Best Tt LANBOX LITE build in $500-$600 range?

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tungt88

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Hi folks. This is my first post here -- plz don't flame me off the bat.

I'm looking to build a lanbox as a back-up to my rig (and for carrying around to friends/family), but as i'm not too familiar w/lanboxes, I'd like your help. Price range is $500-$600 -- using the ThermalTake LANBOX LITE :
HTML: 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133044
Goal is general computer usage, some gaming (mostly WoW, TF2, CoD4). No monitor, CD/DVD drive, floppy, keyboard, or mouse needed (as I already have). No overclocking either. Include Windows XP/Vista in price.

Thanks guys!
 
Is the cost of the lanbox included in that $600 budget?
Is tax and shipping included in that budget as well?
What size monitor will you be gaming on? (what resolution/settings)

Here's a starting point... adjust as needed:

$100 - Microsoft Vista Home Premium DVD System Builder Single Pack
$170 - GeCube GC-HD3850PG3-D3R Radeon HD 3850 256MB ($20MIR)
$90 - Thermaltake LANBOX Lite VF6000BWS Black
$93 - MSI G33M-FI LGA 775 Intel G33 Micro ATX
$83 - Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz 1MB L2 Cache
$46 - A-DATA 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 ADQVE1A16K ($10MIR)
$62 - Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 HDP725025GLA380 (0A35399) 250GB 7200RPM SATA300 8MB L2 Cache
============
$644 + tax and shipping - $30 MIRs

Since that was over your budget, you'll need to cut some corners. Do you have a Fry's near you? If so, there's an E2200 + ECS combo for $100. If no Fry's near you, you could drop down to an AMD build, I guess...

$60 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz Socket AM2
$75 - Biostar TForce TF7050-M2 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7050PV HDMI Micro ATX ($10 MIR)
 
Cost of the lanbox included, tax & shipping included, monitor is 19 inch LCD widescreen @ 1440x900, 60 hertz.

Sadly, there's no Fry's close to where I live. :(
 
Here's what I was able to come up with... I tried to make an estimate as to how much shipping would cost (in parentheses).

$73 ($25) - Thermaltake LANBOX Lite VF6000BWS
$35 ($0) - Antec EarthWatts 380W PSU
$59 ($8) - BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2 microATX motherboard
$60 ($0) - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ AM2 Retail package
$46 ($0) - A-DATA 2x1GB DDR2 800 kit (with a $10 mail-in rebate)
$64 ($0) - Western Digital Caviar SE 250GB SATA/300 HDD
$170 ($0) - DIAMOND Radeon HD3850 256MB
$100/$105 ($5) - Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM (32-bit/64-bit)
==========
$607/$612 - Total of components
$38 - Shipping/Taxes (Estimated)
----------
$645/$650 - (Estimated) Total

I tried to add as many items with free shipping as possible, hence the mostly-NewEgg list. I was able to find a better deal for the LANBOX Lite, though shipping almost negated those savings. And I noticed that enginurd forgot to add a PSU to his list, so I added the Antec EA380 (which is enough for your setup).

I admit that I intentionally burst the budget... the problem that I had was that adding the costs of an operating system and shipping/taxes made it difficult to fit everything into a sub-$600 budget -- without cutting too many corners performance-wise.

Here's the rationale behind some of my other picks:
  • Because you said that you wanted to game on your computer, I chose the HD3850 (as did enginurd) so you could have excellent visual performance in the games that you play. The HD2600 and the 8600GT/GTS series, while much cheaper, are crap compared to the HD3850.
  • At the current prices RAM is at, I figured that it would be worth it to just get 2GB of RAM now. I didn't subtract the MIR amount (you would receive from the RAM kit) from the total because you haven't received the rebate check yet. (In fact, that rebate's not 100% guaranteed. I'm not trying to discourage you, but you shouldn't count potential money unless you actually have it in your hand.)
  • I chose the "little brother" to engiurd's motherboard pick. Since a video card was already included, I didn't think that you would need the onboard HDMI. The "little brother" has most of the same features (save for the HDMI port) as the "big brother." I was also able to find it at a lower price than from NewEgg.
  • I couldn't beat enginurd's deal for the 32-bit version of Vista Home Premium, so I didn't try to. However, I did find a deal for the 64-bit version that only cost $5 more. And yes, both offers include $5 shipping. The 64-bit version is great if you decide, either now or in the future, to use 4GB or more of RAM in your system. (32-bit operating systems can only read up to 4GB of total system memory. With a video card, you would only be able to use around 3.2-3.7GB of RAM.)
  • I didn't want to cut corners too much, so I drew a line at the processor. The 4000+ that enginurd selected was the best "deal" that I could find while still maintaining some sort of decent performance level.
  • Why did I go with a 250GB hard drive? I couldn't find any decent deals for a 160GB-200GB drive... and that was before shipping was factored into the price. With some of the games you mentioned in your OP, I figured that you wanted/needed some space to store them all.
If you need to cut corners, you could swap out the motherboard and the hard drive without impacting the performance level of the rig too much. I chose the motherboard so that you would have more options available in future upgrading. However, if you really need to cut corners, you could swap out the motherboard and hard drive with:

$44 ($10) - BIOSTAR NF61S Micro AM2 SE microATX motherboard
$45 ($5) - Western Digital 120GB SATA/300 hard drive

Those two changes drops your total down to about $618/623 (with 32-bit/64-bit OS). Keep in mind that the shipping costs are an estimate and are not 100% accurate. Additionally, the BIOSTAR NF61S Micro has fewer options than the BIOSTAR TF7025/TF7050... and that may or may not affect you should you decide to upgrade your system later on.

Before you say, "That's still over my budget," you need to ask yourself one question: Do you want this rig to be built for performance or under budget? If you choose the latter, then the only safe corner left to cut is to swap out the HD3850 for either the HD2600, 8600GT/GTS, or the HD3650. Three examples of video cards that you could get, all under $140, are:

$130 ($6) - EVGA GeForce 8600 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 (with a $30 mail-in rebate)
$115 ($0) - PowerColor Radeon 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 (with a $20 mail-in rebate)
$110 ($5) - HIS Hightech Radeon HD3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2

The 128-bit memory interface slows down all three cards to the point that none of them can really compete with the HD3850, even though they have twice the amount of memory. (In fact, that added 256MB is a waste due to the slow interface, but these are only examples of what you could get -- though, admittedly, not the best ones I could find -- for under $140.)
 
thought the lanbox came with one... silly me. go with tiraides' build.
 
tungt88 - I've added more suggestions to my original post, all in an attempt to keep you under $600.

Honestly, if you could raise your budget by $100, you could have a decent rig for your money using my initial setup.
 
Do you have a microcenter near you? You could probably get the HD3850 for $151, and see if anything else you need has 20% off.
 
Hey guys, thanks for the advice & suggestions.

I have a Core 2 Duo E6750 OEM, Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste, and some Corsair ValueSelect (DDR2-800 PC-6400) 2x1G @5-5-5-18 (special VM edition that came w/my rig) that I could use instead of the AMD & A-DATA.

So basically I'd be taking tiraides' build, replacing AMD mobo w/enginurd's Intel mobo suggestion, getting a heatsink (maybe AC 64 Pro?) use the Corsair RAM. I"ll go w/Vista 64; I figure that should place me more or less within my $600 limit.

If it all came down to it, I guess I could forget about the LanBox and just make a mid-tower backup system.

No Microcenter near where I live, it sucks :(

Lemme know what you guys think.
 
Yah, that'll work, except for the Freezer 64 Pro. The intel equivalent is the Freezer 7 Pro, but the E6750 can reach pretty high speeds, so I'd suggest at least a Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B. Here are some links:

$35 - Scythe SCNJ-1100P Ninja Plus Rev.B CPU HSF (optional $7 Thermalright LGA775 Bolt-Thru-Kit; recommended if using w/ quadcore)
$45 - Tuniq Tower 120 CPU HSF
$46 - Thermalright Ultima 90 CPU HS + FBA09A12M - Z ($3)
$50 - ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing / Transparent CPU Cooler ($10 MIR)
$55 - Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme CPU HS + Scythe S-Flex Fan SFF21E ($15)
 
The Lanbox Lite could still work, but now I wish you told me you had RAM and a CPU beforehand... *slaps head*

The only concern now is the amount of vertical space that you may have. You may want to use the Scythe Ninja Mini or the Ultima 90 instead of a large CPU cooler like the "regular" Ninja Plus.
 
Well yah, if you stick with the lanbox, find something that fits. :p

Do you need a small system, or do you just want one? As someone who used to go to a bunch of lan parties, I'd recommend a shuttle if you have the cash (or a gaming laptop if you have more cash, lol). If not, then sure, a lanbox or similar system would be ideal. However, if you don't need your desktop to be portable, then I would suggest goin with a full ATX build instead.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

Unfortunately I'm gonna make tiraides smack his head again (j/k), because I currently have 2x8800GTs in SLI on my rig. Given that my monitor is only 1440x900 LCD native (and that I don't plan to get a new monitor anytime soon), I figure I can take one of those GT's and stick it into the Tt LANBOX LITE case ... should be enough room I think.

So here's what I think I'll be getting (shipping included per item):
$98 - ThermalTake LANBOX LITE VF6000BWS
$41 - Scythe Ninja Mini
$60 - Seasonic SS-400ES, 400W
$100 - MSI G33M-FI LGA 775 Intel G33 Micro ATX
$64 - Western Digital Caviar SE 250GB SATA/300 HDD
$111 - Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM 64 Bit

--------------------------
Total Cost = $474

I went w/the Seasonics @400W because I figured I'd need a good PS w/enough juice for the 8800GT.

As for the full ATX build (also including shipping in costs):
$65 - COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW
$41 - Scythe Ninja Mini
$60 - Seasonic SS-400ES, 400W
$97 - MSI G33M-FI LGA 775 Intel G33 Micro ATX
$64 - Western Digital Caviar SE 250GB SATA/300 HDD
$111 - Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM 64 Bit
-------------------
Total = $438

So what do you guys think?
 
I should smack you... but...

If you decide to go with the ATX setup, get this motherboard instead:

$90 ($7) - Abit IP35-E ATX motherboard (with $30 mail-in rebate)

... and stick with one of the CPU coolers that enginurd recommended earlier.

Are there any more surprises we should be aware of?
 
enginurd, I think the OP's taking your recommendation (for an ATX setup instead of a microATX box) into consideration.

But seriously, I think the OP needs to be smacked by both of us. :p
 
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