Budget A64 desktop

[Cutterhead]

So I am in a position where I need an entirely new rig, OS and all, and I am on a tight budget. I have been investigating for a while, and wouldn't mind doing my own build... but I just don't see how I could match this price doing it on my own-

CompUSA is having their employee discount on desktops this weekend, and I'm thinking of picking up the eMachines T6410 during this sale.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=320307&pfp=BROWSE

I realize the markup on PCs is only 5-10%, but this comp is already priced at $499 AR. So even if I only save an additional 5-10% with the discount, I figure I can put that savings along with some added cash towards a decent video card, and have a budget light gaming comp for ~$600. What do you guys think?

Keep in mind I am upgrading from my PIII 600 mhz comp I got my freshman year of college!

 

[fbrdphreak]

This is not a bad idea, but a couple things to consider:

*That model may not have an AGP slot.
*If it does have an AGP slot, its AGP. Not nearly as many video cards will be produced in AGP in the coming months/years. Obviously you hang on to technology if you have P3 600MHz, but just a reminder
*eMachines uses generic motherboards. Don't expect updated drivers.
*A comparable HP machine will use higher quality parts, sometimes even name brand motherboards

While this is a good route to go, you might be able to get some Socket 754 parts on FS/FT here and just get an OEM operating system. This will give you a name brand motherboard, parts you can replace yourself, and a better upgrade path.

 

[Cutterhead]

Thanks for the response fbrdphreak. These machines actually do have an open PCI-E x16 slot, which is the primary reason this offer is enticing. Here's a review with some additional details, scroll to the bottom:

http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-7586-0.htm...D=68&threadID=110938&messageID=1260354

Not sure if they are S754 or S939 though. Certainly, I would prefer to go S939 if possible.

 

[fbrdphreak]

OH WOW, PCI-E????????????????????

I've been out of the prebuilt desktop arena for a while, but I never dreamed eMachines of all companies will include PCI-E.

One other potential downside: crappy PSU. First off it will be a generic POS PSU. Second, previous eMachines had an odd size and were hard to find a replacement that will fit. A more powerful video card will probably require a better PSU. You could probably run something like a 6600GT off one of those tho

 

[Cutterhead]

I know, this surprised me as well! I haven't seen any pre-built A64 setups in this price range with open PCI-E before either. And that's a good point you make on the PSU, I hadn't thought of that. But if you think it would handle a 6600GT ok, then that is good enough for my purposes. I am thinking of going with something in the X700 range, or maybe plain vanilla X800 at the most. Also, I've heard similar complaints about the earlier emachines (odd shaped parts, etc.) but apparently they have gotten a bit better in this department. So hopefully an upgrade to the PSU later on won't be too much of a problem if I want to upgrade again down the road.

 

[fbrdphreak]

I would go see this in person and look at the PSU. That is a big worry IMO. I believe HP used regular sized PSU's, but last I saw eMachines didn't.

And go for a 6600GT over an X700 hands down; I'm not sure if a vanilla X800 would outperform a 6600GT

 

[kmiller]

my friend bought this system yesterday. It is a mice unit. Fast w./the ATI chiposet & video, but the option to add a pci-e card. The power supply appears to be the stardard atx type.

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

mainboard 939 nf4u (Gigabyte, ECS): 80$
3000+ venice tray: 130$
hsf: 10$
6600GT (MSI, Powercolor, Gigabyte): 150$
2x512MB RAM (corsiar, kingston, twinmos): 80$
Tower: 40$
PSU (tagan, antec, bequiet): 60$
dual-dvd burner (NEC, Pioneer): 50$
160GB hdd (Hitachi, Seagate): 75$
WinXP Prof: ?
shipping
..> 700$ + WinXP prof

i would never ever buy a prebuilt rig, cuz u never know what components its coming with. the link says nothing bout what harddrive manufacturer, what optical drive....what memory...

 

[flipflopjim]

How about this if you're thinking custom?

Antec Sonata...............100
MSI K8N Neo4-F...........85
A64 3000+ (retail)........150
1 gig Corsair VS............85
Samsung 80 GB.............58
Lite-ON SOHW-1673S.....45 (retail, includes software)
Geforce 6600................112
Onboard Audio
XP home.......................86
Norton Antivirus.............38

All those prices are conservative (erring on expensive side) at either Monarch, Newegg, or ZipZoomfly and include shipping.

Total...........................$759

You could easily upgrade the OS, Vid Card, HD, or whatever for a few bucks more. But I think you'd have a hard time with anything less for gaming. Just the same, it's not a bad little setup, depending on how tight your budget constrictions are. Actually you could probably get a reasonable case and PSU for only 50 bucks, and then you're close to $700. And like fbrdphreak said, you could get some things cheaper on the FS/FT forum.

I've only just built my first PC on my own, but I'm pretty sure I'll never go back to dell, HP, eMachines or the like. It really is worth spending a little more (and only more in comparison with heavily discounted systems like the one you are looking at) to have the ability to customize and upgrade and the satisfaction of knowing you built it yourself.

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

hehe...my brother did a similar thing with his budget gaming rig. He got a compaq amd sempron 3100+, 512mb pc3200 ddr, 160gb 7200rpm sata, agp mobo for $200 from compusa, and we're still deciding which agp graphics card to put in there, but probably something along the lines of 9800pro or 6600gt depending on how much he wants to spend. (~$100 or ~$150). All in all he will have a decent gamer for <$400

 

[Cutterhead]

Thanks for the responses guys, I did decide to go with this deal, but not during the employee discount. It only came down $25 with the discount. Fortunately I held off, because they just started this promotion this week:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1642010&enterthread=y

Cut the price even further down to $459 AR and included a free 17" CTR AR. Price was a big factor for me and this was too good to pass up. Sometime in the future when I am earning some more $ I will build my own rig.