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"Stupid PCs"

I hate PC prices, although i've only just started building PCs I wouldn't mind making a few for money, selling them onto friends..etc but you can buy them so cheaply now it's not really worth it.

Looking through magazine and accross some favourite websites i've been looking at P4 2.4Ghz PCs for about £6-700, you could probably build it for a hundred less if you know the right people if not your stuck.

I finally got round to buying all my componants and i'm on a very tight budget :D
my budget = £360

I was going to just add a few pieces to my 150Mhz box but I already had an ATX case and decided for a few extra £s I could have a 1Ghz machine, might not seem like much but it's a big improvment on a 150 and i'm only going to use it for scripting.

Anyway, i've spent £341.93

specs:

Duron 1.2Ghz
256Mb SDram
128Mb DDR Ram
40Gb hdd (IBM)
14" viewable monitor
5.1 Creative Soundcard
RadeonVE APG 32MbDDR with tv-Output
10/100 NIC
16x dvd 48x cd
40x12x48x Burnproof CDRW

I think this is a fair buy but I saw a:
2100XP
512Mb DDR ram
40Gb hdd (not IBM) *waits for cheers*
15" monitor
5.1 Creative Soundcard
GE4 4200MX
10/100 NIC
56k Modem
dvd/CDRW combo

£500....bah.

before I finish, I put round cables in my PC but they actually cost less than the ribbon cables :)
anyway, i'm not bored anymore so I WILL finish, anyone else care to say anything?

It's good that the prices have dropped so much but if I was to sell them on i'd have to pay extra for the OS (people expect WinXP) £80+ plus all the other stuff like MS Office and in the end I wouldn't make much profit.
Any point?

...however, higher quality RAM will run faster at the same clock than crappy stuff.

Yes, because they all run off the same system clock.

Using both of mine, says how much there is on the startup, aparently it slows the ram down to the slowest type though.

AFAIK, you can't use two types at once though, got a few older mobos with dual ram types, and all allow you to use one or the other only.

Turbonutter wrote:
> Memorandum wrote:
> how did you get 128mb DDR RAM AND 256 SDR RAM
>
> aren't motherboards one or the other
>
>
> Who said that?
---
me, in my original post
---
But yes, I think you're right.
---
look at my example, says at the top "DDR/SDR"
the image shows different slots DDR (blue) SD (black).

Nope, i've got 3 motherboards in my room, all have different ram slots.

edo/SD
sd/ddr
sd/ddr
example number 1:
(sorry SR but you didn't have any motherboards with different ram slots)

http://ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?

action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3

&product_uid=25857&PX_Session=b0277

16e0c2c7666abf1764a736688ba

Memorandum wrote:
> how did you get 128mb DDR RAM AND 256 SDR RAM
>
> aren't motherboards one or the other


Who said that? But yes, I think you're right.

how did you get 128mb DDR RAM AND 256 SDR RAM

aren't motherboards one or the other

i normaly go to our local comp fair's and errrr another cheap webby. Soz SR you PC parts are to pricy GRRRRRRR.

Anyway i built me AMD XP 1700+ for around £900 and at the time i saved £200 by doing it meself.

XP 1700+
40Gig (added 80Gig later on)
Pioneer DVD Rom drive (paid extra as it's multi regioned hacked)
CD-RW (nicked outta old comp anyway and was added later)
512mb DDR when it was £27 for 256mb :( those were the days.
and loads of other stuff which i can be bothered to list.

Turbonutter wrote:
> "GE4 4200MX "
>
> That card doesn't exist, I'm sure.
bah, I wasn't sure where to put the MX bit, pretty sure theres a GE4 MX420 or MX4200 but after a little browse I found a GE4 4200Ti, I must be getting old.

>
> Anyway, don't forget that machine will be made with really low quality
> components, and everything that isn't named will be really, really
> cheap. Home-made PCs always run faster, last longer and are more
> stable. They're also rarely more expensive, in a value for money kind
> of way. Manufactured machines of the same spec will seem cheaper but
> they're not as good.

Yeah I see that, plus I added the nice extras like extra fans and round cables. Lucky me.