$300-500 Pc

[Asgard_thor]

PC for friend
wants me to build him one

Case:
PSU:
CPU:
mobo
GPU
PSU

For gaming, obvious not max settings or anything
but able to play pretty new games

[LagunaX]

$80 e2160 or e2180
$25 freezer heatsink
$50 2gb ram
$50 500w psu
$30 dvd burner
$90 msi or ds3l mobo
$50 coolermaster case on sale
$175 9600gt

$550 no OS, keyboard, mouse, monitor.

[Turok]

$80 e2160 or e2180
$25 freezer heatsink
$50 2gb ram
$50 500w psu
$30 dvd burner
$90 msi or ds3l mobo
$50 coolermaster case on sale
$175 9600gt

$550 no OS, keyboard, mouse, monitor.

What about the HDD?
--------------------------------------------------
Suggestion 1:
I would try getting a crappy case with at least a "300W" PSU (should be enough) and stick with stock cooling, that way you cut on cooling cost.

--------------------------------------------------
Suggestion 2:
You could also get a very cheap barebone system that already covers a mobo, cooling system, PSU, and obviously case. Should look slicker.

$188 Shuttle SD30G2 Plus (Click text)

meaning you're left with:
$70 e2160
$50 2gb ram
$30 dvd burner
$175 9600gt
$45 WD Caviar SE 80GB 7200rpm SATAII (or similar)

Total:
$558

--------------------------------------------------
Suggestion 3:
or go wtih an even cheaper barebone and use Intel's stock cooling:

$110 MSI Saturn 945 (Click Text)

Plus:
$70 e2160
$50 2gb ram
$30 dvd burner
$175 9600gt
$45 WD Caviar SE 80GB 7200rpm SATAII (or similar)

Total:
$480

--------------------------------------------------

If the HDD can be sacrificed:

1) If your friend is not an avid PC user and doesn't have peripherals, I recommend "Suggestion 3:" since it allows headroom for a nice Logitech mouse, a good $10 cloth mouse pad, and a decent $10 keyboard.

2) If he is concerned about the looks and noise, and already has peripherals, then I recommend "Suggestion 2:"

3) If there is spare money, upgrade things that make a greater impact in performance. If he's a gamer, the video card would be the first thing to upgrade.

4) Finally, if he has old parts (like cases, PSU, etc.), try using those to lower cost even more.

[technodanvan]

4000+ Brisbane - $50
Biostar MB - $57
Team Group 2x1GB - $43
Xclio 460 watt PSU - $52
Hitachi 80GB drive - $43
Evga 8600GT - $60 after rebate
SATA DVD drive (any number of them works) - ~$25-30

This adds up to $335, minus the case of course which could vary in price depending on what he wants. You could get a better video card, but depending on his needs as a gamer the 8600 might be fine, especially for the price. Plus he could always step up a couple months later to a better one once he had the cash. Also that board+cpu should overclock rather well, spending 30 bucks on an aftermarket heatsink might be worth it if he's interested in doing that. My last thought is that board is of the mATX variety, if he ends up wanting to put a sound card and wireless card in there it could be pretty packed.


Anyways, that's what I would do.

[systemviper]

check out ebay, there are a lot people selling systems so that they could upgrade, prob you best bet for that price

[pcsky3]

I still think that it is better to build one by yourself.

[ziddey]

~60 pentium dc e2xxx
~80 abit ip35e
~30 2x1gb
~160 8800gt
~100 500gb
~50 500w psu
~30 dvdrw
~30 case


~540

after rebates of course

if you search around (local fry's?), you should be able to find around these prices give or take.

the 9600gt is a good choice too for <150ar if you can find one

a p35 will allow you to overclock the e2xxx well on stock cooling (aiming for ~3ghz). you could go with a cheaper motherboard but may be limited to 266fsb or 333fsb assuming it takes well to bsel mods if it doesn't have fsb adjustments

if you can reuse an old case, you'll save some money there

[Asgard_thor]

4000+ Brisbane - $50
Biostar MB - $57
Team Group 2x1GB - $43
Xclio 460 watt PSU - $52
Hitachi 80GB drive - $43
Evga 8600GT - $60 after rebate
SATA DVD drive (any number of them works) - ~$25-30

This adds up to $335, minus the case of course which could vary in price depending on what he wants. You could get a better video card, but depending on his needs as a gamer the 8600 might be fine, especially for the price. Plus he could always step up a couple months later to a better one once he had the cash. Also that board+cpu should overclock rather well, spending 30 bucks on an aftermarket heatsink might be worth it if he's interested in doing that. My last thought is that board is of the mATX variety, if he ends up wanting to put a sound card and wireless card in there it could be pretty packed.


Anyways, that's what I would do.

this is probably the best bet for him since its so cheap
but the ones with the E2180 are also worth lookin at

[Fujimitsu]

If you can stomach doing it, you can get a dell vostro for cheap and throw a GPU into it.

Otherwise, buy used.

A used product that is of reputable quality > a new product that is not.

[Asgard_thor]

where could you pick up a dell vostro?

[Brian MP5T]

Processor: Intel Core2Duo E6550 64bit 1333FSB 2.33GHz 4MB
Motherboard: ASUS P5VD2-VM SE
Memory: Patriot 2GB Kit PC2-6400 (PSD22G800KH)
Hard Drive: Seagate 250GB SATAII 16MB (ST3250410AS)
Optical Drive: LG 20X Multi-DVD-+RW GSA-H55N
Video Card: VIAChrome HC IGP (Initegrated)
Audio: 6-channel audio (Integrated)
Ethernet: 10/100 LAN (Integrated)
Case: Liata R5 X-File
Power Supply: Generic 350W PSU

$400.00

Dude Here Is The Link

Add a 7600GS for $40.00

[Asgard_thor]

$399 CAD, not sure of the transfer rate

[Fujimitsu]

where could you pick up a dell vostro?

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...421&lid=197378

$450 for:
e4500
XP
19" dell lcd
2gb ddr2 667
160gb HD

Sell the monitor and use the money to buy a GPU

There are a TON of dell deals going on right now, look around a bit.

[Asgard_thor]

pretty good deal
anyone know the Power supply wattage?

[Fujimitsu]

pretty good deal
anyone know the Power supply wattage?

300w I believe.

Not a lot, and it might not have a pci-e power cable.

I just ordered this:
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthr...55118&t=766765
last night... was like $680 after tax
q6600 & 24" LCD

its a bit above your price, but if you're willing to sell the LCD you could throw a nice GPU in it and be set.

[Asgard_thor]

yeah i saw that deal over there..Pretty good

but it offers a PCI-e gpu with it,,
probably just get a molex adaptor

[Fujimitsu]

yeah i saw that deal over there..Pretty good

but it offers a PCI-e gpu with it,,
probably just get a molex adaptor

doesn't necessarily mean it has the adaptor. They might upgrade the power supply if you order that, which I've heard they sometimes do.

Just trying to offer some ideas, honestly if you're going this cheap its best to buy used or from dell... seems to be the best deals.

You could try the outlet, you can get something in your price range on ther pretty easily, would just need a GPU.

[dexaroni]

I personally cannot reccommend a shuttle enough. You can get a decent one for around 300, throw a 9600GT and a low end Core 2 Duo in there, 2GB of RAM, and you have a really nice, very portable system that runs games amazingly.

I also have my QX9650 system with a Maximus Formula and WC'ing, and unless I am showing off or doing benching or overclocking, I stick to my shuttle for most things, as it runs games just fine.

[Brian MP5T]

$399 CAD, not sure of the transfer rate

It's the same as USD..

400 Canadian dollars = 401.56600 U.S. dollars

[Turok]

Or if he likes gaming with consoles, you could just get a PS3 and install Yellow Dog Linux for anything other than gaming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_for_PlayStation_3