Triple Cheapo Build

[trs3052]

Hello all, my name is Tom and I am getting back into the PC tinkering hobby. How long have I been away from it? The last PC I built was in 1997... I wanted to start off cheap and with some practice rigs that wouldn't break my heart if I ruined. My reintroduction consists of 3 PC's. Two are Compaq Persario SR2180NX's that were bought new back in 2006 I believe. These things are dinosaurs! Both were running XP with single core 2.2Mhz AMD processors (939 socket). One had a dead hard drive and the other was still working and was used for taxes all the way until 2014. The third PC is an HP Elite 8200 full form factor that I picked up from my local University surplus store for $20. I came with an i5 2400. There were others there that had an i5 3470, but they were $50-80 and I didn't feel like it was worth it for a cheapo build. 

 

[Tristerin]

6 minutes ago, trs3052 said:

Hello all, my name is Tom and I am getting back into the PC tinkering hobby. How long have I been away from it? The last PC I built was in 1997... I wanted to start off cheap and with some practice rigs that wouldn't break my heart if I ruined. My reintroduction consists of 3 PC's. Two are Compaq Persario SR2180NX's that were bought new back in 2006 I believe. These things are dinosaurs! Both were running XP with single core 2.2Mhz AMD processors (939 socket). One had a dead hard drive and the other was still working and was used for taxes all the way until 2014. The third PC is an HP Elite 8200 full form factor that I picked up from my local University surplus store for $20. I came with an i5 2400. There were others there that had an i5 3470, but they were $50-80 and I didn't feel like it was worth it for a cheapo build. 

 

The i5 2400 is like 5% or less slower than the i5 3470, and uses a bit less power.  Not a bad purchase at all.  I have the i5 3470 but at the time the options I had were the same price for the 2400.  I turned mine into an HTPC, and its glorious compared to using any other media I have tried.  For the $20 you paid you could resell just the CPU and make money btw.

 

Enjoy!  Hopefully your wallet enjoys it as well as it will be getting abused once you start diving back in LOL.

[trs3052]

The build plan for the Compaq's were pretty simple. Update the CPU to the highest the motherboard could accept, increase RAM, put in an SSD, and add a low-mid level GPU for retro gaming/kids Youtube and homework. Starting off with the CPU, these things will take up to an AMD Athlon 64 x2 4800+. I thought I was in luck as you can find those for $5 with free shipping. Problem is that those are AM2 socket. Finding one in a 939 socket turned out to be a completely different story. Not wanting to shell out $50+ for that, I instead picked up a 4200+ and 3800+ dual core. They were each under $10. It will be interesting to benchmark them against each other in the finished rigs to see if there is any noticeable difference. Two ADATA 120GB SSD's ran $20 a pop shipped. I got 4GB of matching RAM on ebay for a whopping $11 shipped and split them between the two rigs, bringing them to 3GB each. Last touch was getting two AMD R5 240 1GB GPU's. Those were $10 a pop. So here is the tally for these two builds as of today. 

 

PC's: free

CPU's: $23

RAM expansion: $11

New SSD's: $42

GPU's: $20

 

Total invested: $96

 

I am still waiting on the CPU's in the mail. I will bench build them to make sure they work. I want to build custom wood framed cases for both as I build furniture on the side. I will most likely set them up to dual boot XP and 64 but Ubuntu Mate. Most everything I use runs on Ubuntu Mate. 

[Tristerin]

5 minutes ago, trs3052 said:

The build plan for the Compaq's were pretty simple. Update the CPU to the highest the motherboard could accept, increase RAM, put in an SSD, and add a low-mid level GPU for retro gaming/kids Youtube and homework. Starting off with the CPU, these things will take up to an AMD Athlon 64 x2 4800+. I thought I was in luck as you can find those for $5 with free shipping. Problem is that those are AM2 socket. Finding one in a 939 socket turned out to be a completely different story. Not wanting to shell out $50+ for that, I instead picked up a 4200+ and 3800+ dual core. They were each under $10. It will be interesting to benchmark them against each other in the finished rigs to see if there is any noticeable difference. Two ADATA 120GB SSD's ran $20 a pop shipped. I got 4GB of matching RAM on ebay for a whopping $11 shipped and split them between the two rigs, bringing them to 3GB each. Last touch was getting two AMD R5 240 1GB GPU's. Those were $10 a pop. So here is the tally for these two builds as of today. 

 

PC's: free

CPU's: $23

RAM expansion: $11

New SSD's: $42

GPU's: $20

 

Total invested: $96

 

I am still waiting on the CPU's in the mail. I will bench build them to make sure they work. I want to build custom wood framed cases for both as I build furniture on the side. I will most likely set them up to dual boot XP and 64 but Ubuntu Mate. Most everything I use runs on Ubuntu Mate. 

Ive got the wood, and not the time yet to do my wooden box build.   Ive got an antique radio that's hallow to do something similar in but man...TIME! LOL

[trs3052]

I took the plan on the HP Elite a little further. This is one that my wife will be using for her transcription jobs as well as photo editing. This one had a short list. They pull the hard drives when they sell them in surplus, so it was another $20 120GB SSD for now. Will add a larger HDD as a second drive down the road. I bought two more sticks of matching RAM for $13, bringing the total to 8GB. Since the motherboard and PSU are proprietary, which is a epic pain in the side, I limited myself to a GPU that pulled less than 75 watts so that I didn't have to worry about PSU or any additional power connectors on the GPU. I ended up getting a second hand AMD RX 550 for $56, which I am hoping was a decent deal. It is the 2GB variety, but I doubt that will be an issue because I am not a big gamer. It's purpose is to run dual monitors for my wife's transcription and photo shop, as well as any video editing she will do in the future. I feel like this rig will be adequate for all of that. It will run Windows 10, though I might throw Ubuntu Mate on there as a secondary OS. This one is bench built right now, but I am waiting on the RX 550 to come in the mail. Pictures to come soon.

 

At the moment I have an old R5 220 in it to play with the dual monitors.

[trs3052]

2 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Ive got the wood, and not the time yet to do my wooden box build.   Ive got an antique radio that's hallow to do something similar in but man...TIME! LOL

I've looked at quite a few of those that were done in antique radios or with stained glass windows as the case sides. I was somewhat temped to go that route, but I decided it was best to stick with simplicity. The two old rigs will be mostly used by my kids, so I was thinking of making simple stackable boxes with a simple finish and just a power button on the front. It will have two cooling funnels to allow air to be pulled straight into the CPU fan and the GPU fan (the GPU fan will have to make a right angle). An additional vent will probably go towards the front, and all intakes will have a mesh dust catch. I might add a second fan alongside the original case fan for exhaust, though I feel that the original case fan and PSU should do a good enough job. I want to lay it out in as small a form factor as I can. There will be no optical drives or HDD's so that helps. The HP will end up bigger as it is a regular ATX and the Compaq's are mini ATX.

[Tristerin]

Just now, trs3052 said:

I've looked at quite a few of those that were done in antique radios or with stained glass windows as the case sides. I was somewhat temped to go that route, but I decided it was best to stick with simplicity. The two old rigs will be mostly used by my kids, so I was thinking of making simple stackable boxes with a simple finish and just a power button on the front. It will have two cooling funnels to allow air to be pulled straight into the CPU fan and the GPU fan (the GPU fan will have to make a right angle). An additional vent will probably go towards the front, and all intakes will have a mesh dust catch. I might add a second fan alongside the original case fan for exhaust, though I feel that the original case fan and PSU should do a good enough job. I want to lay it out in as small a form factor as I can. There will be no optical drives or HDD's so that helps. The HP will end up bigger as it is a regular ATX and the Compaq's are mini ATX.

My advice for your .... future endeavors as you go down this rabbit hole of getting into PCs again (its my hobby as well!) sign up for Newegg newsletters, and Newegg Flash newsletters.  Daily emails with huge reduction in hardware prices.  I actually really enjoy using retro stuff.  Did my i5 3470 last year, just ordered another PCI Sata II jbod card for it...cause lol...it went on sale plenty enough to justify buying and fumbling around with old hardware LOL. 

[BLLDoesTech]

Funny part is I own both those computers as well. The HP Elite is a non standard design so it won't be anything like a normal computer

[trs3052]

10 hours ago, BLLDoesTech said:

Funny part is I own both those computers as well. The HP Elite is a non standard design so it won't be anything like a normal computer

I had the thought of just getting a regular ATX case for the HP Elite, as well as a higher level GPU. It's frustratingly proprietary. No additional power connectors on the PSU, which is a non-standard size, and the motherboard won't easily hook up to a standard ATX PSU without having to do some creative wiring. I just decided to leave it how it is and just do a motherboard powered GPU. I do have a spare new 400W PSU that might turn into a full scratch build project in the future.... after I finish these three.

[BLLDoesTech]

9 hours ago, trs3052 said:

I had the thought of just getting a regular ATX case for the HP Elite, as well as a higher level GPU. It's frustratingly proprietary. No additional power connectors on the PSU, which is a non-standard size, and the motherboard won't easily hook up to a standard ATX PSU without having to do some creative wiring. I just decided to leave it how it is and just do a motherboard powered GPU. I do have a spare new 400W PSU that might turn into a full scratch build project in the future.... after I finish these three.

Yup really frustrating. I wanted to use the case because of how large it is, but the I/O is PERMANENTLY in the case

I just ended up upgrading mine to an i7 860, 8GB RAM, and a GT 1030

[Tristerin]

11 hours ago, trs3052 said:

I had the thought of just getting a regular ATX case for the HP Elite, as well as a higher level GPU. It's frustratingly proprietary. No additional power connectors on the PSU, which is a non-standard size, and the motherboard won't easily hook up to a standard ATX PSU without having to do some creative wiring. I just decided to leave it how it is and just do a motherboard powered GPU. I do have a spare new 400W PSU that might turn into a full scratch build project in the future.... after I finish these three.

This is the fun part.  The HP Pro 6300 was as well.  You can buy these cables that can put an ATX PSU in it.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAGPR7D05063&ignorebbr=1&source=googleshopping&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-AyaGroup-_-Home+Electronics+Accessories-_-9SIAGPR7D05063&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqY_B6dDj3wIVBavsCh23LQggEAQYAyABEgKCEfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

That one is specific to my motherboard connectors but they make all kinds of stuff. 

 

If you are having issues finding upgrades, or daisychains of cables to make it more modern let me know, I may have already researched it

[trs3052]

On 1/10/2019 at 9:28 AM, Tristerin said:

This is the fun part.  The HP Pro 6300 was as well.  You can buy these cables that can put an ATX PSU in it.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAGPR7D05063&ignorebbr=1&source=googleshopping&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-AyaGroup-_-Home+Electronics+Accessories-_-9SIAGPR7D05063&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqY_B6dDj3wIVBavsCh23LQggEAQYAyABEgKCEfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

That one is specific to my motherboard connectors but they make all kinds of stuff. 

 

If you are having issues finding upgrades, or daisychains of cables to make it more modern let me know, I may have already researched it

After deliberating for some time, I decided I will stick with the OEM PSU, for simplicity and cheapness sake. I already have all the parts for it so now I am onto the case building part. I got the RX 550 in the mail finally and got everything up and running. I stress tested it for a full day and ran benchmarks and everything is good to go. I will stress test again when I have it in the case to make sure that my ideas of airflow and whatnot actually worked. One bit I had to overcome was the CPU cooler. It was mounted onto the case. I got some capped nuts from Home Depot for a over a dollar and that solved the problem. 

[trs3052]

For some icing on the cake, I am going to throw in a fourth PC project. This is one I helped my oldest nephew get. For a whopping $80, he got this HP Z800 equipped with the 850W PSU and dual X-5560 Xeons. It came with four sticks of 2GB ram. So far he added a $20 120GB SSD to get it running (the old ATI card was burnt out so we put my old R5 220 in just to run a monitor). The plan is to fill all the slots with similar sticks of RAM and add a GTX 970 (has two 6-pin connectors ready to go). He wanted to get into PC's and learn about how they work and how to build one. He is starting college and is a decent gamer. I think this is a good starter project: Dual quad core, 32GB RAM, GTX 970, SSD boot drive and 2TB HDD that cost about $250 when everything is said and done. Not bad. I kinda wish it was mine actually...

[trs3052]

Got the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 in the mail. It only took USPS 21 days to ship it First Class!!! Geez. As is always the concern with buying older components that are most likely well used, they might not work. That might be the case for this one. Put it in the board and got it ready to install Ubuntu and test everything. It wont do anything. With the R5 240 GPU installed, I get a picture of the Compaq start up screen with the option to go into boot menu or BIOS. However, even with a keyboard plugged into the PS2 port, it is unresponsive. When taking the GPU off and plugging the monitor into the motherboard, I get a blank screen. Have yet to throw the old CPU back in and see if it does the same thing. I will also try this CPU in the other motherboard to see if it works on there. If you have any suggestions as to if I missed something when going from an AMD Athlon 64 3400 to this new one (single core 2.2 Mhz to Dual core 2.0 Mhz), please let me know. Compaq states that this motherboard can handle anything up to an X2 4800. This is definitely a setback... But hey, isn't that part of the journey?

 

Also, I have decided that I want to build the HP Elite build into an under the desk mounted box. I would like to go for a super clean hidden setup. Just dual monitors, a wireless keyboard and mouse, and a power button embedded in the surface of the desk.

[trs3052]

So further investigation traced me back to the new CPU. After pulling it out and doing some examination, turns out that one of the pins is clearly missing! The seller listed it as tested and working condition, so I am in the process with eBay to dispute it. At this point, I am ready to drop the old Compaq's as I have only sunk about $24 into them and don't want to waste anymore on them. They really just don't have much usable life in them. To keep this thread accurate though, as I am doing three cheapo builds, I need to replace the two Compaqs. So we will put my Nephew's Z800 in this thread, and I will need to come up with something. He wants to do a full custom build, and he wants to go all out: Intel i5 6600K CPU, 32GB DDR4 RAM, GTX 1070, M.2 boot drive, all liquid cooled. That should be a fun one, but probably won't happen for a while. Most likely the third that I will get to next would be a basic budget Plex server/theater PC. It would be shared between my little family and said nephew, so maybe a max of 4 streams. I want to keep it small form factor if I can. And of course, it's gotta be shoestring budget. It will probably start off as a surplus HP Elite SFF, which I should be able to pick up for about $10. After a good cleaning, SSD and HDD install, and swapping the drive from DVD to BR, it should be a good start. The plan might be to expand it later on, which will probably happen around the time where one HDD just isn't enough space. It would involve a new case, mITX motherboard, and RAM. I already have the 400W bronze rated silent PSU for the upgrade down the road. I guess we will see...