The strapped for cash PC build challenge

VARDY · 13 Oct 2008 at 20:20

With the current climate of money woes and rising bills, its time to help out the average joe on how to build a decent computer for as little as possible.

Build must include:
Case
Motherboard
CPU
PSU
HDD
DVD
RAM
Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse

Cost: £450. can not be over even if its £450.01

things to take into consideration:
GPU - does the motherboard include onboard graphics?
bundles/barebones - these can be cheaper
B grade - cheaper, but will it work?
cooling - does the case include fans?

No sale items. these are temporary prices, usually last only 1 or 2 weeks.

things found on OcUK only

Fire Wizard · 13 Oct 2008 at 20:33

Hi VARDY, what's the system going to be used for and can we include a graphics card if we can fit it into the budget or do you specifically want a motherboard that has onboard graphics?

Thanh55 · 13 Oct 2008 at 20:37

Just simpe I think, what you pay what you get, so just pick the cheapest stuffs and here you go.

VARDY · 13 Oct 2008 at 20:43

oh, i dont need the pc built. i just want to entertain you guys. plus, theres a lot of variety on OcUK. its always nice to see what people come up with.

as i said with the GPU. a computer need something to render graphics. if the mobo has an onboard GPU chip then you might not have to include a PCI-E GPU. you can include a seperate one of you want though

Skeeter · 13 Oct 2008 at 20:48

If your after a simple web machine, then:

Asus Eee Box PC set (Eee Box, 19" Widescreen TFT, USB Keyboard, USB Mouse) - £320
USB External DVD drive - £40

Total: £360

This also includes an OS which you havent mentioned in your spec and can be very costly on there own. Unfortunately I break the rules as OcUK dont seem to have the Eee Box set up (not that they are available yet). But this does fit your low cost ethos by being low cost to run too.

VARDY · 13 Oct 2008 at 20:58

challenge is to build it. not buy it

also OS. there are many varieties. unix based which is free or M$ which is too much

decto · 13 Oct 2008 at 21:53

Microsoft Black Value Pack 3.0 - OEM (QQA-00007) £13.99
(£16.44) £13.99
(£16.44)
Samsung TS-H653B/DEBH 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.99
(£15.26) £12.99
(£15.26)
Antec NSK 4480B Mini Tower Case (Black) - 380W Earth Watts PSU £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
OcUK GeForce 9600 GT 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.50GHz (800FSB) - Retail £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
MSI P31 Neo2-FR Intel P31 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £39.99
(£46.99) £39.99
(£46.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502IJ) £36.99
(£43.46) £36.99
(£43.46)
Hyundai Blue H H94W 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £84.99
(£99.86) £84.99
(£99.86)
OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £19.99
(£23.49) £19.99
(£23.49)
Logitech S-220 2.1 Speaker System - OEM (980-000022) £11.99
(£14.09) £11.99
(£14.09)
Sub Total : £380.90
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £14.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £69.27
Total : £465.12

Without the delivery.... you didn't specify...
Subtotal £380.90 £447.56 inc VAT

I even included a set of speakers for joyous gaming experiences

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VARDY · 13 Oct 2008 at 22:21

nice. its amazing how cheap a decent build can be now

Olibubble · 13 Oct 2008 at 22:27

Try telling that to EA games, they claim that CPU's on 97% of machines are incapable of running Fifa09 the same as an XBOX360, PS3...

Skeeter · 13 Oct 2008 at 22:59

Olibubble said:
Try telling that to EA games, they claim that CPU's on 97% of machines are incapable of running Fifa09 the same as an XBOX360, PS3...

there probubly right.

But 80% of those 97% of PCs are business and only run word, and another 17% of them are household internet browsers who wouldnt know what a game was.

citricsquid · 14 Oct 2008 at 10:12

My current set up only cost £300, so that leaves £150 for a monitor and keyboard. Simple. My current set up isn't to bad, 4GB Ram, core 2 duo etc.

Kennysevenfold · 14 Oct 2008 at 11:10

My idea..

All inc Vat

Case - antec 300 - £46:99
Motherboard - gigabyte GA - 73pvm-s2 - £46:99
CPU - Intel core 2 duo E7200 - £88:11
PSU - Akasa Ultra quiet 400Watt - £41:11
HDD - Samsung Spinpoint 250Gig Sata 16mb cache - £34:06
DVD - LiteOn 16x sata dvd rom - £11:74
RAM - 4 x 1 gig OCZ Platinum DDR2 800Mhz - £58:72
Monitor - Hyundai 19" widescreen LCD - £99:86
Keyboard and Mouse Bundle - Microsoft Value Pack - £16:44

Total - £446:65

shaffaaf27 · 14 Oct 2008 at 14:33

slowrunner · 14 Oct 2008 at 20:15

Minus the monitor (and the 2gb of Transcend RAM), I built mine for about that much at the begining of the year.

Huw_Dawson · 14 Oct 2008 at 20:32

If you're setting us a budget and saying "a computer that works..." then I'd give you a computer with a Celeron 1.7GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. Last time I checked that would boot up XP or Ubuntu.

Are you saying a *gaming* computer? Because that is just about possible for £450. (Pentium E5200, 2GB of RAM, Radeon 4670...)

- Huw

RJC · 14 Oct 2008 at 20:33

That board does not have a internal gpu.

shaffaaf27 · 14 Oct 2008 at 20:39

ok change it for the micro atx GB board then, same price