New computer or not?

[PhoenixMDM]

Well, I got bunches of christmas money, and I'm thinking of buying the parts I'd need to build a SMALL carcomp/LANcomp.
I just got a PSone LCD off ebay, I bought a 40gig IBM deskstar drive from a friend, I have a decent video card hanging around, and a big sheet of 1/8" plexi just screaming "USE ME!" So all I would need is the mobo, CPU, RAM, HS/F, PSU.

Good news is that I found a Biostar U8668D Socket 478 MATX Motherboard bundled with a celey 2.4 for only $110. It's got onboard LAN, sound, and 32mb VGA. I probably won't use the onboard video, but it still seems like a good price, plus it's tigerdirect.com, who I've had lots of luck with. They also have a 230W MATX PSU for $25, yes I know that's weak, but is it enough to power this thing, just running a single hard drive and CD?

If I do decide to build this comp, all the parts I'd need come to $200.93, shipped. Christmas money is just about that, so it'd be essentially nothing out of my pocket. Problem is, I don't know if I can justify the purchase. LAN parties are out of the question for me with my only decent rig right now considering my minifridge waterchiller. I'd love to put this sheet of plexi to use by building a case for it too.

*sighs* Talk me into this!! Or talk me out of it if you feel like it. Any input is appreciated!

 

[ThePerfectCore]

So you want to go LANing...

Two things. First, the onboard sound. Who makes it? I have had horrible luck with onboard sound chips and headphones (which you would probably be forced to use at a LAN party). Either the sound is really weak, or the bass is completely gone, or something else is screwed up. Alot of them don't even allow you to adjust the bass and treble through the Windows stock volume control thing. That's a huge annoyance for me, not sure if it bothers you or not.

Second, I agree, that is one weak PSU. Sure you couldn't go up to 300W, at least? Don't think about tomorrow, think about next year... a few years from now... when you want to add an extra HDD, or you need to do some troubleshooting and you need a few more cards/disks/whatever hooked up. Uh oh, the 230W can't quite handle the load! Well poo, better go spend another $30 on something that can...

 

[XunknownX]

$200 for a base system? I'd do it. Then you could upgrade component after component as time goes on.

My first comp was a pentium 133 and it's evolved over the years into what's in my sig. Gotta start somewhere.