Help me piece together a cheap computer!!!

[hydrata]

A friend of mine says she needs a computer, and she wants it for dirt cheap, we're talking around 250-300$ not including a monitor. the system probably needs to be comparable to this (http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_shopping.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&n=0&mt=a&coe=0&oidPath=0:-23542:-33761:-38923:-42030:-42032:899726%20&fid=1S11)

so, i browsed around a little bit on newegg, and the same sempron processor is about $105.00, and one of the cheapest barebone systems i could find which would be either this asus one (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=56-110-025&depa=1) or this foxconn one (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=56-119-002&depa=1) the asus one might be a bit better and a better brand name, but the foxconn one looks better and has the matching keyboard and mouse and this girl is definitely concerned w/ looks, so i'm thinking i'd get her the foxconn one.

then i have a 256 meg stick of mushkin pc2700 ddr laying around i could use. that would just leave me needing a hard drive and some sort of CD-ROM, correct??? am i missing anything else? 80gig hard drives are about 50-70 bucks

the only other requirement i need to fill for her is that the computer be able to support an LCD screen, in which case i think i might need a separate video card? so help me make sure i've got everything right for her as it's been a while since i've built a pc. her requirements are 250-300$, good looking, and she wants an LCD screen, which is obviously not included in the 250-300 price quote. any suggestions????

[Rumrunner]

Have you thought about getting the processor used, like maybe on e-bay? As for an lcd, maybe this can be helpful.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=24-209-002&DEPA=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=24-180-020&DEPA=1

You won't need a video card just to have an lcd. As long as it is a standard VGA (which they almost all are) it will work.

[hydrata]

thanks for the suggestions, i'm looking on ebay right now for processors....i suggested maybe she could get a used or refurbed comptuer for cheap, but she wants brand new just for her. so i'm looking on ebay right now for CPUS, cause well, she doesn't have to know. and that's a good idea w/ the LCDs w/ speakers, i didn't think of that. any other suggestions?

[nealric]

look into a sempron 2600+ s754
They are $75, but have most of the athlon64 goodies (on die mem controller, k8 architecture).

[Rumrunner]

I would also suggest looking into getting her 512mb ram. I have put systems together with 256mb ram with xp, antivirus, and all this running stuff we have to use nowdays, and it just is not enough...the hard drive is constanly thrashing. You can just get another stick of that 2700, or just get a stick of 512 for super cheap. It will definately be worth the extra few dollars.

PC 3200 is the same price as 2700 now so this will provide some head room.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-150-619&depa=1