Budget PC

[vampist]

Alright, I have a newegg system here:
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor
Combo

Needs to be under $600 USD. Cheaper the better with out loosing performance.
Changes?

Just some other stuff:
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Rosewill 20" Serial ATA II cable

 

[Grantofhell]

yours or customer's? Purpose?

 

[vampist]

Family's computer.

Doesn't do gaming besides things like.. yahoo games lol.

Mostly word processing, internet, and email.
Will be running W7 Home.
32-bit btw.

 

[Grantofhell]

I'm gonna list parts and not link so revisions can be made and you can find a place that stocks them cheap if you agree with the build.

This is essentially what I did for my media build.

Evga 730i
Intel E5300
OCZ 2x2 GOLD PC2-6400
Ultra LS350
CoolerMaster Elite 330
SeaGate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB - Programs
OCZ Vertex 30GB - OS

I'm siding with a SSD for OS because the rest of the build is lower performance and the speed of a SSD will make up for it greatly.

I went ahead and rung it all up at TD since NE does not stock the 730i, despite it being such a great board.

Evga 730i
Intel Pentium Dual Core E5300
OCZ PC2-6400 SLI Ready (2x2)
SeaGate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB/16MB
OCZ Vertex 30GB/32MB
Ultra LS350
CoolerMaster Elite 330

Total: 544.93 before shipping/tax.

 

[vampist]

Ok, because that particular combo is not available >.<
I went ahead and quickly made this up:


Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$99.95
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$54.99

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$79.99
Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V V2.2 Intel Core i7 Compliant Dual 80mm Fans Full Cable Sleevings Power Supply
$41.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
$9.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK
$109.99

AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX240OCGQBOX
$56.99
Subtotal: $453.89

 

[Grantofhell]

Get a cheaper case. It doesn't need to look racey or even cool that well. These are all low performance parts. Personally, 4GB is a little much for a HTPC but if that's what you want...

Which combo are you referring to?

 

[vampist]

Get a cheaper case. It doesn't need to look racey or even cool that well. These are all low performance parts. Personally, 4GB is a little much for a HTPC but if that's what you want...

Well I figured 4 would be good because it's W7.
Also the Antec is a must, unless you can find another case with usb, sound and all that crap on top. (mom is a pain)
Although... I might be able to just supplement it with a usb hub. Hm.

 

[Grantofhell]

CM690. Simplistic, with good cooling and still cheaper. Unfortunately, the USB, etc are straight up, whereas Antec's are angled at the top.

 

[vampist]

CM690. Simplistic, with good cooling and still cheaper. Unfortunately, the USB, etc are straight up, whereas Antec's are angled at the top.

Hm, Good call; I like the more... Professional look of the CM690. The straight up angle isn't bad, things plugged in will only be temp (thumb drives, etc).
The good cooling on this particular case is good too.

 

[Grantofhell]

Good cooling is good. You can probably pick it up for 69.99 w/FS like I did on NewEgg.