Lets build a PC

My shop doesn't build PC's anymore. We just don't want to mess with warranty work and tech support issues. Besides, we live in a small town and getting stuck with inventory is a killer. So I'm totally out of the loop as far as building something from scratch.

People in the forums brag about putting quality PC's together cheap. I'd like to put one together for a friend.

Please respond to this post with links to parts I can buy online to assemble a good computer.

Lets put a $900 price limit on it (including shipping). So, what can be built for that much money?

This is just my opinion but I use Price Watch for a lot of items. These are the vendors I've used the most through Price Watch:
1. www.newegg.com for video cards
2. www.crucial.com for memory (I've probably ordered 20 DIMMS from them in the last 8 weeks and not one RMA)
3. www.buyhotpc.com for processors.
4. www.krex.com. I've ordered a myriad of things from them over the years (software & hardware) and have always liked dealing with them.

Another site I've used with quite a bit of luck is www.tigerdirect.com. I say that with reservations as I know some people do not like them, but I've never had problem.

Good Luck! <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

Oops sorry! For ~$900 you should be able to put together a fairly kick a$$ medium range PC! The OS will eat out a chunk. A good T-Bird or Duron should be easily attainable. A bare bones system package may be the best way to go. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

Epox 8K7A motherboard: $129
Antec SX830 case: $99
800mhz Duron: $36
Crucial PC1600 DDR 256MB: $62
IBM 20GB hard drive: $88
Leadtek GeForce2 MX 32MB: $52
TB Santa cruz: $70
Good NIC: $40
Cheapo modem: $40
Various good Cooling: $100? not sure
Keyboard/mouse: $30
Windows 98se (we're on a budget): $100

Giving Steve's $799 PC (from Dell) a real *** whoopin: Priceless <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

$846 plus shipping, maybe close to 900 if you order from one store

Update: Great value configuration!
Using Pricewatch with shipping:
Shuttle AK12: $87
800mhz Duron: $46
Crucial PC1600 DDR 128MB: $36
Leadtek GeForce2 MX 32MB: $62
Case fans: $57
HSF and heatsink: $57

At local stores:
Cheapo FMI 300w case: $70
Maxtor 20GB hard drive: $80
Ensoniq AudioPCI: $30
Cheapo modem: $20
Keyboard/mouse: $30
Windows 98se (ME sucks): $90
DVD-ROM: $80
15" Monitor: $100
Speakers: $20

$795! Not bad eh? complete system, cheap price! no it isn't a powerhouse but it gets the job done <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

Motherboard- Anything ASUS (CUSI-M is cheap, CUSL2 seiries is quality)

Processor-Id go with intel considering youve been out of the loop, I dont think your mind will be conditioned to deal with the headachs some of the AMD's cause in new machines (not to mention i find they have some incompatibility issues which will cause a headache

Video- Go with a GeForce2 MX, they are cheap and good-CardXpert is the best value for quality and price

Sound-SB Live Value, they are cheap anyway but if he cant afford it, get onboard...it can always be disabled.

Modem/NIC-it never really bothered me to think about this.

HDD-maxtor...just dont get one of those new low profile ones...they suck

memory-crucial, always get crucial.
the rest of the computer just get cheap...its all good.

try www.motherboard.com for your parts...its a good start where you can get average to low prices and you can get an idea of what the prices are and they sell everything

Compatability issues? I have yet to see one with AMD. I had more problems with my Intel systems. We're also talking a budget system here. You can't get an Intel system on a budget, and still have decent add-in cards. Don't forget that the processor isn't the only thing in the computer, and it often matters the least to a non-computer savvy end user.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by pakprotector:
<STRONG>This is just my opinion but I use Price Watch for a lot of items. These are the vendors I've used the most through Price Watch:
1. www.newegg.com for video cards
2. www.crucial.com for memory (I've probably ordered 20 DIMMS from them in the last 8 weeks and not one RMA)
3. www.buyhotpc.com for processors.
4. www.krex.com. I've ordered a myriad of things from them over the years (software & hardware) and have always liked dealing with them.

Another site I've used with quite a bit of luck is www.tigerdirect.com. I say that with reservations as I know some people do not like them, but I've never had problem.

Good Luck! <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"></STRONG>

---

ahhahaha, Newegg!

I used to work for them damn there gay. LOL
I worked for them as there Linux Windows NT workstation R&D manager.

Pay was ****ty, and anything from newegg I get free shipping plus discount since I still have buddies there <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

Quote:

---

Originally posted by PitaBred:
<STRONG>Compatability issues? I have yet to see one with AMD. I had more problems with my Intel systems. We're also talking a budget system here. You can't get an Intel system on a budget, and still have decent add-in cards. Don't forget that the processor isn't the only thing in the computer, and it often matters the least to a non-computer savvy end user.</STRONG>

---

There is nothing wrong with AMD in itself, but because intel has a iron grip on all th companies i find that there are more issues with AMD stuff. For instance, the #1 rated CardXpert GeForce2 MX VC, will lock up an AMD system when playing high graphics games. Or asus forgot to program their bios on their economy amd board to charge the battery. For economy i feel celerons, although higher priced will cause less of a headache, or even a cheap p3.

Im running a AMD ATHLON 1.2 ghz and have been running AMD ever since my last AMD 100

Never had a problem with AMD.

I always have problems with intel on benchmarking and trying to use intel cpu's with non intel baords. AMD never havethis problem.

Hint never use VIA chip set with Intel, this will crash Intel everytime. Maybe this is why lots of people dont like via.

My board is South bridge VIA north bridge AMD


Works great, its a gigabyte main baord

www.computergeeks.com has a few real cheap atx cases. I recently purchased one for about $18 with a 250w p/s and it is quite acceptable for a cheapo system. And cheap refurb cd/rw drives also. It's a nice stash of cheap new used and refurb stuff...

As far as AMD is concerned, I've owned at least five athlon systems. They are the most stable machines that I have ever owned. All accept the biostar board based on the via kx chipset. What a piece that was. <IMG SRC="smilies/cool.gif" border="0">

I always use <a href="http://www.pricewatch.com" target="_blank">http://www.pricewatch.com</a> to get my parts, got a GeForce 2 GTS/PRO 64mb DDR for $166 and a 1.1 T-bird and AZ-11 board for $350 but that was 4 months ago. As for RAM I agree with <a href="http://www.crucial.com" target="_blank">www.crucial.com</a>

I asked the same question a couple weeks ago and someone recommended to me <a href="http://www.xtechnology.com," target="_blank">www.xtechnology.com,</a> and I have sold 7 nice systems from there and saved my clients a bundle....Great place to configure systems, bare bones and up, and you dont have to order is assembled, saves a few extra bucks...\

There, thats my 2 cents....~~Aloha~~

This froma local store where I buy most of my parts

AMD K7 Duron 800
Chrome Orb AMD Socket-A
256 MB Micron PC-133 SD-RAM
KT7A-133 RAID T-bird Sock-A ATX
ATI Radeon 32MB AGP
IBM HARD DRIVES: 20 GB IDE ATA-100 7200 RPM CD-RW Sony 8x4x32 IDE CD-RW
Toshiba 16X IDE DVD Drive
Soundblaster Live! Value PCI + Speakers
Sony 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive
PC-Tel v.90 PCI Voice/Fax Modem
Eagle 107 Win Keyboard PS/2
Logitech Wheel Mouse PS/2
Super ATX Case 250w (AMD approved)
D-Link Ethernet 10/100 PCI Card
Microsoft Windows 98 OSR 2 OEM
VIEWSONIC 17" .25dp SVGA

Makes for a kick a$$ computer with plenty of upgrade capability.

Price ?

just less than a $1000

if the $900 is the max you can spend just go with a cheaper monitor (you can get a decent monitor for around $70 less) and change the DVD drive to a regular cD-ROM ($30 diffrerence) and you still get a killer PC for $900 :)

btw, you can find the same config over the net for about 10% less, like I said this is from a local store, I don't buy full computers there - just occasional parts.

For $900 US... hmmm

i'll state what i could get in AU$, then convert it :p

with $1800AU...

Duron 800 $100
ThermoEngine $50
Abit KT7A $240
256MB PC133 $70
20GB IBM 60GXP $200
Geforce 2 MX $180
SB Live Value $90
ATX Case/300W $60
Mitsubishi 1770G $360
Altec Lansing ACS54 $160 or so....
MS Internet Pro and Intellimouse Optical $80?
16x DVD-ROM $130
FDD $20
cheapo NIC $20
Modem $40

all up, AU$1800

about $900US :)

This is the system I am putting together right now....I am just waiting for the motherboard to arrive :D

(* denotes included cost of shipping)

Duron 800 w/heatsink + fan, 1yr Warr. = $55*
ECS K7VZA MB, 5PCI, 1.5GB Ram, 200FSB = $70*
S3 32MB Video Card = $33*
20GB HD = $80 (bought at show)
56K Modem = salvaged from old PC (cheap to buy anyway)
ATX 6 Bay Mid-Tower case w/300PS = $37*
56x CD-Rom = $35 (bought at show)
128MB SDRam = $25 (bought at show)
15" Monitor = $50 (bought from a friend)
Keyboard & Mouse = $15 (bought at show)
Speakers = $15 (bought at show)
Win98se = $100 (local store)
Various cooling fans = $15*

Total = $530 up and running

Basically I built and bought these particular parts for basic gaming and to be able to use a computer when my other is used by my family.

Best thing to do is get an idea of what you will be building the computer for, get a list of what components you would like, and visit <a href="http://www.pricewatch.com." target="_blank">www.pricewatch.com.</a> Even if you don't buy everything from that resource (like me) you can get good info on the parts you are looking for. If you have shows near you, go to them, best is to shop around. Good Luck.