Good place to buy bare bones systems?

[TPIguy]

I need to replace my folks dead k62-500mhz system. They don't need anything fast (it was fast enough) but It needs to be decent quality. I've looked on pricewatch.com and all I can find are crappy systems with cheap parts.

I just need the basics here, not a whole system. Any suggestions?

Also, I'm not opposed to building one from scratch, but I don't really have time to research all the parts before I buy.

[Roscoroo]

for a cheap up grade ive been using amptron mainboards

k7-825dmlu  lite   this is a km266 /vt 8235   chipset with a pro savage onboard video
you can ussually get it in a combo with a 1.3 duron or a 1800- 2000+ athlon  cpus . add a stick of 2700 ddr and away you go .
150- 230  dollar investment

This set up wont play ah2  but it played ah1 great and cnc generals .  (the mrs Roo played on this for a year and its very stable , it plays ah2 with my old gf2 64mb card in it ok )

heres a cool combo i just put together thats in the same price range

Amptron M7NCD-A02 ver 3.0  combo with a 2400+ athlon  ($114.00)   this is a nforce 2  400fbs ata 133  6 ch audio mainboard
Add a stick or 2 of 2700 ddr ($39.00 ea) and a mid range video card  . AE FX5200 128mb ($ 55.00)  
Total of $208 + tax  
(the only thing i didnt like about this one is the heatsink/fan its not good enough it was running @54c  til i changed it )

another combo is the
Asus A7n8x-vm  this is a nforce 2 with gf4 64 mb onboard video .
add a cpu of your choice and ram
(the only problem here is it's $300-350 to put this one together ussually )

Operating system is extra , or use win 98se on them

theres my current combo's that ive tossed together and have had great results ...  (no comebacks except for a virous on one of them ...User caught )   I ussually grab a new $25 case  

hard drives, cdroms,floppy are extra

[boxboy28]

Rosocco  i only had one amptron and hated every thing about it down the the resisters on the mobo!  

Maybee things have changed but i havent played with one in years!  ( i was trying to save money by buying one and regreted it the whole time((it was  VIA chip set for and AMD)) )

[Roscoroo]

ive used a  handfull + of them and they seam to work great for simple systems (not the agressive gamers )
there basically a decent priced combo (mb cpu) that runs with little or no hassle (thats the only reason why i added them)

ive seen some other cheap combo's but they really dont look right

[TPIguy]

Thanks for the input. All I need is a case w/ps, MB, RAM and cpu. Or something that will use my old 1ghz t-bird. I've got all the other parts, video, sound etc...

I'm thinking of using a shuttle an35n-ultra. it says it supports athlons and the 266mhz bus. Does that mean it'll run with an old t-bird in it?

Also, I've read about some ram compatability issues w/ the nforce2 chipset. Should I go with a via chipset instead?

It seems the price on pc3200 is the same as 2700 so I might as well use something that takes the faster ram.

[Morpheus]

I just need the basics here, not a whole system. Any suggestions?

http://www.northgate.com

Good place to get anything you need. Powerful to bare bones.

Check it out.

Put two systems together for my parents for a very great price. They ship fast, warrantee their products/packages and stand behind their name. Doesnt get any better.

[Morpheus]

btw, this place used to be accessmicro. Incase some were wondering.