HB2 Brain Box

Bare Bones Asus Computer

I went into NewEgg and did a search for bare bones computers. That is a good start to build up an inexpensive computer. A bare bones computer usually includes the case, power supply and general purpose mother board. That’s an Asus bare bones case you see in the picture. The flat screen I already own.

I picked one that could use one of the dual processor AMD processors. Dual processors (on one chip) are the only way to go. I chose an AMD 64 Athalon X2 5000+ processor. The speed is 2.6 GHz. This is a faster processor than I have in my office computer I am using to write this post. It is also a bunch cheaper than I paid for my 4400+ a few years ago.

Inside the case. Note air intake on side panel.

Besides the case and the AMD processor, I also purchased 2 Gig of RAM. The mother board only holds two sticks and 2 Gig is more than plenty for a workshop CNC computer. The last Item I purchased was a CD (lightscribe) drive. I did not install a floppy. (What’s a floppy?)

I had a 60Gig hard drive, so no purchase there. I also had a copy of Windows XP Pro from a decommissioned computer I threw away. The sound and video is built in and are working just fine with Mach3.

Total out of pocket cost for what you see here is $270.00, not too shabby.

Let me tell ya, this little package runs faster and better than my office system. But it is not a super computer. The only cooling fans are on the processor heat sink and the power supply. Heat is NOT a problem. All fans are running on low speed… Continue reading →