A budget PC should be ultra cheap but still manage to comfortably run common applications - pro PC builder Michael Leins picks the best components for one.
APC's Live Builds editor, Michael Leins, is a hardware engineer who worked in the R&D labs of a major PC maker and now oversees computing systems for a large hardware manufacturer. Leins loves building PCs, so here's his idea of a great Budget PC, whose components add up to around AUD$500-$550, depending on where you source them.
Leins says: "If you are looking for a Budget system the price point is the most important aspect, but you still want it to be good enough to run your applications."
CORE SYSTEM [added: Oct 10, 2010]
CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 635 QuadCore 2.9GHz - AUD$120
With the AMD Athlon II X4 635 we have a Quad core CPU for a unbeatable price. This CPU will do perfectly fine for your everyday applications and will be good enough if you have some encoding to do.
MOTHERBOARD: ASRock 890GM Pro3 - AUD$130
The ASRock 890GM Pro3 is based around AMD latest 890 Chipset. With its integrated ATI Radeon HD4290 it will do basic video works without a problem. Thanks to USB3, SATA3 and eSATA3 you get the latest technology while 1x VGA, 1x DVI and 2x HDMI ports will work with nearly every monitor on the market.
GRAPHICS: Integrated AMD Radeon HD 4290 - $0.00
The onboard graphics chipset is powerful enough to let you play and edit videos, although you can forget about gaming.
RAM: G.Skill 4GB DDR 1333MHz - AUD$100.00
4 GBs of G.Skill DDR3 1333MHz memory more than enough to run Windows 7 and you still have enough to give 512MB away to the integrated Video Card.
HARD DRIVES: Hitachi 500GB Deskstar 7K1000C - AUD$55
Hitachi is well known for its reliable hard drives. With a speed of 7200Rpm this is a fast hard drive that will not blow your budget.
OPTICAL DRIVE: Asus DRW24B1 - AUD$35
This ASUS DVD-RW drive is all you need, it writes all current DVD\CD formats and is really everything you can ask for. For around $35 dollars you can hardly go any better.
CASE: Gigabyte GZ-X1 - AUD$78
Gigabyte's GZ-X1 is a black Midi Tower case with an integrated 420W PSU. It fits most current ATX and Micro ATX motherboards is only around AUD$80.
PSU: 420W with Case - $0.00
Comes with the case.
TOTAL SYSTEM COST - (AUD$518)
Previous Budget machineMore Live BuildsDo you have suggestions for improving this system? If so, add your comments below.
