I'm going to be building a very, very budget PC for a friend of mine this weekend. Check it out and let me know what you think: http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/...stTitle=Justin

Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 Antec Solution SLK1650B Black Steel ATX Mini Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: SLK1650B
In Stock
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$65.00 $65.00

1 Foxconn 865A01-G-6ELS Socket 478 Intel 865G ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: 865A01-G-6ELS
In Stock
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$62.00 $62.00

1 Intel Celeron D 310 Prescott 533MHz FSB Socket 478 Processor Model BX80546RE2130C - Retail
Model #: BX80546RE2130C
** This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
In Stock
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$60.99 $60.99

1 CORSAIR ValueSelect 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model VS512MB400 - Retail
Model #: VS512MB400
In Stock
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$45.00 $45.00

1 SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
Model #: SFD321B/LBL1
In Stock
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$7.99 $7.99

1 Logitech Office Internet Pro 967453-0403 Black PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard - OEM
Model #: 967453-0403
In Stock
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$12.00 -$8.01 Instant $3.99
Subtotal: $244.97

It's mainly going to be for internet/MS office use, so it's gonna have enough oomph for that. Mainly what I like about it is that he'll be able to upgrade the Celeron chip to a P4 Prescott later on if he wants to make a gaming rig out of it, as well as add a vid card and SATA hard drives. Pretty good deal on a motherboard like that.

Oh yeah, he already has a hard drive and a CD burner that he upgraded his older computer with that he wants to reuse, so that helps save some.

 

350W PS going to be enough?

 

I hope. You don't think so? It's not going to be running any power sucking hardware, and if he upgrades later, the PS'll have to be upgraded too.

 

Should be ok running the celery. When upping to the P4, I'd probably go higher.

 

Haha I dont know anything about any of THAT, but I DO have a (parts) computer for sale in "Hot deals"... Im sure the whole thing can be had for less than any one of those components..

 

the 350 should be fine, as long as the optical drives and harddrives are kept to a minimum, would still work with a prescott (would be close though, lol)

the only things I don't really like in that setup is the motherboard... I'm not aware of what kind of reliability they have. I'm sure MSI or Asus makes a cheapo board that has more reliability. also, antec is a great case company, but getting a mini case makes is REALLY hard to upgrade power supplies, a standard power supply probably won't fit, and if it does, could make your optical drive not fit. I would recommend a mid-tower at least.

I took some time to get the same/lower budget with what I believe to be better equipment. (personally, I dislike the 754, but s478 is just as doomed. plus, A64 is better then celeron any day and you can upgrade it the same as you would s478)

Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 ENERMAX Pandora CA3030-BS Black/Silver Computer Case - Retail
Model #: CA3030-BS
In Stock
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$54.00
slightly extra power at 400w, and enermax is a good name. plus it has 24 pin, which is what you need for A64. (or at least an adapter)
*edit* (replacing a $39 case with a $54 one, with a 24pin connector, staying enermax )

1 MSI K8N NEO3-F Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce4-4X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail MSI K8N NEO3-F Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce4-4X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
In Stock
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$70.00
known brand name with msi, and its the nForce4 chipset

*edit: oops, just noticed that this board has PCIe.

1 AMD Sempron 64 2800+ Palermo 800MHz FSB Socket 754 Processor Model SDA2800BXBOX - Retail
Model #: SDA2800BXBOX
** This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
In Stock
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$76.00
if you do go this route, make sure you get this chip or the 2500 (i think), they both have 256k L2 cache, instead of the 2600 which has 128k L2 cache (yuck)

1 OCZ Value Series 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model OCZ400512V25 - Retail
Model #: OCZ400512V25
In Stock
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$44.94
just as good as corsair, lifetime warranty, and i believe OCZ is more compatible with AMD

1 SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
Model #: SFD321B/LBL1
In Stock
Auto notify Auto-Notify
$7.99 $7.99

1 Logitech Office Internet Pro 967453-0403 Black PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard - OEM
Model #: 967453-0403
In Stock
Add item to Cart Add item to Cart
$12.00 -$8.01 Instant $3.99

Subtotal: $256.92
you could go $40+ lower, if you went with a foxconn board again, and a 2500 a64.. (but, if you were wlling to spend the 240, I'd stay at that and get the higher quality stuff.



whatever you decide, good luck.

 

Please DO NOT get a P4 478 Prescott.

They ...

Create a tremendous amount of heat
Use an enormous amount of power

Suggest ...

Try a 478 chip with hyper threading that's not Prescott. 2.8 ghz or slower is good.
Setup windows with minimum services to save memory and processor utilization.

Good luck!

 

Enermax power supplies rock. Not a bad setup you have listed there green91runner. I'd probably go that route....

 

Ditto on Enermax. I would definitely go with a good power supply. Cheap ones have always crapped out on me and a bad performing one can give you fits and can be bad for your hardware. Power Supplies are one of the most overlooked components in computers. Go with a good brand. I bought an Enermax 350W after my generic one burned out-Had it running non-stop for about 3 years now without any problems.

 

The guy was insistent on Intel stuff, so after 30 minutes of trying to tell him why it'd be better to go AMD, I gave up.

That said, the parts came in last night, and I started assembling away. I ran into one small snafu, though. The lead that connects to the power button on the front of the case as shown here with the green and white wires:



has a connector just like that one. However, according to my motherboard manual, it's only supposed to take up 2 pins instead of 3. So.... I'm kinda stumped.

 

that happened to me one time. i cut the middle plastic out, to where its basically a two prong thing. i just figured it was worth a try, and if it didnt work, no big deal, just a meaningless light... but it worked for me. the middle section is empty plastic, i dont see why there isnt just a 2 prong standard anyway....

 

Yeah, I figured I'd have to modify the connector somehow. Thought of maybe moving the wire over to the middle slot instead of cutting anything. It's actually the power switch that turns on the computer. If it was just a light, I wouldn't care.

 

actually, yeah just move the connector over, thats a much smarter idea lol. why didnt i think of that...:pat:

 

Just so I have it straight, the colored wire is positive, right? It's been a while.

 

hmm i believe so, but one thing i do is look at the other LED/switch connections, and all the labels will face the same way. at least in my experience they have.

then again, looking at the pic you posted, that may not be true...

 

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1149953,00.asp

 

yup, like stated above, just cut out the middle, and put it on either pin however you like, no polarity.

 

I moved the pin over and it worked. All done, and worked like a charm the first boot. Gotta love that!