Building A Cheap Old Computer

[NotALlama]

Hello everyone. I have decided to build an extremely cheap computer with used parts at a sub-$100 level. I cannot decide right now on whether I should create a system using a Pentium 200 MHz MMX, Pentium Pro 200 MHz, Pentium II 300 MHz, or a AMD K6-2 300-400 MHz machine. Basically what I will be doing on this computer is playing old school games like Half-Life: Counter Strike, Quake I/II, and Unreal Tournament. The other main uses would be just general web surfing and newsgroup browsing, that kind of stuff. Anyway, I need this computer to be able to hammer out a solid 25+ fps on the games listed above. For a video card, I was thinking of a Voodoo 3 2000/3000, ATI Rage 128 Pro, or nVidia TNT2 M64. This will probably turn out to be a Voodoo 3 2000/3000 because they are numerous and cheap on eBay. Another thing is that I do not want to build a new system, such as a AMD Duron 800 MHz w/ an ECS motherboard because by the time you add up those two things, a video card, a sound card, and a NIC card, it starts to get into the $200 range. I need your opinions to help me decide what to get. Thank you for any replies!

 

[John P]

I run Quake III and Halflife just fine on my kids computers that have a Celery 400 and Voodoo3 2000 PCI and even on a Celery 300A @450 with a Rage 128 (AIW128). I think you would be fine with the K6-2 400 and a Voodoo3 2000/3000 or a TNT2 Ultra. I was thinking of throwing my Voodoo2 SLI's back in with the AIW128 to give it a little kick, hehe....

 

[ScrapSilicon]

do you have any components at this time??

 

[fatbaby]

I suggest you save up for enough upgrades, but get a used gf2 mx (not gf2) and an sblive value oem. Shouldn't total more than $60 shipped. Then save up the other $40 and get the $89 ecs/950 mhz duron @ frys.

Obviously, try the p2 300 or the k6 300...

Don't really expect much with those parts though, I played CS on a 200 mhz, anticipate a 40 fps MAXIMUM.

 

[BA]

I'd probably try to get a 300A and V3. Overclock them both, and you've got decent performance on the cheap.

 

[brinstar117]

Good idea BA, I wouldn't recommend going the PPro route seeing that there are limited motherboards to choose from and all must use EDO ram (not cheap)

A Pentium 1 has lots of options. (I have a mobo that takes SDRAM and integrated video, I'm using it for a file server)

K6-2 isn't a bad idea, if you can find the right motherboard (and cheap enough).

However, for performance/price ratio a Celeron300A would be your best bet!

OC'ing boards are easy to find on the cheap for the Slot 1 chip you're nearly guranteed to OC the 300A to 450mhz, also you'd be able to benefit from having a real AGP slot. Also, if you get a BX based chipset, that will allow you to have a nice upgrade path if you ever want to do so. Go to the For Sale/Trade forum. You'll find a lot of nice deals on used computer parts

 

[Nessism]

I built a system like this on the cheap a little while back. As a full fledged silt sucking bottom feeder myself, I suggest a Celeron 366@550 in a BX MB of some varity. This combo will have a little umph and is commonly available for $40 shipped or less. For video, a V3 of some varity is your best bang for the buck. I have to add however, unless you already have some parts, completing a system for $100 is a major challange.

Ed - the cheap guy!

BTW: I have some low buck parts you might want. PM me if interested.

 

[Yoshitoshi]

<< Basically what I will be doing on this computer is playing old school games like Half-Life: Counter Strike, Quake I/II, and Unreal Tournament. >>



Old School?! :Q

 

[NotALlama]

Yes, they should probably be considered old school since they are 1994-1996 era. I have basically decided to go for a Pentium II 300 MHz, Intel 440 BX Motherboard, and a Voodoo 3 2000/3000 AGP video card. What is the difference between a Celleron 300A and Pentium II 300? Thank you for your replies.

 

[ojai00]

Celeron 300A was the one that you could overclock when it first came out

 

[NotALlama]

I have looked around and found some specifications.

$20 | Intel Pentium II 300/400 MHz (Whichever I can get my hands on for a descent price.)
$20-30 | Intel SE440BX/SE440BX-2
$20 | 64 MB Crucial Memory (PC 133)
$5-15 | Voodoo 3 2000/3000
$20-30 | 200-300 Watt PSU
Free | Integrated Audio
Free | Integrated NIC
Free | Case (Already have one.)

Anything I am missing? What do you think?

 

[WAZ]

Hey NotALlama-- not sure if you'd be interested in this or not, but here ya go:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=45&threadid=692656&STARTPAGE=1

 

[edjam]

UT ain't THAT old school.

 

[Colt45]

I would suggest you get at least 128mb ram.
64 is nothing

 

[NotALlama]

Scratch my statistics I gave out.
I found a better system set-up for less money.

Super Socket 7 Motherboard (This is the only one that I really need to go through to buy the rest of the items though.)
$10-$20

AMD K6-2 (533 MHz)
$10

Socket 7 Cooler Master Fan with Heat Sink
$2.99

PC 100 Memory (64 MB)
(I need some help finding low prices for this.)

200+ Watt ATX PSU
$20-$30

Voodoo 3 2000/3000 AGP Video Card
$5-$15

Sound Card (Integrated)

IBM PCI NIC Card (Already Have)

Hard Disk (Already Have)

Floppy & CD ROM Drives (Already Have)

Here is another question I have. Since I am buying a quick K6-2 processor, my computer will be limited mainly by the CPU. I was wondering whether a S3 Savage4 AGP would suffice instead of the Voodoo 3 2000/3000? Thank you for your replies.

 

[Bovinicus]

You should really try to get the PII if possible. It is much better for gaming than the K6-2. The K6-2 is still a pretty good CPU though.

 

[Lucky]

You're not going to get those video cards at those prices. Hell, look at the ebay 3 3k results, there's only few under 30 and most are 30-45.

 

[NotALlama]

Why should I get a Pentium II? I looked around and found that I wasn't going to get a CPU faster than 350 for a price less than $20. In AnandTech's review of the K6-2, they found that their cpu (333 MHz) was basically on par with the Pentium II 333 MHz, and beat out the 300 MHz one. My CPU is going to be 533 MHz, (!!!) so I am expecting this thing can perform somewhere around a Pentium II 350-400 MHz computer. Another good thing about the CPU is that I am almost garanteed to get it for $10 or less.

Here are the Voodoo 3 cards for a cheap amount!

BTW - There is little difference between the 2000 and 3000 version of the Voodoo 3.

 

[Lucky]

<< Why should I get a Pentium II? I looked around and found that I wasn't going to get a CPU faster than 350 for a price less than $20. In AnandTech's review of the K6-2, they found that their cpu (333 MHz) was basically on par with the Pentium II 333 MHz, and beat out the 300 MHz one. My CPU is going to be 533 MHz, (!!!) so I am expecting this thing can perform somewhere around a Pentium II 350-400 MHz computer. Another good thing about the CPU is that I am almost garanteed to get it for $10 or less.

Here are the Voodoo 3 cards for a cheap amount!

BTW - There is little difference between the 2000 and 3000 version of the Voodoo 3. >>



e

dude you're looking at auctions that havent even ended. Of course they will show up as 5-7-10 bucks, but they wont end that way. I showed you a link to the completed auctions.

 

[Lucky]

And im not sure if you got a hookup on the processors or what but the k6-2 aint selling for $10 or less. Try $30.

 

[Amused]

I built one of these recently. I had an old PII 450, a TNT, a Turtle Beach Montego 2, a 14.4GB IBM drive a 4x DVD drive and 256MB of PC100 SDRAM laying around.

I bought a $50 case/300W PSU and a $70 BX2 motherboard and slapped it all together. It's running XP for my GF's mother, and it works great for surfing the net and Office.

I was actually surprised at how well it runs XP.