Need help building cheap comps guys

Kazer · Post by **Kazer** » Wed Jun 27, 2001 4:56 am

I'll be building 2 soon for 2 friends of mine that don't have much money to spend but I'd still like for them to have kickass comps. Hopefully the prices won't be anymore than $500, $400 if possible. They have never had a computer to call their own.

It'll be intended for playing games like Unreal Tournament, Star Craft, Age of Empires: AOK, and other like that. They are just starting out playing PC games and they are hooked. They will most likely listen to mp3's and surf the net with their comps as well.

How is the onboard sound for an Iwill KK266 board ? Any bad things about it ?

I have a 256MB ram minimum and AMD only rule. Just which ones is the problem. Duron or T-bird.

sethpa · Post by **sethpa** » Wed Jun 27, 2001 8:52 am

Kazer, not sure about the IWILL boards, but the other ones I've messed with, it's not that bad. Most Via mobos use the same sound setup. Just doesn't have 4 speaker sound. Also, for money saving, go with the Duron, not that much different for most games from what I've seen. Can get a 40 dollar 700 Duron, pump it to 8 or 900 and it will rock.

sethpa

Splitfire · Post by **Splitfire** » Wed Jun 27, 2001 9:11 am

Check out the F/S forum. There was a post there yesterday about a bunch of 32MB TNT2s that were compaq pulls that were abotu to be sold (on the order of 200 of them). Might want to check into that for video.

Kazer · Post by **Kazer** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 12:04 pm

how big of a difference is a 800mhz duron and t-bird ? they are not too far apart in pricing.

Kazer · Post by **Kazer** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 12:21 pm

I might get Kyro II videocards, they look pretty good for the price. Has anyone tried a Kyro card out yet ? How is it ?

Kazer · Post by **Kazer** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 1:31 pm

Damn, so far I could only get it as low as $508 without a case, monitor, and heatsink yet at:
http://store.yahoo.com/premiersystems/index.html
They have free shipping at Premier Systems so that sort of helps. Are there any other places with free shipping ?

I have a Taisol heatsink, Teac 24x CD-Rom, and Generic floppy drive but I'm building for 2 people so only one person can benefit from these.

IWill KK266 motherboard $125
Duron 850Mhz OEM $69
Teac Floppy $13
Creative 52X CD-Rom $37
Maxtor 15.3GB 7200RPM ATA100 $96
FAST 256MB PC133 7NS (Generic I Guess) $38
LeadTek GF2 MX 32MB / no TV OUT $86
Microsoft WHEEL MOUSE OPTICAL $23
Microsoft Internet Keyboard $21

Total: $508

I chose these parts because:
IWill KK266 because it had onboard sound that could be used, they can upgrade later if they want.
Duron is cheaper than T-birds and are also pretty good. I doubt they would want to overclock.
With the Teac floppy and CD-Rom they aren't important so I just chose what Premier had.
The Maxtor 15.3Gb harddrive has a good amount of space and I really wanted to get a 7,200RPM hd because 5,400RPM hd's are very friggin slow.
Generic 256MB ram because I wanted them to have at least 256MB ram but still cheap.
I chose a GF2 MX card so that they can have good decent graphics with decent frame rates.
And lastly I just chose Microsoft mouse and keyboard because they are pretty good and that is what Premier had.

I might just have to go with a TNT2 card for one of my friends and maybe a 5,400RPM hd because he is working just to be in college so he doesn't have lots of money to throw around.
I'll probably just go to the local computer store and buy 2 $50 generic cases with 300Watt power supplies.

Danielm7 · Post by **Danielm7** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 1:41 pm

Too bad the nForce chipset isn't public yet I bet that would be a great fit in this situation. Good luck with the budget though.

Razz · Post by **Razz** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 2:22 pm

Funny thing is that i ran Star Craft on a pentium 133 before with a 1mb vid card, and have ran Unreal Tornament on a pentium 233 with a 4mb vid card, take it it isn't the best but it is proof it could be done.

Kazer · Post by **Kazer** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 2:41 pm

Razz, they have those kind of systems. They are sick and tired of slow speed but have little to no cash for a kickass comp. That is where I come in and try to make a pretty decent comp for cheap.

Danielm7, I was just thinking about, if only it was out already. It would really help out my situation.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 4:23 pm

Well, UT runs pretty darn good on a V3, esp with Glide. Remember it wasn't all that long ago, they were pretty hot stuff. I bet you could pick up a V3 3000 for under $50. It'll play most any game out and UT runs GREAT under Glide.

As for the mobo's stick with the cheaper KT133 boards. From what you describe these guys are just getting started and they prolly wouldn't notice anyhow. I mean I would have loved to have had a monster for my first computer, but try and be realistic. Imagine this:

1 ghz T-bird $85
Abit KT133 ~ $90
256mb PC 133 generic CAS3 ~ $40
FDD $15
Creative 52X CD-Rom $37
Maxtor 15.3GB 7200RPM ATA100 $96 <--think used ~ $65
V3 3000 ~$40-45 (maybe even a GF1
Microsoft WHEEL MOUSE OPTICAL $23
Microsoft Internet Keyboard $21

I'm using UT as an example because out of the games listed it has the most demanding graphics. Now imagine only one and a half years ago,... what was the fastest thing around?

600-700mhz? A GF1 SDR? a 1 ghz will MORE than satisfy UT's processor requirements, and havening played UT on a 3dfx card,...I wasn't bothered at all.

I dunno... maybe consider more used stuff. It'd be alot cheaper.

Best of luck to ya!!!

Scott

bangbangben · Post by **bangbangben** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 5:47 pm

how bout this:

MSI K7T Turbo - $99
Duron 800 $39
256 PC133 $18 (only works with VIA boards)
FDD- $15
Acer 56X CDROM - $28
Maxtor 15.3GB 7200RPM ATA100 $96
Radeon LE - $72 (flash to reg radeon)
Mouse/ Keyboard get generic ones for like $25 for both
Chrome orb - $6-10
Total $400 add like $20- 40 for shipping
$440 most for system without monitor

Kazer · Post by **Kazer** » Fri Jun 29, 2001 2:08 am

Scooter, well one of my friends is ok with not going all out for speed but my other friend wants all out speed because he is used to using my comps. I really hate V3's or any other Voodoo's for that matter, the graphics suck and it's very outdated. I don't want ot get outdated cards.

bangbangben, I think I'll be going with the Radeon LE. Do you know how to make as fast as a Radeon 54MB DDR ? I know it has something to do with the registry. I think for my college friend he'll go with the generic mosue and keyboard, my other friend howver wants the Microsoft stuff. Where can I read up on that cheap ass ram ?

I'm also going with Maxtor 20GB harddrives now because not does it have more space but it is also around $10 - $15 cheaper than the 15GB one from Premier. I'm gonna purchase some stuff from http://www.Newegg.com because even with the shipping it cost less for some stuff than at Premier. I'll also be sticking with the IWill KK266, it's reliable, highly talked about as the best KT133a mobo and at newegg it's $107.

My other friend wants a Pioneer 16x DVD slot load now, at only $54 bucks why not. I remember when I bought mine for $80. I think I'll give my college friend my old Teac 24X CD-Rom, generic floppy, and Taisol heatsink for free.

ketchup · Post by **ketchup** » Sat Jun 30, 2001 10:59 am

To save money like Splitfire said. goto the FS section of all the major forums. You could get all the parts you need with no tax, reduced cost, and some may still be under warranty. There will always be somebody upgrading. Plus you could scrimp on some things to get better quality things ie get a cheap use 44x vice a new 52x, you wouldnt notice the difference. Then you put more money a better AMD Tbird and maybe a better quality video card and still stay way under the $500 mark with 17inch monitor included.

Ray

CaterpillarAssassin · Post by **CaterpillarAssassin** » Sat Jun 30, 2001 8:10 pm

Right if you want speed and a monitor for under $500, than you wont be able to get it all brand new. I'd say for stuff like the processor, mobo, vid card go used. CD-ROMs and HDs i tend to be a bit sketchy to go used for because those wear more easily and have a shorter life. At least in my experience anyway.

bangbangben · Post by **bangbangben** » Sun Jul 01, 2001 2:34 pm

you can regedit it to a reg 32 meg DDR Radeon, cause it enables HyperZ. There is a page somewhere that explains it, just ask around here, someone will know! The cheapo RAM is sposed to be fine for comps, just not for any chipsets other than Via ones, I dont know why, again ask around here about it! hope that helps.......... also, buy stuff from FS/T forums, I made someone a system with everything used for like $400, and it was top of the line. This was 6 months ago when everything was more expensive though, so do it now and you will get 2 comps for cheap!

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Need help building cheap comps guys

Need help building cheap comps guys

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