I'm on a mission to build the ultimate budget PC

Well, yes I am.

Now I have a bit of cash. Enough to buy a spanky new PC... but I already have one....

So just for fun/hobbie and a mission, I would like to build (or try to build) a system thats as best it can be(spec wise) for the least cash.

So i'm talkin best bang for buck components here but I wont take the cheaper nasty routes like 'PC chips' mobo's etc as I still want a reliable system. But u can get some real quality boards from the likes of gigabyte and such for great prices.

Can anyone offer some advice on what sort of componenets I should be looking out for (also for overclocking) I will be going second hand if I see a considerable price advantage to do so.

An example of advice most helpful to myself would be stuff like I have heard/read that some old AMD chips were renowned for their low price but massive overcloking potential... thats the stuff I wanna be looking out for.

Also things like a radeon 9800 that I can softmod to a pro or whatever the model was, stuff like that, u get the picture.

Well guys, ANY help or tips or advice you can though my way will be greatly appreciated.

budget?

Dont know... Just cheap. Thats why I need bang for buck really.. Say something like 300 GBP (without monitor)

Hi there,

I recently-ish (like about May now!) built myslef a new comp for £250 minus monitor. Bit more out of date now, as its SocA based, which have now been scrapped, but a 754 board isn't too much more as long as you don't mind the non-existant up-grade route! Also, with the 64 bit 754 Semprons now available, it could be a tidy way to go for a budget 64 bit system. Anyway, my specs were:

SocA Sempron 2500
Asrock K7VT4A pro KT400A (Asrock are the budget line of Asus)
512MB Crucial DDR 2700 RAM
Gigabyte Radeon 9550 128MB Graphics
ExcelStor 80GB IDE HD
Samsung DVD re-writer dual Layer
Generic case
optical mose
Standard keyboard

I'm really pleased with my setup, and has worked without failure so far!

Anyway, as I was saying, now a bit out of date, so how about substituting in:

AMD Sempron 2800+ 64 Bit Edition Retail Boxed inc Fan, skt 754 (3 year warranty) - MicroDirect £50.87

Abit KU8, ULI M1689, Skt 754, 1600FSB, 8x AGP, SATA, LAN, 6 ch. audio, ATX - MicroDirect £27.03

This would cost out about the same as mine in its day. Also I find the Radeon 9550 a great little card - pretty much the same cost as the 9250, with the addition that it is fully DX9 :)

See ya!

My advice would be to post some more useful posts till you get access to Hexus Classifieds. Then keep your eyes open there or make some requests. Should easily be able to get a decent machine on £300.

How about this setup all from Scan

LN8580 Asus A7VT K7 Barebone System 333fsb DDR333 FDD VGA, Lan, 6Ch Audio £51.49 £60.50
LN6347 LG Beige 52x32x52 CD-RW £12.00 £14.10
LN10726 AMD Sempron 2600+ (SoA) (1.833ghz) CPU *OEM* £39.26 £46.13
LN3928 80Gb Maxtor Plus 9 ATA-133 (7200rpm,2MB) - PATA £28.89 £33.95
LN4664 512Mb Corsair Value Select, DDR, PC2700, non ECC, Lifetime Warranty £28.30 £33.25
LN8089 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Inc. SP2 OEM Single £48.05 £56.46
LN7917 Akasa AK-827 Socket A up to XP3400+, 24.26 dB(A) Ultra Quiet £5.69 £6.69

EBAY!! i bought a skt 754 mobile athlon 2800+ (£24 +10 p&P) a brand new msi k8tneo £25 +6 p&P & an arctic cooler 64 tc for £2.75 + 4 p&p alright the mobo's not a good o/c'er but the rest is cool for peanuts! (it's all i could afford :(