$110 dollar media/stream pc

[happychineseman]

As a challenge from one of my cousins, I was forced to build a PC for around US $110 (AUS $150).

I am thinking of seeking a used system on ebay, something with a quad core, preferably with windows, about 4 gbs of ram. This should be about US 35 dollars.

Then another 35 dollars on a used graphics card (i have actually found gpus like a used 6970).

I am not planning on using the power supply that came with the used pc, I am thinking of buying a silver stone strider, this will run me about another 35 dollars, there are no places that sell Roswell psus in my area.

For my hdd I will use my own, i have a few laying around.

For the case, I am thinking of building my own, I had a plan of 3d printing my own, sorta like what linus is trying to do now, but also 3d print dust covers that will go in the motherboard, that way, even if the motherboard looks like dreadful, which they probably will, I am able to cover it up and make it look good. Either spray painting the covers or wrapping them in like a carbon fibre skin wrapping. I also want to have a pcie riser, where you will get to see the fans of the GPU through the side window, this will not only allow me to have a more unique system, (I actually think it looks better with the fans showing than the side) and also allow me to have a slimmer profile, so if i ever want I will be able to slip it into the cabinets. 

 

It will be a media/stream pc so that I can play games and stuff on the large screen.

 

It will be somethng with a core 2 quad, 4 gb of ram, about a 1 TB hdd, something like a 6970 (about the same performance as a GTX 750) silverstone strider 500W psu, my own hdd

 

My questions are:

- if the system comes with windows, should I get rid of it and install steam os? or should I attempt and restore windows?

- is it safe at all to make my own case? and if so what are some of the precautions I should take?

- how can I turn on my PC with a remote control?

- does it matter too much if the PCIE slot on the motherboard is gen 2? will this greatly affect performance if the graphics card is gen 3?

 

 

 

 

PSSS~ Even if the silverstone strider is not the best performer, it will be on one of those switches that will turn itself off, so im not worried about burning down the house, and for the pc, its only 110 dollars so im fine

Thanks in advance for your advice

[mikat]

As a challenge from one of my cousins, I was forced to build a PC for around US $110 (AUS $150).

I am thinking of seeking a used system on ebay, something with a quad core, preferably with windows, about 4 gbs of ram. This should be about US 35 dollars.

Then another 35 dollars on a used graphics card (i have actually found gpus like a used 6970).

I am not planning on using the power supply that came with the used pc, I am thinking of buying a silver stone strider, this will run me about another 35 dollars, there are no places that sell Roswell psus in my area.

For my hdd I will use my own, i have a few laying around.

For the case, I am thinking of building my own, I had a plan of 3d printing my own, sorta like what linus is trying to do now, but also 3d print dust covers that will go in the motherboard, that way, even if the motherboard looks like dreadful, which they probably will, I am able to cover it up and make it look good. Either spray painting the covers or wrapping them in like a carbon fibre skin wrapping. I also want to have a pcie riser, where you will get to see the fans of the GPU through the side window, this will not only allow me to have a more unique system, (I actually think it looks better with the fans showing than the side) and also allow me to have a slimmer profile, so if i ever want I will be able to slip it into the cabinets. 

 

It will be a media/stream pc so that I can play games and stuff on the large screen.

 

It will be somethng with a core 2 quad, 4 gb of ram, about a 1 TB hdd, something like a 6970 (about the same performance as a GTX 750) silverstone strider 500W psu, my own hdd

 

My questions are:

- if the system comes with windows, should I get rid of it and install steam os? or should I attempt and restore windows?

- is it safe at all to make my own case? and if so what are some of the precautions I should take?

- how can I turn on my PC with a remote control?

- does it matter too much if the PCIE slot on the motherboard is gen 2? will this greatly affect performance if the graphics card is gen 3?

 

 

 

 

PSSS~ Even if the silverstone strider is not the best performer, it will be on one of those switches that will turn itself off, so im not worried about burning down the house, and for the pc, its only 110 dollars so im fine

Thanks in advance for your advice

i'm thinking RPi 2 cluster..

[manikyath]

i'm thinking RPi 2 cluster..

i was thinking just a singular RPi...

[Altecice]

 

My questions are:

- if the system comes with windows, should I get rid of it and install steam os? or should I attempt and restore windows?

- is it safe at all to make my own case? and if so what are some of the precautions I should take?

- how can I turn on my PC with a remote control?

- does it matter too much if the PCIE slot on the motherboard is gen 2? will this greatly affect performance if the graphics card is gen 3?

 

id keep Windows on it personally, You will need to check the hardware support for SteamOS.

 

not sure but it doubt it can do any harm when we benchtest our rigs on cardboard boxes. The only issue I could see is perhaps lack of ground from the I/O shield.

 

WOL OR Magic packets... again your NIC+Router in the computer will have to support it.

 

Gen 2 and 3 are backwards compattible However I dont believe you can skip two generations aka, gen 3 gpu is fine in a gen 2 slot but not a gen 1 slot.

 

---

 

Perhaps have a look at a Rpi or Bpi. However i dont think you can install windows on them (At least it wont run well)

[rtpb5642]

U kidding? 150$ in Australia?

Get a dell optiplex or old xeon precision tower used.

[manikyath]

actually... you can get 2u servers second hand for like... $60...

 

they're a tad loud tho.

[mikat]

i was thinking just a singular RPi...

ok, also fine (banana pro would be better tho)

[ArcticDolphin]

Intel Compute Stick anyone?

[manikyath]

ok, also fine (banana pro would be better tho)

well... banana pro is a dual core, RPi 2 is a quad core. (and comes with overclocking tools if you get a heatsink on it, theres even watercooling kits for the pi)