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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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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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As of January 29th, Blizzard hadn't yet decided on the system requirements for the SC2 beta. http://twitter.com/@starcraft
Unless you have a beta key and insist on playing SC2 beta right when it's released, I recommend waiting until the beta has been out for a while and then asking beta key holders with slower PCs about performance.
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On February 12 2010 14:20 Commodore wrote:As of January 29th, Blizzard hadn't yet decided on the system requirements for the SC2 beta. http://twitter.com/@starcraftUnless you have a beta key and insist on playing SC2 beta right when it's released, I recommend waiting until the beta has been out for a while and then asking beta key holders with slower PCs about performance.
It's obvious that what's been posted will run the game fine, so what's the problem? If we look at games like red alert 3 etc, they have fairly lax specifications, so if we just bump that up by a bit, then we can be fairly sure that SC2 will run fine, considering it's not exactly the most visually spectacular game ever.
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It's hard to believe what you say about the RAM when there is an OCZ response to a negative review that says "We do not market this toward AMD boards".
+ Show Spoiler +Hello, we are sorry that you had problems. This product was developed for newer Intel chipsets, and while many have used it for AMD systems with good success, we do not actively market it for AMD. We are however happy to assist our customers with troubleshooting and settings on our support forums at the link below.
Thank you
Where did this whole $100 mobo come from? That board has 0 reviews, and no name to back it up. At least ASRock is known to be decently reliable, but JetWay... who are they? The extra money spent on the ASRock provides feedback from other users (generally positive).
As for the PSU, there is no OEM PSU on the Coolermaster case, and the Coolermaster PSU is retail.
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i don't know why i even try anymore. when we are taking into account the request of the OP in this blog we can look at it two ways: bare minimum and take our hands off it or set him up for long term. i don't think anyone is going to disagree with me when i say the two most important parts of a build are the PSU and mobo.
there's such thing as brand loyalty but there is also such a thing as common sense. you stick with the major brands because they are reputable, because a lot of people buy them, and that means it's been tested. the psu you linked has multiple DOA / semibad reviews and does not list the amperage on the 12V rail. i'm no expert in power supplies but i'd wager that is an important aspect of a psu.
the mobo you listed is some really old nvidia chipset and only supports a 95w CPU. this means no high end upgrades if he ever wants to do so in the future.
you also link an athlon x3 for some reason but go on some spiel about having to cut costs etc etc. i would say that is the area that could use cost cutting rather than the mobo or psu. an athlon x2 sounds like it would handle sc2 just fine.
let me reevaluate fragkrag's build for everyone. for an extra $10 you get a reputable psu, faster hdd, and more upgradable / slightly more reputable mobo. you lose a core but hey, you gotta cut somewhere right?
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Instead of buying the cheapest shit, why not just get a future proof budget machine for under 1k.
Antec 900 - $100
750 Watt Corsair - $120
a GOOD and RECENT mobo - at least $100
$320 for a base that will be upgradeable for the next decade, what's not to love? It looks nice and lives long 
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Lol how does a 100 dollar case future proof it esp a mid atx case.
750w is massive thats like x 5850's in sli, and you only need like 500-600w a psu only looses about 3% capacity to produce pre a year and if you use your computer say a good long 8 years thats only 24% which would only mean peak loads which most psu's do not ever reach as even a gaming pc with a 5850 would only reach about 400w during a peak load.
Good mobo only means that you get a good over clocking ability people who run things at standard don't need that ability. There are alot of things that people do not use on their mobo like extra pciex16 slots for sli or crap like that or 3 more pci expansons slots etc etc. ASROCK isn't unknown brand it's very well known it's even a bit well known for being the poor man overclocking mobo selection. It isn't a quality brand like Asus and Gigabyte who are known for shoving like 1000 things on their mobo's that no one really uses and it isn't the big daddy like an Evga digital vrm mobo which every OCer would love.
Also computers don't last a decade esp one that isn't top of the line to begin with. If i had a pc made in 2000 I would probably have a Geforce 256 or a Voodoo 2 running on a 800x600 screen using a single core that still is under 1 ghz. Most computers last about gaming 4 years before their age becomes more of an issue for running new things and if top end maybe 6 years.
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A good mobo will not last a decade rofl. Sockets change :p
Neither will that PSU.
don't give bad recommendations please. If somebody actually heeds that advice they're going to spend actual money based on that garbage information :/
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AMD Athlon II X3 425 :
4850 512mb
But you can make it even cheaper. With an Athlon II x2 and a 4670.
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That's cutting the budget a bit close imo.
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Well i would prefer to spend a bit more to get the x3 and the 4850 because it is probably the best perf/price combo atm but since the OP says
On February 12 2010 11:01 Wangsta wrote:
I am looking to build an extremely cheap PC.
and didn't give us his max budget eh ... i feel that i should mention this option.
He should really tell us his budget >.<
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Yeah, I guess he didn't. If it was $600 there would be many more options though.
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EPT
