Anyone wanna help me build a good computer on a budget?

I'm thinking of building myself a computer for christmas... I don't have a ton of money, and I will probably re-use some of my spare parts so I don't have to spend a ton of money...

If any of you guys know of any good online stores to buy stuff from, it would be appreciated :)

I'm not sure if I wanna go with Intel or AMD, I haven't been paying attention to computer stuff lately, so I'm not sure how each is doing...

Basically, I need a new:

Motherboard
Processor
Ram

and maybe a new case too...

Budget is a couple hundred... for those...

It will basically be used for working with flash, and doing some C++ work... Will probably want it fast enough to play most new games too...

Any suggestions?

-Grendel

Moved to Computer/Electronics/Technology :)

Originally posted by Grendel
Any suggestions?




Alot of it depends on what components that you have that you can use in the new machine.

you'll need to decide what you want to reuse - but a new motherboard, memory, processor and HD will gain you the biggest perfomance increase with the same video, audio, network and modem you may already have.

www.pricewatch.com is one of my favorites for finding inexpensive parts.

Heres what I have...

10 gb hd
8x8x32 CD RW drive
3 1/2 floppy drive
Tnt2 PCI vid card (old eh? :p)

I was mainly looking for suggestions on a motherboard/processor/ram that I could throw together with these parts to have a comp for fairly cheap (im moving out in a month, cant take the family comp...)

I have all the other crap you need too... like keyboard, mouse, etc

I'm wanting 1.5 ghz... maybe more... depends on what those go for...

Should I go with AMD or Intel?

-Grendel

mainboard msi kt4 or msi with an nforce 2
stay with AMD get a trourougbred B of like my procesor a palomino 1800(1.56GH) if you want to save money
get a good brand of memory i recomend samsung or micron aka crucial
for a case i would get a antec soho file server case or any of the super weird custom designed cases out there just make sure it has plenty of space and most importantly a good power supply like an antec one.
for a dvd player get a toshiba drive
if you want to upgrade the burner get the new plextor 48 x or a tdk 52x
i would really recomend upgradind the hd to new serial one like the new serial seagate baracuda V
oh also for cooling the cpu get a arkua air cooler you will love it guaranteed.

I was talking to a friend at work and he said he can get a real good deal on a bare bones system...

Heres what he said... from what I remember

DDR Motherboard
AMD 2100 processor (something like that, i wasnt paying attention)
128mb ram
case w/power supply

for $299...

good deal or no?

-Grendel

Let me check a bit the prices. But it sounds like a good deal. One thing make sure those parts are inexpensive and not cheap.If you can find out what brands they are and i'll tell you if they are good or not.

Also you MUST get more that 128 MB ram the minimum you should get is 256MB.Also find out the latency of the memory not just its bus speed.