not another under $500 computer thread...

S

scottatwittenberg

2[H]4U
Joined
Apr 10, 2002
Messages
3,306
i have a friend that is looking to build a computer for under $500.. i haven't been watching what is currently out recently so i am not tottally sure what to say..

i priced out some stuff last night on newegg and found the following.. sorry i don't have time to find and psot links right now..

asus geforce 6100 / am2 barebones $120
x2 65w windsor core $99 (i don't know what cores are what anymore)
1gb stick of pc2 800 g.skill $85
~300 gb hard drive $70

that would get him started and do what he needs..

he has a burner, sound card, kvm.. all that.. from his old computer...

my question is what about the intel route? or even a different way of doing the amd route... i know that c2d is where it is at, but the processors cost pretty much twice as much...

thanks

scott
 
If he has to build now, then go with the 3600+ brisbane core X2 combo from newegg. If he can wait, the cheaper Intel Core2Duo's will be $133 and $113 for the E4400 and E4300, respectively. He could build a much better system at the end of April... but if he can't wait, then go for the brisbane.
 
i just built my mother a C2D system. (er, upgraded.. kinda.)

$169 Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz
$53.99 ECS 945GZT-M V1.0 LGA 775
$74.99 WINTEC 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 800
$94.19 Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Basic OEM
$89.99 Thermaltake Purepower 450w
$85.99 eVGA GeForce 7600GS

$568.16 (Used exisiting case, hard drive, and optical drives.)

all at teh egg.

it will work for her because all she uses it for is the Sims2, Mahjongg, Internet Explorer, and MS Word. (lightning killed her 1.5ghz athlon XP)
 
e6300 processor $183
gigabyte ds3 $119
xclio good power 500w $52
seagate 7200.10 barracuda 160GB $57
wintec ampx 1GB kit $70
rosewill r6422-p mid tower case $14

total: $495
 
InCogneato said:
e6300 processor $183
gigabyte ds3 $119
xclio good power 500w $52
seagate 7200.10 barracuda 160GB $57
wintec ampx 1GB kit $70
rosewill r6422-p mid tower case $14

total: $495
Click to expand...

replace the E6300 and DS3 with the 3600+ brisbane combo and freezer64pro, and you've dropped that price by $132... so $363 total. if he can afford the core2 and needs it now, go for it. if he can wait for the april 22nd price drops, the E4300 will be $113 (same performance as the E6300, minus virtualization).

http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=5086
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2903

personally, i dont like ecs nor the 945 chipset, but if it suits your needs, go for it... it'll lower your cost even more if you're building a c2d rig. go for the xclio psu instead of a thermaltake.
 
enginurd said:
replace the E6300 and DS3 with the 3600+ brisbane combo and freezer64pro, and you've dropped that price by $132... so $363 total. if he can afford the core2 and needs it now, go for it. if he can wait for the april 22nd price drops, the E4300 will be $113 (same performance as the E6300, minus virtualization).

http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=5086
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2903

personally, i dont like ecs nor the 945 chipset, but if it suits your needs, go for it... it'll lower your cost even more if you're building a c2d rig. go for the xclio psu instead of a thermaltake.
Click to expand...

QFT <- Not the bad one.
 
mine is still the best :p

(unless u need to buy windows, gpu, keyboard, mouse or anything like that and still be under 500)
 
InCogneato said:
mine is still the best :p

(unless u need to buy windows, gpu, keyboard, mouse or anything like that and still be under 500)
Click to expand...

not if you're trying to get as cheap as possible while still maintaining good performance. $132 savings is quite substantial with a budget of only $500. thats over 25% savings, for a CPU that could perform almost as good as a core2duo e6300. well worth it, imo, if your goal was to save money.
 
enginurd said:
not if you're trying to get as cheap as possible while still maintaining good performance. $132 savings is quite substantial with a budget of only $500. thats over 25&#37; savings, for a CPU that could perform almost as good as a core2duo e6300. well worth it, imo, if your goal was to save money.
Click to expand...
the budget is 500... you could always go cheaper and cheaper and stuff but the point is to get the best for your budget... unless i misread something
 
I agree, you put together a great build. However, if shipping and tax were to be factored into that build, it would be well over the $500 mark. But, we don't know if that budget includes tax/shipping or not, which is why I pointed out the savings of an AMD build and the slight performance differences -- which highlights the better overall value of the brisbane build, in case the budget did include tax/shipping.

Though, it would still be in the budget's best interest to wait for either the April 9th AMD price drops or the April 22nd Intel price drops. Check the CPU subforum for more info.
 
enginurd said:
I agree, you put together a great build. However, if shipping and tax were to be factored into that build, it would be well over the $500 mark. But, we don't know if that budget includes tax/shipping or not, which is why I pointed out the savings of an AMD build and the slight performance differences -- which highlights the better overall value of the brisbane build, in case the budget did include tax/shipping.

Though, it would still be in the budget's best interest to wait for either the April 9th AMD price drops or the April 22nd Intel price drops. Check the CPU subforum for more info.
Click to expand...

completely true!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top