TechSpot’s Low-end PC Buying Guide @ TechSpot
Basic Configuration – Under $600
Plus Windows XP Shipping and Taxes (if applicable):
- AMD Sempron 3000 – $87
- ASRock K8NF4GSATA2 Micro ATX – $65
- Onboard video – $0
- 512MB (256×2) PC3200 DDR – $50
- Onboard sound – $0
- Stereo speakers – $7
- 80GB 7200RPM SATA – $55
- BenQ 17†(FP71G ) – $215
- DVD-ROM 16x – $20
- Basic keyboard, mouse – $20
- Inwin/Powmax budget case – $35
Recommended Configuration – About $1000
Plus Windows XP Shipping and Taxes (if applicable):
- AMD Athlon 64 3200 Socket 939 – $170
- MSI K8NGM2-FID Motherboard – $90
- NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT – $120
- 1GB PC3200 DDR – $85
- Creative SB Audigy – $30
- Logitech X-220 2.1 – $40
- 200GB 7200RPM SATA – $90
- Hyundai 19†(B90A) – $300
- 16x Dual-Layer DVD±RW – $40
- Basic keyboard, mouse – $20
- CoolerMaster Centurion 5 (380w PSU) – $60
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I have to admit that I have been looking at the MSI combination for as an inexpensive motherboard upgrade. My old AMD900 motherboard is toast. It had a problem about a month ago and the problem returned this month with a vengeance. I originally thought it was a disk drive or drive controller issue. Everything in it is old. Now I believe the problem is a motherboard or video card problem since it will no longer boot Ubuntu and it fails on the video card probe. I am not in a big rush since this is my dogfood server/workstation. Just the same I would like to get it back running and with the least cost. This happens to be the philosophy of a lot of non-profits IT planning, too. They run Win98 because of the computers that they bought or had donated to them. Our Habitat affiliate recently bought some 3-4 year old refurbished computers for about $45 a piece. They run W2K which is a nice step forward. The problem is that buying a new $400 Dell makes more business sense from a support standpoint. Those old components are going to fail and the interruption to the “business” is much more expensive than the components.