$200 PC... Opinions & Guidance needed

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aikjo2

Limp Gawd
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Jan 24, 2007
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I am selling my big rig in favor of a laptop which fills my needs. I do want a stationary pc with parts I can maintain, & can be left to downloading files whilst I am away. (Please do not use the word "T-0-R-R-3-N-T" as my school sonicwall will filter it... and I will be unable to visit this page (site may become blocked too...) Let's just say I want this to be able to run uTor___t 24/7.

Obviously I want as much storage as possible, and as many SATA Ports as possible, and as cheap as possible.

Anyone know which board /distro (or board /Vista) works best, or which board has Gigabit... or the best cost-to-storage ratio overall. I am new to the SFF scene... TIA\

Budget is whatever... two 500gb (or two 1TB) HDD's from newegg would kill any budgeting. The rest of the components? As cheap as can be functional...
 
So what's your budget? Is it $200? And what parts do you need for that budget? Or are you just using the $200 link as guide of some sorts?

Oh and a cheap but still decent SFF case would be this:
Ultra Microfly mATX Case - $40
 
There are a lot of good options in mATX and ITX cases out there.

I would use this Aopen S150. It costs a little more, though.

I don't think you're going to get a better ITX motherboard anywhere near that price. The VIAs are normally not as powerful and cost quite a bit more.

Any version of linux would run well on that Intel D201GLY2 board you mentioned (a lot of people seem to like ubuntu right now). I wouldn't try Vista on that board. It would run horribly. I'm not saying that because I hate Vista (I run three computers at home with Vista and love it); it would just not have the power to do Vista justice. If you want to get Windows, get XP for it.

You have an extra PCI slot in the D201GLY2, you could always use that for a low profile gigabit network card in it (like the Intel PRO/1000 GT). However, if you're just using it for downloading to____ts, then I wouldn't bother with a gigabit card. The onboard would get the job done.

As for extra space, you could always get a good usb extrenal drive to share between your lappy and desktop. Myself, I would just get a large 500GB or so hard drive and set up a little network for the two. The gigabit network would work out well in that case.

Try to make your dvd drive an IDE drive, that will save a SATA port and there won't be any real difference in performance.

I hope that helps. :)
 
Thanks for the comments. They have been really helpful.

I can 1 up you on the IDE Optical drive... I have two USB Optical Drives (through sheer coincidence, bad luck, and now function (I have my Rig sandwiched between the two cabinets that make up my computer hutch...))

I still have my copy of Windows 2000. Never really liked XP that much... used it because school forced me to... but I have never installed it on any PC I built/Own.

So gigabit/fast ethernet makes no difference? - Awesome

Are there any ITX solutions with more SATA ports? because a 500gb HDD is $0.22 per gb, and a TB drive is $0.37 per GB... so... or... just go with SATA to IDE converters...

shoot... this is getting expensive... lol.

Anything I should know about Linux tor__nting?
 
Most ITX mobos only come with two SATA ports. So

Intel Desktop Board D201GLY2 - $62
Corsair Valueselect VS1GB667D2 1GB DDR2 667 RAM - $20
2 x Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $202 ($101 each)
Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W PSU - $35
Ultra Microfly mATX Case - $40
120mm Yate Loon D12SL-12 Case Fan - $3.50
----
Total: $362.50 PLus tax and shipping.

However, the mobo only has two SATA ports and one IDE port, so if you do plan on getting more than two SATA drives, I recommend getting one of these SATA Controller cards:
Syba SD-SATA-4P PCI SATA Controller Card - $20 (4 x SATA 150 ports)

Do note that the case I recommended above will fit about 3 drives max at stock setup. If you need to fit in more drives, go with one of these 3in2 drive brackets:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856999209
 
new little valley board based on the conroe processor is ~74 bucks + 1gig ram for 30 bucks tops.. + a HDD from the forums (20-50) + case (70)

and you got yerself a decent computer... runs XP fine and is tiny
 
Awesome indeed! Thank you very much


I plan on making a case to fit (similar to the D%^m Small Linux machines) the Components, using plexi-glass and thin-grid wire. The Hard drives will be secured on pegboard, maybe an external solution such as the Ultra Branded External Drive setup is in order. Then I could both have storage I could access over the network, and, with the flip of a USB/SATA/eSATA cable... have it connected directly to my Laptop... hrm... could have some longevity here...

thoughts?
 
Make a cool SFF case. Download the Lego Digital Designer (http://ldd.lego.com/) and design your case to the dimensions / color you want and have the case shipped to you. A little epoxy to secure the pieces and then you can drill / mount the MB directly to the base. Add little sections to mount HDD / DVD-drive / etc.

Of course you will still need to buy "buttons" to restart / turn your computer on and off. Don't forget slots for inlet and outlet air.
 
OoO... dat looks like it could be used to make a full blown gaming rig... anything but cheap though...

Throw a GFX card, decent CPU, adn 4 gigs in that... you have a full rig, and no wasted expansion slots... sweet. I bet it will boot fast... not searching for PCI, PCI-E, FDD, and 18 million brazillian USB channels...
 
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