Need A New (Cheap) PC

mindlesspuppetmindlesspuppet Erie, PA
edited September 2003 in Hardware
Well... my old PC finally bit the dust. Well at least the motherboard and processor. So right now I'm looking for something cheap to get me through school... cheap meaning real cheap... like $400. I'm fairly up to date with hardware and prices, admittedly not as much as I once was. THis is my first time building, or buying a computer already assembled, where I've really had a budget. I'm mainly justl ooking for something to get me by, maybe be able to play a few games. I checked out the barebone systems on newegg, but when you facotr in the cost of RAM the price goes a bit more than I can spare right now most the time. If anyone can point me in the right direction it'd be appreciated.

On a side note, I like most around here, perfer AMDs.

Comments

  • verselloversello New
    edited September 2003
    I just built a new PC for my parents. They didn't need a blazing fast one, but they also had a $400 budget. All parts were bought on newegg.com.

    - InWin Case Model IW-V523G.250FU2D 3G Screwless BLACK (awesome case, PSU included, I highly reccomend this) [$42]
    - Asus A7N266-VM AA Motherboard (nforce-based, built-in GeForce 2 MX gfx and DTS sound card) [$64]
    - Viking 256MB PC2700 DDR-RAM [$42]
    - Maxtor 30GB 7200rpm HD [$55]
    - AMD Duron 1.3GHz Processor (retail box, comes with heatsink) [$42]
    - Mitsumi Black Floppy Drive [$8]
    - Ortek MCK-7500 Black keyboard (great multimedia keyboard) [$11]
    - Chic Technology Group Optical Mouse (they don't have black anymore, only silver, but the quality is surprisingly very good and doesn't lose track) [$10]
    - Lite On 52x Black Cd Rom [$16]
    - Viewsonic Q71B 17" monitor [$117]

    Total: $407

    When I bought it, it came up to $401 because they were having back to school sales.

    Since you probably don't need a new monitor, keyboard, mouse, cd-rom, HD and what-not, you'll have an additional $$$ to spend on other stuff, like 512MB DDR-RAM and a better CPU, but otherwise this is an excellent value :)

    Shipping from newegg.com was also about $80, so I don't know if that's included in your budget or not.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Here is a start and you can go from here. This is not the best but far from the worst of components. I even allowed for upgradeability in the selections.

    ABIT KD7A $79.00
    AMD Athlon XP 2100+ RETAIL $74.00
    CORSAIR MEMORY 512MB PC2700 VALUE SELECT $86.00
    VGA CHAINTECH A-GX20 TI-4200 64MB 8X $85.00
    Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM Hard Drive $60.00

    TOTAL
    $384 All prices from Newegg and include FREE SHIPPING.

    I don't know what you have for case, powersupply or hard drive as these may be used but you need to have a decent 350W PS, room for air circulation and a fairly modern HD.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    Want to post the specs of the current system and what's useable in it, so we can get an idea of what you need?
  • KometeKomete Member
    edited September 2003
    Man considering you all ready can scarf most the stuff from your old PC 400 bucks is more than plenty
  • HackingGuruHackingGuru
    edited September 2003
    Nah Nah, look at this:

    Super Talent Aluminum Mid Tower W/Door,USB,1394,5Fan Case (Silver)
    ATI Radeon 9600 256MB W/TV&DVI&2H AGP Video Card Bulk
    Antec SL350 350W P4 ATX Power Supply
    MSI MS-8352A 52X24X52 IDE CD-RW Retail
    Samsung 1.44 Floppy (White)
    Microsoft Windows XP Home W/SP1A (1-Pack)
    Seagate 60GB IDE ATA100 7200rpm Hard Drive (Barracuda ATA V)
    PC3200 256MB DDR400 32X64 Infineon Memory (2X)
    Asus A7N8X Socket A/nForce2/DDR400/8X AGP/A&L/USB2.0/ATX Motherboard
    AMD Athlon XP-2500 1.833GHz 512K 333MHz CPU Retail

    $799.99

    Digital Storm, www.digitalstormonline.com I work for them they are changign there site etc and prices so I think hold your money and check them out, give them like 2 weeks tops for it to be fully working with the new prices and layout.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Originally posted by HackingGuru
    Nah Nah, look at this:


    $799.99

    Didn't ya see the part about CHEAP / "cheap meaning real cheap... like $400" ???
  • HackingGuruHackingGuru
    edited September 2003
    Yea, he can like bring some stuff down and get it around $400 so he does not have to built it etc all the hassel. Just my 2 cents :)
  • verselloversello New
    edited September 2003
    Building is the fun part :D It's like playing with expensive legos.
  • meepsmeeps
    edited September 2003
    Originally posted by HackingGuru
    Yea, he can like bring some stuff down and get it around $400 so he does not have to built it etc all the hassel. Just my 2 cents :)

    More like a cheap advertisment...
  • HackingGuruHackingGuru
    edited September 2003
    Ok meeps, wow im advertising, wow, go go man buy from Digital Storm yes yes please buy from them they are #1!!! thats a ad man, think what you say before you start typing so fast.
  • meepsmeeps
    edited September 2003
    Uh huh, he said his budget was low. $400 to be exact. You come in offering an $800 PC and then say
    Digital Storm, www.digitalstormonline.com I work for them they are changign there site etc and prices so I think hold your money and check them out, give them like 2 weeks tops for it to be fully working with the new prices and layout.
    Had you not worked there, it wouldn't be an advertisement.
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