Computer Build Help

[Odigo]

I'm moving into a new apartment and decided since I'll have room I want to sell my laptop and build a desktop. I have been out of the loop for a while now, could someone recommend me a build for 400$, including a monitor? I don't need a good video card, however I want to have the option to throw one in for gaming in the future. I priced a few rigs out but cant make up my mind.

 

[tiraides]

Can you increase the budget a bit more? Between the PC tower, monitor, and operating system (as you can't reuse your laptop's OS license with your new build), plus the fact that HDDs prices have increased significantly within the past several months, we would recommend at least $600 for a decent system with good upgrading potential.

If $400 is all that you have, however, I recommend looking for a prebuilt system on sale somewhere. Frankly, the OEM system manufacturers can afford to cut prices so low as they buy the majority of their components in bulk.

You may also want to check Best Buy. They have a Dell PC tower on clearance for $287.99, but it's only available in certain B&M stores. (I found that deal via SlickDeals.)

 

[EvilAlchemist]

Since you are on a $400 budget, you may want to consider :
Get an ATI 5450 (or similar) graphics card and use your HDTV as a monitor.
Many of the home theater guys use this card and it works really well.

I kinda agree with tiraides, unless you hunt some newegg / tigerdirect deals and wait a few weeks for sales, it may be cheaper in the short term to get an OEM system on that budget.

 

[hossdaddy]

well this is about as close as I can get you, without a hd, since they are so stoopidly priced right now due to the supply problem. Maybe you can buy a used one?

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core $77.99 + fs could be unlocked to quad core!

GIGABYTE GA-880GM-USB3 AM3+ AMD 880G USB 3.0 + Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit $179.98

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $20.99 + fs

SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA $16.99 + fs

Logitech MK100 Black PS/2 Wired Slim Classic Desktop $19.99 + fs

COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 $49.99 - $5 promo code - $10 mir + fs

CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W $59.99 - 15% code - $10 mir + fs

Total: $425.92 - $20 mir

You will still need a hd but thats not bad for a future friendly expandable machine with much higher quality and warranty than any inexpensive pre-built system.

I had some extra time so I found s decent Intel option for you, again no hd. Just sub in these combo deals;

Intel Pentium G850 Sandy Bridge 2.9GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core + Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $99.98

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM + ASRock H61M/U3S3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX $164.98

 

[tiraides]

But hossdaddy, the OP also needs a monitor within that $400 budget. If his budget is a firm (can go no more than) $400, then it's nearly impossible to come up with something good now that can handle future upgrades down the road.

 

[tiraides]

To reinforce my earlier point, this was the best that I could do:

$242 - AMD Athlon II X2 260 bundle, with:
- Rosewill R103A ATX mid-tower case with 350W PSU
- Gigabyte GA-M68MT-S2 AM3+ micro ATX motherboard
- G.Skill NS 2x2GB DDR3 1333 dual-channel kit
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500413AS 500GB SATA 6Gb/s HDD
$17 - Samsung SH-222AB SATA DVD burner
$70 - Acer G185HAb 18.5" 1366x768 LCD monitor
$100 - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit OEM
=====
$429 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

Even though the bundle deal makes things very easy, it's not a good choice if you have the money for something else. Even though the Gigabyte GA-M68MT-S2 is a Socket AM3+ board, which can support the recently released Bulldozer processors, it only has one PCI-E x16 slot, two RAM slots (that support up to 8GB of RAM), four SATA 3Gb/s ports, and a VGA connection for the onboard GPU.

The PSU that is bundled with the Rosewill R103A case is a stopgap at best, but I wouldn't normally recommend it for even that task. Since it's a generic PSU, it probably doesn't have enough power to handle a decent video card.

And to add insult to injury, you'll have to pay shipping charges on the case/PSU bundle, the motherboard, and the hard drive. There's a good chance that the total is closer to $450 than $400 (not that it was ever close to the latter).

 

[hossdaddy]

wow I totally forgot about a monitor!!!! I feel shame! Up your budget to $500 then we can do something for you.

 

[Odigo]

wow I totally forgot about a monitor!!!! I feel shame! Up your budget to $500 then we can do something for you.

I can do 500.

 

[hossdaddy]

I will look around when I get home today.