Need a new computer.......

[dustinallen82]

Hey Dustin, ya' see now, although you have shown that one can certainly build their own PC for $400, looking at the price of the things on your list, it would lead me to wonder if a PC built on this kind of budget, would / could be any better than a factory built one ???

I mean, most factory "budget systems" use power supplies of 300 or 350 wts..... them I see a bunch of people talk about that being a crappy low powered setup.

$19.99 for a graphics card ? How well does that perform ?

Honestly, the 1 thing about your list that seems like a positive to me, is the $89 operating system.... Since I assume that is Windows XP, which I already know, and am used to...... While factory built PC's are trying to force me to use Windows Vista. What's even crazier is that a few PC companies still offer XP..... but charge like $100 to $150 to > downgrade < to it ? WTF ???

This whole "getting a new PC thing" is really freaking killing me. There just doesn't seem to be any good, agreed upon, easy options

Fish

well, i dont know about most, but i know that the dell that i bought in 2006 came with a 150 watt psu, and i paid 2500 dollars for that system, granted, it was 3 years ago. And yes, a pc built in that budget would be better than a factory built one of the same price, i can only speak for dell and compaq, but they both use horrible generic motherboards, video cards, and psu's in their budget systems. And yea, that operating system is XP home edition sp3, its on tigerdirect right now for 89 dollars.

[dustinallen82]

no reason to EVER buy a 300w PSU, VERY cheap internals to say the least. Fish Chris, I PMed you my number if you would like to talk.

There is no way you can know that a psu has cheap internals just by knowing that it is only 300 watts, for his budget and what he plans to do, 300 watts would work just fine.

[newls1]

well, i dont know about most, but i know that the dell that i bought in 2006 came with a 150 watt psu, and i paid 2500 dollars for that system, granted, it was 3 years ago. And yes, a pc built in that budget would be better than a factory built one of the same price, i can only speak for dell and compaq, but they both use horrible generic motherboards, video cards, and psu's in their budget systems. And yea, that operating system is XP home edition sp3, its on tigerdirect right now for 89 dollars.

I dont believe a PC that cost 2500$ only came with a 150watt PSU. It would only be that much cause you upgraded the GPU, CPU, additional HDD, etc.... That all requires much needed power, and a 150watt PSU (never even heard of a 150watt PSU in a PC before) would NEVER cut it, and Dell would know that. So untill you post a pic of the PSU, I call BULLSHIT. And yes, a PSU made for a home type PC that is 300w, is a cheap POS, there internals would NTO use solid type caps, and the secondary side of the PSU, will be horribly close to being out of spec.

[newls1]

There is no way you can know that a psu has cheap internals just by knowing that it is only 300 watts, for his budget and what he plans to do, 300 watts would work just fine.

Are you serious? I know my shit homie. By telling me that I cant tell about a PSU, is like telling db-r that he doesnt now about the internals of an amp. There are 300watt PSU, and there are 300watt PSU, made for extreme server 24x7 use for 80+ effiency. I doubt any one here is going to spend 3-400$ for a 300Watt PSU, for a modern home built PC. So please, do us all a favor and STFU.

**EDIT** Here is a 350w SERVER grade PSU ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817147038 ) No one (unless your 100% stupid) would by this for there PC. 12v rail volts suck for a modern PC, plus......This PSU is not intended for power usage changing very much. It is intended to be on, and NOT TOUCHED for years. For the 300$ price tag of this, a home user could purchase a VERY GOOD PCP&C 910watt (60+amps on the 12v rail) for nearly the same amount. 2 completely different PSU's, intended for there spec'ed environment.

[dustinallen82]

I dont believe a PC that cost 2500$ only came with a 150watt PSU. It would only be that much cause you upgraded the GPU, CPU, additional HDD, etc.... That all requires much needed power, and a 150watt PSU (never even heard of a 150watt PSU in a PC before) would NEVER cut it, and Dell would know that. So untill you post a pic of the PSU, I call BULLSHIT.

well, i went and grabbed it out of the closet to take a picture, and turns out you where right, i read it wrong, its a 375 psu, i read the max output wrong, my bad, but still, with what he is planning, and what kind of budget he is on, 300 watts is just fine. My dell ran fine with alot more in it than what he is planning on putting in his.

here is the pics anyways....

you can see the two below is where i mis-read the 150 watt output

and here you can see the 375 watt output

[dustinallen82]

Are you serious? I know my shit homie. By telling me that I cant tell about a PSU, is like telling db-r that he doesnt now about the internals of an amp. There are 300watt PSU, and there are 300watt PSU, made for extreme server 24x7 use for 80+ effiency. I doubt any one here is going to spend 3-400$ for a 300Watt PSU, for a modern home built PC. So please, do us all a favor and STFU.

**EDIT** Here is a 350w SERVER grade PSU ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817147038 ) No one (unless your 100% stupid) would by this for there PC. 12v rail volts suck for a modern PC, plus......This PSU is not intended for power usage changing very much. It is intended to be on, and NOT TOUCHED for years. For the 300$ price tag of this, a home user could purchase a VERY GOOD PCP&C 910watt (60+amps on the 12v rail) for nearly the same amount. 2 completely different PSU's, intended for there spec'ed environment.

Seriously? wow, you must be a fucking psychic to be able to tell how good a psu's internals are just by how many watts it is, this guy is on a budget, he doesnt need a fuckin server psu, he is only running one disc drive, very little ram, a small processor and small video card, again, a 300 watt psu will do just fine!!

[newls1]

I knew there was no way you could have a 150w PSU bro......Just not safe really, cause it would be at MAX load, nearly all its life, and that would cause VERY EARLY failure. But still I cant understand why dell would still use a 375w PSU for that system, for around 5$ more (at there prices) they could have easily used a 450+Watt PSU. But I guess if you multiply a 5$ savings TIMES 5 million, it adds up for there total profits.....I hate that shit!

[dustinallen82]

I knew there was no way you could have a 150w PSU bro......Just not safe really, cause it would be at MAX load, nearly all its life, and that would cause VERY EARLY failure. But still I cant understand why dell would still use a 375w PSU for that system, for around 5$ more (at there prices) they could have easily used a 450+Watt PSU. But I guess if you multiply a 5$ savings TIMES 5 million, it adds up for there total profits.....I hate that shit!

exactly, they didnt offer a upgraded psu when i bought it, and that is what im trying to tell this guy, that it doesnt pay to go to a manufacturer for a pc anymore, you can ALWAYS build a better system yourself for cheaper.

[newls1]

Seriously? wow, you must be a fucking psychic to be able to tell how good a psu's internals are just by how many watts it is, this guy is on a budget, he doesnt need a fuckin server psu, he is only running one disc drive, very little ram, a small processor and small video card, again, a 300 watt psu will do just fine!!

I never said he needed a server grade PSU, read more.......... The whole point in what im saying, is if the OP bought a 300w PSU (why the fuck would he anyway) would be 2 MAJOR faults or drawbacks if you will, to that purchase......

1. Unless he bought a 3-400$ server grade 300w PSU, a home style 300w PSU is a POS, not doubt, DO NOT CARE for what you say here.

2. That low of a PSU, would leave no future upgrade room, OH and BTW, a quad core i5/i7 CPU, needs at least 5amps on the +5rail, and 15a on the 12v rail (I would have to dig up the exact power specs, but im pretty close) a 300W PSU, just would be able to handle it (at least for long term).

I know he is talking about a budget build, but if all he wants to spend is 5-600$ for a PC (I'm not sure how much he wants to spend really) But if it only cost 50-100$ more to have the BETTER more reliable item, im sure he would do it. There are 3 parts of a PSU that you NEVER want to skimp on. 1) MOTHERBOARD 2) RAM 3) PSU....These rules are like writin in stone

[1992Chevy K1500]

I'm about to build my own carputer. It's going to cost me about $280 not including shipping. However, I already have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, Operating system, and wireless card.