Challenge! Beat Dell budget rig in value per $

damarble · Oct 16, 2005

OK, heres the deal. Dell has this entry level PC for $399

The only rule is every component must be new. Assuming no tax, the Dell comes to $450 with shipping, w/out the CRT. Your prices must include shipping. You also need to add a copy of Windows XP, that's basically all the software that comes with the Dell. Please use only retailers you would buy from.

Here's my half-assed attempt:

$35 - Rosewill Value R103A Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?item=11-147-010

$76 - 1X AMD Sempron 64 2800+ Palermo 800MHz FSB 256KB L2 Cache Socket 754 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104245

$49 - 1X ABIT KV8 Pro Socket 754 VIA K8T800 Pro ATX AMD Motherboard - OEM
http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?submit=search&item=13-127-178R

$80 - 2X Rosewill 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400
http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?item=20-223-009&CMP=EMC-F101405

$40 - 1X PNY GeForce FX 5200(LSFX5264APB) Geforce FX5200 64MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?submit=property&item=14-133-127

$60 - 1X Western Digital Caviar SE 80GB 3.5" Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106

$39 - 1X NEC Black DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152047

$90 - XP Home
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102141
_____________________
$470

$20 over, but a much better system IMO.

Fr3@k3r · Oct 16, 2005

linky doesnt work, might want to change it. Is that after rebate?

avalanche83 · Oct 16, 2005

That's alot better, and the sad thing is is that you are doing that on retail and they get their parts wholesale.

Fr3@k3r · Oct 16, 2005

avalanche83 said:
That's alot better, and the sad thing is is that you are doing that on retail and they get their parts wholesale.

see thats true... all dell parts are OEM/Wholesale, not to mention no overclocking ability except on the XPS ... anything that isnt OEM Wholesale that has overclocking ability will beat out a dell..

Turtle Shell · Oct 16, 2005

ya your setup is better good half *** jop

aeiou · Oct 16, 2005

did you include shipping with that? Thats a great system for the price, but you have to factor that in with your system, too. The thing with dell, too, is that they are always running specials- right now that system is only $359, albeit with only 256MB of ram (

). I still say that for the ultimately cheap system (not the ultimate cheap system, but absolute rock bottome price) it is better to go with dell or other oem, but you will get a much better system doing it yourself for a little bit more money.

ErikD · Oct 16, 2005

The only real advantage for cheap systems that any OEM has is that they can usually include more software for the price than you could if you build something. For just a few more dollars you can get MS Word, you could never do that if you built your own. That could be a major issue for someone who just wanted to be able to do some work on the PC.

LordDarik · Oct 16, 2005

ASRock K8NF4G-SATA2 Socket 754-939 $61
Socket 754 Sempron 2800+ $76
Apex Steel Mid-tower case w/ 350w $25
Windows XP Home $92
WD 80GB ATA 150 $53
2x512mb Corsair Value RAM $84
NEC DVD Burner $38

The total is $455.12 with shipping, all prices from The Egg.

Captain Slug · Oct 16, 2005

That specific DELL model probably doesn't even include an AGP slot so performance wise anything you part together with any level of AGP graphics card will be able to beat the DELL machine.

tom10167 · Oct 16, 2005

Delusion!

It's only $360 now, and even at $400, it's unbeatable, I like how you are allowed to 'exclude' a monitor.

Build a brand new computer for $400 with a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and XP and I'll be impressed.

The Dell shown is only $315 without a monitor.

And remember, the Dell is retail too, so the prices are equal.

LordDarik · Oct 16, 2005

tom10167 said:
Delusion!

It's only $360 now, and even at $400, it's unbeatable, I like how you are allowed to 'exclude' a monitor.

Build a brand new computer for $400 with a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and XP and I'll be impressed.

The Dell shown is only $315 without a monitor.

And remember, the Dell is retail too, so the prices are equal.

Alright, after shipping and tax that total comes to an unimpressive price of $495.90 with a 17 inch monitor. According to where I live.

ASRock K8NF4G-SATA2 Socket 754-939 $61
Socket 754 Sempron 2600+ $76
Apex Steel Mid-tower case w/ 350w $25
Windows XP Home $92
WD 80GB ATA 150 $53
512mb Corsair Value RAM $42
Lite-on Black CD Rom drive $22
Samsung 17 inch monitor $97

The total for this is $504.61, I could drop the RAM to 256mb like the Dell has and go completely under $495.90, but I'm not going to stoop that low.

damarble · Oct 16, 2005

All my prices included shipping, and my figure of $450 for the Dell included shipping. When I started the thread it was not at $359 + ship.

Granted, you'll have a hard time getting a monitor for $50, Dell wins there.

And if you must have a keyboard an mouse, these are better than what come with the Dell:

Logitech Office Internet Pro Black Wired Keyboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823126164

DCT Factory 2-Tone Mouse - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826147001
___________
$20

BTW, I'm not planning on building this, I just wanted to bust the myth that pre-builts are always cheaper than what you can build yourself. Both examples I cited were based on regular prices, no sales. If the Dell goes on sale, it can be cheaper, if you shop frugaly you can get parts yourself on sale and beat them again.

Soichiro · Oct 16, 2005

Case: Apex PC-115 w/ 350W PSU $24.00
CPU: A-XP 2700+ T-bred OEM $84.00
Mobo: Foxconn 748K7AA Socket A SiS 748 Chipset $37.00
CPU HSF: MASSCOOL 5T321B1H3G 70mm Heatsink and Fan $7.49
Memory: OCZ Value Series 512MB DDR400 $44.94
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon 9600SE 128MB AGP $54.00
Hard Drive: Maxtor DiamondMax 10 80GB ATA133 $56.50
CD Drive: LITE-ON 52x/32x/52x CD-RW Drive $19.99
Subtotal: $327.92
Shipping: $36.29
Total: $364.21

Take that, Dell! Newegg and me can kick your *** any day! =P I could've gotten it cheaper if I had used a Celeron processor, but IMO those are the worst processors since the Pentium 1. The price difference is barely noticeable on an entry-level comp like this, but as you go to higher end comps the price difference will become more noticable (a $500-$1000 difference depending on where you buy from for high-end gaming comps)

aeiou · Oct 16, 2005

you didn't include a windows liscence.

damarble · Oct 16, 2005

aeiou said:
you didn't include a windows liscence.

Yep, that's what really hurts you. Almost a $100. You can say you'll use Linux, or you already have Windows, but that's not what we are trying to accomplish here. This particular Dell is made to be n00b freindly and cheap, and that's what we are trying to match and beat.

Elif Tymes · Oct 16, 2005

Ehh, Mandrake Linux is Noob friendly, so is Fedora Core. Installing is slightly unusual, but setting it up/configuring it for the noob is fairly simple.

Plus, openoffice is free

Take THAT MS Office

The-Anomaly · Oct 16, 2005

We do not discuss software piracy or cracking here. Please re-read the rules on this subject. Consider this a warning -- David

Artyboy · Oct 17, 2005

It's Windows that'll get ya every time. There's a store in town that's been around for years that builds new systems for $299 that are basically the same as that bottom of the barrel dell. His are upgradable and the mobos have an agp slot, though. The problem is you still have to pay $30-40 for a 17" crt and another $90 for Windows. I know the guy and bring him a lot of business. 90% of the people that come to me wanting a computer would rather pay an extra $50 or so to take it home the same day than wait for Dell to ship them one. They also like the peace of mind that if there's a problem they have a brick & mortar location that they can take it to. Until Microsoft starts selling Windows to the general public as cheap as they sell it to Dell noone will ever be able to compete

. As for using another OS there's nothing out there simple enough for the general public besides Windows. Besides, aren't there still a lot of programs (games especially) that you can't run with any version of Linux?

nealric · Oct 18, 2005

you should be able to find oem home lisences for around $60 if you look.

Take off 30% performance from a dell for no overclocking...

Really though, you dont save huge money building your own budget system. Now high end XPS systems, you can spend almost exactly half most of the time.

icyicy · Oct 18, 2005

nealric said:
Really though, you dont save huge money building your own budget system.

That's true, Dell parts are reliable at some extend. You also can buy them from refirbished dept, they are basiclly new.

Challenge! Beat Dell budget rig in value per $

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