Opinion: Cheap PC package or build slower PC myself? 7

[VBAjedi]

Ok - this isn't quite one of those "What do you think of this system setup I'm looking at?" questions. . . more of a general question.

For a budget/low-end system for home use, is it better to get a complete boxed solution (from the likes of Dell) or to build your own (presumably slower, but more reliable) system?

In my case, I have $500 to spend on a complete system (including monitor and XP Home OS). Dell's entry-level package offers an AMD Athlon 2400 with 256MB Ram for $450 (shipped). I won't hesitate to roll up my sleeves and build my own if I think I can come out ahead in performance. . .

Opinions?

VBAjedi

 

[paparazi]

When you're all done patting eachother on your back and awarding stars for no good reason, you might just get back to the original thread, quote:
"In my case, I have $500 to spend on a complete system (including monitor and XP Home OS)"
Barrrrrr Humbug!! :>)
Martin

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[TheGoatMan]

Thats what I've been doing.

 

[VBAjedi]

Great thread - all y'all been very helpful (even those that aren't very good at sticking to a budget - I have that disease too)!

Forgive me if I was not quite forthcoming in my initial post, but I knew how hard of a time people have strictly sticking to a budget when they are custom spec'ing a PC (it's almost impossible to resist what another $10 here and $20 there will get you!). So, while my budget for a Dell was $500, my real bottom line budget for building a PC is $600. I think I'm gonna be able to work with the suggestions given here and build my own. Hope nobody feels like I was playing you!

And stars for okiepc and paparazi for lists that (except for OS) stayed pretty close to the budget figure I gave.

VBAjedi

 

[SYAR2003]

Good for you Jedi knight , may the force be with you.
Don't forget to
put some extra cash in the mobo,ram,case and PSU .
Then you have a platform that will live for some time .

 

[VBAjedi]

Everyone:
Well, I'm gonna do what I said I wouldn't do in my first post - ask what you think about the system I'm thinking about building. But it's your fault because you convinced me it was possible!

Kindly share your opinions on the following:

Processor: AMD Athon XP 2500+ Barton, 333FSB, 512K Cache, w/ heatsink & fan $91.00
Motherboard: Biostar Nforce 2 IGP, M7NCG 400 with onboard video, sound $68.00
Hard Drive: 80GB 7200RPM IDE Western Digital Special Edition, WD00JB $75.00
RAM: 256MB Kingston Value Series 184 Pin DDR PC-2700 $41.00
CDRW/DVD: Sony 48x/24x/48x, 16xDVD $43.00
Floppy: $10.00
Case: Aspire X-Dreamer II Black ATX with window and front-panel temp display, 350w PS $53.00
Keyboard: 107 Key $10.00
OS: Windows XP Home $91.00

System Total $482.00

So I splurged on the case. Couldn't resist - IMO that thing is pure eye candy! Thinking that in the future I may buy a better heatsink/fan and another stick of RAM, then OC the system. Anybody ever OC'd this board? Also, everyone seems to like OC'ing the 2400 chip, any reason why the 2500 won't be better if I OC (since it's only $10 more!)?

Thanks, all!

VBAjedi

 

[SYAR2003]

Looks nice.
You are wrong about one thing though.
If you wanna overclock a little
the only way to get higher mhz on the barton
is to raise the fsb .
In that case you must have minimum pc3200(DDR400)
Because your initial setup with DDR333 wont
allow increasing it any further.
So your xp2500+ will be stuck on 11 * 333/2 = 1,8mhz
Instead of having the possibility of going to 11* 400/2 = 2,2ghz.

 

[SkipCox]

I agree...and the 2500+ is the chip of choice to overclock. I think you'll find pc3200 memory very close in price. I wouldn't buy the cheap stuff I listed earlier as I can't find any info whatsoever on it. Good memory should easily take you to 11x200 or further and, you'll know when you need a better cooling solution as you watch rising temps. Plenty of time to learn about overclocking after you build the machine and run it for awhile.

Good luck and enjoy,

Skip

http://home.comcast.net/~scox9/index.html

 

[paparazi]

VBAjedi,
Good choices, thumbs up, definately the Barton XP2.5+ not the Thoroughbred XP2.4+.
Guess you already know your gaming graphics arn't going to be too good with the onboard GPU, quoted as equivelent to GF4 MX440 but realisticly the onboard version only performs at around 60% compared to a seperate GF4 MX440 card.
More ram when you can afford it, 512 is the sweet spot for XP
Not sure if this motherboard has a SATA connection?? if it has by a SATA hard drive, they are only a few dollard more than a normal ATA drive now.
Martin

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[TheGoatMan]

First stay away from biostar. Next the thouroughbred is an awesome chip. (Is there a reason the 2500+ is so cheap???) But the price is right on that barton.ValueRam = ValueCrap. Its packaged by kingston but they sure as hell didn't make it. If you want nforce go for Abit NF-7. But overall yor system shouldn't be too bad.

 

[SYAR2003]

The Biostar reviewed here:
( there is a note on this not beeing capable to run dual-ddr on 400mhz ,only 333 )

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD02NTcmdXJsX3BhZ2U9MQ==

So i have to agree with goatman on his latest comment.
Btw t-breds sucessor Thornton is said to be a Barton
that failed the quality test and has 1/2 the cache disabled (i'm not sure if thats a rumor or a fact). But of course there is lots of t-breds still on the market.

 

[SkipCox]

AMD only graced us with 3 Thortons...

Athlon XP 2400+ Model 10 with 256kb L2 cache 2000Mhz/333Mhz
Athlon XP 2200+ Model 10 with 256kb L2 cache 1800

Athlon XP 2000+ Model 10 with 256kb L2 cache 1667





Skip

http://home.comcast.net/~scox9/index.html

 

[ceh4702]

AOL had a special PC/Service offer. If you sign up for AOL with a 1 year contract, then they offer you a complete PC with a printer/monitor made by systemex for $299.99. I saw this the other day and could not beleive it. You often see this brand for sale on

http://www.tigerdirect.com/.

Dont know how good the PC would be.



If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[ceh4702]

Building your own has some drawbacks:
1 XP cost = $98.00
Printer = $99.00 Maybe less
monitor = $140.00 (17 inch) Maybe less
15 inch monitors suck.
That costs around $300 or so for the periferals and that means there is not much money left for the system. The OEM guys are probably getting big discounts on the printer and monitor and paying about half what we would pay for WinXP. That still means they are really buying cheap motherboards, cheap RAM, cheap drives, cheap cases, cheap power supplies.

They are probably getting big discounts by ordering by the 1,000 piece lot.

You still have to buy:
Case:
Motherboard:
Video:
RAM:
CD1:
CD2:
HARD DRIVE:
FLOPPY?:
Network Card (Integrated?):
Sound Card (integrated?):
Modem:
Keyboard:
Mouse:
Speakers:

A lot depends on if you have any of this already.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[VBAjedi]

I have learned a lot from this thread! Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge and opinions. People like you make Tek-Tips a necessity for me!

Last night I basically bought the list I gave above. I upgraded the RAM to 256MB of Corsair Value PC3200 (have a star for that tip, SYAR), but didn't get Goatman and SYAR's posts about the MB until it was too late. . . I'd have been out another $50 to upgrade that anyway, and the review wasn't ALL bad. Most of the boards issues seem to revolve around OC'ing. I'll worry about that later. Only other change was that they were out of the CDRW/DVD combo drive I wanted, so I opted to get a cheaper CD/DVD drive and use an old CDRW I have for now. Total spent at NewEgg (including rounded cables, a sprinkling of other "case junk", and shipping) was $512. The NewEgg baseball cap was free.

CEH4702, thanks for the thoughts, but the cash is already spent, and I'm fairly satisfied that I've gotten the best bang for the bucks I had (we'll see what I think after I build it - hopefully on Saturday!). Whether or not I'm completely satisfied with the performance, it should glow like a freakin' Christmas tree with all those blue lights, so I'll enjoy that for sure.

VBAjedi

 

[VBAjedi]

In case anyone cares:

Ordered from NewEgg Tuesday night. All 3 boxes ARRIVED Friday AM with standard shipping(wow)! Built the system on Saturday. Had no problems assembling the components (I had arranged for a friend to come make sure I didn't screw up, but I was done before he arrived).

I'm very grateful for the jumper Biostar put on this mobo that lets you force it to a 100mhz FSB "Safe mode". . . in a braindead moment I set the FSB to 250MHZ (attempting to get to the chips rated 333MHZ but forgetting to multiply by two to account for DDR memory). The resulting attempt to boot with a 500MHZ FSB would have seriously locked up my board if it weren't for that little jumper. . . I stopped, found and read some excellent material on BIOS settings, then reset the mobo and tried again. Oh well, I learned something!

Bottom line - I now have a very nice looking system that boots WinXP in 27 seconds (my old Win98 system took over 2 minutes to boot!). Even the onboard video is enough for my current needs. And I'm convinced this thing walks all OVER a Dell or eMachines in terms of quality.

Thanks all for your input!



VBAjedi

 

[SkipCox]

I, for one, am very happy this worked out for you. You did make some good choices here and the next time you get a wild hair you only need to order and install because you have a real computer.

Proprietary machines fight you at every turn.

Skip

http://home.comcast.net/~scox9/index.html

 

[SYAR2003]

Excellent jedi knight .
I'm sure you will be satisfied with the puter you buildt.

May the nForce be with you