTN-526 -RETAILE-IDE Interface, support all PIO, DMA, Ultra DMA modes. Innovated SMART-X® to get the fastest CD-DAE/VCD data extraction speed by request. RETAIL Package with manu, driver, cable and screws. N82E16827101201 $30.00 $30.00
Floppy Drives
MITSUMI D359M3 FDD 1.44MB 3.5INCH - OEM N82E16821103104 $9.00 $9.00
Hard Drives - IDE
MAXTOR Quiet Drive 20GB 7200RPM Model # 6L020L1 - OEM, DRIVE ONLY DiamondMax PS D740X Plus Series Ultra ATA133/100, 2MB Cache Buffer, 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty QUIET DRIVE - "L" denotes Fluid Dynamic Bearing Motors N82E16822137126 $69.00 $69.00
Keyboards - English
Microsoft OEM Internet Keyboard and IntelliMouse PS/2 Bundle INTERNET KEYBOARD: Equipped with (10) hot keys that support Internet and e-mail functions, so users can launch their browser and surf the Web directly from their keyboards. Or, they can open their e-mail program and check messages with the push of a button. Also, a sleep key and two user-programmable hot keys, labeled "calculator" and "My Computer". Does not have a removable Palmrest. MOUSE: 2-button mouse with Wheel (that can be used as third button). With the included IntelliPoint Software, users can "scroll" and "zoom" natively withing Microsoft Office 97 applications as well as a host of other compatible programs. N82E16823109106 $24.00 $24.00
Memory - PC (SDRAM, EDO)
KINGSTON KVR133X64C3/256 VALUERAM 256MB PC133 - OEM 168Pins SDRAM 32X64 Chip RAM 7ns Speed Clock 3 Speed Lifetime Warranty N82E16820136001 $68.00 $68.00
Modems
Zoom 56k V.92 PCI Modem - OEM Version Data, Fax, Voice Mail, Plug and Play, Internal Modem. Data: 56,000 bps receive/48,000 bps send with auto-negotiation of V.92 and V.90. Fax: 300 to 14,4000 bps. Group 3, Class 1. Voice Mail: with multiple private mailboxes, password protection, remote retrieval and easy message review (requires sound card). (OEM Version of Model 3025-00-00L) N82E16825115106 $22.00 $22.00
Motherboards
MSI 694T PRO (MS-6309 v5.0 6309-470) VIA 694X PIII/ Tualatin/ Celeron/ VIA C3 SDRAM Socket 370 ATX MOTHERBOARD - RETAIL D-LED. Live BIOS. Fuzzy Logic 3. N82E16813130318 $63.00 $63.00
Processors - Intel Celeron
CPU PENTIUM III/CELERON 1.0AGHz 256K L2 Cache FCPGA Processor BX80526F1000256, Celeron 1.0GHz FCPGA form factor (370pin socket) - 1GHz Retail Box N82E16819112155 $72.00 $72.00
Speakers
ALTEC LANSING AVS 300W MULTIMEDIA - OEM 3 Piece Speaker System Frequency Response: 70Hz-18kHz, Satellite Power: 7 Watts, Subwoofer Power: 10 Watts OEM White Box N82E16836113120 $25.00 $25.00
Video Cards
VISIONTEK Xtasy 5632 GEFORCE2 GTS-V 4X/2X 32MB AGP - OEM
This VGA card offers high performance based on the GeForce2 GTS-V chipset and 32mb 256 bit DDR memory. Visiontek is the only Nvidia board partner to offer this card. Part# 72440.0 N82E16814129007 $49.00 $49.00


Subtotal » $480.00


all from newegg.com......wouldn't be a bad little box at all

 

[AA0]

generic case and 300W psus are fine, never had a problem with them.

budget computers are definitely AMD.
I'd get a FIC, gigabyte, epox (although they may require an expensive psu, not designed well). Don't get much onboard stuff, except some sound, cmedia is good. If you want good cheap sound, Santa Cruz OEM.

CPU is something you pick last with video card, have to weigh the two.
I'd get a DVD combo drive for CDRW if you really want to save money, if you don't need CDRW, just a DVD drive, CD drives are old. LG, pioneer.

Speakers. I use altecs for decent sound, but if you want great sound, then you have to really spend a lot more.

Video... thats kinda tough. Its personal preferance. If its a gaming machine, the Radeon 8500 OEM or GF3 Ti200 right now. Not sure if the cheaper GF4s are out, heard they are held back.

 

[yazz]

motherboard -- ECS K7SEM onboard video, audio, and LAN 2PCI 1AGP cost about $65-70 dollars

instead of a CDROM get like a LG 16X CDRW for like $80

if you are looking for reliable and stable check out these two components. i have had very very good luck with these two items. i have probably gone though like 700 ECS K7SEM boards with only one failure so far. the LG 16X burner has about the same failure rate nummbers as the ECS. Plus, if your friend is on a budget then onboard video and audio is fine for now. your friend can always buy a video card later down the road if he/she wants to play some higher end games....

 

[Mavrick007]

For case - Enlight 7237 with 300Watt psu - $51
processor - I would say get them a fast Duron, like a 1Ghz for around $45
mobo - look at the ECS K7AMA (with the ALi chipset) or teh K7S5A (Sis 735 chipset) for around $50-52
ram - 128Megs Crucial DDR $46
HD - Maxtor 20G 7200rpm oem $69
Keyboard/mouse - MS Internet KB and Intellimouse combo oem $24
video card - GF2 MX400 for $50 or GF2 TI for $75
speakers - either Altec Lansing or Creative labs suround for $20-25
cdrw - Mitsumi 24x10x40 $69 or Lite-on for $80
sound card - SB Live! 5.1 PCI oem $32
floppy drive - $6 Sony
monitor - 17" KDS VS-7xp $110

cheapest solution (w/wo monitor)= $572/$462 + s/h
better solution (w/wo monitor) = $615/$505 + s/h

 

[herbage11]

Great information. Thanks for your time and thoughts.

 

[herbage11]

OK I think I have what I want. I am going to try to get this for a sale system for around $500-700 in parts (I am over now ):

Case - Maxtop or Enlight-$50

MoBo - MSI ProT mobo-$70

CPU - Celeron 1.0A-$75

HD - 20gig Maxtor HD-$70

Video Card - VisionTec GF2 32MB-$50

CD - Lite on 52x-$30

CDRW - Lite-on-$85

Any Floppy-$9

Keyboard/mouse - Ps2 combo-$25

RAM - 256Pc133-$70

Modem - Zoom-$22

OS - Windows XP-$88

Monitor - 17" KDS-$150

Lansing speakers-$30

Misc.-$30

This puts me over $800. Anyone know where I could cut some costs w/o killing performance? I priced almost all things excluding monitor and speakers from newegg. Any thoughts or advice? Thanks .

 

[herbage11]

come on people. little help here please. thanks

 

[herbage11]

Get up there ! I need a little more input please .

 

[knutp]

What about the nforce? geforce2mx integrated, 5.1 sound and lan.
If they want a better video card, get the nforce 415 that doesn't have the onboard vga.

 

[AA0]

performance of that system is already shot... don't cut it anymore. $50 for a case is too much. Buying a CD with a CDRW is just stupid. Leave the floppy out, most people don't use them anymore. WinXP shouldn't cost that much.

Upgrading to a DDR/AMD system would cost little, and provide massive performance boosts.

 

[herbage11]

I just meant CDR not RW my bad. Also where would you get XP cheaper?

 

[Wolfsraider]

AMD Duron 950 MHz, Socket-A, 128KB Processor
$41.00 $41.00
Googlegear ATX Mid Tower P4 Case (Beige) Retail
$44.99 $44.99
Micron IC Chipset 256MB PC133 7.5NS 168 Pin DIMM CL3 Memory
$63.00 $63.00
Conex 56K V.90 Internal PCI Data / Fax Modem Retail
$10.99 $10.99
Artec S811 Speakers
$1.00 $1.00
ADI ProVista CG-770 17in 1280x1024 .27mm CRT Monitor
$135.00 $135.00

no cdrom saves 30.00

Subtotal: $295.98 savings>$131.00
from www.googlegear.com

if you changed these you could save $131.00 or the total before shipping 725.00

also if you shop locally you can usually get a decent refurbished monitor cheaper and even better deals on package deal

try here

also:AMD, AMD Duron / T-Bird Non-Integrated Barebone System
* AMD, Duron 850 MHz, Socket A, oem
* COOLER MASTER, Socket A Coppermine Cooling Fan
* ECS, K7S5A, Socket A, DDR & SDRAM, LAN, Audio, Retail Box
* KINGSTON, 256MB 32X64 PC133 SDRAM, Non-ECC, Retail
* MAXTOR, 20.4GB DiamondMax Plus U100 5400rpm, oem
* ATI, Radeon 32MB, DDR, AGP, oem
* GENERIC, 32BIT AW SRS Sound
* SAMSUNG, 1.44Mb 3.5 SAMSUNG Floppy Drive, oem
* LG ELECTRONICS, 24x10x40 CD-RW Drive, IDE, Retail
* PHOEBE MICRO, Lunar Express 56k v.90 PCI w/Voice, Retail
* GENERIC, 10/100Base T Network Card
* GENERIC, ATX Deluxe Mid Tower 300W PS



$486.56
$486.56


continue shopping empty cart update price
SUBTOTAL: $486.56
shipping calculator / check out




here

a refurbihed monitor 17 inch runs about 100.00 locally

hope this helps

 

[AA0]

XP home is about 90-100 cdn here, and I can get XP Pro for 140 canadian, academic version though.

 

[herbage11]

Alright. Great info all. thanks again for the help