Can I really build something comparable for $400?

D

davidd31415

New Member
I need to replace my old Dell XPS400 desktop. It had 1GB of RAM and was powerful enough for what I use it for (no gaming).

I'm looking at the Asus Essentio that Best Buy is selling. I've never purchased a desktop from a big box retailed before. I recognize the name Asus and the system looks decent enough to me: Asus Essentio.

Thoughts?

I doubt I could build something comparable for much less than $450. Even if I re-use the components I have in the old Dell I still need a case, a processor, memory, a power supply, a heat sink, fans, cables and hardware. What is the lowest cost you think I could get away with buying all those for?

The E5300 should be a step up from my Pentium D, at the very least.

With the cost of Windows 7 figured into a custom build I figure I figure I'll be getting high enough in price to start considering picking up a laptop from the Dell outlet instead. They're currently selling Studios with 17" 1920x1200 screens in the $800 area.

Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

David
 
davidd31415 said:
I need to replace my old Dell XPS400 desktop. It had 1GB of RAM and was powerful enough for what I use it for (no gaming).

I'm looking at the Asus Essentio that Best Buy is selling. I've never purchased a desktop from a big box retailed before. I recognize the name Asus and the system looks decent enough to me: Asus Essentio.

Thoughts?

a processor, memory, a power supply, a heat sink, fans, cables and hardware
Click to expand...

You really wouldn't need a heat sink as all retail CPUs come with "stock HS/fans, you wouldn't really need fans b/c most computer cases come built-in with them, unless you want to add additional fans in... and most mobos (motherboards) come with the SATA cable for a hard drive, so you'd pretty much be covered. I can't help you anymore today, I'll try tomorrow, but it's getting kinda late, and I have a soccer game tomorrow :D
 
Okay, so I need:

a case
a board
a cpu
memory
a power supply
an operating system

Windows 7 Home Premium is $175. This leaves me with $275 for the remaining components. I found the E5300 for $65.

$210 for a case, board, memory, and power supply. Is this reasonable?

Even if I could find those components for $100, I'm saving $100 but investing considerably more time. I'm guessing building your own only really pays off for gaming computers nowdays?
 
davidd31415 said:
Okay, so I need:

a case
a board
a cpu
memory
a power supply
an operating system

Windows 7 Home Premium is $175. This leaves me with $275 for the remaining components. I found the E5300 for $65.

$210 for a case, board, memory, and power supply. Is this reasonable?

Even if I could find those components for $100, I'm saving $100 but investing considerably more time. I'm guessing building your own only really pays off for gaming computers nowdays?
Click to expand...

Hang in there, gonna help when I come back from the dentist in about an hour. Hopefully this'll bump and someone else'll help you quicker.
 
davidd31415 said:
Okay, so I need:

a case
a board
a cpu
memory
a power supply
an operating system

Windows 7 Home Premium is $175. This leaves me with $275 for the remaining components. I found the E5300 for $65.

$210 for a case, board, memory, and power supply. Is this reasonable?

Even if I could find those components for $100, I'm saving $100 but investing considerably more time. I'm guessing building your own only really pays off for gaming computers nowdays?
Click to expand...
Windows 7 HP is $104.99......
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
 
bomberboysk said:
Windows 7 HP is $104.99......
Click to expand...

+1, no need to get retail if you're just going to use it on one computer. The difference b/n retail and OEM is that OEM is essentially tied to one computer's mobo, but w/ retail, you can uninstall and reinstall on another computer.

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, OEM ($104.99)

COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-BWN1-GP ($39.99)

Pentium E5300 2.6GHz ($69.99)

GIGABYTE GA-G41M-ES2L ($59.99) *Perhaps Bomberboy can help you with this part, I'm really more or an AMD guy and don't know much about Intel mobos

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 ($48.99)

Antec earthwatts EA500 500W ($69.99)


Total: $393.94
 
Thanks for itemizing an example Stoic. Looks like the cost would be similar if I didn't have drives.

Here is a working link to the computer I was looking at: Asus at Best Buy. Scroll down to the third, $449.99. For some reason I am having problems copying a link directly to that system itself.

Do you think this computer is a very poor quality or would I be getting pretty much the same thing as building my own?

Either way it does not matter- since I was able to get the XPS400 back up and running I am planning on purchasing better parts over the next couple months to build a much better system.
 
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It's fine for things such as web browsing, but you'd probably be getting better by building your own, glad to hear you got your Dell back up and running. If you need help choosing parts for your next build, just come back ;)
 
Thats not a bad combo, it has a micro-atx motherboard.
Do you plan on doing dual video cards any time soon?
How much do you want to spend overall?
 
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davidd31415 said:
What do you think of the components in this combo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.306543


Does anything stick out as poor quality?
Click to expand...

MUCH nicer than the E5300. Just keep in mind - that board has no onboard video chipset - so you'll need a video card along with your O/S and DVD-R drive to hook a monitor onto your new PC :D

I'm not sure about the Roswell PSU - but they might have two grades of power supplies. I'm not informed enough to say good or bad.
 
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