CHeap Study Computer, maybe some audio

[ernestrome]

Hello people, short time reader, first time poster. But you look like the people to ask about this kind of stuff.

So i'd like to build a system, i have put ones together from scrapped and begged parts in the p2 days.

I have monitor etc, so i just want to make a base unit.

I've seen the £99 exc vat barebones sempron64 at scan, and i was wondering if i could do any better than that for similar money.

I'd spend up to £150 on this project.

I have two fairly old harddrvies, i presume they're ide, will they be ok until i can afford some more cash for a sata drive?

The plan is to start with something basic, just using onboard graphics and upgrade bits as cashflow allows. I don't really game, but i do mess about with some audio production work, so a decent soundcard would be one future addition. Unlike many audio people i'm not terribly worried about fan noise etc, but obviously if it can be reduced that is good.

I'd like to go AMD, because the intel noise on adverts is the bane of my life and i don't want to support them. And the performance sounds better.

I'd really love to go with a s939 based system, to allow to upgrade to a better chip (maybe an opteron) in the future, but i'm not sure i can do it at this price level.

I like fairly plain smooth cases, no neon or silly plastic effects. Silver or black would be nice.

So i need a case, cpu, hopefully 512 ram, and a dvdrw if i can afford it.

I'd also like to put a linux distro on the small ide hard drive, as i dabbled in the past.

Thoughts?

[nvening]

no neons? what? ARE YOU CRAZY!

[ernestrome]

Haha i must be.

So should ijust go for the scan sempron 754 system, or could i build a differnet one with better parts for slightly more?

[Oakleyb]

aria are doing a 99+VAT+del for a mobo/cpu/mem/case/psu...

2600+ Sempron, Asrock mobo, 256mb 3200, 420W PSU are the specs (from memory)

only problem they're out of stock! It seems to have been a very popular deal

www.aria.co.uk

[Stompy]

For a 939 system, you can get an Asus K8M800, Opteron 144, 512mb RAM and a generic case with PSU for £185, from scan.co.uk

[peterb]

I have built 3 of the Asus barebones systems (from SCAN) - excellent machines generally. 2 are Intel Celerons running (initially) Windows ME (yeeeuch) and now running Linux (RH 9) The third is an Atlon based, again running Linix RH9. This has had a couple of snags, particularly when running processor intensive application such as GRIP, which caused the PSU to shutdown on overheat. Modification to the airflow, an additional fan and removal of one of the blanking panels in the drive bay sorted that out. So overall, no reservations - they are small, take standard components, and I think offer good value for money.

[ernestrome]

Thank you, that opteron sysyem might just be the ticket.