Cheapo Spec me up thread

[Netguy]

Hi,

I'm gonna be building a new PC for my mate, He doesn't know anything about PC's. Just wanting enough to be able to get him net access and simple stuff like word processing and converting music to mp3's.

I was thinking of going the amd 64 route. I'm just not sure on compatibilty.



Enough to be able to simple music edits
Mobo with: Onboard graphics and onboard sound
Psu
memory
Hard drive
cheapo case

Max budget £300

Spec me up please Cheap as possible.

 

[semi-pro waster]

I'd probably go for something like this which is more than enough to cope with the tasks you have listed and would even stand playing some fairly basic older games. There is a tiny bit left in the budget so get him to buy you a pint or two for building it

CP-117-AM AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3000BPBOX) (CP-117-AM)
£52.95 £52.95
MB-119-AS Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-119-AS)
£46.95 £46.95
MY-004-OK OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-004-OK)
£49.95 £49.95
CD-037-NE NEC ND3550 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Silver) - OEM (CD-037-NE)
£19.95 £19.95
CA-052-AN Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN)
£34.95 £34.95
HD-018-SA Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA)
£43.50 £43.50
Subtotal £248.25
VAT £43.45
Total £291.70

 

[Netguy]

Sorry I forgot to mention, has to be the standard ATX size, My mate seems to think, The Bigger the better lol.
But I'll see what he says about the the micro size,

Since the Micro ATX is a lot smaller, I suppose its a lot fiddier to set up due to the size?


Thanks again Semi-Pro

 

[hp7909]

To save both him & yourself the trouble, get an off-the-shelf PC, new or refurb That will be more than adequate for what he wants.

But, if after something more more modern/future-proof, building one might be better/cheaper. Something like this...

• Asus M2NPV-VM Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-144-AS) £54.95
• Crucial 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2 PC2-5300C5 Dual Channel Kit £59.95
• Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-023-SA) £26.95
• NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-030-NE) £21.95
• Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN) £34.95
• AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.80GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-162-AM) £53.95
• Subtotal £252.70
• VAT £44.23
• Total £296.93

 

[semi-pro waster]

Sorry I forgot to mention, has to be the standard ATX size, My mate seems to think, The Bigger the better lol.
But I'll see what he says about the the micro size,

Since the Micro ATX is a lot smaller, I suppose its a lot fiddier to set up due to the size?


Thanks again Semi-Pro

No problems, I don't know of any full size motherboards that have onboard graphics though. It isn't any more fiddley really, you are basically looking at a motherboard with the bottom 2 or 3 PCI slots cut off which doesn't matter as you have no add-in cards anyway since it is all onboard, everything else is full size and it fits into any ordinary ATX case.

 

[pcAnywhere]

On the contary, a micro ATX is probably easier to work on as you have more space in the case to get your cabling neat..

The most fiddly part is connecting the damn power and reset switches anyway!