building a cheap computer

[BJL31]

I would like to build a decent computer for around $600 for just the tower

what I have is based off another computer in this area

Antec KSTN tower sx835II                            $80
Asus A7N8X deluxe                                    $120
AMD 2500/333 Athlon XP Barton                  $88
Geforce FX 5200 128MB DDR graphics          $70
Kingston value ram (2) 512MB pc3200 DDR $65
Western Digital 80gig 8mb cache 7200 rpm $20
Mad dog 56x cd-rom lightning                      $10
ALPS floppy drive                                          $10
Diamond supramax pro 56k pci modem        $20
Mad dog usb 2.0 52x24x52                          $50
x-220 3 piece logitech speakers                  $40
and i was goin to load windows98 2nd edition that i have from my other computer

i need a sound card and a cheap monitor

please tell me if any of this suff will not work together or if you can find anything cheaper

this will be my first computer i build

Thanks

Brandon

[Mark H]

It will work, but you can replace the USB CD burner with an internal one that will be less expensive. Take the savings and put it into better RAM like Crucial.

The motherboard you selected has very good sound built-in, so you can save dollars by not getting a sound card.

The price for the hard drive looks low to me, maybe it is a typo.

Regarding the operating system, are you going to take it off of your other computer? It would violate the license by putting it on two different computers.

Mark H

[Wade777]

If you're already going to spend that much on a computer, i wouldn't stick yourself with certain things:

1. HDD -- I see that you're paying $20; I truthfully wouldnt suggest refurbished.  I tried refurbished on myself and it didnt work out too pretty.  Just pray that it works cuz you will spend as much on shipping it back as you did on the actual product.

2. Your RAM - Ouch- OEM grade stuff is not the best.  You'll get all sort of funky errors when you boot up your system -- at least I did.

Otherwise it looks good to me :)  Double check that your mb will support the ram you are buying.. (Look at CL)

[bill macdonald]

BJL31

You can also save yourself $30 or 40 by buying the standard version of the motherboard, not the delux version.  There is a step down in the audio and the LAN speed but the rest of it is the same.  In fact the new version 2 supports a FSB of 400, making future processor upgrades possible.  Newegg has them in stock.

Bill-

[Mark H]

Another thing to consider is that it is hard to beat Dell or Gateway for a cheap computer by building it yourself. The money savings is seen on middle and higher end systems.

Of course building it is fun and educational. I just wanted to give you another option.

Mark H

[bill macdonald]

To follow Mark's suggestion, I think I just read that Gateway bought Emachines which have been getting better ratings, even from a couple ofpoasters here.  Another inexpensive alternative...

Bill

[pat]

I would suggest going with Windows XP, you can get the Home version OEM along with your hardware for about $90. No need to hold back all that new hardware with a Dos based OS.
Also consider getting a Zoom modem instead of the Diamond, I had a Diamond Supra and I found the performance of the Zoom to be much better.
Agreed about the ram, don?t put value ram in an Nforce 2 motherboard.

[Wade777]

Dont listen to their attempts to force you to buy from a major company ;) haha j/k.
But let me tell you this -- It is a very valueable skill to be able to make and troubleshoot your own computer.  Honestly, 2 years ago I couldnt have told you anything about the guts of a computer.  Then one day I get the genius idea that I'm going to make my own .. and it has just progressed from there.
Yes, you might actually ending up *saving* money if you buy a low end from Dell/HP/etc, but you wont gain any valueable knowledge from doing so.

[BJL31]

yeah the hard drive is like 70 but mail in rebates make it 20
the usb burner was to make it faster and to keep the case more open for other stuff if i wanted it later
the ram i wasn't sure about i might trade but i would only have half the ram
i might buy the standard  motherboard instead, i also found that twno.com had a motherboard processor bundle that was cheaper than buying them separate

i was also wondering if you could put together a nice computer for around $600 for me.  i want to get a computer thats nicer than the one i have.  it's going to be used mostly for internet and family computing but i would like it to be able to play games like Combat Flight Simulator 2000

thanks

Brandon

[p_look]

FWIW
If I was to build a system today and my budget was 600.00, this is what I would buy.
Prices are from newegg.com except for the Ran, direct from Crucial.

MSI nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "K7N2 Delta-L" RETAIL
78.00

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor ? Retail
90.00

2 x 256mb (512 total) PC3200 ram from Crucial
93.98  

ANTEC Performance Series II Mid Tower Case With 350W Power Supply, Model "SX835II"
$72.00

Western Digital Special Edition 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD800JB, OEM Drive Only
68.50

Samsung Beige 52X24X52X16 CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive , Model SM-352BRNS, Retail Box
$55.50

SAPPHIRE RADEON 9600 Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP ?Bulk
104.00              (Newegg lists this one for 1.00 less than the 128mb version)

Modem approx 29.00

Floppy drive 10.00
Total 600.98

If you can squeeze out a little more you can add
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack SP1a ? OEM
$92.00

[Carskick]

I went back and forth on whether or not to build or buy my system. I was on a very tight buget, and since I didn't have an OS, buying was my best choice at the time. HP's customization could get me almost exactly what I wanted except an 8mb buffer on th hard drive. Otherwise, it's great. I would've like a more powerfull PSU, but even with my power hungry FX5600 ultra, it still runs perfectly fine. I think if I had had a larger buget, I would have built. I will probably build my next system though, but if you want to buy your comp, don't overlook HP/Compaq. They have great prices, and I've had great repair service with my iPAQ through them. I don't know why magazines rate them so low, although their tech support people aren't very good. When my PDA developed a faulty headphone jack, I called them, and they had a box sent to me, sent out free, repaired and sent back all free. This took them from a thursday to a monday, so they worked over the weekend. Only 5 days to get it to them, fix it, and get it back to me! That's great service. Other than that, I've never really had any large problems with their computers. The biggest thing I can remember was the CPU fan dieing on my K6-2 350 when it was 3 years old.