Today was spent searching for a cheap built computer with WinXP on it. Either all the computers are being upgraded or no one buys computers in January. (Looks like Amarillo isn’t the only city.) Anyway, I want to try out Windows Vista, but w/o wiping and rebuilding my main PC, though it needs it. There’s usually about 3 days of heavy and 2 wks of light-medium installing. That’s just boring.
So, I’m buying parts in building a Vista PC. It should be interesting. I’ve been shifting philosophies away from the 1 super storage, super fast computer to the fast, out-of-sight, silent workstation + fat, massive storage server in the closet. This will be the second box with that design. The one I made for Grandma 2 yr ago was the first. A Via CPU smaller than your college Intro Psychology textbook.
Case: IN WIN IW-BT611T.240SL MicroATX 230W $39.99
Motherboard: MSI K9VGM-V VIA K8M890 $51.99
CPU: X2 3800+ 65W $135.00
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint P Series SP2514N 250GB $68.99
DVD: have one
Memory: DDR2 667MHz $85.49
Case Fan: 22 dBa 80 mm $2.49
Video: GigaByte nVidia 7300GS 128MB $53.99
Shipping: FexEx $46.12
Total: $484.06
Plus Vista Home Premium $200
By my estimate the computer won’t exceed 200W. That’s less than half the main computer.
CPU: 65W
HDD: 25W
DVD: 25W
Fans: 5W
Video: 35W
Total: 155W