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[Hardware] Building a Budget Machine
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Posted by: The-AoD
I'm sure alot of people who build thier own systems sit in the same shoes as I do. Having to pick and choose where to sacrifice something to get a gain somewhere else. In this guide we'll build an imaginary budget machine and see where cutting corners can save us money over buying the best of the best.
First, the things to remember. When building a system, you need to have a few basic components to have an up and running system.
- Processor
- Motherboard
- RAM (Memory)
- Hard Drive (Storage)
- CD-Rom (99% of todays software is distributed on these, so it's a must have)
- Video card
- Sound card
- Power supply and a case
- Monitor
- Mouse and keyboard
Lets look into what's the most important factors for a computers overall performance. We'll just design an average users system that will be doing stuff such as, mild gaming, watching DVD's, e-mail and web surfing, Music programs (mp3's and CD's) and the normal user applications such as microsoft word and excel.
Now first thing to look at is the processor. Whichever way you go, Intel or AMD, is up to you totally. For our application, we'll go with an intel chip, since alot more people understand intel's chip ratings. For an average system, where you won't need the best of the best, there's definetly no reason to buy the top end processor for the most expensive price (i.e. the Pentium IV 3.2ghz Extreme Edition). We'd easily get away with buying something like a P4 2.6Ghz or maybe even a 2.4Ghz. We won't need alot of processor power for mild gaming and multimedia.
Since we have our 2.6Ghz 800Mhz FSB processor, we'll need a motherboard for it. There are so many to choose from. Different chipsets, different manufacturers.. It can be quite confusing at times. But remember, we're making an average system. So we won't need all the extras. In this case I would definetly select something like the Intel 865 chipset. While the chipset usually comes with AGP 4x/8x compatibility, it also can run the hyperthreading CPU's and also supports DDR Dual channel. So let's say we'll pick up an intel 865PE based board. It's not the best but it's not the worst. It'll do everything we need it to do.
As for the ram, this is somewhere you won't want to slack off much. If you have no intentions of ever overclocking, then you can slack a little more here. Always get the right ram for the application, in our budget system, our CPU and motherboard supports Dual Channel DDR. So we'll need two chips of the same ram to get the most out of the chip and ram. Now we don't need a crapload of ram. An average user only needs 512mb anymore, so let's use this to our advantage. All we'll need is something like 2 256mb PC3200 (DDR400) chips of the same model/make. We can get this near as cheap as a single stick of 512mb but we'll also be able to use the dual channel, so for a couple more bucks, we're doubling our RAM's data rate.
Now that we have our main components, we need something to store software and information on. Here's somewhere you can slack off quite a bit depending on your wants of performance. Hard drives come in many sizes and speeds. There's many different options on hard drives, but the main things to look at are size and speed. Now an average person doesn't need a ton of space, and doesn't need a blazing fast hard drive. We don't want something to small and slow, so a decent average hard drive would be a 60gb drive running at 7200rpm. This would work very well for our application, while also saving a quite a bit of money over a huge drive with insane speed, when in fact, waiting a couple seconds longer can save you quite a few dollars in a budget system.
One of the most important things in todays systems. The video card. There's always new video cards and better things to get and have. If you're going for gaming, it's always best never to slack off at all here. But since we're doing an average budget system, we'll go with something that does the job in mild gaming, and also is a wallet saver. Now the top end stuff is always going to be alot more expensive then the "lower end" models. And for a budget machine, we really don't need the best of the best, and we'll stick to the plan and get something like an ATI Radeon 9500 or a GeForce 4 Ti-4600. While they aren't as good as the newest models, they still will perform decently in our system.
Here we come to the sound card. Sound cards can be important, but sometimes a good place to cut the budget. Now if we're going to do some movie watching and gaming.. We're going to want something that's got the power to handle it, but doesn't have the power to kill the wallet either. A sound blaster Live card is suited decently for what we need, and they are cheap now. They may not be as "shiney" with all the toys that the newer audigy line comes with, but it will do what we need. That's where the budget comes into play yet again.
We have to have a CD-Rom for installing programs and applications don't we. The great thing about this is a CD or DVD burner can read the normal CD's and DVD's. So basically all we'll need is a DVD-Rom/CD-RW combo drive. You can easily find a decent one for a good price. This will let us watch our DVD's and then burn CD's from our MP3's!. The best of two worlds put into one. This is definetly a money saver, as we could go with a CD-RW drive then a DVD-Rom drive, but that's buying two seperate drives, and we're going for the budget. So the best of both worlds it is.
Ok, time to pick a power supply and case. This is an easy thing to choose, depending on what all you're gonna need in your system. If you're going to have a ton of hard drives, and accessories, then you'll want a really powerful power supply and a nice full tower case with alot of expansion bays. However for our system, we'll be using a single hard drive and a DVD-Rom/CD-Rom combo. So we won't be needing a ton of power, but still we have to provide enough for the system. We could easily fit all this into a mid-tower ATX with a 350w power supply. Again, while a 350w power supply and a mid tower case, may not be the best, it suits our needs and that will save us some money as well.
I'll put the monitor, mouse and keyboard together. This is a good place to save a few bucks. A monitor is a monitor to most people. But here are a couple things to look at while searching for a decent monitor. Find one with a decent resolution. 1280x1024 is enough for our machine, since we won't need anything more than that. You can cut corners here and there finding what fits the "I want" to the budget demands. Keyboards and mice can be treated the same way. Since we're not going with a hardcore gaming system, we don't have to have the best mouse and keyboard combo. You can find a decent pair for a low price almost anywhere these days. So our system will have say, a 17inch 1280x1024 resolution monitor and a wheelmouse with a standard keyboard.
So now we have a budget system, that we can turn on and run todays software and games on. It may not perform like a $5,000 gaming platform, but for our average user who only spent around $600-$700 bucks, it's well worth the price. And the machine is now, a budget machine.
Things to remember:- The best hardware is always more expensive then the "lower end". When in fact the "lower end" prices really don't describe the performance of them. "Just because it isn't the best, doesn't mean it's the worst."
- RAM is important. Matching the speed with the motherboard and processor is a good way to get the most out of your system.
- Hard drives can be an easy place to cut the price if you're willing to live with a smaller and slower drive than the best out there.
- Monitors are easily one of the best ways to cut around your budget. Most people don't care much for their monitor quality, as long as it looks decent to them. Whereas you could pay $800 for a really good one, you could easily find a decent one for around $100.
Conclusion:
We constructed an imaginary machine by cutting some corners here and there. The machine will be able to run all of todays applications, and do everything the average user would want it to do. This is the way to build a budget machine. You could build the same machine we did in this guide, but you can also take the example and build a machine purely for your needs. 
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