Bargain Hardware Thread

[E_tron]

well, we have the taxes associated with electricity and a small service fee, but they are infinitesimal because of the low rate (LA pays a percentage in tax). My bill averages ~40usd a month. The electricity is probably subsidized by city and parish (Louisiana's county system) taxes (fairly high for the region, but its worth it).

LUS operates 2 coal fired plants and buys peak power from Cleco and some nuclear energy from somewhere near New Orleans.

[uigrad]

Essentials for a budget mprime desktop:
cheapo quad core processor ($200)
cheapo motherboard ($45)
cheapo power supply ($40)
cheapo memory ($40)
cheapo hard drive ($75)

This takes you up to $400, and you don't have a case, video card, cd rom, keyboard, or mouse yet.

So, this deal for $400 (& free shipping) is pretty sweet:

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor 2.40 GHz
• 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-667 memory (2 more open slots available)
• 400 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA II hard drive
• 16X super multi-format dual layer DVD±RW drive
• 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT Video Card
• Analog/digital TV tuner with 3-D combination (AVerMedia M791 PCI-Express x1)
• Integrated 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio
• Integrated Intel 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN
• 802.11b/g Wireless LAN (PCI)
• Windows Vista Home Premium

Still need a monitor though.

Link to a discussion thread: http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=968691

[ixfd64]

Windows Vista Home Premium

.

[db597]

Originally Posted by uigrad

So, this deal for $400 (& free shipping) is pretty sweet:[LIST][*]Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor 2.40 GHz[*]2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-667 memory (2 more open slots available)

Your quad is going to be bottlenecked by the DDR2-667 - will probably scale around 2.5x of a single core. You'll be better off with an E5200 (Wolfdale), which is cheaper and overclocks higher with less power consumption. With a little voltage, some people get close to 4GHz overclocks.

[uigrad]

Do not want

Nor would I. Fortunately, COA's sell pretty well on Ebay, and it is easy enough to replace it with linux.

Originally Posted by db597

Your quad is going to be bottlenecked by the DDR2-667 - will probably scale around 2.5x of a single core. You'll be better off with an E5200 (Wolfdale), which is cheaper and overclocks higher with less power consumption. With a little voltage, some people get close to 4GHz overclocks.

Yes, I noticed that. The motherboard is a Intel® (Schroeder Town) G33, which supports up to up to 8GB of DDR2-800. It's hard to know if the memory could be overclocked at all. If it can be overclocked to 1033, buying 2GB would be cheap enough to still retain its deal status.

Unfortunately, buy.com is now saying that the item is no longer available, so it doesn't really matter now

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by db597

Your quad is going to be bottlenecked by the DDR2-667 - will probably scale around 2.5x of a single core. You'll be better off with an E5200 (Wolfdale), which is cheaper and overclocks higher with less power consumption. With a little voltage, some people get close to 4GHz overclocks.

You only have the bottleneck if you run 4 LL tests. If you run LL tests on two cores and factoring on two cores, you don't have any bottleneck issues.

[uigrad]

Ok, here's another deal, slightly better than the last, if you can find one you want. The machines are refurbished, and inventory is constantly changing, but here's one that went for $357 + $30 shipping:

• Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz
• 3GB DDR2-800 Memory
• 500GB 7200RPM Serial ATA II Hard Drive
• 16x DVD+/-RW Burner
• USB Keyboard
• Dell Optical USB 2-button Mouse
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
• Microsoft Works 9.0

Instructions:
1) Choose either slim (530s/531s) or regular (530/531) category from here: http://www.dell.com/content/products...=22&l=en&s=dfh
2) At next category choice, take the 530 (or 530s). Now filter results based on processor until you find one you like (must be at least $300 for coupon to work).
3) use 20% off coupon code G695$49?ZG9R3W. It only works for 530 and 530s.

If you don't like the choices, come back later, they constantly change.

There's a similar deal for laptops. Full details at slickdeals: http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthr...20525&t=970541

[uigrad]

I have another deal for a pre-built with a Q6600. This one is from Dell Small Business, and it comes with a 24" flat panel:

1. Click Here and select the following:
2. Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6600 (2.40GHz,2X4M L2Cache,1066FSB) [Free Upgrade!]
3. Dell 24 inch Widescreen E248WFP Analog Flat Panel Display
4. Single Drive: 16X (DVD+/-RW) Burner Drive [Included in Price]
SPECIAL OFFER - SAVE $30.
5. 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ [Included in Price]
SPECIAL OFFER - SAVE $20.
6. Click Here for 30% off $699 Dell SB code. (Expires Nov. 5th) ($4.99)

TOTAL PRICE: $601. If you choose the 22" monitor instead, then final price is $517.


It comes with 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (800MHz), and just a 250 GB
drive, but if you are like me, you'll have parts lying around that can replace those.

It also comes with "Vista Business w/ XP downgrade installed", which may be a plus for some people. I'd just wipe it out and put on my own OS, but not everyone out there is comfortable with linux yet.

The coupon ends today, so act fast. This deal comes from Slickdeals also, here's a link.

[Uncwilly]

I ran across a couple of refurbed but reliable boxen with operating system.

HP P4 3.0GHz Computer Loaded w XP $120

Dell FAST P4 2.8GHz XPPro $110

the site seems to have some deals on Core based machines too.

[petrw1]

I am NOT a hardware guy but willing to try so I could use some advice.

I have one of these which is 100% a GIMPS machine (no other considerations):

Model Intel(R) Pentium(R) III processor 
Features Single core, Prefetch,SSE 
Speed 0.863 GHz 
L1/L2 Cache 16 / 256 KB 
Computer Memory 255 MB

If I wanted to cheaply and easily upgrade it (not the forklift method), what components would I need to remove and replace OR add considering inter-component compatibilities or other limitations? I am talking about opening the case and physically exchanging parts.

All of: Motherboard, RAM and CPU?

OR am I wasting my time? Should I just forklift it?

[CADavis]

look on ebay or somewhere for a faster PIII. you might be able to find one up to 1.4ghz. that's all I would do, personally.