Budget build system, tell me what you think

[GrimX9]

Well, I am soon going to start building computers for people (what a original practice), but I want to know what you guys think about the parts I am going to use. This will be a cheap Dual core setup, with the price around 350 for the entire thing (then I charge 50 or 75 for labor).

Sony Optiarc DVD burner Cheap

APEX PC 389 C Cheap, Good looking

WD caviar Blue 160 GB I can give them a option to upgrade to more memory

Seasonic 300W Removed the Rosewill

AMD Athlon II x2 240 regor Great reviews, dual core, and 60 bucks

2xCrucial 1GB DDR2 800 These machines will most likely be using xp (or special upgrade to 4 gb ram for vista) so 2gb is fine.

As for the motherboard, I was thinking this:
ASrock N68-s 2 DIMM slots, Sata ports, etc

So what do you think? BTW this is 252 +os is 350, +50 labor is 400. Is this worth it do you think? Average joe only knows a few things about a computer. Dual core, Microsoft, ram and Hard drive. The more the better lol.

 

[just dan]

looks pretty good you should oc it like 100mhz when you give em to people or sell em and 1gb of ram? unless its xp the it needs a bit more.

edit:it has now been just dan approved XD

 

[GrimX9]

looks pretty good you should oc it like 100mhz when you give em to people or sell em and 1gb of ram? unless its xp the it needs a bit more.

Im sorry, x2. Edited (2 1gb sticks).

 

[EarthDog]

I wouldnt give anyone a Rosewill PSU lol. Aside from that though, solid little build.

I just built a system for a lady with PhII x3 for $420.

 

[GrimX9]

Well, I need a PSU with 350 watts, and right now this system is like 240ish, so if it isnt too much more i guess I could give them an antec

EDIT: Seasonic 300W for 39.99. That is much better or WHUT!

 

[MechaWyvern]

Given the market your aiming at, I believe the build is sufficient. I, personally would go with a Gigabyte or ASUS board, but thats just me, and everyone has their own preferences.

Problem is, your have to compete with things like this: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11050017

This is why at the shop I work at, we dont build entry level systems. You simply cannot compete with OEM builders at that price point. Yes, you are offering a better processor, but that system includes more RAM, a larger HDD, and a monitor for about the same amount of money. I know thats not what you want to hear, but better to hear it sooner than later.

 

[EarthDog]

Well, I need a PSU with 350 watts, and right now this system is like 240ish, so if it isnt too much more i guess I could give them an antec

EDIT: Seasonic 300W for 39.99. That is much better or WHUT!

I went with Antec Earthwatts 430W.

 

[Bobnova]

Looks pretty good to me.

 

[GrimX9]

Given the market your aiming at, I believe the build is sufficient. I, personally would go with a Gigabyte or ASUS board, but thats just me, and everyone has their own preferences.

Problem is, your have to compete with things like this: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11050017

This is why at the shop I work at, we dont build entry level systems. You simply cannot compete with OEM builders at that price point. Yes, you are offering a better processor, but that system includes more RAM, a larger HDD, and a monitor for about the same amount of money. I know thats not what you want to hear, but better to hear it sooner than later.

Like you said, mines a better Proc. People love dual cores, make them feel that much better

My system would be for 400 dollars, plus they could pay a litte more to get 4gb ram, bigger hdd, etc. I could match or beat that system for 500 easy. I don't plan to make big money on these cheaper systems, but I plan to have several types.

 

[GrimX9]

Bump for more peoples opinion. Would you buy this for 400?

 

[CharlieCS]

Bump for more peoples opinion. Would you buy this for 400?

The worst place to ask that question . Also the build is fine, i haven't checked all he prices but does the price include the OS ?

 

[GrimX9]

The worst place to ask that question . Also the build is fine, i haven't checked all he prices but does the price include the OS ?

Yeah, Labor, OS, and that system. I am revising it right now.

 

[Bobnova]

It's a totally decent setup for $400, but personally i wouldn't sell it for that. Keep in mind that you have a warranty to consider, as well as software handholding and such.
Most people that buy cheap computers are either going to be first time buyers (yes they actually do exist still... Crazy, isn't it?) or people replacing their AMD K5 because it finally died after not being cleaned in ten years. As such, vista (or 7) is going to be wildly different then what they are used to.
How long do you figure it takes you to put it together and install an OS? How long do you think you'll be talking to whoever buys it?

You may end up doing this for $10/hour, i don't want you to find that out as an ugly surprise.
I ran a computer building/upgrading business from 96 till 99, it was a major pain in the ***, though fun to play with the hardware.
I don't think you'll be able to compete at the entry level for a decent profit, personally. While you can get the price down you'll be making little money and dealing with more grief then you'd want to.
Personally i would aim for college students financial aid checks, go for a low budget-but-decent gaming computer. I live in a college town though, things may be different in your neck of the woods.

 

[GrimX9]

I helped fix my neighbors computer yesterday. She has a dell dimension 4700, and it had a ton of viruses on it, so she took it to a PC place to have the HDD wiped. The computer place failed to put important drivers on it (ethernet, vid, sound) so she couldnt get on the internet. I went over, and in a few moments I found that there were no drivers. I took it home, put the drivers on it, took it back, installed the rest of the drivers, antivirus, etc and made 20 bucks. Took 2 hours, so 10 bucks an hour is just what you said. My town is about 30 minutes away from flint, Mi and 1 1/2 hours away from detroit, so we are in this middle class belt where there are a lot of blue collar workers that (did) work in the automobile jobs. There are also a lot of kids so a lot of opportunities for PC building. Within 10 miles, there are about 10 PC shops, which all charge substantial amounts of money for basic tasks, such as "PC optimization", which consists of disk defrag, empty temp folders, recycle bin, etc. Silly!

 

[jamesman32]

I'm starting to do the same thing as you Grim. What I've noticed so far is that asking a person what their specific budget is makes it a lot easier to find parts. Once you have a budget to work with, you can then get into more specific things like the usage of the computer. With those two things set, you can then more easily work with the client. A budget system may be great for your Grandma, but a lot of people want something with more muscle, and you can use that to your advantage.

Big companies like HP and Dell can sell quad core rigs for around $700, so that's not hard to compete with. What is are the $500 rigs that come with a dual core, 4 GB of ram, and a spacious HDD, or even worse, the $350 rigs that Best Buy sometimes has, with a sorta lacking processor, but enough ram and a pretty big HDD.

You're gonna have to work really hard on your budget rigs, but I think you will make the most building mildly expensive desktops for power users, if you can get a hold in that market locally.

 

[GT3mich]

This is a better burner and you can save a few bucks. Don't forget there is a MicroCenter in Madison Heights, so you can get some things like a Core i7 processor for $199.00 if someone wants a better system. Its located at 14 mile rd and I-175 right next to the freeway. They are always having deals on cases so you can save there too.

 

[GrimX9]

Whenever i go down 75 I always see it