How do I build a computer for $200?

I have got like 200 dollars to spend on a computer and I was just seeing if anybody had any ideas on something worthy of my money, I know its not much but see what you can work with. thx

btw do you think that ebay is a good place to get a computer?

I have got like 200 dollars to spend on a computer and I was just seeing if anybody had any ideas on something worthy of my money, I know its not much but see what you can work with. thx

kustykash

Any particular program or game you plan on running? Is there any hardware you can salvage from a previous system?

do you have the operating system monitor, keybaord n mouse, speakers, etc. or is this the whole nine yards.

if its the whole nine yards im afraid it cant be done. but jsut a pc tower is still possible.

I have a copy of windows vista, so thats not a problem. I have a laptop from a few years ago where the screen doesn't work, so i really don't know what I can take from that if I were to build a desktop. Not really any particular program, maybe a few decent games if possible.

This build I did for someone around 2 months ago. Yes it is very slightly outdated, but you could go by it somewhat. Doesn't inlude a monitor and costs $290, BUT you'll regret spending $200 on some rubbish pc, its just not logical. It won't even be upgradable to most extents.

Anyway, here you go:

Just a tip, if you pick a 4670 with dual outputs, it will support more than one monitor! Also, this will play some of the latest games at reasonable settings (of course, still a great build if your not a gamer).

APEX PC-389-C Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Intel Celeron E3300 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E3300 - Retail

SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1681S-0B - OEM

BIOSTAR G31D-M7 LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Linkworld LPJ2-23-P4 430W ATX12V Power Supply - Retail

ASUS EAH4350 SILENT/DI/512MD2(LP) Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Low Profile Ready ... - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST380215AS 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Retail

$214.99 Total its hard building a $200 computer most Netbooks cost more than this

Crap I forgot the RAM :|

I have got like 200 dollars to spend on a computer and I was just seeing if anybody had any ideas on something worthy of my money, I know its not much but see what you can work with. thx

kustykash

Up your budget to $300 for just the tower and we can work with that much more easily. $200 is really tough.. just not feasible for any kind of decent gaming machine with any amount of storage.

If gaming is your goal, about all I can recommend at that budget is a PS2 and memory card. Which leaves you about 70 bucks for bargain priced PS2 games. An 800 dollar budget would be a more realistic goal. Maybe, 600 at the minimum....Threesixtyci

*Shrugs*

$500 can build a decent enough system that'll run a majority of modern titles without a hitch. I'd consider $800 more in the high-end region of systems, especially considering it's possible to fit a 5850 in that budget.

I should have answered this yesterday, i'ld have gone with Nvidia shares which just went up 3.5%... Anyway my general idea would be invest it, the economy can only go up now and you're not gonna get anything much better than what you're typing on now. If you want you could just stick a good graphics card in your current rig, that tends to allow most standard prebuilts to run games resonably well.markop2003

i hate this economy so much

im to scarred to invest, im thankful my parents got some when the getting was good.

back before Katrina hit(and my heart go's out to all that were effected, i live in alabama so we got our share of refuges) but ya before it, my parents bought and payed for a condo for roughly $250,000 and after it hit our condo was one of the few that survived and needless to say we sold it for 1,000,000 roughly.

since then my family has been happily been avoiding the economy sense

but ya theres my story that has nothing to do witht thwe topic:P

Wouldn't he be able to use Ubuntu for an os? Im not sure if it's compatible with anything tho lol.RedxSniper

Yeah, it would be. I think it supports more hardware than windows does to be honest, if we include old stuff.

I didn't think it was possible...

but here are the parts (I can't believe this)

gigabyte case $18

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233061

sunbeam PSU $14

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709010

foxconn am3 mobo $44

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186189

sempron 140 cpu $33

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698

1 Gb ddr3 memory $25

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148147

80G sata HHD $35

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148528

IDE DVD-ROM drive $18

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106274

The total comes to $187

But thats without shipping or taxes. Add those in and you are over $200

It amazes me that one can build a computer for so little. Just so you know this computer will suck at life. I mean, it will take too long to do anything! The onboard graphics card is $h!t, and the memory is almost non-existant. If you really want a computer for $200, that's it!

@ ajamjkm
Heh... You forgot the OS.

Anyway, by the reviews of that case the card board box it comes in, is just as durable. And 15 dollars for shipping! That's what 36 bucks, total? Why not spend 35 bucks for the case and get free shipping instead?

As for the PSU.... I'd suspect that's a complete gamble of whether it works or not ;not to mention the 8 bucks for shipping a 14 dollar item. Umm PSU is really something that you should not be skipping on. I mean if you get a bad one, it can take components along with it quite easily. For about 30 bucks more, adding in the free shipping for this one... you can at least buy something with a much better peace of mind; look at all those positive user reviews.

Still, I wouldn't recommend the resulting setup for gaming.... Pretty much, only good for Internet browsing and word processing.