[dPaladin]

I can assemble it myself from parts but I haven't paid any attention at all to which hardware is better than which for too long. I'm going for economy, not quality, so cheaper is better as long as the damn thing works.

I'm looking for something a few years old. I don't intend to use it as a high-end gaming rig (though upgradability, despite not being a real word, would be great). I'll pretty much only use it for CS:S and TF2 as far as games go, but it will need to be able to handle Sibelius and FL Studio. I don't know jack about sound cards. The only name I know is Creative.

Hardware recommendations, anyone?

[Dhsu]

Do you have a budget, or do you just want us to put together the cheapest box possible?

[dPaladin]

Cheapest possible. I currently don't have a computer, though I can salvage IDE devices and a network card from a previous one.

[Halt]

Originally Posted by dPaladin

Cheapest possible. I currently don't have a computer, though I can salvage IDE devices and a network card from a previous one.

Meet your new Best friend, and tell your old one he has been Replaced :P

www.newegg.com

If you need someone to make you a build just ask around :P

We need a budget before we can help you btw.

[dPaladin]

Originally Posted by CodinCody

Meet your new Best friend, and tell your old one he has been Replaced :P

www.newegg.com

If you need someone to make you a build just ask around :P

We need a budget before we can help you btw.

Don't patronize me, thanks. I already picked out a few rigs on newegg right after I made this thread and the best I could do was a little under $300 with shipping, and that's without knowing anything about the relative performance quality of the different pieces of hardware. I could post what I came up with, but I honestly can't see what difference it would make.

[Darklink42]

Might I also suggest you talk to Prohet of mephisto over here:
http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=14662
He seems to know a lot about building computers, and even if he doesn't build it for you, I'm sure he'd be willing to give you some pointers and advice.

[Katsurugi]

Cheapest possible that will run TF2 and CS:S? Hmm.. I don't think you're looking to buy something "a few years old" then.

The motherboard you can skimp on but if you're going to be running games and FL Studio, then you're probably going to need a decent amount of memory. Though I'm a bit foggy on how much the apps really need. I'd figure that they run best on a Core 2 Duo though. I'm going the Intel route for motherboard and processor for the moment.

I'd recommend 1 gig for the games. That's the recommended is for TF2 anyway. This is the cheapest RAM I could find. But Crucial isn't a cheapo brand. Sure it's not OCZ or Corsair. It still works, about 17 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146571

Use a micro-ATX motherboard. Generally they are cheaper. Here's one for 40 dollars after mail-in rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186139

Processor will cost you a bunch. You will need something that is at least 3.0 ghz according to game specs. If you choose Core 2 Duo, then each core could technically be 1.5 ghz. I'm not finding it on the site though. Here's a P4 3.0 ghz. Goes for about 85 dollars and apparently out of stock. But you should know that you have to spend at least this much for something you fulfills your requirements. Core 2 Duo will cost you 120 dollars, there about.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116004

For a cheap video card that has some viability in the future, get a 8600GT. Right now on Newegg, it has a mail-in rebate that reduces the price to 50 dollars and that's pretty good considering what you get out of it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130085

Power supply is important. I would recommend investing in one. It's easily usable for your next build as well. Don't go cheap with them or else you could fry your entire system. Here's a very highly rated one going for 60 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003

Hard drive is whatever size you want it to be. I would go for Seagate or Western Digital. Both are comparable. Maxtor is now owned by Seagate. It could also be a a viable option, but not necessarily so. This one is 160 gigs for 44 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136075

DVD burner. Here's the cheapest one they have and looks to be solid as well. 23 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151161

If you have a case already, that would be awesome because if you have to buy a case from Newegg, then you'll have to spend a ton on shipping. If not, here's a case I found for 45 dollars, free shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147056

The total comes out to be $364 without shipping. Hopefully you live in a state that doesn't have to pay for tax as well. I would estimate shipping to be 50 dollars or so. The total should be about $400. Note that I haven't included a sound card. I'm hoping someone else would have a recommendation on this.

Double check if the motherboard gives you all the necessary wires that you need. A lot of stuff has changed now compared to before. Even if you have IDE cables, you might not even need them.

[Dhsu]

$300 is probably as cheap as you're going to get actually.

A salvaged DVD drive will only save you around $30. Network cards are integrated into motherboards now. If you have any other previous hardware, list it here and we can tell you what you can and can't re-use.

One thing you need to account for is the OS. It's unfortunate that you're just now building your machine, since Microsoft stopped selling Windows XP a little over a week ago. So it seems you're stuck with Vista, which means 2GB of RAM minimum. Fortunately, it's not that expensive...you should be able to get a 2GB kit for $50 or less.

For motherboard and CPU, I would look into AMD. Intel is still the way to go for power builds, but AMD has been catching up in terms of bang for buck in the budget market. I would *not* go for microATX if upgradability is a concern.

Integrated sound should serve your purposes. In fact, you might even be able to get away with integrated video...the Source engine has very low requirements, and if you crank down the settings you should be able to get a decent framerate. If not, the 8600GT Katsurugi recommended will run CS:S and TF2 with power to spare. I'm using its little brother the 8500GT and it's very playable at 1024x768.

[dPaladin]

Originally Posted by Katsurugi

I'd recommend 1 gig for the games. That's the recommended is for TF2 anyway. This is the cheapest RAM I could find. But Crucial isn't a cheapo brand. Sure it's not OCZ or Corsair. It still works, about 17 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146571

Use a micro-ATX motherboard. Generally they are cheaper. Here's one for 40 dollars after mail-in rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186139

Processor will cost you a bunch. You will need something that is at least 3.0 ghz according to game specs. If you choose Core 2 Duo, then each core could technically be 1.5 ghz. I'm not finding it on the site though. Here's a P4 3.0 ghz. Goes for about 85 dollars and apparently out of stock. But you should know that you have to spend at least this much for something you fulfills your requirements. Core 2 Duo will cost you 120 dollars, there about.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116004

For a cheap video card that has some viability in the future, get a 8600GT. Right now on Newegg, it has a mail-in rebate that reduces the price to 50 dollars and that's pretty good considering what you get out of it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130085

Power supply is important. I would recommend investing in one. It's easily usable for your next build as well. Don't go cheap with them or else you could fry your entire system. Here's a very highly rated one going for 60 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003

Hard drive is whatever size you want it to be. I would go for Seagate or Western Digital. Both are comparable. Maxtor is now owned by Seagate. It could also be a a viable option, but not necessarily so. This one is 160 gigs for 44 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136075

DVD burner. Here's the cheapest one they have and looks to be solid as well. 23 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151161

If you have a case already, that would be awesome because if you have to buy a case from Newegg, then you'll have to spend a ton on shipping. If not, here's a case I found for 45 dollars, free shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147056

The total comes out to be $364 without shipping. Hopefully you live in a state that doesn't have to pay for tax as well. I would estimate shipping to be 50 dollars or so. The total should be about $400. Note that I haven't included a sound card. I'm hoping someone else would have a recommendation on this.

Double check if the motherboard gives you all the necessary wires that you need. A lot of stuff has changed now compared to before. Even if you have IDE cables, you might not even need them.

Cool. I was going to get a Pentium dual-core "Allendale" 2.0 GHz for $70.00. Is that better or worse than the lone 3.0 GHz P4? Also, it turns out all my stuff currently is IDE and the case I was looking at only has room for one IDE device. The rest are SATA, so I'm buying either a new DVD burner or a new hard drive no matter what. I shouldn't have to pay tax on it, by the way, though I've never been entirely sure how that works.

We have some old cases but I don't know if they're worth using. AFAIK there's nothing wrong with them, so... yeah?

Originally Posted by Dhsu

$300 is probably as cheap as you're going to get actually.

A salvaged DVD drive will only save you around $30. Network cards are integrated into motherboards now. If you have any other previous hardware, list it here and we can tell you what you can and can't re-use.

One thing you need to account for is the OS. It's unfortunate that you're just now building your machine, since Microsoft stopped selling Windows XP a little over a week ago. So it seems you're stuck with Vista, which means 2GB of RAM minimum. Fortunately, it's not that expensive...you should be able to get a 2GB kit for $50 or less.

For motherboard and CPU, I would look into AMD. Intel is still the way to go for power builds, but AMD has been catching up in terms of bang for buck in the budget market. I would *not* go for microATX if upgradability is a concern.

Integrated sound should serve your purposes. In fact, you might even be able to get away with integrated video...the Source engine has very low requirements, and if you crank down the settings you should be able to get a decent framerate. If not, the 8600GT Katsurugi recommended will run CS:S and TF2 with power to spare. I'm using its little brother the 8500GT and it's very playable at 1024x768.

I've got a license for WinXP around here somewhere. I don't think integrated video will fly unless it's better than the Radeon 9200 SE that I was using last year.

EDIT: Hahaha, holy shit. I'm currently on my brother's computer since mine isn't working and I must have left Newegg open last time I went there because he (knowing my predicament) has done me the favor of finding cheaper stuff.

Case/mobo/video: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856167009

RAM (I might switch it out for the one Katsurugi posted): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134045

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103212

DVD burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106263

It's $228 including shipping.

[dragnmastr85]

I don't think anyone was patronizing you. He was just trying to help.