In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) (PaulDgsCoy) wrote:
> All,
> I am a dinosaur pc user. I know my current system is a boat anchor.( I have a
> Asus P55T2P4 running a P-200 MMX with Win98SE) I used to be up to speed on
> whats hot out there regarding chips, mobo's, etc. My problem is that I am now
> unfortunately unemployed due to outsourcing and was going to build a nice
> system with an ASUS board but now my budget (or lack thereof,) is running the
> show. I need to upgrade to a nice system to be used only for home office and
> very basic photo cataloging\editing. Since so many iterations of cpu, chipset,
> memory, form factor have taken place since my blazingly fast T2P4, I am at a
> loss as to what to expect to get for a for a dirt budget system. So, I need
> your recommendations.
> My needs are a mobo, chip, memory, and case. I have two WD drives, a 30
gig and
> a 120 gig that I can use in this new system. Video recommendations are also
> needed.
> So, with all of you Asus guru's out there and your infinate wisdom, what is
> the absolute cheapest Asus system you could build based on my usage needs?
>
> Thanks a bunch,
>
> Paul
If you give us a dollar amount to work with, we can try to give you
the best motherboard/CPU/memory for the price. Otherwise, there would
be a huge list of options.
This is a sample. This is not the cheapest system, because I believe
in not filling the landfill with crap. By building on a good platform,
you can upgrade, as long as (in the future) you can still find
decent deals on Socket 478 processors.
Pick one of the three processors, depending on how cheap it has to be.
The price ends up between $253 and $326. You'll also need a power
supply with a P4 power connector (2x2 square ATX12V connector).
(Mostly) Newegg pricing:
P4P800-VM (video built-in to Northbridge - no video card needed) $91.00
Celeron 2.0GHz/FSB400/128KB with heatsink $66
or CeleronD320 2.4GHz/FSB533/256KB with heatsink $72
P4 2.4C 2.4GHz/FSB800/512KB with heatsink $139
DDR RAM 2 sticks 256MB PC3200 CAS3 2 x $48 (crucial.com)
The AMD side of things tends to be a bit more challenging. There
are more issues to deal with, such as how some chipsets are picky
about RAM. That means you could be in for some frustration, if
the machine is not stable the first time you set it up. Also,
some of the microATX motherboards only allow running at DDR333,
and if you buy PC3200 memory, sometimes it can be a problem
trying to set the memory clock (BIOS limitation). The memory issue
is the reason I'm not recommending an A7N8X-VM/400 here.
A7V400-MX (video built-in to Northbridge - not as nice as above) $49.00
Sempron 2400+ 1.67GHz/FSB333/256KB with heatsink $60
(Find an AthlonXP 2500+ if there are any left! Sempron is less
processor for the money. XP 2500+ will be harder to find.)
DDR RAM 1 stick 512MB PC3200 CAS3 $96 (crucial.com)
So, the total here is $205. PC2700 CAS2.5 is listed for the
same price as the CAS3, so you could buy that instead. The
PC2700 might be less useful in another computer at some
future date (take this from a guy with some PC2700 he
cannot use). You will need a power supply that can source
at least 20 amps on +5V, as most of the current on an Athlon
board comes through the +5V supply. (20 amps is enough current
if no high end video card is used, otherwise 25 amps is a good
round number for +5V.)
Before buying any motherboard, you need to do several things.
1) Search Google, using the motherboard model number. See how
many issues there have been. When new processors, like the
Sempron or CeleronD are introduced, sometimes there can be
BIOS issues with initializing them.
2) Check the cpusupport web page, to find out for sure what is
supported.
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/cpusu...pusupport.aspx
3) Download the motherboard manual, and read the BIOS section.
Some of the microATX boards have very few user settings,
which means they had better work right the first time, or
not at all.
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/download.aspx
HTH,
Paul
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