Jump to content

$500 to build a computer, need some suggestions


Recommended Posts

Hey guys, like the title says, im looking to build a custom pc for $500. A friend of mine refered me to the site and said you guys can help. Here are some basic things that I would like...

1gb of ram

80gb or more hard drive

Cpu, something decent.(no AMD :) )

Video card, dosent have to be something really good, but something that can play games like Counter Strike source and Age of Empires 3 without looking like a ps2 game.

cd/dvd burner

and thats basically it. $500 is my budget for everything, except the monitor.

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why the exclusion of Amd?  For $500 you should be able to build someting fairly decent..  It might be cheaper to build an Amd system that would be based on the X2 processor, which was the first dual core processor, and is very close to the performance to an Intel system. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PeePs

tigerdirect definately have a lot of good barebone deals. The other day I saw that they had a intel dual core barebone deal that came with the case, processor, power supply, 200 GB hard drive, 1 GB memory, DVD burner, and a GeForce 6600 GT OC for $300.....

Here is the link to it:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3247591&sku=M450-2314%20A

Link to comment
Share on other sites

tigerdirect definately have a lot of good barebone deals. The other day I saw that they had a intel dual core barebone deal that came with the case, processor, power supply, 200 GB hard drive, 1 GB memory, DVD burner, and a GeForce 6600 GT OC for $300.....

Here is the link to it:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3247591&sku=M450-2314%20A

pretty much the same one i have posted but with a different video card, but that a pretty good price

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys, decided not to get the barebone systems, didnt really like them, instead I ordered the following..

Case - Rosewill TU-155 Black 0.8mm SGCC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 400W Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811147001

Motherboard - MSI 945GM3-F LGA 775 Intel 945G Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130060

CPU - Intel Celeron D 356 Cedar Mill 3.33GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80552356

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819112213

Video Card - XFX PVT73GUGF3 GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150185

Ram - CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145568

Hard Drive -Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JB 160GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144203

Dvd/Cd burner

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827136118

Everything together cost me $556 including shipping and tax,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PeePs

looks like pretty good choices in my opinion, with 1 exception....... the cellery processor! I dunno if they have improved the Celeron processors at all, but even at 3.33 Ghz aren't Celeron processors ****** to the max (please correct me if im wrong)? Of course you said you didn't need it to play the newer more CPU intense games so it should do just fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PeePs
pretty much the same one i have posted but with a different video card, but that a pretty good price

whoops my bad, never even followed your link before my post  :undecided:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest PeePs
Reading the reviews on Newegg , it seems to be a pretty good cpu. And its cheap, so I cant really complain.

Yea, I think I'm just bias towards cellery processors  :wink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sounds like a good offer. too bad the OP already ordered parts and paid more than 500 bucks and doesn't have an OS included. dell usually has the 12 month warranty (that even fixed a lightning strike-fried MB on my stepfather-in-law's comp when he took my advice and didn' mention the lightning strike) and the OS and an M$ works license you can use to buy office for the upgrade price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Intel has usually reigned as the pioneer for faster processors, but you're paying for that. The video card you chose was great. Not bad for the price. It's SLI capable. Your board and processor don't compliment the video card. So I'd say put biases aside and choose an AMD board... something like this one thats the same price

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186059

Memory is still dual channel, expandable to 4GB, and the chipset compliments your video card. You're still spending the same amount. Oh, and btw, your intel mobo that you chose has no AGP slots and you won't be able to use your video card anyway. Its onboard.

Expansion Slots

AGP Slots None  =( 

Onboard Video Chipset  Intel GMA 950

The AMD processor is $2 more than your Intel Celery stick. $65.xx

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103046

So there's the hookup. Keep all the rest of the eq you planned to buy. NOw you've got a gaming machine that can at least step a foot in the ring!  [nerd]

Woot!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Intel has usually reigned as the pioneer for faster processors, but you're paying for that. The video card you chose was great. Not bad for the price. It's SLI capable. Your board and processor don't compliment the video card. So I'd say put biases aside and choose an AMD board... something like this one thats the same price

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186059

Memory is still dual channel, expandable to 4GB, and the chipset compliments your video card. You're still spending the same amount. Oh, and btw, your intel mobo that you chose has no AGP slots and you won't be able to use your video card anyway. Its onboard.

Expansion Slots

AGP Slots None =(

Onboard Video Chipset  Intel GMA 950

The AMD processor is $2 more than your Intel Celery stick. $65.xx

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103046

So there's the hookup. Keep all the rest of the eq you planned to buy. NOw you've got a gaming machine that can at least step a foot in the ring!  [nerd]

Woot!

Next time mate ;)

This was my first build and I wanted to use something familiar, but this wont be my last either so im always open for suggestions :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...