WARNING — THIS POST IS OLD

I went out to build a machine that was cheap, but still decent in the speed department. What I got was a breath of fresh air, and not all that expensive. I’m going to break down what I got, where I got it, and how much it cost. Later I’ll update with some benchmarks and final thoughts.

Firstly: The case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 mid-tower case (without side window)

Where: CompUSA
Cost: $59 (Was $69.00 in store)
Pros: Comes with nice power supply (300W), Very good looking, ‘hardwareless’
Cons: Weights alot!

Purchase info/Specs

Motherboard: MSI K9VGM-V
Where: Newegg
Cost: $45
Pros: AMD FX,X2 compatable, cheap
Cons: Only 2 SATA connectors, supports only 2GB of RAM (boo)
Verdict: I’m getting something else.

Purchase info/Specs

Processor: AMD Athlon X2 4600+ 2.4Ghz (retail CPU in a box)
Where: Newegg.com
Cost: $89
Pros: Overclockable to 2.7Ghz
Cons: Runs hot! (~110° F) Locked in multiplier of 12x

Purchase info/Specs

RAM: 2GB A-DATA 800Mhz DDRII
Where: Newegg.com
Cost: $27.99 (per 1GB stick)
Pros: Fast, cheap.
Cons: None.. It’s RAM

Purchase info/Specs

Internal HD: 2x 200GB SAMSUNG 7,200RPM SATA in RAID 0
Where: Newegg.com
Cost: $55(each) total of $120 for 2 shipped
Pros: CHEAP
Cons: Mediocre speed

Purchase info/specs

Optical Drive: Pioneer 18X DVD±R DVD Burner Black E-IDE
Where: Newegg.com
Cost: $35
Pros: Black, cheap, fast
Cons: not “as black” as the front of the case. This could be fixed with some gloss spray paint, but I’ll let it be.

Purchase info/specs

Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16
Where: Newegg.com
Cost: $99
Pros: Fast and quiet.
Cons: not DDR3 RAM

Purchase info/specs

Total price: $518

Closest machine made by Dell:

Pros:

* Comes with Vista (is that a pro?)
* Bigger drive +100Gb

Cons:

* Slower CPU (1.8Ghz per core compared to 2.4Ghz)
* Slower RAM (667Mhz compared to 800Mhz)
* Worse graphics card: 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8300GS
* Slower front side bus: 800Mhz rather than 1033Mhz
* Bloated with adware and extra garbage you don’t need