AMD Athlon X2 Processor + ECS Motherboard + 4GB Memory + 320GB Drive for $161.96

[Spoofee]

AMD Athlon X2 Processor + ECS Motherboard + 4GB Memory + 320GB Drive for $161.96

Newegg.com has all the following for a good price.
- AMD Athlon X2 7550 Kuma 2.5Ghz Socket AM2 Processor
- ECS A780GM-A AM2+/AM2 AMD Motherboard
- Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400 DDR Memory
- Western Digital 320GB SATA Hard Drive

1. Newegg Price : $184.96 Shipped
2. Rebate1 Price : -$10.00 ( Exp : 07/15/09 )
3. Rebate2 Price : -$20.00 ( exp : 07/15/09 )
Final Price : $154.96 After Rebate + Ship($7)

 

[spydo3x]

nice!

wow thats a nice start on a cool system..

 

[n2vip]

Agreed, but a few caveats

wow thats a nice start on a cool system..

There are a few things to note, before deciding if this combo is right for you:

First off, the CPU is "OEM", which means it ships without a CPU cooling fan - if you don't have one available, you'll need to price those to really evaluate the savings here.

Second, the MB takes up to 32 Gigs of RAM, which is GREAT, but I'm not sure where you'll find 8 Gig RAM sticks anytime soon for a reasonable price (i.e. 4x the price of a 2 Gig stick).

The MB supports SATA RAID 0/1/5/10, which is great, but may only work with Windows operating systems - some refer to these types of controllers as "fake RAID" since they don't support other OSs, like Linux, Solaris, *BSD, etc. Not a problem, just understand not all features will likely be supported in all operating systems.

Obviously, you'll need a case and PS to make a system, and you'll likely want an optical drive as well, again, unless you have these on hand, this will add to the cost and should be considered before determining the value this combo represents.

This is probably a great deal for someone with a older, under-spec system that is looking for a quick upgrade - just make sure your current system can take an ATX MB and that your PS is up to the demands of this MB. If you are starting from scratch, there could be $150-200 left to spend on this combo to make it a full system, plus an OS license (if required), and as you approach $350-500 (if you need everything plus a Windows OS license), you may find it better to wait for a deal from one of the big system builders (Dell, for example) and get everything together, with a warranty, and a bundled OS pre-installed.

 

[n2vip]

As a follow-up, Dell is having a deal on a nice desktop for $450 - AMD X4 quad-core 9650 CPU (2.3 GHz, 2 MB cache), 4 Gig RAM (4x 1 Gig DIMMs, no free slots), 500 Gig SATA drive, DVD-R/W, similar integrated ATI HD3200 graphics card, and bundled Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 and a one year warranty. (includes USB keyboard and mouse)

This is not a phenominal deal, but for someone starting from scratch, it's a heck of a system for under $500.

 

[jihiggs]

ECS is a gamble, they make very unreliable boards.

 

[Jonez176]

I don't mean to rain on anybody's parade, but when I see a post with this much incorrect/irrelevant information, I feel compelled to correct it for the sake of the community.

Second, the MB takes up to 32 Gigs of RAM, which is GREAT, but I'm not sure where you'll find 8 Gig RAM sticks anytime soon for a reasonable price (i.e. 4x the price of a 2 Gig stick).

The fact that it supports up to 32GB RAM is important to know. There are still boards out there that only support up to 1GB RAM. And you think there won't be 8GB sticks in 5 years? Please...

The MB supports SATA RAID 0/1/5/10, which is great, but may only work with Windows operating systems - some refer to these types of controllers as "fake RAID" since they don't support other OSs, like Linux, Solaris, *BSD, etc. Not a problem, just understand not all features will likely be supported in all operating systems.

However, other operating systems DO support software RAID, which is actually the same thing as what you're getting with Windows + the driver. In fact, there's research that suggests software RAID is faster in the other operating systems due to the operating system architecture and the recent boost in CPU technology.

Obviously, you'll need a case and PS to make a system, and you'll likely want an optical drive as well, again, unless you have these on hand, this will add to the cost and should be considered before determining the value this combo represents.

This is actually a good reason to build your own PC. The case/fans/PSU are one-time costs and will only need to be replaced very sparingly (I have been using the same case/fans for ~15 years). When you buy from Dell, etc, you will never be able to use that case for anything else because they are designed with proprietary standards. And good luck finding replacement parts should anything break out of warranty, which leads me to my next point...

This is probably a great deal for someone with a older, under-spec system that is looking for a quick upgrade - just make sure your current system can take an ATX MB and that your PS is up to the demands of this MB. If you are starting from scratch, there could be $150-200 left to spend on this combo to make it a full system, plus an OS license (if required), and as you approach $350-500 (if you need everything plus a Windows OS license), you may find it better to wait for a deal from one of the big system builders (Dell, for example) and get everything together, with a warranty, and a bundled OS pre-installed.

Individual parts come with warranties that are MUCH better than what Dell offers. I think Dell offers you a free 1 year warranty while most PC parts are guaranteed from 5 years to LIFE.

Plus, there's the added satisfaction of knowing your computer inside and out. Knowing you built something with your bare hands. It's a good feeling.

 

[kmcheng]

I don't like ECS MB also, cheap MB often gives you trouble or inconvenient, I won't recommend unless you are really on a budget.
Most cases software RAID is slow as it takes CPU to handle the job. I rather a separate RAID chipset to do the job.