My $250- computer build

[Help me Thanks]

I'm interested in building my brother a new computer since he still uses a 566 megahertz Celeron processor . He doesn't need a very expensive top-of-the-line computer but just a machine to play some games (i.e. Diablo 2, Unreal Tournament, etc.) and do his homework on .

I know someone that has built a "decent" computer for about $250. I asked him for some suggestions and he gave me this build.

AMD Athlon XP 2000+ thoroughbred core
abit vt-series motherboard
gf4 mx440 128mb ddr
256 ddr ram
good coolermaster fan or dr. thermal
western digital or maxtor 40gb
52x cdrom drive
floppy drive

The guy told me I can get all of these parts for $250 or less by buying at newegg.com and at Fry's Electronics.

Any suggestions on changing anything? Will this computer be good enough for my brother?

[Omardeth]

if you have a frys near you get a cpu motherboard combo for about 80$ but thats about all you should get there unless you find something onsale . otherwise there prices aren't that good ,. get the video card online somewhere might you can get a gf4 mx for about 40$ . also look at www.bananapc.com they always have cheap cdrom drives . you also don't have a case there . www.amamax.com has some cheap cases . but it looks fine otherwise . an abit motherboard might throw the price up . they aren't cheap .

[dlh75]

Omardeth the Fry's here in Houston had a AMD 1800+ and a ecs mobo for $59.99. Too bad I was broke. I would have snatched up a couple and sold them for more. Some people were selling that same set on ebay and got over $100 for some.

[Omardeth]

here is a pretty good start for a cheap system it is only 69$

Amazing Geeks Computer Starter Kit

** Package Includes:
Chaintech 7AIA5 Socket A motherboard
10-Bay ATX Mid-Tower Case with 350 Watt ATX Power Supply
Power Cord
Screw Pack
Genica PS/2 3-button scroll mouse
108-Key PS/2 Keyboard
Genica Stereo Speakers
Samsung 1.44 MB floppy disk drive
Computer Geeks Mouse Pad

add cdrw , hd , cpu and hsf video and you are set
buy a 20 gig hd and xp1800 boxed
here
blantant comerical for my f/s thread
add this ati 9100 video card after for $29.99 after the rebate and the $10 Liteon cdrw after the rebate thats in this thread . gotta do it by the end of today 8/16 to get the sale price . and you are set for under 200$

[woodbutcher]

Good find on that vid card Omardeth.
The reviews for the ATI 9100 compare it performance wise to the nvidia 4200.
It's built by VisionTek and at $29.99 plus shipping it will smoke the nvidia gf4 mx440 at a lower cost.
Only thing I noticed, DirectX 8.1 and I thought that the 9100 were DX 9 GPU's.
I'll have to take a look at ATI's site.

WB

[Omardeth]

i think you have to go to 9500 to get dx9 with ati cards.