Hi guys

A few months ago the Ottawa Citizen had an article that gave the reader the 'recipe' for building a cheap yet powerful computer for under $500 by buying this here, that there, etc.

Are there websites that offer that kind of info? I could walk into a Costco or buy a Dell but I'd rather play with puzzles rather than getting them pre-made. Also, I have 80 and 250 eide hard drives, the latter as a storage device. Is it possible to use both wiring systems at once (eide and sata)?

My present computer is 4-5 years old and giving me grief... time to bury an old friend and start fresh

Thanks

You can't go wrong with buying a package deal from TigerDirect.ca (or one of their brick and mortar stores).  You'll still get to put it together, though..    Go to "computers" and click on the "Barebone Kits" section.

They all seem to be using onboard sound and video though, so I'd go for a $300-ish kit and spend the other $200 on decent video and sound cards.  (or use your current sound card, if you have one).

Hi Cheg,

Yes, you can run satas and eides in the same machine (provided the motherboard has the connectors/bios). And, as much as I hate to say it, the package deals from Futureshop and Best Buy are pretty close to the cost of building from scratch nowadays. I used to swear up and down that I would never buy a premade machine, but the price point has shifted significantly in the last 6-7 years in favor of them.

My inlaws just bought a machine that is 4 times faster than the one I built last for about 1/2 the price because they bought it in a box stamped HP.

Just buy a new machine and forget the old drives unless they are SATA.   That's my choice.   Some common sites are:
http://www.dell.ca   (great machines a bit pricier, but brand & service)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca
http://www.canadacomputers.com

If you want to buy parts and build one - it generally costs more, but you get what you want.    The above sell systems with the OS included.   Now, with Windows 7 coming, you might want to wait as you are stuck with Vista right now.  Soon Vista upgrades will be cheaper, but I believe even the recent Microsoft announcements want $100 to upgrade from Vista Premium to Windows 7.

If you want parts, two good sites I use are:
http://www.ncix.com
http://www.newegg.ca

Sounds like a system is what you need / want.   If you are doing gaming / video-editting try to get one with a video card.

Agree with sentinelking that the "box-system" are better / faster / cheaper.   I just finished mine in February and I can better for less as a kit.    But I have a nicer case for future expansion and a better video card.   I still would be better off with the "box-system" though.

I have seen an SATA/EIDE adaptor which is a plug with a small board built in. Was $50.00 at Tiger Direct online.  Probably better to just switch to SATA as it is quicker, If you want to save the contents of the hard drive, or parts of it just transfer to either a big flash memory stick (music etc) or get an external usb hard drive for $100 to transfer bigger files.

I bought an Acer Phenom quad core 2.3 Mhz with 4 Gig RAM, a card reader, 640 Gig hard drive, 250Meg onboard ATI video to max1024 . Also pre loaded w/ Vista Home Premium. Was around $600.00 at Best Buy about 3 months ago.

The refurb HP's there were also really fast for the money but only 90 days warranty.

For all the time you probably couldnt beat it.  If you are a hard core gamer you might do better building your own, but probably in that you can pick and choose. Expect to spend a lot more though. Also, make sure you have a big power supply for a separate video card.

There's tons for $500 - but one that is the full system available locally (http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=023788&cid=170.45)

• Acer Aspire AX1200-B1782A
  
• X203 20" LCD (Refurb)
  
• AMD X2 5000+ 2.6Ghz ,
  
• 3GB Memory,
  
• 320GB HD,
  
• nVidia GeForce 8200 Graphics,
  
• Super-Multi DVD Drive, GigaLAN,
  
• Card Reader,
  
• Windows Vista Home Premium,
  
• Keyboard
  
• Mouse
  

As for drives, you can get internal SATA 1TB Western Digital Green drives for $90 if you wait for sales (ncix had them on sale w/free shipping 2 weeks ago).

You can do better if you don't need the LCD, keyboard or mouse.

If you really want the "puzzle" prepare to do a lot of learning / surfing, shopping for parts-deals, and ending up neglecting some options (I forgot fireware on my motherboard).   If you go this route, spend some time @:

• www.tomshardware.com/us/ - has reviews & system build notes
  
• www.extremetech.com/category2/0,2843,644478,00.asp - Great site with "build" notes for budget pc, gaming pc, home theatre pc, ...
  
• www.bit-tech.net
  
• www.cpu-world.com
  
• ...
  

Then you have to watch for cheap prices (ncix sales start wednesday evenings, newegg?, redflagdeals, ...).   All in all its a waste of time unless you are want to learn about motherboards, cpus, video cards, cases, connectors/adaptors, ....

The best site for keeping track of what components should be used for different budget machines is definitely sharkyextreme.com.

I don't follow it anymore since I switched all my gaming to my xbox 360 and installed a real OS (Ubuntu at first, then bought a Mac).

Quoted from Tuborg

If you really want the "puzzle" prepare to do a lot of learning / surfing, shopping for parts-deals, and ending up neglecting some options (I forgot fireware on my motherboard).   If you go this route, spend some time @:

Then you have to watch for cheap prices (ncix sales start wednesday evenings, newegg?, redflagdeals, ...).   All in all its a waste of time unless you are want to learn about motherboards, cpus, video cards, cases, connectors/adaptors, ....

If you're interested in the above route/learning, http://www.Hardforum.com is a great place to get computer/gadgetry advice. Also, Search > Budget build.

Here's a top thread -- Budget Build >$400:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1431458&highlight=budget+build

Good links - I'd never stumbled upon.   For the budget builds thought they never include OS - and I'm guessing Cheg wants a hassle-free Windows OS.    Noone can ever argue that a Linux OS is "easier" for the average user.

You can always pirate the Windows OS - but if you don't you have another $100 - $150 on those builds.   This is where for the average user, the Dell, CanadaComputer, TigerDirect have the upper hand.   I wonder what they pay Microsoft for the OS?

You can always surf http://www.dealextreme.com for cheap computer parts - free shipping

Quoted from Tuborg

I wonder what they pay Microsoft for the OS?

$41.74 1/2 per license. Yeah, I'm kidding .  I don't know the license cost but they certainly do get a "volume" discount.  Using a licensed version of windows sure saves a lot of hassles via updates too.

Quoted from The Loafer

Using a licensed version of windows sure saves a lot of hassles via updates too.

Agree, 100% - I'm waiting on W7 - and in the meantime running pirated versions - no way am I spending $150 for a 4-month Vista license.... I probably have a license key somewhere, but it was easier this way.

Quoted from Tuborg

Noone can ever argue that a Linux OS is "easier" for the average user.

I can! Have you ever used Ubuntu? I was amazed at how easy it was to install on my netbook. It was so easy I bet Gary Stern could have done it. On top of that, it's very easy to use.

The only reason I wouldn't recommend it outright for everyone is because of games. If you intend to do computer gaming, Windows is unfortunately the only choice. Otherwise, give Ubuntu a try, it's free! You burn it to a DVD, and boot off of it. You can use it without even installing it! Then if you like it, you can install it. It'll even repartition your hard drive so you can still keep Windows if you already have it.