Anandtech article on Athlon 64 vs FX51 The Athlon 64 is such a great deal right now.
I've been finding XP Pro for <$200 lately. NewEgg has the OEM version for $138, which requires that you add a piece of hardware to your order (which is then discounted). Which is not bad considering that SuSE is $79. I don't know that you can build a "great" computer for $500, but you can build a pretty good one for around that. My comparison is the bargain basement bundles you see from Dell or Hewlett Packard (or what I would call the "why bother PC").
For comparison -- a cheapo on the HP site is $345 (after $50 rebate). It has
2.5Ghz Intel Celeron processor (which will perform like ~2 Ghz maybe),
XP Home,
256 MB Ram (with free ram upgrade),
40GB 5400 rpm HD,
16X CD/DVD-ROM Drive drive,
3.5 Floppy,
1 USB 2.0, 1 Firewire.
To build one similiar;
Mobo -- BIOSTAR SiS 740 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "M7VKQ PRO" -RETAIL - $45
CPU -- AMD Duron 1.6GHz Socket A Processor - OEM - $43
Case w/PS -- CODEGEN Black/Silver ATX Mini Tower Case, Model "CAT-3308-CA" -RETAIL --$23
CPU Fan -- Dynatron Copper CPU Cooler for Socket A,Model:BH-610,Retail -- $8
RAM -- Kingston ValueRAM 184 Pin 128MB DDR PC-2100 - OEM -- $25 x 2
HD -- Seagate 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model ST340014A, OEM Drive Only -- $62
FDD -- SAMSUNG SFD321B/LBL1 Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, OEM Driver Only -- $9
CD/DVD -- Aopen BLACK 16X DVD-ROM Drive, MODEL DVD-1648/BKH, RETAIL -- $29
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack SP1a - OEM --$93
Miscellaneous cables and a dab of arctic silver -- $3
$365 (and your labor of course with your own warranty). But, still this DIY PC is probably better than the HP in many ways. Any component failure on this system would be inexpensive to replace, and this system is very upgradable. Replace the Dimms with 2x512 for $140, a bigger HD, and move up to AMD Athlon XP 2400+ "Thorton" for $80, and certainly better video (no AGP though).
I've been finding XP Pro for <$200 lately. NewEgg has the OEM version for $138, which requires that you add a piece of hardware to your order (which is then discounted). Which is not bad considering that SuSE is $79. I don't know that you can build a "great" computer for $500, but you can build a pretty good one for around that. My comparison is the bargain basement bundles you see from Dell or Hewlett Packard (or what I would call the "why bother PC").
For comparison -- a cheapo on the HP site is $345 (after $50 rebate). It has
2.5Ghz Intel Celeron processor (which will perform like ~2 Ghz maybe),
XP Home,
256 MB Ram (with free ram upgrade),
40GB 5400 rpm HD,
16X CD/DVD-ROM Drive drive,
3.5 Floppy,
1 USB 2.0, 1 Firewire.
To build one similiar;
Mobo -- BIOSTAR SiS 740 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "M7VKQ PRO" -RETAIL - $45
CPU -- AMD Duron 1.6GHz Socket A Processor - OEM - $43
Case w/PS -- CODEGEN Black/Silver ATX Mini Tower Case, Model "CAT-3308-CA" -RETAIL --$23
CPU Fan -- Dynatron Copper CPU Cooler for Socket A,Model:BH-610,Retail -- $8
RAM -- Kingston ValueRAM 184 Pin 128MB DDR PC-2100 - OEM -- $25 x 2
HD -- Seagate 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model ST340014A, OEM Drive Only -- $62
FDD -- SAMSUNG SFD321B/LBL1 Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, OEM Driver Only -- $9
CD/DVD -- Aopen BLACK 16X DVD-ROM Drive, MODEL DVD-1648/BKH, RETAIL -- $29
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack SP1a - OEM --$93
Miscellaneous cables and a dab of arctic silver -- $3
$365 (and your labor of course with your own warranty). But, still this DIY PC is probably better than the HP in many ways. Any component failure on this system would be inexpensive to replace, and this system is very upgradable. Replace the Dimms with 2x512 for $140, a bigger HD, and move up to AMD Athlon XP 2400+ "Thorton" for $80, and certainly better video (no AGP though).
”There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.
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