Building a (really) budget PC

reflux · 09-January-06, 01:30 PM

Me and Reza were thinking of building ourselves a very cheap PC. As students, we can't afford anything much, but want to get the absolute maximum bang for our buck that we can get. We have a budget of about Ã‚Â£300 (about $530). It's also the first PC either of us will have built, so treat us like n00bs!

As far as CPU was concerned, we were thinking about a Sempron 3100+ and are thinking of overclocking it as I've heard they are great at overclocking. We'd stay with 512mb of RAM and with regards to a graphics card we were looking at a Radeon 9700 Pro as they are cheap as chips now and give performance almost at X700 level (which are double the price). Maybe we'd shove an Artic Cooling HSF on it to give us some overclocking headroom there. Hard disk: probably 160gb as they seem reasonably priced. No idea about the motherboard but obviously it needs to be cheap.

So yeah, any advice or suggestions would be appreciated; what are the pros and cons of the above specs?

Monsignor Funkibut · 09-January-06, 02:13 PM

Well - I guess I've got different ideas about what budget means. Name-brand fan? Overclocking? Graphics card? Not within my budget ....

-MF

Slider · 09-January-06, 02:25 PM

Do you need monitor and other peripherals? If you do that will severely limit your options.

the _klamper · 09-January-06, 02:31 PM

i think this system is as budget as budget gets

http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4568777

all it needs is a monitor ...

and im sure newegg has good deals on those ...

Reza · 09-January-06, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slider


	Do you need monitor and other peripherals? If you do that will severely limit your options.

Yeah we do need peripherals but we can probably find most of them at home and were getting a moniter from the local tip.

Reza · 09-January-06, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the _klamper


	i think this system is as budget as budget gets http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4568777 all it needs is a monitor ... and im sure newegg has good deals on those ...

That is dirt cheap but we want to build it ourselves and are planning on overclocking it to play most of todays modern games, it won't play them at on high settings but its really just something for us to practice on.

The Dragon Reborn · 09-January-06, 03:30 PM

Well... I'd start by getting a case from a "recycle center"... you can get a monitor, keyboard &
mouse there as well...

I'm sure they have centers like that in the UK... here in the NL they can be found in each major town..
You'd be suprised how much good stuff there is to be had there... lot's of companies & government
are switching to LCD's now and all "abundant" stuff makes it to the recycle centers.. so a 17" or 19"
CRT is extremely cheap, there! Keyboards & mice are almost for free... (IBM, anyone?)..

Not to mention workstation & server cases....

I guess stripping those would be a good idea & buying a modern PSU would be wise as well...

For some 'modding... a few cans of "clearance sale" automotive paint (anything but 'beige),
together with some cans of primer, clearcoat and one or two cans of vinyl dye would not
break the bank... don't fortget to buy a set of wet & dry sandpaper & some rubbing compound!

Have you considered to go socket 754? Here in the NL, BE & Germany you can get a mainboard &
processor at dump-prices... ASROCK boards are usually very stable and are dirt cheap! As are
socket 754 "Palermo" chips...

Btw... an 9600Pro with 256mb costs like 70 Euro here...

Hope this is useful..

TDR

Reza · 11-January-06, 06:59 AM

This is the kit recommended by Dex, does any one else have other suggestions:

Motherboard: Abit NF8-V2 nForce3 250

Ram: 512Mb generic RAM

PSU: Antec TruePower 2.0 380W PSU

We are going to be using a AMD sempron 3100 64bit Palermo core and have bought a Radeon 9800.

Any suggestions on cooling as we want to overclock it as much as possible.

67_GTO · 11-January-06, 09:02 AM

I dont live in the UK but if i had a budget of 530 bucks heres what i would get...

Athlon 64 3200 ~155
Gigabyte mobo w/PCI-E ~65
1 GB Corsair value ram ~80
PCI-E XFX 6600 GT ~130
160 GB HDD ~80

= ~510

I got all my prices from zipzoomfly so there may be better ones out there...

reflux · 11-January-06, 10:10 AM

Thanks for your suggestions. We have changed our mind about the graphics card an are probably getting an XFX 6600gt instead. However unfortunately we get ripped off over here, and most of those things are about Ã‚Â£20 or more each over here

, which is why we went for the Sempron.

konai_konai666 · 11-January-06, 10:24 AM

Don't worry so much about the Semp, -look at the bright side, at least it's NOT a Pentium 4 and is probably actually still stronger than any 3.0-3.4GHz P4 in games (infact, I was going to upgrade to a Sempron 64 3100+ at one time late last year, but decided to upgrade my graphics instead). I think you'll find that computer to be plentifully powerful enough to even get in on the action, -playing games like F.E.A.R (extremely system-spec-intensive) pretty well with medium eye candy or even a game like Battle Field 2 at higher res (in which resolutions like 1280x with AA/AF becomes a very realistic possibility with the 6600GT's) the one critical thing I wouldn't want to miss out on for the measly few bucks saved is the 64-bit vs 32-bit sempron (the 64-bit ones actually have the capability to perform nearly identical to thier Athlon64 counterparts, albiet about -200MHz comparatively to compensate the cache deficiet)..
In the case of a 300MHz gain and 64-Bit processing, with the 64-bit 3400+ at $115 U.S. , it's really a no-brainer (the 3100+ vanilla just doesn't look half as good at $98 which I'd call way over-priced):
32-bit 3100+
64-bit 3400+

67_GTO · 11-January-06, 11:14 AM

I didnt know 64 bit semprons were that powerful. I have a sempron in my laptop but it must be 32 bit because its slow as hell. From all of the talk that I've heard of AMD 64's I will definetly not be gettting Pentium the next time I build unless Intel has something up their sleeve for the Pentium 5.

Dex · 11-January-06, 12:24 PM

Semprons are good little chips, although they have much less onboard cache than their big brothers. The latest batch from overclockers.co.uk have the good overclocking stepping too.

What would everyone recommend for a HSF? I thought a Thermalright XP-90 would let them take the Sempr0n to the max and still keep temps acceptable with a nice high CFM fan on top.

The Dragon Reborn · 11-January-06, 12:43 PM

I'm running a Thermalright SI 90 on my wife's Athlon XP1600+, I slapped an YS Tech 80mm Greenlabel
fan on it (yes.. it could take a 92mm but I wanted to be as silent as possible...)... You can't hear it
but it's still 10 degrees celcius cooler then before (Artic Cooling Copper Silent)....

I guess if you choose the XP-90c together with a decent 92mm fan, you can really start overclocking!
You just gotta love these coolers...

TDR

Dex · 11-January-06, 12:53 PM

Reflux, ive got a spare case you can have a for a tenner and plenty of spare 80mm fans/various other shiny bits id be happy to donate to this project to save you a bit of cash. The case is just sitting on top of my wardrobe collecting dust.

Got some spare harddrive too which could get you up and running in the case of a money shortage. You can get them next time you and Reze come over for a late night LAN or something.

Ill get some piccies up soon

EDIT - Piccies of spare bits:

Reza · 11-January-06, 03:43 PM

Thats excellent mate, cheers for that. Hopefully be over after the exam period for another session.

Ator · 11-January-06, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 67_GTO


	I didnt know 64 bit semprons were that powerful. I have a sempron in my laptop but it must be 32 bit because its slow as hell. From all of the talk that I've heard of AMD 64's I will definetly not be gettting Pentium the next time I build unless Intel has something up their sleeve for the Pentium 5.

The reason the Sempron 64 (socket 754) is so much better than the Socket A Semprons is because, just like the Athlon 64's, they have an integrated memory controller.

Reza · 11-January-06, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ator


	The reason the Sempron 64 (socket 754) is so much better than the Socket A Semprons is because, just like the Athlon 64's, they have an integrated memory controller.

Just wanted to say well done with the graphics card, its the one I dream of owning but will never be able to afford.

reflux · 12-January-06, 06:07 AM

Thanks a lot for your generosity Dex. Once again you prove to be a legend

I'd rep you but my lack of rep would mean you wouldn't actually get any, so there wouldn't be any point. I think.

But yeah, is your old case the one that had the dragon on the side panel window?

09-January-06, 01:30 PM	#1 (permalink)
reflux Sempr0n? Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Leeds/Ipswich, UK Posts: 3,520	Building a (really) budget PC Me and Reza were thinking of building ourselves a very cheap PC. As students, we can't afford anything much, but want to get the absolute maximum bang for our buck that we can get. We have a budget of about Ã‚Â£300 (about $530). It's also the first PC either of us will have built, so treat us like n00bs! As far as CPU was concerned, we were thinking about a Sempron 3100+ and are thinking of overclocking it as I've heard they are great at overclocking. We'd stay with 512mb of RAM and with regards to a graphics card we were looking at a Radeon 9700 Pro as they are cheap as chips now and give performance almost at X700 level (which are double the price). Maybe we'd shove an Artic Cooling HSF on it to give us some overclocking headroom there. Hard disk: probably 160gb as they seem reasonably priced. No idea about the motherboard but obviously it needs to be cheap. So yeah, any advice or suggestions would be appreciated; what are the pros and cons of the above specs? __________________

09-January-06, 02:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
Monsignor Funkibut Master VB Pr'hoe'grammer Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Tucker, Ga Posts: 1,855	Budget!?!? Well - I guess I've got different ideas about what budget means. Name-brand fan? Overclocking? Graphics card? Not within my budget .... -MF __________________ The Danse, The Parfum, The Man .....

09-January-06, 02:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
Slider Ghostrider Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Kansas Posts: 2,679	Do you need monitor and other peripherals? If you do that will severely limit your options. __________________ Always remember: No matter where you go, there you are.

09-January-06, 03:30 PM	#7 (permalink)
The Dragon Reborn Apex Elite Expert Tech Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NL Posts: 1,267	Well... I'd start by getting a case from a "recycle center"... you can get a monitor, keyboard & mouse there as well... I'm sure they have centers like that in the UK... here in the NL they can be found in each major town.. You'd be suprised how much good stuff there is to be had there... lot's of companies & government are switching to LCD's now and all "abundant" stuff makes it to the recycle centers.. so a 17" or 19" CRT is extremely cheap, there! Keyboards & mice are almost for free... (IBM, anyone?).. Not to mention workstation & server cases.... I guess stripping those would be a good idea & buying a modern PSU would be wise as well... For some 'modding... a few cans of "clearance sale" automotive paint (anything but 'beige), together with some cans of primer, clearcoat and one or two cans of vinyl dye would not break the bank... don't fortget to buy a set of wet & dry sandpaper & some rubbing compound! Have you considered to go socket 754? Here in the NL, BE & Germany you can get a mainboard & processor at dump-prices... ASROCK boards are usually very stable and are dirt cheap! As are socket 754 "Palermo" chips... Btw... an 9600Pro with 256mb costs like 70 Euro here... Hope this is useful.. TDR __________________

11-January-06, 06:59 AM	#8 (permalink)
Reza Apex Elite Expert Tech Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: University of Leeds, UK Posts: 1,352	This is the kit recommended by Dex, does any one else have other suggestions: Motherboard: Abit NF8-V2 nForce3 250 Ram: 512Mb generic RAM PSU: Antec TruePower 2.0 380W PSU We are going to be using a AMD sempron 3100 64bit Palermo core and have bought a Radeon 9800. Any suggestions on cooling as we want to overclock it as much as possible. __________________

09-January-06, 02:31 PM	#4 (permalink)
the _klamper Apex Master Tech Apprentice Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 297	i think this system is as budget as budget gets http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4568777 all it needs is a monitor ... and im sure newegg has good deals on those ...

11-January-06, 09:02 AM	#9 (permalink)
67_GTO Apex Tech Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Readfield, Maine Posts: 642	I dont live in the UK but if i had a budget of 530 bucks heres what i would get... Athlon 64 3200 ~155 Gigabyte mobo w/PCI-E ~65 1 GB Corsair value ram ~80 PCI-E XFX 6600 GT ~130 160 GB HDD ~80 = ~510 I got all my prices from zipzoomfly so there may be better ones out there... __________________

11-January-06, 10:10 AM	#10 (permalink)
reflux Sempr0n? Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Leeds/Ipswich, UK Posts: 3,520	Thanks for your suggestions. We have changed our mind about the graphics card an are probably getting an XFX 6600gt instead. However unfortunately we get ripped off over here, and most of those things are about Ã‚Â£20 or more each over here , which is why we went for the Sempron. __________________

11-January-06, 10:24 AM	#11 (permalink)
konai_konai666 DuckWarrior's Personal Quack-Hoe Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Port Townsend, WA (US [of] A).. "America - F--- YEAH!!" Posts: 1,512	Don't worry so much about the Semp, -look at the bright side, at least it's NOT a Pentium 4 and is probably actually still stronger than any 3.0-3.4GHz P4 in games (infact, I was going to upgrade to a Sempron 64 3100+ at one time late last year, but decided to upgrade my graphics instead). I think you'll find that computer to be plentifully powerful enough to even get in on the action, -playing games like F.E.A.R (extremely system-spec-intensive) pretty well with medium eye candy or even a game like Battle Field 2 at higher res (in which resolutions like 1280x with AA/AF becomes a very realistic possibility with the 6600GT's) the one critical thing I wouldn't want to miss out on for the measly few bucks saved is the 64-bit vs 32-bit sempron (the 64-bit ones actually have the capability to perform nearly identical to thier Athlon64 counterparts, albiet about -200MHz comparatively to compensate the cache deficiet).. In the case of a 300MHz gain and 64-Bit processing, with the 64-bit 3400+ at $115 U.S. , it's really a no-brainer (the 3100+ vanilla just doesn't look half as good at $98 which I'd call way over-priced): 32-bit 3100+ 64-bit 3400+ __________________ NORTH WEST HYPHY MOVEMENT -3DMark06: 5850 - Super PI 1.4: 1M = 28s Last edited by konai_konai666; 11-January-06 at 10:40 AM.

11-January-06, 11:14 AM	#12 (permalink)
67_GTO Apex Tech Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Readfield, Maine Posts: 642	I didnt know 64 bit semprons were that powerful. I have a sempron in my laptop but it must be 32 bit because its slow as hell. From all of the talk that I've heard of AMD 64's I will definetly not be gettting Pentium the next time I build unless Intel has something up their sleeve for the Pentium 5. __________________

11-January-06, 12:24 PM	#13 (permalink)
Dex Retr-hoe Reviewer Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: West Yorkshire, UK Posts: 4,746	Semprons are good little chips, although they have much less onboard cache than their big brothers. The latest batch from overclockers.co.uk have the good overclocking stepping too. What would everyone recommend for a HSF? I thought a Thermalright XP-90 would let them take the Sempr0n to the max and still keep temps acceptable with a nice high CFM fan on top. __________________

11-January-06, 12:43 PM	#14 (permalink)
The Dragon Reborn Apex Elite Expert Tech Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NL Posts: 1,267	I'm running a Thermalright SI 90 on my wife's Athlon XP1600+, I slapped an YS Tech 80mm Greenlabel fan on it (yes.. it could take a 92mm but I wanted to be as silent as possible...)... You can't hear it but it's still 10 degrees celcius cooler then before (Artic Cooling Copper Silent).... I guess if you choose the XP-90c together with a decent 92mm fan, you can really start overclocking! You just gotta love these coolers... TDR __________________

11-January-06, 12:53 PM	#15 (permalink)
Dex Retr-hoe Reviewer Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: West Yorkshire, UK Posts: 4,746	Reflux, ive got a spare case you can have a for a tenner and plenty of spare 80mm fans/various other shiny bits id be happy to donate to this project to save you a bit of cash. The case is just sitting on top of my wardrobe collecting dust. Got some spare harddrive too which could get you up and running in the case of a money shortage. You can get them next time you and Reze come over for a late night LAN or something. Ill get some piccies up soon EDIT - Piccies of spare bits: Attached Thumbnails __________________ Last edited by Dex; 11-January-06 at 01:01 PM.

11-January-06, 03:43 PM	#16 (permalink)
Reza Apex Elite Expert Tech Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: University of Leeds, UK Posts: 1,352	Thats excellent mate, cheers for that. Hopefully be over after the exam period for another session. __________________

12-January-06, 06:07 AM	#19 (permalink)
reflux Sempr0n? Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Leeds/Ipswich, UK Posts: 3,520	Thanks a lot for your generosity Dex. Once again you prove to be a legend I'd rep you but my lack of rep would mean you wouldn't actually get any, so there wouldn't be any point. I think. But yeah, is your old case the one that had the dragon on the side panel window?