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.
Click to expand...

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
 
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.
 
No matter the processor, get a decent GPU.

Other than that, go with building it yourself. You have the knowledge, so why not?
 
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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