Building A New Pc $500 Or Less

H_U_D_S_O_N · July 2004

alright guys i need help. Im going to build a new PC.

Its going to be a gaming PC for $500 or less.

I want an athlon processor, 1 GB of RAM. And an Nivida graphics card.

My current computer is

2.6 ghz P4
Geforce FX 5200
512 MB RAM
20 GB Harddrive

im gonna build a whole new one.

so help me out please.

Chrono · July 2004

thats not a new computer you cant get better then that for 500 i suggest you take that 500 and use it to upgrade your computer

Caboose · July 2004

It's next to impossible to make a PC for $500 that's better than what you have.

Defiance · July 2004

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Chrono @ Jul 26 2004, 06:04 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> thats not a new computer you cant get better then that for 500 i suggest you take that 500 and use it to upgrade your computer  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
I agree... just take the 500$ and upgrade your current system. You're not going to build a new computer with all the core componets you need, at least a good gaming system, for $500.

Get a new HDD, 512 more RAM, and a better video card, and you should be in good shape.

MrPink · July 2004

Are you serious? A gig of RAM is $200 minimum and a GFX card that doesn't suck is $200 minimum. That leaves you <$100 for a HDD, mobo, proc, case, sound card if it's not onboard, speakers/headphones if you need new ones, the operating system if you're not going to use your old one. It's not going to happen.

Dorian_Gray · July 2004

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (H.U.D.S.O.N @ Jul 26 2004, 07:00 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> alright guys i need help. Im going to build a new PC.

Its going to be a gaming PC for $500 or less.

I want an athlon processor, 1 GB of RAM. And an Nivida graphics card.

My current computer is

2.6 ghz P4
Geforce FX 5200
512 MB RAM
20 GB Harddrive

im gonna build a whole new one.

so help me out please.  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
The processor, RAM, and GFX card will likely be over $500 alone. On newegg, a FX5600 was about $100 US, an Athalon XP 3200+ was ~$180, and 1GB of PC3200 DDR RAM was ~$250. Right there, you have $530, not including a hard drive, case, mobo, etc...

$500 isn't enough to build a decent gaming PC really. You could add 512MB RAM to your system, upgrade to a decent video card, and get a decent sized hard drive as well. The processor isn't that bad, and you won't notice a big performance change if you upgrade to a 3.2GHz even. It's said that it's not worth upgrading your CPU unless you'll double the speed.

UltimaGecko · July 2004

The computer listed in my cool thread over <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=76138' target='_blank'>here</a> was made by Compaq, came with monitor, mouse, speakers and keyboard all for ~$500 after $150 in rebates (that means you'd need about $700 first and get the $150 back 6 months later - because Compaq sucks the big one, plus taxes in there too).

[it is also 11.5 months old now]

However, it too is worse than your computer right there.

Its base specifications:

~2.0 GHz AMD Athalon 2400+
256mb of RAM
Radeon 9200 128mb
80GB HDD
[and apparently a crap motherboard]

So I'm going to vote: try looking into a new motherboard if you want an Athalon processor. You might have enough left over for some more RAM and a new video card. $500 isn't really sufficient for a new computer. Or just get a bigger HDD (or an additional one, I should say) and a new graphics card.

Zel · July 2004

you can build a computer only moderately better than what youve got now for that 500; its not worth it.

athlon2500M 99$
a7n8x 120$
512 ram 99$
512 ram 99$
cd, heatsink, case, psu 99$

blammo, a computer slightly faster than your current one for 520$ thats lacking a video card and harddrive.

if youre feeling adventerous read up on overclocking. you can spend 100$ on heatsinks and get your p4 2.6 up to 3.something (or the athlon2500M up to athlon3400) really though, youll have to do a LOT of reading to get into overclocking knowledgably enough to not damage any components.

/is knowledgably a word?

john_sheu · July 2004

Wow, so much unanimous pessimism about your chances of making a decent $500 gaming PC. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' />

I, for one, will have to agree. $500 is a good amount for upgrade but not much else.

H_U_D_S_O_N · July 2004

eek

well...shoot im gonna have to do some research. thx guys.

TychoCelchuuu · July 2004

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (H.U.D.S.O.N @ Jul 27 2004, 12:03 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> eek

well...shoot im gonna have to do some research. thx guys.  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
If you were planning on building a new computer with $500 you need to do a lot more research in either case.

Talesin · July 2004

AthXP 2700 w/mobo - $85 (Fry's)
1GB PC3200 Corsair (2x 512MB DIMM) - $120 (after $40 rebate) (Fry's)
ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB - $174 (Best Buy)
Western Digital 80GB HDD - $40 (after $40 rebate) (Fry's)

There you go. Salvage the old optical drive from your existing machine, or lay out another $40 for an 8x CD/DVD-RW at Fry's.

TychoCelchuuu · July 2004

Fry's is the devil in electronics retail store form.

MrPink · July 2004

If I were him I'd buy a leet gfx card (Nvidia 6800 or to a lesser degree Radeon X800) at $400, a stick of PC3200 512MB for $100, and scrap together some cash and watch rebates to try and find a cheap 80 gig 7200 RPM HDD. With those components you should be able to run doom 3 on high settings (but not ultra apparently unless NASA's going to borrow you their 2 billion dollar computer).

Talesin · July 2004

Heh... lesser degree, an x800? They're still slapping the crap out of the 6800s at equal price points. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /> Heck, even the 6800 UE at $700 is slower than the x800 XTPE at $500. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /> Plus, the XTPEs can be grabbed off-the-shelf, whereas you have to look around for an Ultra Extreme, given that they're 'Golden Sample' cards. Even then, the UE had to re-employ the 'Dustbuster' cooling system, given that it's simply a really overclocked 6800 Ultra.

And why is Fry's the devil? Because it offers decent deals, but if you go for the cheapo stuff you'll end up coming back to return it? (AKA: ECS mobos)

Swiftspear · July 2004

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Talesin @ Jul 27 2004, 12:48 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Heh... lesser degree, an x800? They're still slapping the crap out of the 6800s at equal price points. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /> Heck, even the 6800 UE at $700 is slower than the x800 XTPE at $500. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /> Plus, the XTPEs can be grabbed off-the-shelf, whereas you have to look around for an Ultra Extreme, given that they're 'Golden Sample' cards. Even then, the UE had to re-employ the 'Dustbuster' cooling system, given that it's simply a really overclocked 6800 Ultra.

And why is Fry's the devil? Because it offers decent deals, but if you go for the cheapo stuff you'll end up coming back to return it? (AKA: ECS mobos)  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
Except that I'm pretty sure were talking about running doom 3 here, not running everything else better...

username · July 2004

/me looks at ECS K7S5A, which i have to underclock to keep stable. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' />

damn, i should move to america just for the cheap computer stuff. :O couldnt get the things talesin listed for under $1000 here (australia).

NumbersNotFound · July 2004

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Talesin @ Jul 27 2004, 12:48 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Heh... lesser degree, an x800? They're still slapping the crap out of the 6800s at equal price points. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /> Heck, even the 6800 UE at $700 is slower than the x800 XTPE at $500. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /> Plus, the XTPEs can be grabbed off-the-shelf, whereas you have to look around for an Ultra Extreme, given that they're 'Golden Sample' cards. Even then, the UE had to re-employ the 'Dustbuster' cooling system, given that it's simply a really overclocked 6800 Ultra.

And why is Fry's the devil? Because it offers decent deals, but if you go for the cheapo stuff you'll end up coming back to return it? (AKA: ECS mobos)  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
Well, in all fairness, MrPink's answer is totally correct: You will run doom3 better with the Nvidia card. And if running doom3 is all you want to do, then go with nvidia.

Also, Hudson originally stated that he wanted an nvidia card.

Not only that, but haven't you seen DooManiac's quest to get an x800xt? They are just as elusive as the 6800UE.

MrPink · July 2004

<a href='http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2044&p=20' target='_blank'>Benchmarks</a> <a href='http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2044&p=19' target='_blank'>win.</a>

Grendel · July 2004

Whilst you CAN get a much better PC for $500, I would be questioning the point of rebuilding your whole machine. Unless you are in serious need of a PCI Express system (and I'd rather french kiss Cyanide than touch the current crop), then as the guys say, what you really want is a decent GFX card.

Ideally one off eBay, since they come with a manufacturers guarantee.

Building A New Pc $500 Or Less

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