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I am looking to build an extremely cheap PC that ONLY needs to be capable of doing the following things:
1) be able to play and output HD video without lagging, preferably 1080p
2) have a LOT of disc space (seriously, a LOT)
3) have USB 2.0 ports (so I can connect my audio gear)
4) play starcraft/d2 well. be able to play sc2/war3 on absolute minimum settings with reasonable fps
so basically, it doesn't need a lot of speed, but I need some decent graphics capabilities, at least better than my laptop running integrated graphics.
note: I don't need a bluray drive because I download everything. I also don't need an operating system because my school provides free windows 7.
Roughly how much money will I need to spend? Normally I would just buy my own parts, but since I have very minimal requirements, I was thinking that maybe I could cut back on certain parts (maybe slower processor? should I cut back on ram too?) and still achieve my goals. Do you guys know what the bare minimum parts would be? Basically, I want to achieve the goals listed above using as LITTLE money as possible.
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If you need a monitor you need to spend like 800 without monitor you can get by on like 400-600 it also depends on how you're getting parts becuse at the low end range going to stores like frys and microcenter to buy mobo case combos and stuff can turn out cheaper then getting things online.
Just about any modern graphics card can do AVC decoding pretty well to decode full 1080p playback you just need a player that uses DXVA decoding.
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On February 12 2010 11:08 Virtue wrote:
If you need a monitor you need to spend like 800 without monitor you can get by on like 400-600 it also depends on how you're getting parts becuse at the low end range going to stores like frys and microcenter to buy mobo case combos and stuff can turn out cheaper then getting things online.
Just about any modern graphics card can do AVC decoding pretty well to decode full 1080p playback you just need a player that uses DXVA decoding.
would it make more sense to buy a prebuilt computer or buy the parts on my own? my understanding is that prebuilt computers arent worthwhile because you replace most of the parts anyway, but in my case i would probably just drop in a graphics card and be done
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Canada643 Posts
If you want to save time, get a prebuilt. If you want to save money, build it yourself.
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You can get a pretty damn cheap PC if you have the following :
- A cardbox
- A pencil
- A lot of imagination
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On February 12 2010 11:25 lepape wrote:
You can get a pretty damn cheap PC if you have the following :
- A cardbox
- A pencil
- A lot of imagination
I don't see how that can play 1080p
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On February 12 2010 11:17 daz wrote:
If you want to save time, get a prebuilt. If you want to save money, build it yourself.
so buying parts separately is still cheaper even with low end components?
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It's really easy to put something cheap together. With an Athlon II x3 processor, a 4850, a cheap case/motherboard, a diablotek 550w power supply, and like 4gb of ddr3-1333, you can play nearly any modern game and easily play 1080p video. I'll put those into a wishlist in newegg real quick.
Price comes out to $461, not too shabby, and with 1tb of disc space. (I set it to public but i don't know if it will work, newegg is finicky with wishlists.)
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Link doesn't work. Takes me to my Wishlists lol.
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If you wanted to really minimize the costs, you could go with a 9600 GSO or something in that region with DDR2 RAM if you are super sure you only want to play SC and WC3 etc.
However, it'd work out better by spending a few extra quid/bucks and getting what the guy above me states.
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wow thanks for the help, thats really... helpful, lol
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On February 12 2010 12:45 Sapraedon wrote:
If you wanted to really minimize the costs, you could go with a 9600 GSO or something in that region with DDR2 RAM if you are super sure you only want to play SC and WC3 etc.
However, it'd work out better by spending a few extra quid/bucks and getting what the guy above me states.
only one model of 9600gso is still sold on newegg, i believe, and the 4850 is way better value. Also the idea of using an am3 motherboard is that you use DDR3 ram. At this point it's almost cheaper than DDR2 because RAM price has been going through the roof lately.
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Now if ghermination actually looked at the parts he was recommending you buy, I don't think he would recommend them.
OCZ ram is known for having huge issues with AMD mobos and processors, and that is an unknown brand piece of shit mobo.
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yep ocz gold + amd = no go
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output HD videos without lagging... i guess that means downloaded videos?
and be able to play starcraft. and d2...
i think most computer made in the last year can do that. even the cheapest ones. I mean you can get a cheap processor, your graphics card doesn't have to be top notch. to be able to play downloaded movies doesn't require a 100$ graphics card.
but then again i'm no expert, i just know my computer which is worth like 300$ now can do all of the above... very well. and it can play civ4 and other decent games. i just can't imagine getting a 600$ pc to play sc and watch videos.
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He wants to be able to play SC2.
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On February 12 2010 13:18 FragKrag wrote:
Now if ghermination actually looked at the parts he was recommending you buy, I don't think he would recommend them.
OCZ ram is known for having huge issues with AMD mobos and processors, and that is an unknown brand piece of shit mobo.
WTF are you talking about brosef.
You have this stupid idea of brand loyalty that more price = better.
When you are building something on a low budget, you have to make sacrifices. For example, that motherboard is that cheap because of the terrible integrated graphics and almost entire lack of legacy support. Most people won't even realize that this is missing, or care if they do.
And not only that, the OCZ (gold) problems with AM2(and 2+)!!! socket were fixed awhile ago, as evidenced by the almost entire dissapearance of the "OCZ GOLD AMD EDITION" sticks. Generally the errors happen around rather high voltage, which most people won't have unless they are overvolting. In which case, why are you buying the cheapest memory possible?
While this is completely unsupported by sources so basically you can write it off as untrue, OEM boards are extremely cheap and yet function for years and years at a time, for a reason. While corners are cut (in the integrated graphics, legacy support, often other places such as NB cooling, fsb durability etc) these boards are always fairly durable. While you can pay $100 for a gigabyte board of barely more detectable quality, i think that when somebody specifies they want something CHEAP, that doesn't exactly mean they want to spend $150 on a motherboard and $129 on a power supply.
Also this thing with cases.
Functionally most of them are the same. The Rosewill case i posted for example comes with an 120mm fan, can be upgraded to three of them, and is generally well recieved. What did you add for your extra $10? A slightly better known brand name. Next things i know you'll be telling me Diablotek PSU's are low quality because they're inexpensive (even though i've used several very recently with absolutely no problems)
And also something i didn't catch in your original post, JetWay motherboards are about as high quality as ASrock ones. The only boards i avoid just because of their brand name are foxconn ones. Also the JetWay motherboard i posted is so cheap because it's fairly outdated, which doesn't make it incapable for what the OP wanted (am3 support,maybe mild/mid overclocking, low price)
Also, the final thing i will edit in is that you don't seem to realize that that cooler master case has a shitty OEM psu, while you're saying i don't look at the quality of the parts i post. While i'm not exactly worried about it supporting the recommended system at full load, buying PSU's bundled with cases is a no-no. Often they have no documentation other than the sticker on the side (which can be fairly inaccurate)
/rant. GJ making me get mad on the internet for the first time in quite a while.
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EPT
