New System Builder PC
This configuration is perfect for first-time builders. With a combined price tag around $200, you can use this hardware to learn on, and you're not out a lot of money if you screw up and fry something. The first system I built was around $900, and I fried the processor on my first try, costing me an extra $180 to get a new one. If I would have been smart about it, I would have started with a system like this to minimize the cost of my mistakes.
Cost to build: $166 + $35 shipping + Operating System (Recommended: Vista Home Basic for $85 on Amazon - Free Shipping!)
The Case
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ATX Mid-Tower Case
This case comes with a 300 watt power supply, and although it's nothing special, and not very high quality, it'll do the job for our cheap PC.
Learn more about cases. |
The Motherboard
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Abit LG-95Z Motherboard
This motherboard is quite a value for such a low price tag. It uses the Intel LGA775 socket and is even compatible with the Core 2 Duo line of processors. Onboard video is key for this cheap configuration because it will save us the cost of a graphics card. Also, note that it takes DDR2-533 RAM, so we'll make sure to match that when we pick out the memory. Note that this board doesn't have a PCI-E or AGP slot for a graphics card, so you won't be able to upgrade the video here.
Learn more about motherboards. |
The Processor (CPU)
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Intel Celeron 430 1.8GHz LGA 775 Processor 
This is one of the slowest but least expensive processors on the market. We need to make sure it fits our motherboard (which it does - LGA 775 socket), and that we have a heatsink for it (one is included in this retail package).
Learn more about processors. |
The Memory (RAM)
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Kingston ValueRAM 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory
The bare minimum amount of RAM you need in a system today is 256MB, however, we want the operating system to be installed during this lifetime, so we'll opt for a still very inexpensive 512MB of memory. This DDR2 will work with our motherboard, even though it is faster (667mHz vs. the 533mHz required by the motherboard), it will just run at the slower speed.
Learn more about system memory. |
The Hard Drive
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Western Digital Caviar Blue 80GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
As far as cheap hard drives go, this one is $3 more than the cheapest, but the 80GB size, SATA interface, and 8MB cache, make it a no-brainer pick. Western Digital is a top brand known for reliability. The hard drive is plenty big enough for our purposes, and uses the new SATA-300 interface for the fastest transfer speed available.
Learn more about hard drives. |
The CD/DVD Optical Drive
Operating System
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Windows Vista Home Basic
If you want to stick with Windows, I recommend Vista Home Basic for this configuration. Amazon has free shipping on most software, so the link will take you there. If you'd like to save some money, try out a nice version of Linux (which works a lot like MacOS) - Ubuntu Desktop. It's rock-solid and, of course, free.
Learn more about operating systems. |
Don't forget a Keyboard, Mouse, or Monitor!
Go on to another configuration below, or back to Systems Home
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