Building a cheap Computer

[ex_reven]

Hey guys

The other day looking over my computer, I realised how much stuff Id replaced in the last year.
I have:

No Name PSU 350 - Watts (Still worked reasonably well for a crappy psu)
Spare Mouse
ATI X600 Pro Videocard
17" CRT Monitor
Floppy Drive (GTFO out of my case lol)
10/100 Network Card

See im planning on surprising my auntie by making her a decent computer, as shes never really had one and always complains about the crap one they own. By decent I mean being able to listen to music, use Microsoft Office, search the net, use MSN, watch movies etc. She isnt in the knowhow about computers meaning that I can keep my costs lower, as she is not likely to play games or anything. But at the same time, we all know the frustrations of slow computers.

This leaves me with the need for
1) Motherboard (Onboard sound would be excellent and needs to be PCI-E Capable)
2) CPU ( Maybe a 3ghz intel processor as the max?)
3) RAM (A gig of PC3200 should suffice)
4) DVD-RW (Im thinking an LG would be great)
5) Speakers (either through a cheap sub, or going straight to the onboard sound ports on the I/O Panel)

Can anyone suggest some bargains or at least some good brand models to go with :D?
Also - I have no experience whatsoever with AMD and have no idea about their performance, but if someone recommends AMD id be interested in just knowing a little about how they compare to intel processors in terms of speeds.

[Alex Gheseger]

Here's what I would do if I were you:
Buy a de-brand. The beautiful part about de-branded computers is that you have access to the support system of the big makers, but you pay just a fraction of the price. Try phoning around and see if any computer places carry de-brands (HP is the best, by far) and buy one of those. Then just slap a gig of DDR in it, and socket the video card.

That's the cheapest, easiest, and most effective way of buying a computer.

And in answer to your AMD question: AMD rates their chips not in terms of frequency, but in terms of what it performs at. For example, a 3400+ chip is supposed to be as fast as a 3.4 ghz intel chip. However, in reality, the chip is probably going to work as well as a 3 ghz chip.

Hope that helps you out;
Alex

[i_am_mustang_man]

ok 1st off, my key for the letter before b isn't working on my lptop, so @ll my @'s will be @ signs, k? lol

@nyw@ys.... i would get @ che@p @m2 bo@rd, bec@use ddr2 is less expensive th@n ddr right now, @nd @m2 proccies @re che@per th@n intel counterp@rts (@ 3200+ venice @thlon 64 would prolly be fine, imo)

for @ dvdrw, check newegg.com @nd the dvdrw de@ls. its gre@t. i got @ s@msung 18x for 30$ w/ free shipping

@s f@r @s br@nds for everything, just go to @ site @nd use their se@rch options to n@rrow your se@rch until it h@s everything you need (pci express, onbo@rd sound, etc...)

welcome to tpu btw!
& sorry @bout @ll the @'s!

[ex_reven]

lol at your key...maybe you have something 'sticky' under the keys :P

yes welcome to alex

[Pinchy]

i got a better idea...sell all your current stuff and buy an entire computer, itll work out much cheaper and you wont have to worry about a PCIe motherboard

For example:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/PCSYS-AM2-AMD64-X2-3600-512MB-RAM-80GB-DVD-RW-NEW_W0QQitemZ140040045067QQihZ004QQcategoryZ130727 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[ktr]

recommend buying a bearbone: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=31

this is a nice deal.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2456522&CatId=0

[ex_reven]

i like that barebone

a bit on the ugly side - but decent

i wonder how much i could sell my gear for

[strick94u]

I would get a cheap but nice asus mother board with on board sound and video like this 3 month old one I have for sell and out fit it with an 805 d retail processor with a fan thats never been used like this one I have here for sale and maybe 2 gigs of nice super talent ddr1 ram like the ones I have for sale here you should be able to get all that from newegg or tiger direct for about 375 I bet or find some smuck willing to sell his sighltly used stuff for about 300 or best offer you should look around :D

[Pinchy]

LMAO @ strick :p

Yeah, but here in AUS everything is a tad dearer :p...and to get so many parts shipped would cost a small fortune

[ktr]

i like that barebone

a bit on the ugly side - but decent

i wonder how much i could sell my gear for

Check the other barebones also...

[Pinchy]

lol he's only looking for something cheapy remember, only net surfing, emails and stuff :p

[AshenSugar]

biostar 6100 am2 motherboard (under 60bucks)
sempron64 3000+ (under 60bucks)
1gb cheap ddr2
80gb sata hdd (under60bucks)
cheap case (under 30bucks)
FSP cheap psu(fortron sorce power=top notch without breaking the bank)

the boards onboard video will do what your looking for, honestly i think this is your best bet, its cheap and beets the perf of anything intel has in the same price range, also if they feel the need for more power in a year or 3 they will beable to just pop in a new cpu as am2 is goning to be getting upgrades for the next 3-5 years(am2 boards will take am3 chips when they eventuly hit the market)

also being that you know what parts are in it exectly you will have an easyer time updating drivers and such, i hate tiger dirrects support and especly there rebate deals(takes forever for them to send them if they ever do >.< )

if you want a slitly more upscale board the biostar tforce6100 board is a bit more BUT has the advantage of being one of the top overclocking boards you can get(excelent quility componants)

im on a tfroce550 here, i have setup many tforce6100 boards both 939 and 754 sockets, probbly over 50 and none had EVER had a problem, and most where open box from the egg(newegg) and had everything with them to boot(like 37bucks for an am2 tforce6100 board NOW ^^

[strick94u]

LMAO @ strick :p

Yeah, but here in AUS everything is a tad dearer :p...and to get so many parts shipped would cost a small fortune
Oh yup its An island ya know :D
few years ago we sent a hand held scanner to a freind down there we could have bought him a very nice flat bed here for what it codt to ship to him. next time we sent some thing we got lucky and met a guy here that had a house there too so he was kind enought to smuggle it for us

[Pinchy]

it only costed me $13.50 to send a graphics card (no box, <500 grams) to the states :D

And to ship a laptop from the states, via insured express post (3 day delivery :D) it was only like $130AUD (around $100USD) :)

[ex_reven]

13.50 :) compared to $100 :P

thats so fair :P...

[Pinchy]

Yeah u get that :p