Building a cheapo PC

[lb99]

I want to build a low budget future proof PC, the one I have reached its outer limits years ago, and I am now having trouble expanding it due to obselecence, I have a contact that I trust in malaysia, where everything is cheap as, coz thats where its made, I was gonna get him to send over the boards, and I have dvd writers ect already and I Have no problem using an old case, I dont care about branding but what should I put on my shopping list

[Cajun]

well depends no matter how hard you try whatever you get will be super seeded and your chip won't be used in like 2 years.

Decide if you want intel or amd chip.

Next do you want onboard video (if don't play games or such onboard video is fine, even some modern boards have some pretty good video (128/256megs ati/nvidia video) and that in some way can point you in direction, personally i only realy use gigabyte or msi motherboards, but that is personal preference, its what i used and know work, and if have a problem, can be fixed simple & quickly.

And if you already have hdd/dvd writer, thats all you need bar some ram

[scracha]

Buy a Dell or go down the Warehouse and buy a Lenovo. You'll pay about umm...$20 more than building it yourself, you'll have a warranty and you'll save about 2 hours work.

[imdying]

No such thing as future proof in PCs. What are you going to do when your Maylasian imports are DOA or die after a month? You won't save very much, just go buy a Dell form their website... you won't even have to get out of your chair

[dhunt]

Yeah - I'll have to agree with the others get something local is probably the way to go - computers are so cheap now compared to even a few years ago - you wont save much if any.

Also by the time your computer gets here from Malaysia it will be obsolete (Ok that's probably not quite true but you get the idea) so can't really get anything future proof.

[The Pastor]

im going to build a comp soon, 4gb ram 500meg+ vid card some trick mobo and as much hdds i can fit.

[imdying]

Unless you've got a specific application, I probably wouldn't bother with 4GB of RAM. RAM only gets cheaper, buy it when you need it. Same for the HDDs... they're continually in a downwards price/GB spiral, just buy a TB now, and add drives as you need them. Even if you spend the same money in the end, you'll end up with probably 50% more space.

[PuppetMaster]

Depending on what you call "Low budget" and what you plan to use it for. i would go for something similar to this -

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, 3.00GHz
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 Intel P965 Express
Seagate 250GB HDD
x2 1GB DDR2-800 PC6400 SDRAM
Geforce 8800 GTS, 320MB, PCI Express

That lot will cost you less than a grand. If you dont need high end graphics or play games etc, then you could get a lesser video card, that one above is around $500.
Depending on what you have now you may also need a new Power Supply, a decent 500w ATX is around $150-$200.
Plus a case.

[skelstar]

Are there not issues with Dell computers spitting the dummy if you put non-Dell stuff in their boxes when its time to upgrade?

[avgas]

Are there not issues with Dell computers spitting the dummy if you put non-Dell stuff in their boxes when its time to upgrade?

Nah both Dell and IBM are just bases to build off.
very good bases.
I'd never build my own again, costs to much and you miss out on about 20 years industry experience when you dont buy a big co.s computer.

[imdying]

Are there not issues with Dell computers spitting the dummy if you put non-Dell stuff in their boxes when its time to upgrade?

Naw, they sometimes even send you the part and have you fit it over the phone with a tech on the line. Only reason to build a box these days is high end gaming rig, as these still come with a bit of a price premium.

[PuppetMaster]

Naw, they sometimes even send you the part and have you fit it over the phone with a tech on the line. Only reason to build a box these days is high end gaming rig, as these still come with a bit of a price premium.

Hes talking about voiding the warranty when you open the box and put non-Dell parts inside.

[imdying]

Yep, my post was just an example of how flexible they are these days regarding opening the boxes up and fiddling with them.

[skelstar]

Hes talking about voiding the warranty when you open the box and put non-Dell parts inside.

No I wasn't, I meant the Dell hardware/motherboard not liking you putting in upgrades (ie DVD drive. memory etc) that are non-Dell parts. I'm sure that this has been the case in the last 5 years.

[Morcs]

Find a guy called Java Warrior on trademe.

He his upgrade kits listed.

I bought a new asus board, via chipset etc... 1gb ram with a celeron 3.2ghz for under $400 - all brand new and boxed with warranties.

A great option if like you said already have a case, psu, drives etc...