[ludacris]

Hey,

I am building my first PC and would like some help. I would primarily use it for internet and a little bit of gaming/music. What is the cheapest i could build a PC that would suit my needs. The only thing I have a preferance on is an SATA hard drive other than that I'm flexible. Please tell me where I can find the parts.

Thanks

[etaf]

what country are you in and whats you max budget -
In the UK for what you have described you can get a tower for probably about £250 - if you want higher graphic gaming etc the cost just goes up and up and up....

in UK for parts
dabs.com
overclockers.co.uk
microdirect.co.uk

I use the computer fairs BCF and have a few contacts that I know i can rely on now.

[ludacris]

i live in the US and would like to spend less than $600 would like decent graphics but not the best.

[etaf]

i'm sure that would be easy to do in states as they are much cheaper than UK - however, i dont know where to advise

is this just for a tower - do you have a winXP CD or need to also purchase software?, screen , keyboard, mouse, speakers, printer etc

have a read here
http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/4...need-some.html
http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/4...-your-own.html

[ludacris]

I have a mouse, screen, keyboard, and a windows xp small buisiness version. but I would need to buy the motherboard, PC case, processer, hard rive, and etc. I have a hard time finding things that are compatable so I was hoping someone could tell me what to buy. Im going to be gone for a couple hours When I get back Ill check the thread

Thanks

[ludacris]

hey im back and as I posted in my previous post i would like some help finding compatable
PC parts it would be a massive help. If you could give me a lineup of compatable parts for under 600$ it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Rockn]

The selection is too varied to give you any kind of selection. You can get some older generation parts from the earlier P4 and Athlon 64's and still make a good system for $600. I would start out going to motherboards.org and look at the reviews for something like the 939 socket boards:
http://www.motherboards.org/ranking/...boards/AMD939/
You can look at ratings, stability, etc and make a choice. Once you pick a board you can use the pricingin on this site to find a price. Then look up prices for compatible CPU's, you don't need the greatest and can upgrade later when the prices go down further. I would get momory from crucial, corsair or other reputable vendor. They have memory configurators you can enter your board model and it will give you compatible memory and price. Next find a case and PSU combo, I prefer Antec and get one with at least a 400W PSU. Now you can budget your money between a hard drive and video card based on your motherboard requirements.

[ludacris]

I found this motherboard fom the page rockin reccomended http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...MP=OTC-B1zrat3 and would like to know if someone could reccomend some compatable parts like the hard drive, video card, PC case with a 400 watt or better PSU, DVD/CD drive, and anything else i need to build a PC.I would like to spend 600$ or less.

Thanks

[robbluther]

I built my PC for under $600 - the OS... Asus A8N-VM CSM Mobo... Nice Micro Case...$39.00 dvd r-rw from Walmart... DDR Ram from Tiger Direct... It is a great little machine.

[Jomama46]

Try mwave.com, under bundles, you can get a tested case, mb, processor,RAM, however you want it.

Also check out pcmech.com. A site devoted to building your own PC.

[ludacris]

alright I was all set to buy some parts then I started thinking " what would I actually use the computer for" and I would not use the computer too much other than internet and I only want to build for future knowledge of how to do it. I dont need the best parts. Can someone point me in the right direction? I might download some music to it but that and internet is all it would be used for. would like to spend the least amount of money possible.

I appreciate any help.

[Geli]

If this is all you'd be using it for I wouldn't recommend building it. Just go to tigerdirect or a similar site and get one of their prepackaged towers, they've got a bunch for well under 600 that can handle what you want. I got mine from Tiger. I added some ram, a video card, some other odds and ends but for $650 a got an Intel dual core, 250 Gb SATA, 1 Gb Ram.

If you want to build just for a learning experience that's a different story. It's tough for anyone to give you a list of what you'd want to throw in your PC. Everyone has a different opinion on brands (Intel or AMD?) and there's so much variety. I'd recommend websites like Tigerdirect and Newegg for deals on components. Do some legwork online and you'll be able to see what you can make with the budget you're working with. Also, this tutorial is pretty decent.

http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/step/6/

[Jomama46]

Part of the learnig experience is researching parts and specs.
Its like giving birth (without the stretchmarks)