I found one used with 14mo left on the warranty -- Dimension 4700, P4 3Ghz, 512mb dual channel DDR2, 40gb serial ata HD, onboard 5.1 sound, onboard video -- but it has a 16x PCIe slot for a video card, so that's not a problem. $290 shipped -- I'm hoping it'll be significantly faster than my old 1.6a@2.133 that died on me (at a LAN party, no less )...

Dude.... :banned:

It sounds like Dell took a desktop, and put the worst implementations of good ideas in it. I mean, a Prescott (true, it's Dell, but still) DDR2 memory but only 512mb of it, and a SATA HDD but only 40gb.

It'll be a decent rig, but you'll be needing an air conditioner just for it, most likely.

Dude, you got a Dell.... with onboard video no less *cringes*

yeah, i would add more cooling.

plus, you could do a lot worse than dell

*cough* compaq + emachines *cough*

He paid $290 for it, shipped. That leaves plenty of money for upgrades.

Not true on compaq. They have AMD boxes.

But true, you really can't beat that price point.

[QUOTE=Dj Yoshi]Not true on compaq. They have AMD boxes.

But true, you really can't beat that price point.[/QUOTE]
Every AMD compaq that I've ever owned has come undercooled, and those AMDS can get as hot as the warm bubbly rivers of hell.

Keep in mind...SATA drives are cheap -- I found 160gb for 69 bucks. I still have two free DIMMs..so more RAM isn't a problem.

If you can build me a cheaper system for under $300, let me know -- that's motherboard, RAM, processor, HSF, case, power supply, video card (unless onoard..if onboard, must have PCIE)..personally, I couldn't do it. The processor alone is about 175 bucks at Newegg..and while it's a touch slower than a Northwood at the same clock speed, it should put my old 1.6a Northwood to shame.

Again..if anybody can beat the price, let me know!

I'll admit the price is pretty darned good. (i.e. less than a tenth of what I paid for my compy last year; haha)