Possible client PC for under $200

[mkenyon2]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...etailspecs

Would need a bit, but might be a good client.

[pBS]

it looks like you crashed the whole site! lol
i can't get anything to show from tiger direct now..whole site doesn't come up...
http://www.tigerdirect.com/ nada...
bummer...

lets see what i built mine for..
$59 for 945gct-1333 mb + celeron cpu[1.6g solo] w/fan [Fry's]
$49 for 2g ddr2 memory
$24 microatx case
$17 400w ps w/120mmfan
$49 ATI HD3450 PCIE [blueray! 1080p! HDMIw/audio!]
$49 320g Maxtor 7200rpm 16m cache
$29 dvd burner
------------------
$276

[mkenyon2]

Not sure why it didn't work:
IBM Netvista Refurbished Intel Desktop Computer - Intel Pentium 4 2.6GHz, 512MB DDR, 40GB HDD, CD-ROM, 10/100Mbps LAN, XP Pro

You've got better RAM, video, HD, and a burner.

I retract my statement...

[pBS]

they are mostly sale items tho so you'd have to be diligent about finding good prices...but Fry's and other suppliers should be able to match it with parts if you look thru the ads...

the netvista system isn't bad tho for a complete system..hard to get lower end systems these days for any price..i wonder where all the unsold ones go?
[probably schools as full value tax writeoffs]

[bdgbill]

This is pretty much the same machine as my GBPVR rig. I have owned four off-lease IBM machines and have never had a hardware failure of any kind.

One of the bonuses of this machine is the case. It's black, horizontal and matches most home theater compnents very well. I have my new Toshiba HD-A3 DVD player sitting on top of the Netvista and they look like they were made for each other.

Thanks for the post. I may pick one of these up. The only thing holding me back is that it has been my experience that shopping at TigerDirect is a lot like Russian Roulette. There are usually no problems but when there is a problem it tends to be a very bad problem.

[fender]

It's not bad but I'd still avoid a "Netburst"-based system. too much heat/energy consumption for mediocre results.

[gazoo]

Look at my sig, same thing but slower CPU:

[gazoo]

it looks like you crashed the whole site! lol
i can't get anything to show from tiger direct now..whole site doesn't come up...
http://www.tigerdirect.com/ nada...
bummer...

lets see what i built mine for..
$59 for 945gct-1333 mb + celeron cpu[1.6g solo] w/fan [Fry's]
$49 for 2g ddr2 memory
$24 microatx case
$17 400w ps w/120mmfan
$49 ATI HD3450 PCIE [blueray! 1080p! HDMIw/audio!]
$49 320g Maxtor 7200rpm 16m cache
$29 dvd burner
------------------
$276

pBS-

Just curious, that will run 1080p..really? It's only a celeron. I thought that the cpu had more to do with the video than the video card itself. I'm confused :confused:

[bdgbill]

It's not bad but I'd still avoid a "Netburst"-based system. too much heat/energy consumption for mediocre results.

According to my "Kill-A-Watt" my machine pulls a steady 150 watts at 100% cpu (I run Folding at home on my GBPVR machine so it's at 100% 24/7).

I don't have anything to compare this to but it doesn't seem so bad.

As far as mediocre results...PVRX2 menus are very fast and look great. I can watch video while transcoding and burning a DVD at the same time. This is with just 512M of Ram. Not sure what I would gain from more horsepower.

[fender]

According to my "Kill-A-Watt" my machine pulls a steady 150 watts at 100% cpu (I run Folding at home on my GBPVR machine so it's at 100% 24/7).

I don't have anything to compare this to but it doesn't seem so bad.

As far as mediocre results...PVRX2 menus are very fast and look great. I can watch video while transcoding and burning a DVD at the same time. This is with just 512M of Ram. Not sure what I would gain from more horsepower.

Yeah, mediocre results. I don't mean to offend but start trying to decode 720p H.264 and you'll see the problem. I personally have a P4 2.6Ghz 800Mhz FSB based HTPC and it just barely gets that done.

The other big problem with most netburst based systems is that they're nearly all AGP which means getting a card that can assist with h.264 decoding is a lot more expensive than the PCIe counterpart.

I would bet that pBS' system uses less than 150 watts @ load.