Help me build a sub $300 P4

[Krome]

Hello all. I'm trying to build a Pentium4 [2.0+] PC for under $300. Can it be done?

Specs I'm shooting for......

128+ MB DDR

NO CD Drive

Onboard Sound/Video/LAN [AGP/PCI slots for future use]

2+ USBs

20+ Gig HDD

Floppy

Modem

Cheap Case w/ Fan

I've tried PriceWatch, but mostly get deals for non-upgradeable boxes.

- Thanks In Advance
- Krome

[hrdwrjnkie]

In Short, yes. But barely.

Here is the component list off of newegg. (As of post pate and time)

Linkworld Beige/Blue Midi ATX CASE, Model "B313C02N - P4" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16811164039
$15

Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model 6E040L0, OEM Drive only
Item# N82E16822140133
$51

VIKING 184 Pin 128MB DDR PC-2100 - OEM
Item# N82E16820140204
$32

Zonet V.92 56K PCI Data/Fax Modem, Model ZFM5620-CF - Retail
Item# N82E16825130005
$12

MSI "P4MAM-V" P4M266A Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU -RETAIL
Item# N82E16813130456
$45

Intel Pentium 4/ 2.0A GHz 400MHz FSB, 512K Cache - Retail
Item# N82E16819116133
$120

Shipping to TX -- $12

Total $287

Edit: Fixed CPU Price

[twump]

recheck the price of that cpu. its $120 not $20.

[Krome]

Thanks...... I see the P4 @ 2.4 for $3 more! What speed of RAM do I need for the 533 FSB?

[greenman100]

power supply?

[Krome]

Okay, I'm gonna go for this deal.

MSI "P4MAM-V" P4M266A [FSB: 533/400MHz]

Intel Pentium 4/ 2.4A GHz 533MHz FSB [Retail]

Crucial 184 Pin 256MB DDR PC-2100

Is all of this compatible? I'm mostly concerned about the actual RAM speed, this system is for my Auntie and NOT for overclocking.

- Thanks for all the replies so far :)

[wannaoc]

Why not buy newegg refurbs and get decent parts for cheap?

All components 256MB DDR 2100 - $44.00

ASUS P4P800 - $65.00

Intel P4 2.4A - $109.00

Rosewill 9200LE 128MB - $48.49

MGE ATX Mid Tower Case w/ 350W P4/AMD PSU - $21.00

$287.49 + change shipping


At least this way the board will be sufficient to handle CPU upgrades in the future and the graphics card ca nhandle a little more. But if I were you I would save a little longer and get better parts. Thats just me though. ;)

[Krusty]

I guess I might as well be the one to mention this:

Why are you building a p4 system when you have less than $300 to spend? I'd say its pretty common knowledge that an AMD system would be lower priced for similar performance and definately lower priced in general.

Personally, I'd go for something like an Asus a7n266-vm, like an 1800+ tbred, 256MB of the cheapest pc2100 you can get, a 60GB hdd, and whatever cheap case tickles your fancy.

Bah, while doing some quick newegg pricing, they no longer have the a7n266. I guess original nforce boards are now officially outdated. So, lets start with a low priced nforce2 mobo w/onboard video:


Shuttle "MN31L" nForce2 IGP Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL $76

AMD Athlon XP 2000+, 266 FSB, 256K Cache Processor - Retail $57

Mushkin Basic Green 184 Pin 256MB DDR PC-2700 - Retail $44

Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model 6E040L0, OEM Drive only $51

Linkworld Mini ATX Tower Case, Model "A312-C2211-P4" -RETAIL (with 300W psu) $20 + $15 shipping

throw in a couple fans just in case for an extra $7 and you've got a total of $270 for a computer that uses has 256MB pc2700, a geforce4, and an athlonXP 2000+, which (I know you don't want to) can probably be overclocked on the bus to hit those pc2700 speeds.


D'oh, just noticed you want a MODEM?!?!? and a floppy drive. We'll add an extra $25 for those. That puts you at $295.

Yes, I know that isn't what you want, but it seems to me like low priced + AMD just like to go together. The cpu + motherboard + video came out to $133. Other prices for cpu + motherboard + video were 165 or more. And I bet you can find a lower priced motherboard than the one I picked out as well.

[hrdwrjnkie]

Originally posted by Krome
Okay, I'm gonna go for this deal.

MSI "P4MAM-V" P4M266A [FSB: 533/400MHz]

Intel Pentium 4/ 2.4A GHz 533MHz FSB [Retail]

Crucial 184 Pin 256MB DDR PC-2100

Is all of this compatible? I'm mostly concerned about the actual RAM speed, this system is for my Auntie and NOT for overclocking.

- Thanks for all the replies so far :)

The PC2100 RAM will work fine with the 533 processor. I've gotta agree with Krusty that a cheap AMD system would probably get you going faster for cheaper, nut that's your call. However, as this is for auntie I'd shy away from the refurb section. Newegg is awesome for RMA replacements out to about a year, and for a few bucks extra, out to two years. WIth the Refurbs, you get 30 days.

[Yuriman]

You can make an awesome amd system for less. Is this going to be your main rig? For web browsing or light gaming? If you intend to game at all, you HAVE to go amd to get a video card that can play a game.

[Mr. Chambers]

he said its for his aunt.

that being said, i'm going to assume your aunt is like 90% of the people out there, and does nothing with her computer except internet browsing/email, and the occasional word processing.

in that case, krusty is dead on with his advice to go AMD. i'd go with something very similar to krusty's suggestion, except i'd go with a biostar board with integrated graphics. i've used biostar nf2 and km400 chipset based boards for my last 10 or so computer builds for customers, and couldn't be happier. and they're CHEAP.

as for the processor, 2000+ seems to be the bang for the buck now that the 1700+ and 1800+ are finally starting to become scarce. i can guarentee you thats all the processing power she's going to need. you'd be better off spending the money you'd save from buying a P4, towards a better monitor for her eyes, or perhaps more memory.

if you're using XP, which i assume you are going to, i wouldn't go less than 256mb of RAM. on it either. read up on tweaking out winxp and/or win2k/98se - you can make an inexpensive machine scream for very little money. good luck!

[Stupid Boy]

My Pentium 233 is really fast at word processing. It's a bit slow on the internet, though.

Just get a decent PII or P3 system off ebay or the classifieds and install Linux.

[twump]

linux for an aunt isn't really the best idea. from my experience linux requires some computer experience before being used. and is more difficult to learn then windows. non-computer savy like click and go, not click unpack compile run. not to mention they won't be able to use any software they want.

[BigRed]

Sine this is for an aunt an AMD system isnt the best way to go.

Intel owns for stability and when the computer gets packed full of dust (you really think she is going to keep the inside clean?) the cpu wont go up in smoke from overheating ;)

Since this is just for word processing prehaps a celeron would do just fine? Save some $$ on the cpu and get more ram. Winxp with anything less than 512mb sucks.

[Mr. Chambers]

Originally posted by BigRed
Sine this is for an aunt an AMD system isnt the best way to go.

Intel owns for stability and when the computer gets packed full of dust (you really think she is going to keep the inside clean?) the cpu wont go up in smoke from overheating ;)

Since this is just for word processing prehaps a celeron would do just fine? Save some $$ on the cpu and get more ram. Winxp with anything less than 512mb sucks.

i can only speak from my experience, but since when is a properly built AMD system not stable enough for a personal computer? i'm not going to turn this into an AMD vs Intel debate, because lord knows we dont need any more of them - but i've built over 20 complete systems over the past couple of years, and the only time my clients call for assistance is when a virus or other problem has occured. and yes some of them are heavy smokers and their houses are usually in absolute disarray.

it looks as though you can either get a 1.7ghz Celeron, or a 2000+ AthlonXP for the same amount of money. i'm not very experienced with Intel-based motherboards, but i'll assume you can get a decent board with integrated everything, just like if you go with an AMD-based solution.

Cheapest Celeron @ Newegg $57 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductdesc.asp?description=19-112-169&depa=0)
Cheapest AthlonXP @ Newegg $57 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductdesc.asp?description=19-103-383&depa=0)

as for the AMD's "the cpu wont go up in smoke from overheating" thats BS. a Celeron can overheat as well, and with the retail heatsink and thermal pad, a new 2000+ clocks in around 45-50c full load for my recent builds. thats with just one quiet exhaust fan and a mildly decent power supply fan.

worst case situation, the machine repeatedly locks up, and if your aunt is going to get a system that dirty, teach her how to use compressed air once in awhile.

if you disable services that aren't nessecary (alot of them by default), and do a few other well-documented tweaks, XP can easily run smoothly on 256mb of RAM. yes 512mb would be better, but with RAM prices the way they are perhaps you might want to start with 256, and if more is nessecary down the road, so be it.

the most important thing is to teach your aunt not to clutter up her system with spy/adware and how to stay virus-free. defrag once in awhile. not to have every program every created load at startup. these things can make even the cheapest systems run much faster than a $2,000 poorly-taken care of machine.

good luck on your decision.

[BigRed]

Originally posted by Mr. Chambers
as for the AMD's "the cpu wont go up in smoke from overheating" thats BS. a Celeron can overheat as well, and with the retail heatsink and thermal pad, a new 2000+ clocks in around 45-50c full load for my recent builds. thats with just one quiet exhaust fan and a mildly decent power supply fan.

No the p4 wont overheat. It will clock itself down to prevent it.

[Mr. Chambers]

we all have our opinions but i'm going to have to say no to the whole overheat thing Bigred. i've got a machine i'm working on right now actually, the owner smokes, and has 3 dogs. the thing was absolutely disgusting on the inside, yet the machine still wasn't locking up/over heating... and i have yet to be called to work on one of my machines because of over-heating.

besides, for all we know his aunt could be a huge neat freak! :cool:

[JDXNC]

I client of mine ran a Duron 800 with a dead fan on the stock HS for a few weeks, he said it would freeze now and then but it still ran, I opened up the case and noticed the fan wasn't running, HS was hot enough to scald flesh but the system was still running.

So that beng said, and the fact that I have sold many a AMD systems to clients and no one has ever had a cpu burn up or stability problems, only from ad-ware/spyware, and any system will get that.

I would opt for a cheap cpu and go for more ram, even a 800MHz system is pretty responsive with 512MB of ram, more so than a 2GHz system with 128MB or ram.

[CrystalMethod]

Sorry BigRed, I gotta agree with the others on this one. AMD worked out their heat issue a long while ago. A cheap AMD system will get you more performance per $ than a P4. If you absolutely must go with an Intel, you might want to consider a CeleronD.

[cetoole]

THe mobile 2400 is only 79, which is the same as that 2000, but it is a barton core and runs on less voltage, so will not be as hot.

[Mr. Chambers]

THe mobile 2400 is only 79, which is the same as that 2000, but it is a barton core and runs on less voltage, so will not be as hot.

The thread is nearly half a year old... 2000+'s used to be about $50 ;)

[BigRed]

Sorry BigRed, I gotta agree with the others on this one. AMD worked out their heat issue a long while ago. A cheap AMD system will get you more performance per $ than a P4. If you absolutely must go with an Intel, you might want to consider a CeleronD.
Gah this thread is old!

I would like to see another test like THG did by removing to heatsink to see if amd finally did impliment thermal overload protection.

[cetoole]

Wow, didn't even check the dates, just saw it was on top.

[CrystalMethod]

Wow, didn't even check the dates, just saw it was on top.

HAHAH! Neither did I. JDXNC, you rat bastage! You're the culprit!

[JDXNC]

HAHAH! Neither did I. JDXNC, you rat bastage! You're the culprit!

Wow, thats wierd, I got to this thread by the View New Posts button :confused: :confused: :confused:

[warlock110]

a dell will do, SC 420 will give you this
2.8 GHz P4 (800 FSB)
512 MB RAM
40GB HDD
CD Rom (maybe DVD)
RAID 0 (on board)
onboard graphic

Draw back? no onboard sound, PCI express 8X (instead of the normal 16X), rebates (normally around 100 bucks, but i wouldn't worry because i just got mine back after 4 weeks, fastest rebate i ever recieve). AND you have to wait for the deal, this is not every day deal on their site. every day deal will get you abot 256MB of RAM or maybe only 128MB. But the CPU will always be 2.8Ghz P4 C

[deftor]

I was waiting for someone to mention those sub $300 dells.

I'd get one of those for my aunt over building one anyday.

btw, amd = unstable is way pass its time. I would've thought that everyone on this board has phased out that image already.

[BigRed]

btw, amd = unstable is way pass its time. I would've thought that everyone on this board has phased out that image already.
My expereinces every month at Lans differ from this statement...

"Dude your character froze/you are lagging!"
"**** my computer just locked up!"
*looks on his case and sees the AMD case badge*
*rolls eyes and goes back to playing*

Now it could be that they just have a crap computer but at all the lans I help out with and attend...

[warlock110]

Ok, this is for the thread starter, rite now Dell SB has the SC 420 for 300 and it has these feature

P4 2.8 Prescott
512 MB of RAM (2 Stick Of 256)
PCIe 8X slot (can be mod to fit 16X cards)
3 PCI
160 GB SATA 7.2K HDD
no floppy
mouse and keyboard

i think that's good enough for 300 bucks, i can't do it for 300
I just got a 2400 sampron + 512MB of RAM + 160GB HDD for 210, no case, and the HDD is ATA, so for 90 bucks more, you move up to a P4 HT, a semi nice case an the HDD is SATA. i would do it because the P4 is already adjusting for the cost. plus they have a better mobo, mine was an ECS, this is intel mobo i believe.