Computer Question

[Zoid]

Avoid Dell at all costs. But otherwise it sounds like a sweet deal

[Mao]

Originally posted by Zoid
Avoid Dell at all costs. But otherwise it sounds like a sweet deal

The friend's deal?

[Zoid]

Yep. But the hard drive is a bit small and old. I´d haggle a bit if I were you.

[Mao]

Eh, I don't mind if he makes a bit of money off of me, just something reasonable. $50 or so I wouldn't mind... *shrug*

[Zoid]

It was something like that I was thinking of as well...

[Mao]

Hmmm...damnit then...

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by LordShiva
Looks like a decent deal. You could replace the processor for pretty cheap, too.

But please don't call us "Polytubbies."

Polytubbies are as polytubbies do.

[RGBVideo]

I would buy the package with the monitor to save some $$$, but then again I know I wouldn't gonna need it to run the most graphically heavy games for the next few years, cIV and Paradox's strategy games will work for me.

[Urban Ranger]

The Dell box is a PoS. I don't know why any individual users would want a Dell because you can build one with much better components. If you can't pay somebody $50 to do so.

[SpencerH]

I bought a Dell because I didnt feel like going through all the research, then pricing out what I wanted, dealing with the potential of bad parts, etc.

I went to Dell and waited until a slightly used machine was available with the components I wanted and at the price I wanted.

[Urban Ranger]

I can tell you that I now completely detest MSI.

That pathetic PoS K8N Neo2 Platinum mobo went bonkers on me this morning. It didn't die, oh no. Just that somewhere in the multi-layer PCB a short developed, and this was what I found out after two hours of diagnosis.

It took me the rest of the day and ~$250 to get my computer back to working condition.

MSI, I curse at thee.

[Mao]

Hmm...so how much do you think my friend's computer is actually worth? $450? $500?

Also, what would a machine with the following specs be worth?

-Intel Pentium 4 1.4 GHz 32-bit Processor
-Amptron P4-M920 Motherboard
-VIA VT8753(P4X266)/VT8233 Chipset
-512 MB SDRAM (I don't know the specifics off the top of my head, but I can look it up if you need to although I doubt it's relevant for your purposes)
-XFX nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT AGP with 128 MB VRAM
-Maxtor 6Y160P0 160 GB IDE ATA133 Hard Drive
-NEC ND-3500AG DL-DVD+/-RW Burner
-VIA AC'97 4-channel Audio Codec
-10/100 VIA Rhine-II NIC
-3x rear IEEE1394a Firewire Ports
-7x USB 2.0 Ports (2 front, 5 rear)
-2x Rear USB 1.1 Ports

[alva]

See what the components are worth, there's plenty of places where you can do that. I think even a link was provided in an earlier post.

That machine is not worth much, the only good item on that list is the videocard, which is too fast for the other components, degrading it's performance.

[notyoueither]

Re: Computer Question

Originally posted by Mao
Hello Polytubbies,

So I'm in the market for a new desktop computer. My friend offered to sell me his for $550 (without a monitor or keyboard/mouse included, although I have a keyboard/mouse, but I'd have to buy a new monitor), and it's used:

> -AMD Athlon64 3000+ 1.8 GHz 64-bit Processor
> -MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Motherboard
> -nVIDIA nForce3 Ultra Chipset
> -2GB Dual-Channel DDR PC3200, running at 400 MHz (using latency timings of
> 2.5-3-2-5)
> -XFX nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT AGP with 128 MB VRAM
> -Maxtor 6Y160P0 160 GB IDE ATA133 Hard Drive
> -NEC ND-3500AG DL-DVD+/-RW Burner
> -Realtek ALC850 AC'97 8-channel Audio Codec
> -2x Gigabit Ethernet (Realtek 8110S & nVIDIA nForce NICs)
> -1x Rear IEEE1394a Firewire Port (with internal headers for 2 more)
> -8x USB 2.0 Ports (2 front, 6 rear)

Is this a good deal?

It's a bit steep, but if it is a good, working computer it could be worth more than the simple value of the used parts. It's a lot like a car.

Just winging it in Canadian dollars:
$75 > -AMD Athlon64 3000+ 1.8 GHz 64-bit Processor
$50 > -MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Motherboard
$200 > -2GB Dual-Channel DDR PC3200, running at 400 MHz
$50 > -XFX nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT AGP with 128 MB VRAM
$50 > -Maxtor 6Y160P0 160 GB IDE ATA133 Hard Drive
$20 > -NEC ND-3500AG DL-DVD+/-RW Burner

Any working MBd, CPU combo is easily worth $100 if they are not too old. The processor is aging, but not too old.

The RAM has a lot of value, but I'm a bit high considering the price of new DDR-2.

The video card is nice, but is only 128M and PCI express is cheaper chip for chip now.

The drives (hard and optical) are easily, and cheaply replaced these days.

The rest is of little value or is a function of the MBd.

He isn't selling the Windows license with it is he?

Still, a computer that works well has some additional value over an unknown used system. There are a lot of lemons being peddled.

[snoopy369]

$550 feels expensive for me, for that setup. My current computer cost maybe $700, a bit less probably, to build, and it was significantly better...

Don't price the above parts, either. A lot of the older processors cost more than they're worth due to the lack of supply, and the original cost to make them. When you can get a modern processor for $150, why consider a processor half the speed to be worth the $120 it's selling for?

Basic computer:
Motherboard: $100 to $150 (mid range) $50-$80 (low range)
CPU: $150 (dual core low range) $80-$100 (single core, low range); around $250 d.c. mid range
HDD: $50 (150gb) to $80 (250gb)
CDRW/DVD: Free if you have one already, otherwise $50ish. Or get a used one (see below).
Memory: $80-$100 for 1GB, $150-$180 for 2GB. Somewhat cheaper if you bargain hunt or buy 'cheap' brands.
Video Card: $70-$100 for low-end but good enough for most gaming (ie civ4); $150-$200 for mid-range for high performance.
Case and power supply: Add in at least another $80 for these, unless you're recycling these from an old computer.
Sound: Buy a motherboard w/integrated sound, most have it, or add in $40 or so for a sound card.

I think that's it... adding ...

That's about $510 for the 'low end' system, meaning still a system better than your friend's, excepting the memory being 1gb; and $820 for a 'mid range' system, with 2gb of memory and much better stuff. [$550 would roughly get you the above system with 2gb ram, give or take.] By "Low End" I mean around an athlon 3700 or thereabouts, by the way.

Then add on $100 for a cheap CRT monitor, or $300+ for a nicer monitor (but that's necessary anyway), and $100 for a copy of XP (unless you have that already and are transferring).

Remember you can reuse old computer parts Also obtainable used for VERY cheap, look around university websites (like marketplace.uchicago.edu for the U of Chicago, as an example). Both monitors and random parts of computers (including whole computers useful for salvage) are available on sites like that, at most major universities.