Tom's Guide > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > General Homebuilt > $150 Challenge

$150 Challenge

Forum Homebuilt Systems : General Homebuilt - $150 Challenge

TomsGuide.com: Over 800,000 questions and answers to address all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!
Ask the community Add a reply
Word :    Username :           
 
bosshoss   11-19-2008 at 04:27:46 AM

Hey fellas,

I'm trying to put together a few components for a not-so-wealthy serviceman just coming back from Iraq. Our budget for CPU, Ram, Motherboard and Vid card is $150 bux. All this machine is for is WOW and school tasks for his wife.

He has an old Dell XPS 400 that bit the dust, so we're tryin to get away with using PSU, Case, HDD, and CDrom. I just wanna see what some other people come up with as far as the components and trying to squeeze every last bit of value out of his money.

Thx guys :p

Add a reply
Sponsored Links
Register or log in to remove.
gosefroba   11-19-2008 at 04:47:16 AM
- 0 +

that is very hard to do lol the shipping cost more then most of the components

Reply to gosefroba
gkay09   11-19-2008 at 04:51:11 AM
- 0 +

:O total 150 bucks for cpu,ram,mobo,and video card ???

Reply to gkay09
ragsters   11-19-2008 at 04:55:43 AM
- 0 +

The other day at Frys I saw the E4500 with an ECS Mobo for $50.00. That ECS mobo has an onboard GPU.

Reply to ragsters
gkay09   11-19-2008 at 05:04:31 AM
- 0 +

AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor - OEM 49.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103299

Foxconn A7GM-S AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $66.99
DX10 w/ latest AMD Phenom 9850 support and more features
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813186141

SAPPHIRE 100230L Radeon HD 3450 1GB (256MB on Board) 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102729

OCZ Vista Upgrade 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $23.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227189

totals around 171bucks :| so add shipping comes aroung 180 to 190 .
u need atleast this hw to play WOW in decent settings...
chhose 780 + 3450 for hybrid crossfire....my try....

Reply to gkay09
bosshoss   11-19-2008 at 05:08:21 AM
- 0 +

^^ Good idea GK, hybrid xfire didnt cross my mind. Might be able to squeeze that list out. Thanx!

Reply to bosshoss
EXT64   11-19-2008 at 05:14:00 AM
- 0 +

I'd suggest trying the 780G alone first and add hybrid crossfire if you need it later. You might be surprised at its speed in older games. I have the Gigabyte Board OC'ed to 900MHz along with a X2 5400+ and it does quite well with many slightly older games. I have no idea what WoW requires though.

How exactly did his dell "die"? Are you sure it wasn't one of the components you are trying to reuse, or did it just go too obsolete? Be cautious reusing old components, especially from people like Dell.

Reply to EXT64
ctbaars   11-19-2008 at 05:14:11 AM
- 0 +

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813186145
$42. + Bonus: no MIR, discounted -shipping $9. -- G31 motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227189
$24. + Bonus: no MIR, discounted -shipping $4. -- 2gig ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819116072
$83. + free shipping -- Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz!
-------
$149. + shipping $13.
give your wife the rebuilt Dell for school.
go on a date, forget the wow. <-- instant rebate.
bonus: Your in-laws can get you a video card for Christmas.
edit: added descriptions


Message edited by ctbaars on 11-19-2008 at 05:35:54 AM
Reply to ctbaars
gkay09   11-19-2008 at 05:17:32 AM
- 0 +

nice i could help...

Reply to gkay09
gkay09   11-19-2008 at 05:20:08 AM
- 0 +

ctbaars i think u r missing the graphic card...:P

Reply to gkay09
megamanx00   11-19-2008 at 05:30:16 AM
- 0 +

Yeah that's not alot to work with. Well, here's something you could build and then upgrade latter on

BIOSTAR COMBO 6P2 AMD Sepron 3400+ AM2+/AM2 $72.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813138133

OCZ Vista Upgrade 2GB (2 x 1GB) $23.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227189

BFG Tech BFGE86256GTSOCFE GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814143113

Which gives you $146.97 before shipping. Should be more than enough to play Wow. Well, admittedly you could probably even run WoW pretty decently with the onboard graphics as it's not too demanding.

Reply to megamanx00
ctbaars   11-19-2008 at 05:31:51 AM
- 0 +

Yes, I know. G31 board. ;)
His wifes school work is primo. Get that done pronto.

Reply to ctbaars
ctbaars   11-19-2008 at 05:33:50 AM
- 0 +

Thank you Megamanx00

Reply to ctbaars
malveaux   11-19-2008 at 05:47:59 AM
- 0 +

Heya,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813138133

That board is perfect for you at $73 (already posted above). That onboard video plays WoW and is user confirmed to play WoW with the expansion just fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] _-Homepage

There's 4gigs of RAM for $50 with a $25 rebate. That's $25 afterwards.

All you need now is a case and PSU.

Well under your $150 budget, and plays WoW just fine.

Cheers,

Reply to malveaux
Ask the community Add a reply
Tom's Guide > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > General Homebuilt > $150 Challenge
Go to:

There are 4 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Forum map
Bestofmedia Forum ©
2000-2009 Bestofmedia Group
Page generated in 0.948 seconds
Please mind

You are about to answer a thread that has been inactive for more than 6 months.
If you still wish to proceed, please ensure that your posting is original and does not duplicate or overlap any prior responses to this thread.

Add a reply Cancel
Google ads