Help me build a cheap, yet reliable new computer!

1224 Views 18 Replies 5 Participants Last post by cooliscool, Feb 19, 2005

aolforbroadband

Discussion Starter · Feb 18, 2005

Well, I've decided to sell my HP Pavilion PC. I need about $100 for some personal debts(I pay people back) and other things.

However, I'm hoping to have at least to back somewhere around $300 left to build a new computer. I'm looking for the cheapest, yet best combination of Case/CPU/Motherboard/Memory/Hard Drive available at www.newegg.com. Whichever brands that are trustworthy are fine, IE - AMD and Intel. I know I don't have a lot of money, but I really just need a PC to work on photoshop graphics, surf the web, and listen to music(I still have an SB Live 5.1 lying around, so that's taken care of). Here are a little more things in detail about what I'm looking for in each area:

CPU - Around 2GHz speed(I don't need much), I'm thinking maybe and Athlon 1800+ or somewhere around there
Motherboard - I have an AMD mobo lying around somewhere that my brother's friend computer used to use. However, the problem didn't turn out to be the mobo, it was the dead Athlon processor. So I may have this taken care of already, but just in case I don't, I'd prefer something with several onboard features like video(but with an AGP slot for expansion later), USB, Ethernet, etc.
Case - Any mid-tower cheapo case that's decent looking will do.
Memory - 256MB should be fine for the time being.
Hard Drive - This probably is what will break my back. I'm hoping I can afford something at least around the 20GB range. I'll monitor my pr0n downloads until I can afford more space.

I know a lot of you gurus know how to get the best bang for the buck, so any help is appreciated. Thanks!

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

cooliscool

· #2 · Feb 18, 2005

For $300 you can do much much better man.

What exact mobo is it that you have?

aolforbroadband

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 19, 2005

Some ASUS X-Series mobo, A7V8X-X I believe.

I can do better?

(Haha) Well then, if I can, help me out picking the parts.

I want to make the most with my $$$.

cooliscool

· #4 · Feb 19, 2005

Aww sweet mobo.. it'll do you great.

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=19-103-506&DEPA=1 <-- you can, as you'd say, "OVERCLOCK IT TO ****ING HELL!!!"

Hehe.

$77

Heatsink - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-150-043&depa=0

$10

RAM - http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=20-146-219&DEPA=1

$67

Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=22-144-122&DEPA=1

$58

Case - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-105-124&depa=1

$40 with $15 S&H

TOTAL: $267.. leaves you ~$40 for something else you may want/need, and you get a sweet PC.

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aolforbroadband

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 19, 2005

w00t, you're a the effin' man Cooliscool.

BTW, just in case my brother's friend doesn't let me keep the mobo, which one do you recommend I buy(preferably with onboard video to save some $$$ until I have more).

cooliscool

· #6 · Feb 19, 2005 (Edited)

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-138-234&depa=1

$63 and has onboard GF4 MX graphics. I know how you love m-atx boards and GeForce MXs.

If he doesn't let you keep the mobo, post here and I'll help you get the price back down to $300 without sacrificing much.

Esturk

· #7 · Feb 19, 2005

The Athlon 2500+ is awesome. I overclocked mine to 3200+ speeds (2200Mhz) at default voltage (1.65v). Mine's locked and I don't know if I want to bother unlocking it or not.. I have conductive paint. Anyways, kick your brother's friend's ass if he doesn't let you keep that board.:evil:

cooliscool

· #8 · Feb 19, 2005

Indeed it is.

I wonder if a 3200+ outperforms my 3.2C..

edit: apperently not

Esturk

· #9 · Feb 19, 2005

Hahaha. How could a 2.2Ghz processor outperform a 3.2Ghz processor? Doesn't make sense to me. When I bought my AMD processor, I wasn't expecting it to come even close to a P4. AMD's PR rating has become more and more outrageous over time.:lol:

Kane

· #10 · Feb 19, 2005

My 1.8GHz Athlon 64 (3000+) would give a 3.2 P4 a definate run for it's money. The PR rating on the Athlon 64s is conservative if anything.

aolforbroadband

Discussion Starter · #11 · Feb 19, 2005 (Edited)

I forgot to mention, I could also use a black CD-RW, floppy drive, keyboard and mouse while I'm at it, heh.

I'm selling some other items on Ebay so I should have an additional $50 or so.

ChrisRay

· #12 · Feb 19, 2005

cooliscool said:
Indeed it is.

I wonder if a 3200+ outperforms my 3.2C..

edit: apperently not

The Barton model was released to compete with the P4 3.0 Ghz B, And it did that fairly well. Everyone by now should know mhz means absolutely dick. If Intel wouldnt dick around with its FSB so much and just stick "Mhz Means everything" strategy it originally intended. Then 3.0 Ghz CPU was very comparable to a 3200+.

The p4C CPUS were released months after the Barton model first appeared and the extra bandwith does make a difference. And yes. My 2.4 Ghz athlon 64 outperforms a 3.8 Ghz Pentium 4 by rather extreme margins in games. To anyone who thinks Mhz actually matters. Please. Bandwith, Cache, Execution pipeline is far more important. A p4 3.8 Ghz is actually fairly comparable to an Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2.0 Ghz

http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2004q4/pentium4-570j/index.x?pg=5

cooliscool

· #13 · Feb 19, 2005

ChrisRay said:
The Barton model was released to compete with the P4 3.0 Ghz B, And it did that fairly well. Everyone by now should know mhz means absolutely dick. If Intel wouldnt dick around with its FSB so much and just stick "Mhz Means everything" strategy it originally intended. Then 3.0 Ghz CPU was very comparable to a 3200+.

The p4C CPUS were released months after the Barton model first appeared and the extra bandwith does make a difference. And yes. My 2.4 Ghz athlon 64 outperforms a 3.8 Ghz Pentium 4 by rather extreme margins in games. Please. Mhz means absolutely nothing these days. Memory bandwith/Bus/Cache are far more important.

Did I say MHz means anything? No.. that's why I questioned a 3200+ outperforming my 3.2C, because I know MHz means nothing. :???: Chris lately you've been putting words in my mouth, why?

ChrisRay

· #14 · Feb 19, 2005 (Edited)

cooliscool said:
Did I say MHz means anything? No.. that's why I questioned a 3200+ outperforming my 3.2C, because I know MHz means nothing. :???: Chris lately you've been putting words in my mouth, why?

Read the edit. I wasnt referring to you. I havent put any words into your mouth either.

Esturk said:
Hahaha. How could a 2.2Ghz processor outperform a 3.2Ghz processor? Doesn't make sense to me. When I bought my AMD processor, I wasn't expecting it to come even close to a P4. AMD's PR rating has become more and more outrageous over time.:lol:

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/amd-athlonxp3200/

This was the target the Athlon XP 3200+ had. The C models were increased FSB which made them rather stellar performers to to the Athlon XP 3200+. Intel has this habit of releasing a chip with a slow FSB, Then later releasing a same mhz model with a higher FSB. You can do the same with Athlon XP chips if your multi is unlocked. Just lower the multi then up the FSB. Keep the same clock settings but watch your performance fly for memory intensive applications. (Games) but your performance stay relatively the same in other apps.

AMD of course has been no better as of late. Releasing the Athlon 64 4000+ Which is actually just a 3800+ With an extra bit of cache. They also have been a little confusing with their models. The 3400+ and 3500+ overlap each other alot since the cache is smaller. But supposively Dual channel makes up for that. Really though. AMD atm could call their CPUS 4400+ If they'd like because it would take those clock rates from Intel to achieve the same game performance.

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Esturk

· #15 · Feb 19, 2005

I see ChrisRay. I figured as much, but I'm new to high end processors. I'm so used to having Celeron's below 1Ghz.

But that's cool anyways, I knew the 2500+ was a steal of a deal. I'm actually quite amazed at how well it performs with my 9800 Pro.

Thanks for the information Chris.

ChrisRay

· #16 · Feb 19, 2005

Esturk said:
I see ChrisRay. I figured as much, but I'm new to high end processors. I'm so used to having Celeron's below 1Ghz. But that's cool anyways, I knew the 2500+ was a steal of a deal. I'm actually quite amazed at how well it performs with my 9800 Pro.

Thanks for the information Chris.

Well the 3200+ is slower than a p4 3.2 Ghz C model. No biggy. But the difference isnt as extreme as you'd think. It was the last chip to carry the Barton name and it has held up exceedinly well IMO. It is at least comparable to a 3 Ghz P4 or a 2.8 Ghz P4C (which is faster than a P4 Ghz B) Confusing isnt it? heh. But I wouldnt worry. By the time a p4 3.2 Ghz ever become a minimum requirements. ((which is very unlikely given the static stall on CPUs)) The 3200+ will have out lived its usefulness too.

My 2500+ Barton in my second rig has trotted along happily @ 3200+ speeds for a while and my second rig is still proving to be a very competant gaming machine.

cooliscool

· #17 · Feb 19, 2005

Totally.. model numbers, PR ratings and stuff are totally being taken way too far.. The non-knower would probably buy a 3.06 P4 over a 2.8C simpley because the number's higher..

Although it's nothing new to the industry it's kinda.. what's the word.. dumb?

Oh, and Chris - sorry for the accusation in my previous post.. until you edited it I though it was directed to me. Sorry man. :laugh:

edit: ASRock is spitting out BIOSes for the P4V88 RAID like there's no tomorrow! A new one already which supposedly fixes some stability issues with 3.xC series CPUs, and fixes a reboot on post bug that plagued some users.

aolforbroadband

Discussion Starter · #18 · Feb 19, 2005

/me feels ignored

Err, anyone see my post about finding a cheap black CD-RW drive and mouse/keyboard?

cooliscool

· #19 · Feb 19, 2005

CD-RW - http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=27-106-197&DEPA=1

$21

KB/Mouse - http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=23-126-160&DEPA=0 & http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=26-104-165&DEPA=0

~$30.

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