$350 General Build (not including OS)

[tonytnnt]

So my buddy at work wants to build his next computer. He currently has some Frankencomp that started off life as an eMachine 5 or 6 years ago. I don't think anything can be salvaged. It probably has an IDE DVD burner.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Web browsing, light photo and video editing, may get into gaming in the future, but can spring for $50 to $100 on a GPU when and if that time comes
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$350 --- $300 of that must be spent at Amazon because of gift cards. I think he has Amazon Prime as well so most shipping should be free. It doesn't have to be Prime Eligible though if it's cheaper through a partner.
3) Where do you live?
Omaha (no Microcenter or Frys)
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Case, Power Supply, Hard Drive (1TB+), DVD Drive, Graphics Card Possibly
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably not
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
19-22” (not sure on exact resolution)
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the week
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
USB 3.0 preferred
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No (not included in the $350 budget.)

So here's what I'm thinking so far:

$125 - Intel Core i3-2100
$28 - Kingston Technology 4 GB 1333MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM STD Height 30mm SDRAM KVR1333D3N9H/4G
$65 - Biostar H61MU3 H61 Micro ATX (has USB 3.0)
$60 - Samsung F3 1TB 7200 RPM (Newegg since Amazon isn't nice to hard drives)
$20 - Sony 24X SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive AD-7260S-0B - Bulk
$40 - Antec EA-380D

Case Ideas:
$40 - NZXT Source 210 (Black)
$40 - NZXT Source 210 (White)
$36 - NZXT Gamma
$40 - Cooler Master Elite 371 Mid Tower
$40 - Thermaltake V3

Total: $378

So I need to trim it by at least $28. I could get a case with a power supply like this
$60 - Cooler Master RC-310-BKR2 Elite 310 with 420w Power Supply

But I really don't like to do that. I could also look into a Pentium G850
$95 - Intel Pentium G850

I could also go AMD and lightly OC it for him, though it doesn't save any money over the Core i3 2100 unless we use his old DVD burner since this motherboard has an IDE port:
$120 - Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz
$70 - Biostar A880GU3 (has USB 3.0)

So, thoughts? Have I missed any great deals on Amazon?

 

[Dangman]

I wouldn't go with that AMD build since the DVD burner is probably just as old as that eMachines. As such, not much sense to reuse it considering how near death it must be.

That Pentium CPU is probably your best bet to save money. The rest of the parts are the lowest that you can go with getting something shitty or not meeting requirements.

 

[paperwastage]

it is possible to put off the DVD drive (unless you watch a lot of movies)

W7/xp install can be done via USB

 

[plunger]

I'd just go caseless until he could come up with some extra funds. Or shove it all in that emachines case for now.

 

[diizzy]

Just tell him that he needs about 50 bucks more to get a decent computer, otherwise.... (no need for an ODD these days)

AMD A6-3650 APU with AMD Radeon 6530 HD Graphics 2.6GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Processor - Retail AD3650WNGXBOX
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055ZCXUK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Gigabyte A75M-UD2H AMD Socket FM1 for AMD Llano CPU, HDMI, Dual Graphic Micro ATX Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057TG6AW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Cooler Master RC-310-BKR2 Elite 310 ATX, MATX Mid Tower Case without Window with 420w Power Supply (Black/Blue)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028ACYGI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Kingston Technology Hyper X 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM KHX1600C9D3/4G
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004JO3L0Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 1 TB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 32 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare-OEM Drives, HD103SJ
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MQC0P8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

$369.95

//Danne

 

[Excalibur55]

What kind of games your friend would like to play in the future ?

If it's only flash games or 2-3 years old games; I have a suggestion :

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-45...7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1313542753&sr=1-7

If you scroll down a little, there is a combo at 155$ for the mobo, CPU + DVD.

Plus all the other parts from your list for a total of 323$; it's a bare minimum solution but you can upgrade to a 4 ou 6 core AMD CPU (not Bulldozer) in the future plus a modest GPU later.

As a owner of a emachines myself, I know how limited this system is now...

Just my 0.02$.

 

[tonytnnt]

Budget might be going up a bit after talking to him today. I'll post back later when things are a bit more certain.

 

[bwang]

Since you're on such a budget, you might consider getting a 500GB disk for $20 less; the price/byte is not as good, but the computer will perform just as well, and 500GB is still quite a bit of storage.

 

[tonytnnt]

Yeah, the only issue is the purchaser is a media junkie. I think his budget is increasing, I'm just not sure how much it's increasing. Work in progress.