WTB: Desktop PC for <$500

[CujoRbd]

Hello,

I need a new PC. I used to be a die-hard DIYer, but I now have a new job that requires lots of hours. I still do some case modding when the inspiration comes, but I have very little free time anymore.

I'm looking for a pre-built system, or one that you could order the parts for and put it together for me, but either way I don't care if it has an OS on it.

My budget is around $500, including the monitor, though I could be somewhat flexible if you have a good set-up.

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What I want:
-An AMD processor, but Intel is OK, too. (No Celeron, please.)

-1 GB or more of RAM

-HD with atleast 80gigs of space (Anything that's NOT Maxtor)

-Any video card; onboard OK, but prefer something with non-shared RAM.

-onboard Sound and NIC OK; otherwise I need something basic for both.

-DVD burner; I'd like dual optical drives, though it is unnecessary, where one could be a dedicated player and the other the burner, so any setup you would reccomend would be cool

-Any OS is fine, or none. WinXP Pro preferred if providing Windows-based OS, but I really don't care.

-no keyboard or mouse required

-prefer that there is no security software installed on machine

-monitor just needs to display my stuff; if widescreen it should support atleast 1280x960 resolution; regular should support 1280x1024 or higher; don't care if it's LCD or CRT, but obviously LCD is usually cheaper to ship.

----

I am looking for something that can use Photoshop CS3, as well as normal tasks like internet browsing, playing music, and burning CDs/DVDs. I am a huge multi-tasker, like being able to use Photoshop (or another system resource-intensive application) as well as having a few other apps open without much system hanging time (lag).

--

Any questions?

Thanks so much, everyone, as I know you are all awesome.


-Carey

[samwichse]

You could just go for the Dell

Dimension C521
Configured price: $479

PROCESSOR AMD Sempron™ 3400+ edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Basic edit
MONITOR 17 inch E773 (16 inch viewable) Conventional CRT edit
MEMORY 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs edit
HARD DRIVE 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 48X CD-RW/ DVD Combo Drive edit
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU edit
SOUND Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit
My Accessories
SPEAKERS No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) edit
KEYBOARD & MOUSE Dell USB Keyboard and Dell 2-button Scroll Mouse edit
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER No Floppy Drive Included edit
MODEM 56K PCI Data Fax Modem edit

You're stuck with Windows Vista, but what can you do? It's hard to find XP on new machines nowadays without paying a premium.

Sam

[carl33p]

I got you covered to the tee with money to spare.
Dell 429$

19" LCD
AMD x2 dual core 3600+
Windows XP
1GB ram

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...=bddwbak&s=bsd


You can always check here for deals:
http://dealnews.com/categories/Compu...esktop/48.html

[samwichse]

Well, now I feel bad

[RicheemxX]

much better deal found from dealighted it was originally posted on somewhere else!

linkage
$479

The default configuration has 19" E197FP Analog Monitor for $429. It's a much better deal with the 20" E207WFP Widescreen upgrade for $50 more.

Components
AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 3600+
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs
80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
16X DVD ROM Drive
20" E207WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel (+ $50)
NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Accessories
No Floppy Drive Included
No Modem
No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Dell USB Keyboard
Dell® 2-button USB mouse

Software
No Productivity software pre-installed
No Security Subscription

Service
1 Year On-site Economy Plan
Purchase is not intended for resale.

Also Includes
E521
Windows XP™
No ISP requested
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
No Digital Music Software Requested
Corel Snapfire Basic - Organize and Edit your photos
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet

for the dvd burner just head over to newegg and get something on-sale
damn carl beat me to the post, but yeah 19" or 20" either one is ok.