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Building 2011's Sub-$200 Computer

Posted by timothy on from the trade-one-form-of-depreciation-for-another dept.

adeelarshad82 links to PC Magazine's recent account (updating a similar quest detailed last year) "to see if a decent PC could put together for less than $200. Turns out that between some great deals, an AMD processor, and a Linux OS, it can actually be done." They actually come out with a decent-enough system for that money — but omitting an optical drive in a full-size desktop computer build seems something like cheating.

9 of 394 comments (clear)

  1. Don't even have to build it yourself by steevven1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    You can get an eeePC netbook for $199 RETAIL at Best Buy...Best Buy!!! I know this is talking about desktops, but it just doesn't seem that surprising...

    1. Re:Don't even have to build it yourself by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 3, Informative

      Or you can get a bottom-end eMachines dual core 15.4" laptop for $230. It ain't fancy but, unlike the article's $200 desktop, it includes monitor, optical drive, input devices, and even a UPS. And it comes with an operating system that will have support for or be supported by whatever peripherals or software the user wants to add without having to call their weird nephew for help.

    2. Re:Don't even have to build it yourself by RobbieThe1st · · Score: 3, Informative

      ...And for $700 you can build a top-of-the-line, amd-based gaming machine off Newegg that will run just about everything you throw at it. But that, like your couple of builds, are *still* way above what was managed with the $200 machine.

  2. Re: optical drive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I can unequivocally say no. We sell a lot of little desktop computers without an optical drive. They come with Ubuntu usually and maybe 1/3 of our customer base gets one. They are extra. The minimal configured systems are without keyboard, mouse, monitor or optical drive and run $249. People are not renting DVDs any longer and most have never watched a DVD on the computer in the first place. Some areas have a higher than usual younger user base (Portland) and there is more demand for an optical drive (or at least there was) in these region. Elsewhere though most people do not watch movies on the PC.

  3. Re:Build a desktop? by amiga3D · · Score: 3, Informative

    It is if you want anything with serious horsepower. Sure, a commodity PC will work fine for most things but if you want 8 cores and 64gb of ram with multiple video cards you'll be better off building it yourself.

  4. Re: optical drive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's 2011, dammit, why do people still use optical drives?

    Possibly because, just because it's 2011 doesn't mean all past cds/dvds are magically converted into usbs.

    Dammit archaeologists, it's 2011! Why are you still reading clay tablets!

  5. My $250 system build from Micro Center! by dnorf87 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've done quite a few system builds using this AMD bundle deal that Micro Center has had going on for some time now. Every single system works flawlessly, even the ones with the Powerspec case/power supply (more business if the PSU does fail, and I haven't seen one take a motherboard out yet.)

    Phenom II X2 560 Black edition: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0347369 $87.99
    Biostar A780L3G AM3 760G mATX Motherboard: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0351634 $FREE
    Western Digital Caviar Blue 500gb SATA 6.0gbps: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0352164 $49.99
    Micro Center branded 2x2gb of DDR3 1333: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0353218 $19.99
    PowerSpec TX-381 Micro ATX Computer Case: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0330536 $24.99
    Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500w PSU: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0295037 $37.99
    Samsung 22x SATA DVD-RW drive: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0293049 $21.99
    Grand Total of $255.10 after tax.

    You have an overclockable dual core CPU (I wouldn't push too far with the stock heatsink and with that motherboard, but a little bump to 3.6 GHz shouldn't be an issue.), better graphics than the system in the article, twice as much system memory (4gb vs. 2gb), an optical drive, an actual decent power supply, a case with a handle on it, and I could probably go on, but i'd hope you all get the point. A whole $45 more before tax, not including the lame $8 mail in rebate for the power supply. Definitely worth every penny, and this is all something you could pick up and have together in a couple hours assuming you have a store close to you. Most would likely pay $40+ for the convenience alone. I also didn't shop around too much. Better might be possible.

  6. Re: optical drive by GPLHost-Thomas · · Score: 3, Informative

    CD / DVDs aren't at all a reliable media for backups. I wouldn't recommend anyone to do that, especially for financial data. If you need a backup, do it with a USB hard drive for the local one, and also send an off-site backup over the wire. That is, at least 3 copies (if you include the one you are working on).

  7. Re:Decent Computer? by walshy007 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not this hardware abi driver interface bullshit again, you bring it up all the time.. and it is addressed all the time. ( I think this is the third of fourth time I've replied to you on this topic on /. alone, usually long write-ups but don't have the time today)

    While this is old, it is something you may find interesting. In short, you don't want a fixed abi, what you want, are stable drivers.