Budget computer

[Thermopylae_480]

I'm building a budget computer and just wanted to know if anyone has had any experience with low end Gigabyte boards. How well do they work etc. specifically the Gigabyte GA-7VT600P-RZ :confused: or any compatibility issues there may be between this board and the Duron Applebred.

This is what I'm planning:
1.8GHz Duron Applebred
Gigabyte GA-7VT600P-RZ
512MB Wintec DDR400(PC3200)
40GB Maxtor DiamondMax plus
Rosewill Black 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM
Linkworld 3131-01-C5828U ATX Mid Tower with 300W Power Supply
TOTAL PRICE: $254.02

[wazzledoozle]

Dont know about Gigabyte boards, but about the Duron... Opt for a really low end Sempron, it should cost about the sam give or take a few dollars. Much better too...

[Thermopylae_480]

I'm building this computer for my stepfather and trying to keep the price as low as it can be, but still be reliable. All this computer will have to do is word process and access the internet, it will never touch any game more complex than solitare. I know the Duron is pretty slow, but with 512MB or Ram should'nt it be adequate for what I need it to do?

[Anarion]

giga 7vt600
DO NOT even think about that piece of c... i have (ithink) better one, bought it about 1 year ago around 80$- 1.it is C.... 2. 3#time get it back to guaranty service 3.it has a athlon xp 18+ on it which only can run @ 1100!!!!!!(temp issuse !!! u will laugh if u find out how many fan is in my case plus 2x12cm always on fan ! ) & billion bad thing i want say to it !@#$@!$@%#%@%


nice. m just think about cd drive & mb

[gR3iF]

Philips DVDR1625K (Retail, 16fach DVD brennen)
A-DATA DIMM 512 MB DDR-400
Intel® Celeron® Processor 2.0GHz (Boxed, mPGA, "Northwood")
Asrock P4Dual-915GL (µATX, Sound, VGA, LAN)
AOpen QF50A (Air Guide, schwarz)
Hitachi HDS728080PL (U-133)
Philips PCDV5016 (Bulk, schwarz)

its about 200 and i think really good----> 80 gig hdd
512 cl2.5 ram
2.0 gig celeron
graphic onboard

[Anarion]

2.0 gig celeron
graphic onboard

i never like celeron , but this was for old days fcpga daugter borads &.. & :mad: :mad: :(


BUt , dude , why propose an onboard vga!!! realy , or just kidin !?

in my opion , i bought two onboard mb-sys :mad: :rolleyes: /therefore a litlle exp here :D / never ever go for onboard things !

[gR3iF]

i like my onboard s-ata controller and my onbboard sounbd aswell

[Anarion]

me too lan too sata too ;) , but vga IS somtin esle (ain't agree !?) - did u ever use a mb with onboard vga (if not , never feel the suffer ;D). & also onboard snd (best onboard snds on their times even not close to a mid range snd card @ that time

- btw- if realy wanna play-listen -ing , this is An "ought" for buy-ing a nice soundcard. (ain't agree !?) . :)

[Thermopylae_480]

Ok so I ditch the Gigabyte board, and buy something I can trust. Perhaps an Abit or ASUS? Everything else should do OK I think. Building a computer with cheap crap is kind of stressful :( . I prefer buying quality parts a lot more.

As far as this side conversation about onboard components, I prefer as little as I can get when building a preformance PC. Onboard audio puts extra load on the processor and just does not sound as good as a good sound card. Onboard VGA I won't even humor :eek: . LAN is fine, as well as SATA an other various controllers.

[Anarion]

be well to do ;)

[grazzhoppa]

Back a few years ago, I bought a Compaq computer with a Gigabyte board that had onboard everything. This was in the K6-2 days and Win98. I've disasembled and mix & matched that motherboard with different parts about 5 times and the board is still working great.

That computer you listed in the first post would be great for typing things and internet surfing. I think the duron is the best chip for the money, the 1.8ghz one is listed for $42 on pricewatch.com. Don't let the tiny, 64k, L2 cache fool you. AMD uses a different way of handling the cpu's cache than Intel, and because of that AMD is able to chop the L2 cache down big time with minimal performance drop.

Also, don't forget the little things! Make sure you budget out any needed cables, fans, thermal paste, mouse+keyboard, legal Windows XP, etc. All that junk could tack on another $50-150 to the total price.