£300 build system?

[lodore]

hello,
i have just found out how cheap the 3800 and 4200 amd dual core socket 939 processers are.

is it possible to build a ok dual core system with one of the above processers for around £300? it can be a bit more but dono how much more

if i did buy one all the bits i would probaly get from scan.
it would be either getting windows xp home oem and also installing some linux distro.
or just linux distro.
i hope you can help me spec up some pc's using what ive said above.
the pc i use atm to test linux on is a really old 6 year old dell with a pentium 3 and 256mb of ram.
i dont want to test it on my 3200 amd 64 bit socket 754 with 1gb of ram system because i dont have a windows cd if it goes wrong.
thanks in advance
lodore

[CrazyMonkey]

What bits do you need?
Case, and everything? or just motherboard,ram,cpu?

[lodore]

What bits do you need?
Case, and everything? or just motherboard,ram,cpu?

case and everything

[teachmech]

LN15975 AMD AM2 Athlon 64 3800+ £63.44
LN16745 Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 £5.86
LN10405 1Gb (2X512Mb) Corsair Value £55.21
LN17021 MSI K9N4 Ultra-F, NF500Ultra, Socket AM2 £39.12
LN11545 120 Gb Western Digital WD1200JS £35.11
LN17060 LiteOn 16x DVD+/-RW/RAM SATA £23.72
LN14422 Scan 8027-C43 Black/Silver Case with 400w £20.53
LN10206 Sweex Internet Optical, 600 dpi, PS2, 3 Buttons £2.34
LN16583 Logitech Deluxe 250 Keyboard Black PS2 £6.45
LN16642 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2b OEM £55.61

Total including VAT (with Free delivery) = £307.39

Edit you did say everything and AM2 dual cores are cheaper than 939 daul cores.

Good luck.

[HoldenBurn1000]

LN15975 AMD AM2 Athlon 64 3800+ £63.44
LN16745 Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 £5.86
LN10405 1Gb (2X512Mb) Corsair Value £55.21
LN17021 MSI K9N4 Ultra-F, NF500Ultra, Socket AM2 £39.12
LN11545 120 Gb Western Digital WD1200JS £35.11
LN17060 LiteOn 16x DVD+/-RW/RAM SATA £23.72
LN14422 Scan 8027-C43 Black/Silver Case with 400w £20.53
LN10206 Sweex Internet Optical, 600 dpi, PS2, 3 Buttons £2.34
LN16583 Logitech Deluxe 250 Keyboard Black PS2 £6.45
LN16642 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2b OEM £55.61

Total including VAT (with Free delivery) = £307.39

Edit you did say everything and AM2 dual cores are cheaper than 939 daul cores.

Good luck.

Thats not a bad system for £300, nice work

[teachmech]

Just noticed now I'm really awake that I missed out a graphics card so lets add

LN16787 128MB Leadtek 7300GT Extreme PCI-E(x16) Mem 1400MHz, GPU 520MHz, 8Pipes, DVI-I/HDTV £52.41

So a new total of £359.80

Or switch motherboard for one with graphics

LN16636 Asrock AM2NF6G-VSTA, NF6100, S AM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533 667 800, SATA II, SATA RAID, uATX £38.12

With this option Total of £306.39

[lodore]

wow thanks so much
dual core for around £300
lodore

[CrazyMonkey]

Great job TechMech, thats a great system for £300

[lodore]

i might get a weekend job and buy that system
i found out the 3800 dual core is almost two 3200 single core and atm im using a desktop with 3200.
ok would this asus mobo work with those items?
ASUS M2N-MX
LN15442
its £42 and has 6100 nvidia graphics onboard maybe crappy but it would be ok for a while.
lodore

[teachmech]

i might get a weekend job and buy that system
i found out the 3800 dual core is almost two 3200 single core and atm im using a desktop with 3200.
ok would this asus mobo work with those items?
ASUS M2N-MX
LN15442
its £42 and has 6100 nvidia graphics onboard maybe crappy but it would be ok for a while.
lodore

Yes that motherboard will work with an X2.

[lodore]

thanks
does the processer come with termal paste?
lodore

[Nick Smith]

yes, im pretty sure all do...mine did anyway

[Smudger]

Scan have the x2 3800 on Today only at £56 or so. The prices have really dived these past few weeks, might be worth hanging on, you might get one for under £50...

[amjedm]

The only thing iffy IMO in that spec is the psu.

I do try to ensure any system I build has a decent psu.

[Nick Smith]

hmm...well your not really going to get a good PSU for under 300 quid, though i did find parts for a PC for my brother for 280 quid that would run oblivion (at lower settings) with a half decent PSU.

[Anders]

Thanks, you've saved me quite a bit of thinking. My house mate's PC is in serious need of cheap upgrade/replacement.

If we put the above spec (with ASRock AM2NF6G-VSTA, using on board graphics for now) in his existing case would LN8299 - 380W Tagan TG380-U01 (£37.47) have enough juice?