Luke Carbis It’s more complicated than 42.

Media PC (completed)

Okay, I’ve just about finished my media PC, just waiting on a few last parts from Umart. Here’s how things went in the end:

• Gigabyte GA-8VD667K Motherboard: already owned
• Pentium 4 3.0Ghz: $49
• Socket 478 Cooling Fan & Heatsink: $11.77
• 512MB DDR RAM: (already owned)
• 750GB SATA 7200RPM 32MB HDD: (already owned)
• SATA / IDE cross converter: $6.41
• PSU: Included in case
• Sony 20x DVDRW IDE: $36.50
• Asus 802.11b/g Wireless PCI Card: $32
• CoolerMaster RC283 Media Case: $116
• Logitech X-530 5.1 Speakers System: $90
• BenQ G2400WD 24? Lcd Monitor: $350
• EVGA PCI GF6200LE 256M Low Profile: $86

All up it came to a total of: $777.68, a little over budget, but not too bad when you consider the size of the screen and quality of the speakers.

Without the screen or speakers, the whole thing only cost 337.68, which is a hell of a lot cheaper than a mac mini. I hope you’re reading this, darling wife.