New computer...

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standard235

standard235

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I'm tired of sharing a computer with my mom and sister who spend most of their time on it.

I'm going to save and get my own. Right now, I have $200. Asking parents for a different phone for xmas but my birthday is in May and I usually get $300 total. That, and a lot of yard work between now and then. So with a budget of around $800, can I build a decent computer? I'm ok with integrated graphics for now, but I want expandability in the form of a PCI X 16 slot and up to 4GB of RAM, if I build my own.

On walmart.com, I found an eMachines with a 19" Widescreen LCD monitor, 3.0ghz Intel Pentium 4, 512MB RAM, Dual Format Burner, and the mobo has a PCI E slot.


Now, should I get prebuilt or buy everything and build it myself. I have already built a comp before, and should I run into any trouble, my dad's friend is a computer techtard type and could help me.


If I build my own, I have a few things I want.

AMD 64 processor
1GB RAM
DVDR/CDR burner
Flatscreen monitor, can be either CRT or LCD. I have room.
 
standard235
On walmart.com, I found an eMachines with a 19" Widescreen LCD monitor, 3.0ghz Intel Pentium 4, 512MB RAM, Dual Format Burner, and the mobo has a PCI E slot.
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No. Prebuilt is bad. eMachines is worse. I've spent over $400 upgrading my eMacrap already.


Now, should I get prebuilt or buy everything and build it myself. I have already built a comp before, and should I run into any trouble, my dad's friend is a computer techtard type and could help me.
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Yes. Spot on.

AMD 64 processor
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You're going to want a Core 2 Duo. Buying any kind of medium/high end AMD processor right now is foolish.
1GB RAM
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Good choice.

If you want, I could get on AIM and get into detail with you. Just drop me a PM.
 
Keep in mind the price. $800. Now way I'm getting a Core 2 Duo.

I'm not a super avid gamer type or any of that. I could live with a P4 at like 2.4ghz, but like I said, if I build my own, I want AMD.


I'm looking at barebones then building the rest right now on tigerdirect.com
 
Will you play any games on it and which ones if you do?
 
If you don't want to dish out more money for a Core 2 Duo, you'd be fine with an AMD Athlon 3500+, 1GB RAM (dual channel), nvidia 7-series gpu, a decent mobo could go from $75 - $120 for sure. If you want, I can try to find and get parts on Newegg, and check out the price which I can try to get under $800. PM me if you want me to.
 
The thing is is that I found a full computer for $630 that I built on tigerdirect.com

I don't play games. It's mostly just WMP11, Mozilla 2, AVG Anti-Virus/Spyware, and AIM. I usually use around 450MB of RAM and I know 1GB would be good because I'd be upgrading to Vista soon.


This computer for $630 shipped with tax and rebates, has a Athlon 64 4000+, 400watt PSU, onboard graphics with PCI Express 16 slot and PCI Express 1x and 4 PCI slots, Diablotek 3 in 1 combo for the keyboard, optical mouse, and speakers, Seagate 250GB SATAII drive for $50, Dell Trinitron 19" CRT monitor, L12-1090 :: Lite-on Super Allwrite SHM-165H6S / 16x8x16x DVD+RW / 16x6x16x DVD-RW / 5x DVD-RAM / 8x DVD+R DL / 4x DVD-R DL / 48x24x48x CD-RW / Black/Beige Faceplates / Internal / DVD Writer with LightScribe, and 1GB of Dual Channel Corsair Value.
 
That sounds good to me, minus the integrated graphics. I'd really get a good video card for now, playing games or not :(
 
No matter the processor, get a decent GPU.

Other than that, go with building it yourself. You have the knowledge, so why not?
 
That doesn't sound too bad, but I'd definitely get a 7 series Geforce card (unless you want to wait a bit and get a 7900GT or something) and I'm a huge fan of the Core 2 Duo. Even the E6300 can overclock nicely with air cooling for just $180.


Hah, found a perfect system for you from Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883107194
 
Ebiggs
That doesn't sound too bad, but I'd definitely get a 7 series Geforce card (unless you want to wait a bit and get a 7900GT or something) and I'm a huge fan of the Core 2 Duo. Even the E6300 can overclock nicely with air cooling for just $180.


Hah, found a perfect system for you from Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883107194
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Need to have a monitor included in the budget. For $300 I could upgrade my current box to 64 bit and have like 1GB of RAM... but I dunno if I wanna spend that much money for something that isn't mine.\

Ok, for about $300, I can get:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300)
ASUS M2V-TVM Socket AM2 VIA K8M890 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

I'd probably need a PSU though too. It'd be a ton faster than what I have now.

P4 1.8ghz
512MB RAM at DDR266

Gateway 500 SE I think, any idea what I would need to run that stuff?
 
Do you have a case already? If so, I'll do a quick build up for you and see what kind of C2D system I can choose for you. Also, do you have any preference for CRT or LCD? This should be a good LCD for you.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824254001

I noticed they stopped selling the Hyundai L90D+, which is what I'm using. It had well over 700 reviews with an average of 5 eggs.
 
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