If you’ve always wanted to build a computer from the ground up but never really had the time to find the necessary parts online, a coupon-centered blog called Coupon Codes Mall has done all the work for you. We think their choices lead to a pretty solid build, and all the coupon/sale links are current, but let’s just say this straight-up: You should temper your expectations right now. It’s a simple bare bones PC and it probably won’t win any real tough benchmark contests. But it’s hard to argue with useful and efficient cheapness.

The CCM PC includes some of the cheapest parts available on the net. Here’s the full kit (keep in mind that this does not include a keyboard, a mouse or a monitor):



Motherboard: Intel’s D201GLY2 with CPU.

Price: $67.24 at Buy.com, with free shipping.

This ‘sub-value market’ chip includes the average 10/100 LAN, plus support up to six USB 2.0 ports and 2 SATA (1.5 GB/s) –- quality Intel chip for a good value.



RAM: Crucial Technology’s 512MB 240-Pin PC2-4200 533Mhz DDR2 RAM.

Price: $10 (used) at Amazon.com, plus $5 shipping. (You can also buy a new one for $16.72 if you want to go over the price limit by a bit).

Plug this one in and your PC is on its way. Who says you need to get Kingston or Corsair RAM for your PC to work?



Hard Drive: Seagate’s ST380215AS 80GB Hard Drive

Price: $49.24, at Buy.com, plus free shipping.

Very little compromise here. You usually can’t go wrong with a Seagate drive. There are more expensive options at Amazon.com, including the exact same drive for $20 more. CCM recommends using a new Google Checkout account to get an extra $10 coupon off, but you can also just use a discount from the Buy.com account to get that off your price line.



CD-ROM (internal) Drive: Asus’ CD-S520/A5 52x CD-ROM Drive – EIDE/ATAPI

Price: $9.90, at Buy.com

If you’re looking for a Blu-ray drive on this super-cheap rig, you’re in the wrong place my friend. The CCM build gives you 3 different options, but the Asus one is the best. This is a harmless, safe drive.

Remember, Asus built parts (and some whole builds) for American manufacturers before selling its products direct, so this is a good one.

Case (body): Unnamed, colorless box.

Price: $10, bought at unnamed, colorless brick-and-mortar store.

So the coupon blog went offline and found a colorless case for $15 in a random local store. These are the hard choices you have to make –- no

beautiful cherry-red casing in here. But if you look for cases at second hand computer stores, do expect to find the similar deals, or better, and we’re not against this strategy at all. But if you don’t want to venture from your lair, there are plenty of other options for a few more bucks. Plus, it’ll save you the embarrassment of asking for a

$5 computer case.

Operating System: Linux OS

Price: $0.

Linux is free and that’s a beautiful thing. (That one’s for the Michael

Bolton fans in the audience. Thank you, sir. You can sit down now.) If you need to use Microsoft Office for word processing or Excel worksheets, you can download the ‘international open standard format’

at OpenOffice.org for, you guessed it, zero dollars. (You can also rely entirely on the online software options of Google Docs or Zoho).

So that’s the basic set-up needed. Add it up, and it should come out to

$141.35 or so, with some extra money for one or two books about putting it all together. These two will help even the greenest n00bs:

How-To Book: Building a PC For Dummies

Price: $16.49 (new) or $7.45 (used-low).

The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Upgrading and Fixing Your PC (Absolute Beginner’s Guide)

Price: $14.78 (new) or $1.99 (used).

DIY Postcript: One of the interesting issues that come up with a DIY project like this one is that tough choices usually lead to expensive results. When faced with a choice between a well-known manufacturer and one that’s a bit more obscure, the user will almost always choose the most expensive "name" part. In the example above, the CCM choice for the RAM was

Crucial Technology’s RAM kit over the better-rated Kingston. But if you know anything about the difference between these two, you know that it’s not that big and that you’ll likely enjoy a fair performance from the cheapy Crucial one.

Just like with any other product, buying the "name" means buying an insurance for your machine — the more expensive, newest option is likely the best one, but the other parts have to match that performance as well, and sometimes, maximum performance isn’t completely necessary.

Other parts (or even slightly older ones) are usually serviceable.

Hey, if you want a cheaper product, you’re bound to sacrifice something.

Photo: Gilbrit/Flickr.com

Thanks to Wired reader Carlos Aldana for the tip!