SUPER cheap system help.

dak125dak125
edited February 2004 in Hardware
I'm going to build a buddy of mine a PC. He's on a tight budget, pays for school, car, 3 jobs, etc. I'm buying all of the hardware from distributors so I'm getting everything for wholesale. But, I always see people building full PC's for next to nothing. For the life of me I can't get the tower for much under $500. I was hoping for $500 with a monitor. This is what I have:

-Abit NF7
-XP 2200+
-Corsair Value RAM 256 PC3200
-GeForce2 MX400 64MB SDR
-WD 40 GB Special Edition (great deal on the drive, can't find anything that much cheaper either.
-Liteon 52x combo drive
-Floppy
-Dialup internal modem (for when he's not at school)
-Xaser keyboard+mouse
-Antec silent case with 350w PS.

What can I really save some cash on? Going for a 5400 RPM doesn't do anything noticeable, nor PC2700 ram for instance. I get great deals directly from Viewsonic for the monitor and all of these prices are rock bottom. But, when people dicuss building a full PC for >500 I'd like to know how. Any help would be appreciated-DaK

Comments

  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2004
    dump the motherboard and the cpu. Get him a duron and an ECS board. Cheap and pretty decent.
  • dak125dak125
    edited February 2004
    Geeky1 wrote:
    dump the motherboard and the cpu. Get him a duron and an ECS board. Cheap and pretty decent.

    How decent are we talking? I suppose I should discuss the main uses: writing papers, music, IM's. Onboard video would even be alright in this instance. Onboard sound is a must basically.
  • fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    http://www.short-media.com/article.php?117.0
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Yes, definitely don't worry about the Athlon - get him a Duron.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    You know, fatcat, you reminded me about how great that article is. We should update it monthly ... :D
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2004
    ECS is good. Cheap, reliable. I've got 4 of them in systems I had donated for Habitat For Humanity last March, and the only problem I've had is one dead CMOS battery. No crashes, no BSOD's that have been reported, no complaints. They don't overclock much, but they're reliable, stable, and dirt cheap. I got the one I have for free with my 1800+ JIUHB/DLT3C from Fry's- $50 combo deal. The board was effectively free.
  • JustinJustin Atlanta
    edited February 2004
    If you go with onboard graphics, you could potentailly forego the graphics card for now, since you did not mention gaming as a function of the computer... maybe....
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    You could try getting an Abit NF7-M which has onboard video and that board is being discontinued due to slow sales. I have seen them for close to the same price as the NF7. Then get either a Duron or a used Athlon. I would also like to give my vote of confidence for ECS boards as they are reliable and inexpensive. Heck, 86% of all boards made are produced by ECS including a lot of the big names. So they cannot be that bad???
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    I'll also toss in a vote for ECS. Just make sure you really understand well his needs. It'd be pretty sad if he came back to you two weeks after the build complaining that the machine won't play some game he's just picked up from CompUSA.
Sign In or Register to comment.