17 replies to this topic

[kmisterk]

EDIT: New Pics are up! Tell me what you think.

This one I call the Recycler, because I didn't purchase a single piece of hardware with this build new. I work at an electronics recycling center and I acquired everything that went into this build for free or extremely cheap.

Specs:

Case: Lian-Li Brushed Aluminum - Free from work
PSU: Cooler Master 850w PSU - 5 bucks from work
MainBoard: MSI G41M-P34 775 Socket Motherboard - 5 bucks from work
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad q6700 2.66 ghz, OC'ed to 3.2gHz - 20 bucks from work (purchased untested, lucky it worked) osx see's a quad-core xeon
CPU Cooling: OEM Intel Heat Sink - 2 bucks from work
Memory: Hynix 2x2gb 1333 DDR3 - 5 bucks from work
Video: Asus Dark Knight Radeon 4870 - 15 bucks from work
Boot Disc: 500 GB Seagate 7200rpm 3gb/s SataII HDD - Free from work
Optical Disc: Asus Sata 24x DVD-R/RW DL 54x CD-R/RW w/ LightScribe - 3 bucks from work
WiFi: Linksys WMP110 (Seen as AirPort Extreme, 802.11n 300Mb/s) - Free from work
BlueTooth: RocketFish Micro USB Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Module - Free from a friend
Monitors: Dual Samsung SyncMaster 226BW Extended Displays 1680 x 1050 Res - 20 bucks a piece from work
Input: Logitech Bluetooth Desktop MX5000 - 10 bucks from work
HeadSet: Triton USB Gaming Headset - 30 bucks from a friend

Grand total: $115 USD

Used Retail disc and related methods to install the OS

GeekBench: 6898 7315 after fine-tuning and no programs running (meh, not bad for a 115 dollar build, eh?)

Pics: Tell me what you think of the new case.







Thanks guys. Hope you enjoyed watching lol.
Hope to get your vote!

[Alessandro17]

Impressed by the value for money, LOL

P.S. The new case is nicer, of course.

You get my vote too. Hard to beat for the price.

[EvilMacMongo]

maybe if the wires inside were cleaned up a bit

[Gringo Vermelho]

Yeah that's a pretty slick build for 115 dollars! It has a certain charm for sure.

/EDIT

like the new case.

[ZØØT]

Five bucks on the PSU? Sweet!

I guess I'll put up my Dell Dimension case job without fear now.

You topped me in the "top of the heap" department. Good job.

[kmisterk]

ZØØT, on 03 April 2012 - 03:55 PM, said:

Five bucks on the PSU? Sweet!

They sell PSU's by the pound here regardless of how awesome or sucky the psu is. So I gave them a 300% profit based on weight compared to what they would have if they sold it by sheer weight.

EvilMacMongo, on 03 April 2012 - 03:40 PM, said:

maybe if the wires inside were cleaned up a bit

Yeah, cable management has never been a strong suit. I'll do what I can tonight at home and reupload some pics. Maybe lol. And it doesn't help that I have a craptastic cell phone camera to work with and a room that has virtually no ambient lighting.

[Ed]

$115?! That's insane, way to go kmisterK!

[PunkNugget]

Very clean, and good for you on the pricing! Please do a GeekBench score. I've gotta know !!!

[kmisterk]

PunkNugget, on 06 April 2012 - 04:11 PM, said:

Very clean, and good for you on the pricing! Please do a GeekBench score. I've gotta know !!!

kmisterk, on 02 April 2012 - 04:07 AM, said:

GeekBench: 6898 7315 after fine-tuning and no programs running (meh, not bad for a 115 dollar build, eh?)

Ed, on 06 April 2012 - 02:14 PM, said:

$115?! That's insane, way to go kmisterK!

Thanks man. Took me 6 months to acquire the parts and hours upon hours to figure out how to get osx up and running. It's a constant work in progress

[PookyMacMan]

My vote is in. Case is classy, and wonderful value for the money.

[kmisterk]

Thanks, pooky

[BALDY_MAN]

great build for the money

[kmisterk]

Thanks i'm stoked. We got our first 1366 motherboard in today. It's got a bad capacitor, but that means there are more to come soon. I'm so excited.

[eep357]

replace the capacitor!

[kmisterk]

Unfortunately, I don't have the soldering skills required for that accurate of a job. Besides that, it was just the motherboard. No heat sink, no ram, no video card, no CPU. Having the motherboard nowadays isn't exactly a head start, considering the cheapest CPU I could find for it was an i7 920 on Ebay used for 189 with 2 days left on the bidding lol.

[eep357]

True, but depending on what you'd have to shell out for a broken mobo, I'd do it just to do it. Better to hone your soldering/desoldering skills on something you won't mind messing up just need a basic iron, solder, some flux and some desoldering braid. oh and another capacitor. I consider that a fun afternoon Not sure why 1366 cpu's are still so expensive At least triple channel ram is dirt cheap again.

[kmisterk]

I think the 1366 CPU's are so expensive cause the slowest ones they make are still relatively high end i7's

[G. Steel]

Sweet, awesome value for money!
I just found a whole Athlon 64 X2 4200+ based system with a bad CMOS battery.