Help a newbie meet his budget!

I'm going to be using this computer for quite a while(probably 4 years with minimal upgrades), so if I go a little over my goal price it's okay. $1000 isn't a strict limit, just as $800 wasn't. All I want for my monitor is a 19" one that doesn't even have to be flatscreen. I'm not picky with monitors. If the DVD shows up on the screen and it isn't jerky, I'm happy. I love movies too much to be without a way to watch them anyway. I guess at this point I'm asking for opinions on the setup rather than ways to cut the price. I'll go start a new thread because the titel no longer fits. Thanks for the help guys!

Okay, good luck! -- Paul

I would get a good mouse and keyboard. I wouldnt skimp on those, cuz you use those the most when ur on the comp.

if you raise your budget to 1000$ you could get this quality system:
CHIEFTEC Server Chasis (Mini-Mid Tower) Model DH-01W 400W $50.00
Gigabyte GA-8IEXP Intel 845E Socket 478 P4 ATX motherboard Retail $132.00
Intel Pentium 4 2.0AGHz 512K Socket 478 $166.00
Crucial Micron 512MB 64x64 PC2100 DDR RAM $141.00
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM $107.00
VGA LEADTEK|GF4 TI4200 64M /TV Retail Box $150.00
Lite On 40X12X48 CDRW Model: LTR40125S-Full OEM $63.00
LITE-ON LTD-163 16X DVD ROM Drive - Retail $38.00
Mitsumi Floppy $9.00
Volcano 9 $27.00
Altec Lansing 5.1 Speakers $58.00
MS Office Keyboard $26.00
MS Intellimouse Optical $21.00

Total 988$

if theres things you don't like jsut take them out and dorp the price a bit

heres a cheaper solution:

CHIEFTEC Server Chasis (Mini-Mid Tower) Model DH-01W 400W $50.00
Gigabyte GA-8IEXP Intel 845E Socket 478 P4 ATX motherboard Retail $132.00
Intel Pentium 4 2.0AGHz 512K Socket 478 $166.00
Crucial Micron 512MB 64x64 PC2100 DDR RAM $141.00
WD WESTERN DIGITAL 60GB 7200RPM $92.00
Gigabyte 8500LE Pro (radeon 8500 by gigabyte nice features) $99.00
Lite On 40X12X48 CDRW Model: LTR40125S-Full OEM $63.00
LITE-ON LTD-163 16X DVD ROM Drive - Retail $38.00
Mitsumi Floppy $9.00
Volcano 9 $27.00
Altec Lansing 4.1 Speakers $36.00
MS Office Keyboard $26.00
MS Intellimouse Optical $21.00

Total 900$ exactly add 100$ for monitor and exactly 1000$ full pc with everything....to make it even cheaper you could lower the cpu to 1.6A or so and a slower burner. The mobo i chose you I have used before it o/c's great and has every feature in the world....except raid...but 6 ch sound, lan, usb 2.0, firewire....

Ok man heres a VERY cheap setup that I just put together...

XP 1800+: $90
Epox 8K3A refurbished: $60 around 90 new
Crucial 256 PC2100 RAM: 73
AX-7 + Variable speed fan: 30 <--SVC.com
Case W/ 400 Watt: 45 <---Ebay....be careful...
CDRW: 40
CD-ROM: 15
Maxtor 40 gig 7200: 125ish.....
17" Compaq moniter: 30 dollars...Found on girlfriends work website
Other...: 60

If you have to buy most of this stuff, It will run 600 or so. Epox boards are hella nice and very overclockable. With the AX-7 on there you can safely OC your XP much better than with stock Crap HSF. AMD is the college students dream. I love them, they love me....

$95 on ram is a bit expensive! Bid on one of these from a good seller. I have had good experience buying ram on ebay.
http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...combine=y&itf=0&st=2&SortProperty=MetaEndSort

Here's a 19" monitor for $139.99 shipped free from Staples, enter coupon code 74920, and send in the $50 rebate. Rebate ends Aug 17th.
http://www002.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/SKU.asp?BCFlag=False&PageType=1&SKU=450431

Amazon has a Microsoft optical mouse for $6.10 after a $10 rebate.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._2/002-1388451-9924052?s=electronics&n=507846

Linksys 10/100 LAN Card from Amazon for $4.20 after $10 rebate.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._1/002-1388451-9924052?s=electronics&n=507846

Creative 4.1 5300 Inspire speakers from Amazon for $49.94 shipped free.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005Z24Y/002-1388451-9924052

Hopefully this helps cut the cost down a little. Good luck!

Beavis said:

Don't spend $95 on ram, that's way too much! Bid on one of these from a good seller. I have bought tons of ram on ebay and never had any problems.

Click to expand...

Hmm, 9 out of 10 times, ebay turns out alright. I had just recently won a stick of Kingmax PC-150 SDRAM. The guy sent it in just a bubble-padded envelope with no anti-static bag, no cardboard stiffening. (It was just loose in the bag.) It couldn't even boot into windows. Fortunately, he was honest and accepted a return.

In my first experience on ebay, I bought my retail box PIII. When it arrived (damn FedEX!), the box was absolutely destroyed! Apparently, the seller used a box that was too big for the item, so it had some dead space. FedEX, being pretty bright themselves, must have stacked it on end with something heavy on top. Thank goodness for Intel's intelligent box packaging -- the chip still works perfectly today!!!!!!!





On the other hand, all the fans I've ordered on ebay, as well as my SBlive! sound card and a different stick of PC150 Kingmax, came beautifully packaged and work well.

So I guess the moral is that ebay is generally good, but maybe take some care to request that things are packaged well.

Good luck!!! -- Paul

I agree that Ebay can be risky. On some things though there are less risk than others. Relative to other computer parts good ram is pretty durable, such as Crucial. I only buy from good sellers and I ask them to pack it good. It's a better idea to buy cpus, hard drives, and things like that from Newegg or some place like that with a return policy. As far as ram goes, I think the risk is minimal. I've bought 9 sticks of ram on ebay and didn't have any problems, saved lots of money too. Just given the guy options.

Beavis said:

I agree that Ebay can be risky. ... As far as ram goes, I think the risk is minimal. I've bought 9 sticks of ram on ebay and didn't have any problems, saved lots of money too. Just given the guy options.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I always considered RAM to be pretty risk-free, but then I was surprised. It sounds like you do a good job of risk-management. And options are always good!

Turned out in my case that for about $5 more, I could buy it new at mwave.com, rather than used at ebay. Shipping is $5-$7 more, but at least they'll pack it right ...

Thanks for the great input on the thread!! -- Paul