I'm flirting with the idea of starting a small business where I'll need a lot of computers. The computers won't need to run any computationally exhausting software -- Eclipse would require the most and that runs fine on my seven year old P4 with 756 MB of RAM. Also, these computers will not need Windows.
I'm able to easily build a lot of different configurations (including keyboard and mouse but no monitor) that would be fine for $200 or less. My biggest problem is that I can't find a decent case/power supply combo for less than $75 and I can't find a decent monitor for less than $150. So, my finished product (with monitor) always ends up around $400-$450 -- which is fine, but I want to see if I have better options.
Also, I can't decide whether to go AMD or Intel. With AMD, I can get AM3 socket 2.6 GHz Sempron's for $30 and those have the possibility to expand up to at least six core bulldozers in the future. With Intel, I can get a $42 Celeron at 1.8 GHz with the possibility to expand to Core 2 Quad in the future. It seems like AMD is a clear winner since the Sempron seems to be significantly more powerful than the Celeron and the future seems brighter also.
Anyway, the build that I'm thinking of using is this:
CPU: AMD Sempron 2.6 GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103944
MOBO: Biostar
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138179
RAM: Kingston 4 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139046
HDD: Seagate 250 GB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148699
PSU: Rosewill 200W 3.3 V & 5V / 180W 12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182006
Case: Antec25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129098
Basically, I'm thinking that these systems will be able to last a long time and allow the option to add a halfway decent graphics card. I'm a little worried about the PSU, but the case seems solid to me. And, as I mentioned before, a Sempron is enough power for what I need (at the moment) -- that's the least of my worries. The motherboard seems solid as well.
The total (with keyboard and mouse and shipping) comes to about $250. The cheapest enterprise solution I can find is from Dell and that is the Optiplex 380 (http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...d&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&model_id=optiplex-380) for $325. However, the PSU and Mobos look sketchy (as usual). I doubt that I'd be able to put any graphics card using more than 20W in the Optiplex and it has a max of 4 GB of memory. It does come with Windows which is kind of enticing, but it seems like a much worse deal for me than the $250 custom machine.
I've been trying to build a decent machine for what I need for the past few days and beside the PSU (and I'd like the price to be $25-$50 less), I'm very satisfied with what I've been able to find. But, if anyone has any words of wisdom, I'd really appreciate it. I've always given up on building budget computers (I've never needed to before), so I'm kind of winging it.
Thanks,
I'm able to easily build a lot of different configurations (including keyboard and mouse but no monitor) that would be fine for $200 or less. My biggest problem is that I can't find a decent case/power supply combo for less than $75 and I can't find a decent monitor for less than $150. So, my finished product (with monitor) always ends up around $400-$450 -- which is fine, but I want to see if I have better options.
Also, I can't decide whether to go AMD or Intel. With AMD, I can get AM3 socket 2.6 GHz Sempron's for $30 and those have the possibility to expand up to at least six core bulldozers in the future. With Intel, I can get a $42 Celeron at 1.8 GHz with the possibility to expand to Core 2 Quad in the future. It seems like AMD is a clear winner since the Sempron seems to be significantly more powerful than the Celeron and the future seems brighter also.
Anyway, the build that I'm thinking of using is this:
CPU: AMD Sempron 2.6 GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103944
MOBO: Biostar
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138179
RAM: Kingston 4 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139046
HDD: Seagate 250 GB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148699
PSU: Rosewill 200W 3.3 V & 5V / 180W 12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182006
Case: Antec25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129098
Basically, I'm thinking that these systems will be able to last a long time and allow the option to add a halfway decent graphics card. I'm a little worried about the PSU, but the case seems solid to me. And, as I mentioned before, a Sempron is enough power for what I need (at the moment) -- that's the least of my worries. The motherboard seems solid as well.
The total (with keyboard and mouse and shipping) comes to about $250. The cheapest enterprise solution I can find is from Dell and that is the Optiplex 380 (http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...d&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&model_id=optiplex-380) for $325. However, the PSU and Mobos look sketchy (as usual). I doubt that I'd be able to put any graphics card using more than 20W in the Optiplex and it has a max of 4 GB of memory. It does come with Windows which is kind of enticing, but it seems like a much worse deal for me than the $250 custom machine.
I've been trying to build a decent machine for what I need for the past few days and beside the PSU (and I'd like the price to be $25-$50 less), I'm very satisfied with what I've been able to find. But, if anyone has any words of wisdom, I'd really appreciate it. I've always given up on building budget computers (I've never needed to before), so I'm kind of winging it.
Thanks,
