Printable View
You can probably get more for your money if you build it yourself. But it is not like getting a $500 P4 is a bad place to start then you can make up grade.
Unless you want to build it for the fun of it, is there still a signifigant cost reason to build it.
I know when I bought my last computer and any computer that could do long division was over $1,200, and you could make a rocket ship if you made it yourself for around $600
is it still worth it?
If you bought almost exactly equivalent parts the price saving of building it yourself would probably be small, but the other benefits of building it yourself make it still worthwhile
Yes, way cheeper.
How much would you say it would cost to build decent gaming machine these days.
I understand that it is impossible to say with such an ambigiuos computer as "decent gaming" but what does it cost to make a good cheap computer?
When you talk about the cost of building a good computer are you talking about just the tower or all the peripheral also?
Are you factoring in the cost of the OS?
When you buy the Dell aren't you getting mouse/keyboard/monitor- all of which you probably have and don't need?
Aren't you also getting/paying for a Windows OS which *ahem* you don't really need either? Not to mention all the other software bundled in too.
If you only have $500, let's see here...do you have a lot of time on your hands?
It really depends on what other resources you have at hand.
From Dell, yes its cheapest. Here is an example of a "decent" gaming system that found in your budget. It is, of course, from their refurbished gallery, and the stuff is okay as long as you don't really plan on upgrading much of the system. Oh, and look for coupon codes online too.
Dimension 4600 (System Identifier Z2R25T5B)
Dell Dimension 4600 Micro-Tower: Pentium® 4 Processor at 2.4GHz with 533MHz front side bus
Microsoft® Windows XP Home
System Price $599.00
Promotion Discount ($75.00)
Discounted Price $524.00
Dell recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows XP Home
Memory: 256 MB DDR 333MHz NON-ECC SDRAM (2 DIMMs)
Floppy Drive: No Floppy Drive
Hard Disk Drive: 40 GB EIDE Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Video: 128MB DDR GeForce FX 5200 Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI
Modem: 56Kbps Data/Fax Modem
DVD Drive: 16X DVD-ROM
AOL 8.0 ISP Software
Altec Lansing ADA215 Speakers
Logitech PS2 Mouse
QuietKey Keyboard
Miscellaneous
USB Pritner Cable
Altec Lansing ADA215 Speakers
Logitech PS2 Mouse
QuietKey Keyboard
USB Pritner Cable
Exactly! Even if I would buy a new PC from a company like Dell I would uncheck (if possible) all that crap that you don't really need. The mouse and keyboard are usually crap, not always, but often. Paying for the OS is a waste too, either get XP from KaZaA or install a free Linux distro.Quote:
Originally posted by clocker@27 September 2003 - 20:24
When you talk about the cost of building a good computer are you talking about just the tower or all the peripheral also?
Are you factoring in the cost of the OS?
When you buy the Dell aren't you getting mouse/keyboard/monitor- all of which you probably have and don't need?
Aren't you also getting/paying for a Windows OS which *ahem* you don't really need either? Not to mention all the other software bundled in too.
If you just want a second PC, sitting next to your other PC, buy a KVM switch and same the money for monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Yeah, that's what's cool about the refurbed site...best for newb's short on cash...no monitor included...and if you don't like it Dell is easy on returns.
Make sure u dont get ripped off.
Alot of those AMD Althon XP 2400 Chips are Actually Althon XP 1800 1.5ghz. Careful.. @#$%*in con-artists got my dad on the chip he bought off the net.. Had to get the money back.