$300 computer build suggestions

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wyndetygre

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Jan 21, 2009
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I'm building a very inexpensive computer which will be a big upgrade for me. It will be used for light gaming, video encoding and normal home use on a wireless lan. I'm hoping to keep the cost in the $300 range. Shipping may cost a little more. (hopefully under 10% to eastern North Carolina)

My original system specs are:
dual boot linux and windows - ubuntu 8.10 and Windows 2000 professional
1 Ghz Athlon CPU
AC97 Audio Controller on motherboard
Radeon Mobility 9600 in AGP 4x slot
Network controller - Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller pci slot
VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 23)
512 megs ram
western digital 80 gig hard drive
liteon cd reader burner

It won't be that hard to improve on this. I built this system back in 2002. (newer hard drive and video card) I hope to make the new one last at least that long. I had a pIII 300 Mhz that died after thirteen years so I expect longevity.

My tentative picks are:

motherboard - ASRock A780FullDisplayPort AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G Micro ATX AMD 69.99
cpu - AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz Socket AM2 45W BOX - Retail 49.99
ram - A-DATA 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 18.99
power supply - Antec earthwatts EA380 380W ATX12V v2.0 80 PLUS Certified - Retail 34.99
Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DVR-116DBK - OEM 22.99

Undecided or unclear on:

I'm having trouble deciding on a hard drive. I need reliability and low cost.
I'm unclear as to the best value video card. I need low power and quiet. Oblivion is as hard core a my gaming gets for now. It looks like the onboard video might work fine.
After market cooler is up in the air as well. It depends on how loud the cpu fan is on the AMD.
I'll a need a cheap reliable case.
I'll be reusing my 19 inch lcd monitor. (maybe - if the d-sub on the mother board will hook up)
Reuse the broadcom wireless if possible.

Any help on the undecided will be greatly appreciated. Feel free to advise me on my picks as well. I have not kept up with hardware since I no longer work as a computer tech.
 
Please answer the questions in the sticky marked "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.
 
You should be able to get 4gb of ram for ~$25, well worth it.

You can also probably find a mATX P45 board for about the same price, then you can use an E5200. Overall this will be a little more $$, but should be quite a lot more performance (and probably cooler) than the AMD option.

An EVGA 9500GT should be pretty cool and quiet and runs $44AR. A 4830 is also pretty cool/quiet and of course a ton faster and runs $84 after MIR and promocode at the egg.
 
1. It will be used for light gaming, video encoding and normal home use on a wireless lan. I will also sometimes watch dvd videos on this machine so I'd like it to be quiet.
2. I'm hoping to keep the cost in the $300 range. Shipping may cost a little more.
3. Eastern North Carolina US
4. exact parts:
a. motherboard - maybe the ASRock A780FullDisplayPort AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G Micro ATX AMD 69.99
b. cpu - probably the AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz Socket AM2 45W BOX - Retail 49.99
c. ram - probably A-DATA 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 18.99
d. power supply - probably the Antec earthwatts EA380 380W ATX12V v2.0 80 PLUS Certified - Retail 34.99
e. dvd rw - definitely the Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DVR-116DBK - OEM 22.99
f. hard drive - sata not sure about size depends on price
g. video card sli16x if the onboard ATI Radeon HD 3200 is inadequate. I need low power and quiet. Oblivion is as hard core a my gaming gets for now. It looks like the onboard video might work fine.
h. After market cooler if needed. It depends on how loud the cpu fan is on the AMD cpu. Cooling should not be a problem on a 45w cpu.
i. micro atx computer case - I'll need a cheap reliable case.

5. I'll be reusing my 19 inch lcd monitor. I'll reuse the broadcom wireless card if possible.
6. no overclocking
7. building
8.19 inch lcd already have
9. usb - firewire - sli 16x - on board audio
10. yes OS with legit license is already on hand

Must be linux ready.

I really just need advice on question four - exact parts. Are my choices sensible for my needs? Where I have not made choices what would be sensible picks to match this system?
I have not kept up with hardware for a long time so a lot of the specs are new. I know little or nothing about current graphics cards. The last price performance research I did was for the ati radeon mobility 9600 I have now.
 
With your budget, you're going to have to stick with onboard video. If my math is right, with the parts you chose, you'll only have about $100 for the case, HDD, and video card out your $300 budget. So use the onboard video and upgrade to a good video card later or up your budget another $100.

Ok here's what I recommend:
Coolermaster Elite 341 mATX Case - $41
Western Digital WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $55
----
Total: $95 plus tax and shipping.

Oh and get a SATA DVD burner for cleaner and easier to work with case:
Samsung SH-222F 22X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner - $26

Your tentative picks are good but relatively compared to other current but more expensive PCs.
 
Danny Bui

You are right on the budget. I can slack $20 - $30 for a better hard drive. Video card seems impossible on this budget. (way bad economy - no jobs)

What's scaring me is the reviews on Newegg for hard drives. Looks like I've got about an 80% chance of getting a good one.

Most WD bad reviews are DOA. That's good. I don't want to find out I have a bad hard drive 6 to 9 months later when my warranty is gone. Give me the bad news now.

I added it all up and I'm at $271 before shipping. (today's prices at newegg)

Don't think I can do much better.

Very correct on the sata dvd rw as well. I bought the Pioneer and a USB 2.0 to IDE adapter for my wife's laptop. It worked very well.

Sata dvd writer makes a lot more sense for a desktop since the price is very nearly the same as the IDE version.

BikePilot

I'd love to have 4gig for 25 or even 30. I just can't find it. Maybe next month.

Danny Bui

Glad to see your server specs. I'm going to try to make my existing desktop into an internet gateway. It already functions as one but from time to time I can do nothing except wait since I'm essentially hosting the whole family from my desktop.
 
wyndetygre said:
Danny Bui
What's scaring me is the reviews on Newegg for hard drives. Looks like I've got about an 80% chance of getting a good one.

Most WD bad reviews are DOA. That's good. I don't want to find out I have a bad hard drive 6 to 9 months later when my warranty is gone. Give me the bad news now.
Click to expand...

Actually WD are very good in quality. However, most of those reviews are based on the way Newegg ships them. Apparently they don't pack them very securely in the box. Especially when you have many parts in one box they occasionally put them on the sides and bottom of the box rather than the middle where it would be most protected.

But that's probably only a small percentage. They have somewhat improved the way they pack them but still not as good as others.
 
wyndetygre said:
Danny Bui

You are right on the budget. I can slack $20 - $30 for a better hard drive. Video card seems impossible on this budget. (way bad economy - no jobs)

What's scaring me is the reviews on Newegg for hard drives. Looks like I've got about an 80% chance of getting a good one.

Most WD bad reviews are DOA. That's good. I don't want to find out I have a bad hard drive 6 to 9 months later when my warranty is gone. Give me the bad news now.
Click to expand...

Take newegg reviews with a grain of a salt since a good majority of them are written by people who have no idea what they're talking about. In addition, it's usually the complainers that post reviews, not the people who do not have problems with the HDD.

Anyway, yeah the WD3200AAKS does not have a good price to GB ratio. I recommend getting the WD WD6400AAKS drive. Better bang for your buck drive at $70.

wyndetygre said:
Danny Bui

Glad to see your server specs. I'm going to try to make my existing desktop into an internet gateway. It already functions as one but from time to time I can do nothing except wait since I'm essentially hosting the whole family from my desktop.
Click to expand...

Yeah that server is currently down due to several stupid mistakes on my part...
 
 
enginurd said:
Hardware issue? killed something? I've got a P3 for sale! ;) :D
Click to expand...

LOL! No, software issue. In series of unfortunate events, I managed to hose my Linux install and losing all of the data on the server. Good thing I had backups of that data.
 
BikePilot said:
Here's 4gb for $27 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

And 4gb for $19 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227195

I didn't see anything in that price range before rebate though.

good luck!
Click to expand...

Lets see...

$55 before a $30MIR
vs.
$40 no rebate

Since rebates are extremely time consuming (takes an hour or less to fill out the form, cut out the UPC, make copies, print out envelope, stick it in the mail, wait several weeks for the check, then go to the ATM/bank to cash it), and yet are never guaranteed, I'd forgo the rebate and stick with the G.Skill sticks for $40.

Danny Bui said:
LOL! No, software issue. In series of unfortunate events, I managed to hose my Linux install and losing all of the data on the server. Good thing I had backups of that data.
Click to expand...

Ouch! Good thing for backups indeed. ;)
 
Just a note on the rebate debate, I built a back up machine for myself back in Sept, and ended up with 4 rebates. I sent them all in in time, all were recieved and approved. I got the first one in December and the other the over the last 2 weeks. They were rebates through OCZ, Mushkin and Asus. So, the timeline was 3+ months. I live in Canada but i do not think that matters since all the rebate companies were in Canada. In retrospect I agree with enginurd 100%. Yes, you pay less in the end but you are paying the higher cost now and thus need to have that $ in order to get the product, also you pay taxes on the higher amount as well.
 
I did the OCZ rebate, took less than 2 minutes to fill out the form and no more than and additional 2 minutes to cut the UPC and mail. I got the rebate fairly quickly, deposited it in the bank account and am a happy camper:) So in the end you could get 8gb of OZC AR for the price of 4gb G. Skill. The G. Skill is quality stuff at a decent price, I just find that I get more bang for my buck with the OCZ+rebate. I agree that some rebates can be really questionable, but I've had no problems at all getting rebates from most well known brands and OCZ came though quite quickly.
 
For a low-budget build such as this, it's best to ignore mail-in rebates for the time being. Though it's always nice to get some money back, they don't translate into instant savings upon checkout.
 
If you value your time highly, rebates are typically not worth the effort; since it'll cost you more time than anything. You can do everything right, and still get rejected. They explicitly state their right to do so in all rebates.

Personally, I've gotten most of my rebates back. However, I've had friends that truly rely on rebates get screwed over because theirs got rejected -- yes, they did everything right, and even appealed -- still rejected. This happened with Antec, OCZ, D-Link, and Netgear -- not all to the same friend, though, lol. So again, you can do everything right, even with a big name brand, and still get screwed over. And while you sit there for your no-interest rebate check, your CC company charges interest on your full charge amount.

My point is, if you can't live with the pre-rebate price, don't bother with it and buy something you can afford. I also agree with tiraides, if you're on a tight budget, ignore after rebate prices, because as hossdaddy already mentioned, you may still have to pay tax, which will be on the higher amount.
 
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