Desktop Computer Hunting
Author
With my mom buried under bills and such, I decided that I would get a job over the summer as an effort to purchase a new computer.
I happened to be successful in finding one. It's called the Lock 3 Arts program, where one gets paid $400 for making artwork to be presented downtown. I won't get indepth, unless asked... since this is irrelevant to the question.
OK... don't laugh... but is there any computer prestigeous enough to work as a home/office computer, but be able to run games such as UT2004 (not asking for a godly performance) as well as burning CDs for under $400 or around that price? I've tried searching, but the closest I found was a Dell Dimension 2400 running at $474 AFTER the 5% off deal. I also found some kind of 2GHz Dell on EBay for around $270.
Thanks, I appreciate any help, or advice that you can give. Heh, I hope I explained everything good enough to be understood.
Down here in California we got placesd that sell pretty loaded up "emachines" for about 300-500. I wouldn't get one though lol. But i'v got one and its held its own. On the otherhand if you build your computer from scratch you could make it cheaper. You just got to find the parts for cheap. Ebay is a good place my cousin gets all his parts from them. I don't know if that reliable enough though.
CPU, Mobo, basic 64mb Graphic card. CD rom. hardrive. Nice fan. not to much at all.
CPU, Mobo, basic 64mb Graphic card. CD rom. hardrive. Nice fan. not to much at all.
Author
Yeah, I've considered that. After all, I only need the tower itself, rather than getting a whole set with a monitor, printer, scanner, etc.
It seems that the cheaper Dell computers come with Intel Integrated 3D (?) cards, but I have no idea how much MB it is. I don't even know what the best brand videocard is, anymore.
It seems that the cheaper Dell computers come with Intel Integrated 3D (?) cards, but I have no idea how much MB it is. I don't even know what the best brand videocard is, anymore.
Quote:Original post by DeShawn
Yeah, I've considered that. After all, I only need the tower itself, rather than getting a whole set with a monitor, printer, scanner, etc.
You could order a kit from Computer Parts USA and build it. You would only get the tower so that's cool. They start out at $269 and have integrated graphics, but the Asus boards come with an AGP slot, so you could get a video card with the money left over.
Hmmm...never mind. The $269 kit only has a Duron CPU and if you're after a game machine, you'd want to swap that out for an Athlon XP CPU and that would put you over-budget.
Hell, I'm no help, am I?
Buy the parts online, from NewEgg or something, and then put it together yourself. That'll probably be cheaper than any already put together machine, and you get exactly the parts you want. Just as an example, here is something I threw together on New Egg's site:
CPU: Link - $52.00
Mobo: Link - $66.00
RAM: Link - $79.00
Hard Drive: Link - $50.00
CD Burner: Link - $32.00
Video Card: Link - $93.00
Case + P/S: Link - $27.00
Grand Total: $399.00 (do i get a cookie for how close this is?)
This machine should be able to run UT2004 OK. The only things that concern me are:
- The totally ghetto power supply included with that case. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't trust a power supply that cheap, I'd always be afraid it was gonna explode/light on fire, or whatever.
- No operating system. I guess you could borrow a friend's CD or something... *cough*
Anyway, I'd poke around on that site and look at different components, and then maybe find some different online retailers and compare prices. Good luck.
CPU: Link - $52.00
Mobo: Link - $66.00
RAM: Link - $79.00
Hard Drive: Link - $50.00
CD Burner: Link - $32.00
Video Card: Link - $93.00
Case + P/S: Link - $27.00
Grand Total: $399.00 (do i get a cookie for how close this is?)
This machine should be able to run UT2004 OK. The only things that concern me are:
- The totally ghetto power supply included with that case. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't trust a power supply that cheap, I'd always be afraid it was gonna explode/light on fire, or whatever.
- No operating system. I guess you could borrow a friend's CD or something... *cough*
Anyway, I'd poke around on that site and look at different components, and then maybe find some different online retailers and compare prices. Good luck.
Yes, never get a cheap power supply. I used the one that came with the case for about one hour. On the second boot sparks started shooting out the back, illuminating the back wall. It also started smoking, then died. Thankfully my mobo survived.
Quote:Original post by Bossk
Buy the parts online, from NewEgg or something, and then put it together yourself. That'll probably be cheaper than any already put together machine, and you get exactly the parts you want. Just as an example, here is something I threw together on New Egg's site:
CPU: Link - $52.00
Mobo: Link - $66.00
RAM: Link - $79.00
Hard Drive: Link - $50.00
CD Burner: Link - $32.00
Video Card: Link - $93.00
Case + P/S: Link - $27.00
Grand Total: $399.00 (do i get a cookie for how close this is?)
This machine should be able to run UT2004 OK. The only things that concern me are:
- The totally ghetto power supply included with that case. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't trust a power supply that cheap, I'd always be afraid it was gonna explode/light on fire, or whatever.
- No operating system. I guess you could borrow a friend's CD or something... *cough*
Anyway, I'd poke around on that site and look at different components, and then maybe find some different online retailers and compare prices. Good luck.
You're forgetting keyboard, mouse and speakers...
Dell Refurbished has some nice deals. You might be best off buying one of the < $300 machines and then adding your own video card / ram.
Dell's refurbished PCs are often PCs that were returned because a consumer decided they did not want the machine. As such, Dell can no longer sell them as "new" even though they basically are. I've been using Dell refurbished for years with literally no problems. You also get a copy of Windows XP with the machines, which is rather expensive if you had to buy it on your own.
Dell's refurbished PCs are often PCs that were returned because a consumer decided they did not want the machine. As such, Dell can no longer sell them as "new" even though they basically are. I've been using Dell refurbished for years with literally no problems. You also get a copy of Windows XP with the machines, which is rather expensive if you had to buy it on your own.
On mwave.com
I got an AMD Athlon 64 3000+, a 512mb stick of DDR 400 Ram, and a kick butt mobo(MSI K8T Neo) for ~$230 usa [grin]
best deal ever! Made me mad though, after we got it the price went down like $20.
I got an AMD Athlon 64 3000+, a 512mb stick of DDR 400 Ram, and a kick butt mobo(MSI K8T Neo) for ~$230 usa [grin]
best deal ever! Made me mad though, after we got it the price went down like $20.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
