Building a (very) cheap PC?

Mentor · 04-07-2009, 10:06 PM

Would you wana tv card for getting standard tv/freeview on the pc? or id thid just an internet box?

Johno · 04-07-2009, 10:09 PM

For the moment, a Freeview card isn't really necessary but would like to have the opportunity to install one at a later date

N!ck · 04-07-2009, 10:35 PM

I recommend that one with the "square" case as it would allow a full height TV card. Total: around £225.

With the slim case:

Total: around £223.

The parts are from eBuyer and Aria by the way.

Johno · 04-07-2009, 10:48 PM

Thanks Nick

I'm guessing that motherboard has onboard graphics since I don't see a graphics card?

The Professor · 04-07-2009, 10:54 PM

just as another option, i bought a really old slimline PC from ebay (a Dell Optiplex something or other with 512mb ram and 2ghz P4 processor) and bought a new graphics card so I had an S-Video connection to hook it up to the TV. It was about £30 shipped, i spent another 15 on a wireless usb adapter, a fiver on a hub because it only had 2 usb ports and the graphics card was about £30. That came to around £70 altogether, which in your budget would leave you £130 to splash out on a fancy keyboard, an external hard drive (they come with small IDE hard drives generally) and a freeview card if you really want one. ive been using it since christmas and it is officially made of win, runs perfectly on xp

N!ck · 04-07-2009, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by Johno!

Thanks Nick

I'm guessing that motherboard has onboard graphics since I don't see a graphics card?

Yes, and the integrated card has a VGA and a DVI output, meaning you can use a DVI to HDMI cable in it to attach to the TV via HDMI cable rather than VGA if you want.

You won't be able to do the audio via HDMI though, that would have to be done separately.