Cheap Low Use PC advices

[Koal.T]

Hi,

I'm newbie so excuse me if I posted in the wrong place

Umm,

I am looking to build a cheap-as-possible PC for installing linux and/or *BSD on to do testing, etc. I don't need a monitor, keyboard or mouse (got KVM).

I just want something around 1.5Ghz, 20Gb HDD, 256mb RAM for under £175ish. These parts need to be available in the UK, so a company like Dabs or Ebuyer would be good.

Doesn't need a great graphics or sound card, and it needs a ethernet jack. It will need a CD and floppy drive too.

I haven't ever built a PC before, and I understand how to etc, but I am worried about if I select parts, they won't necessarily work together.

I'm just looking for some advice on a system I should get and a list of all the parts.

Thanks,
Koal

[Urban_Squrill]

Welcome to TechIMO!!

[SiliconJon]

Well, I don't know if Walmart ships to ya, but they had a decent system for such a need for $199. You could get it with or without Lycoris installed.

[SiliconJon]

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...41937%3A106562

It's only 128MB or ram and 1.2Ghz, but other than that it's what your looking for.

EDIT: Crap, sorry...says US only...DOH!

Try going to http://www.pricewatch.com/ and clicking the "PC - No OS" category. From there, you can look around and hopefully find someone who ships to your address. Just be sure to check out their rep at resellerratings.com before buying from them.

[Jonty]

How about buying second-hand? Your local paper should have a few ads.

For £175 you probably wouldn't get 1.5Ghz, more likely a PII or maybe PIII, but you would get a monitor etc for that money. Just because it's an older machine doesn't mean it's no good, I'm still using PII's and they are great, but not if you want high speed gaming etc.

You would be hard pushed to buy a new 20gb drive these days although there are a few new ones of this size around.

If you bought an older, say PII, machine you can still put a network card in it for a tenner.

Hope this is of help and welcome to Techimo!

[BettaBuy]

hi there

have a look at
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/k.asp?ck...tID=44&GrpID=1

looks like a decent kit for £138
they have a maxtor 30gb for £41 also

i like komplett.co.uk...their prices are often lower than dabs and i've never had any problems with them

[Koal.T]

the problem I am having is with selecting a motherboard and processor that are correctly compatible and getting a case that will fit.

I really want to build one, becuase it will be cheaper getting one first hand than getting a prebuilt afaik.

I don't really want a second hand one if poss.

Thanks,
koal

[wju425]

Have your case, mobo, and cpu taken care of by buying a barebone. Then you can pick the goodies for the system.

\o/ Billy

[jerrygarcia]

I built very inexpensively on an ECS K7SOM+. It has an onboard Duron 1400+, sound,video.

[Koal.T]

okay. what about this:

29002 : AMD ATHLON XP1700+ 266MHz FSB - Thoroughbred - OEM : £31.00
34834 : Coolermaster DP5-6J31C Fan AMD Approved Upto XP & MP 2100 : £4.43
40656 : Asus Terminator Socket A Barebone System : £89.09
42141 : Crucial PC2100 128mb DDR 184pin DIMM : £16.99
49301 : Maxtor Fireball 3 30gb ATA133 5400rpm - OEM : £32.48

from Ebuyer.co.uk

Thanks,
Koal