Need help building a PC

[SoftwareGuy256]

Requirements:
P4 3 Ghz single core
2 GB DDR ram
100+ GB HD
Copy of WinXP

I need to get the total price under $500 or I might as well buy from DELL. I did some price calculations off of new egg:
$66.96 mini mobo
$100 for intel chip
$100 hd
$200 2GB 184 pin DDR

I'm already close to $500 at this point... How do I build a PC for less than a DELL?

 

[Sxotty]

You don't so buy a dell

Anyway the reason you build your own PC now is b/c you want to choose what components you get to meet your specific needs. There was a time long ago when people though building a PC was hard that you could build your own far cheaper than buying one, but that time is long past especially if you are getting a good deal (like a coupon etc...) at dell/hp whoever.

 

[Skrying]

First off, why do you need a mini motherboard? Please explain!

Secondly, this is going to be easy!

Processor: Intel Pentium D 805 ~ $97USD
Motherboard: Asrock 775Dual-VSTA ~ $55USD
Memory: G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 553 ~ $144
Hard drive: Western Digital 250GB SATA ~ $77

Comes to about $375. Leaves enough room for a optical drive (if you need one) and about a $100 graphics card (if you need one). So throw in one of those super cheap but good DVD burners and something like a 7600GS or X1600 Pro and you're good to go.

 

[Sxotty]

Secondly, this is going to be easy!
...and you're good to go.

And where is windows XP in there? Oh its not...well I guess you are back to square one then

 

[Skrying]

And where is windows XP in there? Oh its not...well I guess you are back to square one then

Cant he use the current one on his computer? Just call up MS and tell them what you want to do, I've never had issues with using my copy of Windows on computers as long as I uninstall it off the previous computer.

 

[Sxotty]

Cant he use the current one on his computer? Just call up MS and tell them what you want to do, I've never had issues with using my copy of Windows on computers as long as I uninstall it off the previous computer.

Yes of course if he has one that is legal, but he listed it specifically in Requirement hence there is no real way to match.

In other words Dude!! You're getting a Dell

 

[Blazkowicz]

First off, why do you need a mini motherboard? Please explain!

Secondly, this is going to be easy!

Processor: Intel Pentium D 805 ~ $97USD
Motherboard: Asrock 775Dual-VSTA ~ $55USD
Memory: G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 553 ~ $144
Hard drive: Western Digital 250GB SATA ~ $77

Comes to about $375. Leaves enough room for a optical drive (if you need one) and about a $100 graphics card (if you need one). So throw in one of those super cheap but good DVD burners and something like a 7600GS or X1600 Pro and you're good to go.

a graphics card is not in the requirements, I presume the PC is for some kind of work that may need power, have integrated video instead.
if the optical drive is merely for installing windows and some software, you can use a ten year old CD drive scavenged on a old PC.

you forget some interesting components, mainly case and PSU
so, add a noname case, smash its PSU with a hammer, add the cheapest Fortron (or maybe LC Power)

I also propose an alternative rig :
Asrock 754 µATX geforce 6100 mobo (it's cheap!)
Sempron 2800+ (have a bit of o/c, those processors are sold well below what they can do)
1.5GB PC3200 (1024 + 512MB)

(though, I don't follow much the DDR vs DDR2 pricings ..)

 

[Skrying]

I'd certainly stay away from S754, even if you were NEVER going to upgrade it, you just dont want to at all kill yourself with no ptions. The Asrock is very cheap and has more upgrade path than any motherboard on the market. Core 2 support, DDR or DDR2, PCIe or AGP. Those options are important. And the board has been shown to hang just fine with $200+ motherboard that dont have near the upgrade options.

A case? Throw in the cheapest decent looking Antec out there, keep the PSU its all you'll need unless you're wanting big graphics card down the line.

Just avoid anicent technology. The BIGGEST issue people do when buying cheap is buying old. Wrong wrong wrong, that'll just simply waste you a lot more money in the long run. Buy so you have upgrade path and you can still buy cheap. Make it so when your jumps do come you can make big ones with little change to the foundation of your system.

Thankfully Asrock has made this very possibly lately. I highly suggest if you decide to build you buy for the future, you can still be cheap and look out for the long run.

 

[obobski]

Another set of options would be to look at AM2, as long as you keep the hardware basic, you can get a fairly cheap system.

However, if you want to keep this inexpensive as all ever, i'd suggest the Celeron D (or you can wait for Intel's new 65nm Celeron D) on an LGA 775 board, gives you upgradability, and keeps the price very very low ($50~ CPU, and it's pretty much able to do anything).

But as has been suggested before, Dell looks much more desireable in this situation, or you could look http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...=desktops&category=compaq_presario&aoid=11074

Nice rebates, I'd just suggest you customize them on the site before ordering, wanna add some more RAM and maybe some more HD space, CPU wise the 1930 looks great:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...tops/compaq_presario&storeName=computer_store

So, that's my 2 cents