Recommend me a good budget computer...

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Lyquist

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Can you guys recommend me a good budget computer? He doesn't need optical drives and doesn't need a monitor. Does newegg have any good combo's? Please provide a link for me, I've never built a budget box before, so any assistance would be helpful.

Lyquist
 
This used for school and web surfing? You plan on overclocking? How much is budget?
 
It will be just a basic internet / word processing computer. He told me that he would like to do video editing. No overclocking. I want to build a new machine as inexpensive as possible, but I want to go with quality stuff.

Lyquist

P.S. He also wants something that is upgradeable, so I will probably be going with a Socket 939 motherboard and a low end Athlon64. Should I be going with an All in Wonder card since he wants to do video editing? I'm assuming that he will need firewire as well. Thanks.
 
Socket 939 and All in Wonder in the same sentence are not budget. Like I said before what's the budget you have to work with?
 
I'm looking at 800-1400. I am finding that if he wants to do video editing he will need firewire on the motherboard and an all in wonder card. Then of course there will be my markup.

Lyquist
 
I get asked stupid crap like that too...
joe sixpack - "can i get a cheap computer built, but I need to play the newest games and edit video and music."
me - "uh, its either or. do you want a cheap computer or the other shit."</rant>
how much video editing does your friend need to do
 
ok, $800-1400? Video editing? All-in-Wonder? Firewire on board? Athlon 64 (preferably 939)? uh, well, uh, hmm. That does not equal a "basic internet/word processing computer." Does not need a monitor? Does not need optical drives? uhh - ok, and he wants to do video editing - that seems counter intuitive. No dvd recorder to save video?
places to look for good prices - cheap @ss case - ebuyer.com ($6+10 shipping...)
Newegg.com, zipzoomfly.com, chiefvalue.com (sister site to newegg) mwave.com
Video editing says big hard drive - does this include software?
erm.
newegg prices: without shipping costs
OK the LEAST all-in-wonder card is the 9600 A-I-W - $169 - and that may not cut it - particularly for any major gaming (read doom3/hl2 engines) its agp too.
LEAST expensive A-I-W pci-e card is X600 Pro A-I-W $219 - and that is the only one newegg has in stock. (and STILL may not cut it with Doom3/hl2)
3000+ A64 939 - $139 oem/151box is the lowest cost- should be adequate - but video editing software does work faster on intel systems (as they use the intel processor instruction sets for better performance.) all things equal.
for vid editing you need some big hard drive space - a WD 200gb sata drive costs $119 -perhaps 2 for more space (or even larger drive)
Good luck finding a firewire port on the motherboard - you should be able to find an addon card - I would prolly recommend that route as most boards either wont have a port or will have only 1 port.
a decent 939 pci-express motherboard that DOES have one firewire port is the Abit AX8 - $129 - no dual SLI for you - if he wants that - then he doesn't want a "value" system (as if he does anyway...)
More memory is better for vid editing - so get a gig of ram- geil value 512mb is $51.50 (x2)
add 50-60 for a dvd+/-rw drive (he'll need an optical drive anyway)
add at least 50 (prolly 100 or more) for a decent power supply
and who knows how much for accessories -
this doesn't include sound card, speakers, keyboard, mouse, etc. - so I would look closer to your $1400 end - far more if he wants you to get him the proper software for vid editing and OS and word processing etc.
 
Thanks for your help. I'm just not going to be able to get a cheap computer for this guy. He wants to be able to do so much stuff on it.

Lyquist
 
Yeah it annoys me when someone comes up to me asking them to build a cheap computer to do the most high-end stuff, I simply say its impossible because you get what you pay for.
 
Could someone provide some more ideas? My budget is 800-850 for parts. It needs to be socket 939, 1GB of RAM, 2 80GB Hard drives, ATI all in wonder video card. I also need firewire onboard or a good firewire add on card. What is the least expensive socket 939 board with PCI express? I am looking at the ABIT AX8 motherboard, but will be willing to listen to other comments about it. Thanks in advance for your help.

Just so you know, there will be absolutely no overclocking on this machine. He just wants to be able to do some basic video editing and maybe play some games here and there, and of course basic word processing and internet connectivity.

Lyquist
 
wasn't a firewire port onboard a prerequisite or not? it doesn't have one. and gets 4/5 stars on newegg. means it should be decent.
 
You might be able to get away with Value RAM of some sort. Probably won't OC much, but if you get a 3200+ with a x10 multiplier you might be able to sqeeze 220HTT out of it and get up to 3500+ speed.

 
Said he's not overclocking. Although if the builder wants to oc stuff for the guy, that's a different story.
 
If you're on a budget, why pay the premium for an AIW when you can get a stand-alone capture card for less?
 
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